BAREFOOT IN THE PARK
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
Neil Simon’s Barefoot In The Park may be 45 years old, but you’d never know it from the fresh and consistently funny revival it’s getting at Glendale Centre Theatre. Corie Bratter’s powder blue Princess telephone with its rotary dial may be a relic of the sixties, and there’s not a computer or plasma TV in sight, but Simon’s gifts as the master of the one-line gag aren’t even a tad dated in this, only his 2nd Broadway comedy.
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LOVE SONG
Friday, January 2nd, 2009
Rude Guerilla has scored a major coup in gaining the rights to present the Southern California premiere of Love Song, John Kolvenbach’s hilarious, captivating, quirky, one-of-a-kind romantic comedy (with a twist). Following its 2006 world premiere at Chicago’s renowned Steppenwolf and a London premiere (studded with American TV stars) later the same year, Love Song has gone on to regional and international acclaim. Why major L.A. theaters let this remarkable gem of a play slip them by is anyone’s guess, but their loss is Orange County’s gain—and Angelinos are hereby advised to take advantage of low gas prices by heading on down to Santa Ana to see what the rest of the world has been gushing about.
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LOVE’S LABOR’S LOST
Friday, December 26th, 2008
I have a confession. I’m not the worlds biggest Shakespeare fan. Yes, I know that as a theater reviewer it’s my “duty” to love the Bard, so sue me for saying that I often get lost in his convoluted plots, whole chunks of dialog whizzing past me or over my head without really sinking in. Thus, when I tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed (and had very little difficulty following) The Porters of Hellsgate’s production of Love’s Labor’s Lost, this is high praise indeed.
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JANE AUSTEN UNSCRIPTED
Friday, December 19th, 2008
Improv is a tricky art form. It requires an actor’s imagination, concentration, quick thinking, and the ability to maintain a straight face no matter what is being said or done. Imagine now a group of actors improvising an entire two-act play. Quite definitely a daunting task, yet this is precisely the challenge which the sensational talents behind Impro Theatre have undertaken in their smash hit Jane Austen UnScripted.
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BACKSEATS & BATHROOM STALLS
Friday, December 12th, 2008
Quite simply put, Backseats & Bathroom Stalls is the funniest comedy I’ve seen so far in the 2008-2009 season. Rob Mersola’s pansexual sex farce not only had me laughing out loud (and quite loudly indeed) through its non-stop 80 minutes of hilarious surprises but kept me on the edge of my seat trying to guess what was coming next. It also has one of the best “I didn’t see that one coming” surprises since The Crying Game or The Sixth Sense.
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BOB’S HOLIDAY OFFICE PARTY
Sunday, December 7th, 2008
Hilarious, crazy, zany, drunken Midwest Hell Christmas insanity” is how my friend Marc describes his first exposure to Bob’s Holiday Office Party, and I wholeheartedly agree. No wonder Bob’s Holiday Office Party is celebrating thirteen consecutive years of shocking and delighting L.A. audiences with its particular blend of mirth, drunken shenanigans, and Christmas spirit.
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A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Thursday, December 4th, 2008
Jason Moyer’s fabulous gay adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is back for a return engagement with a new director (Michael A. Shepperd), a slightly tweaked book, a mostly new cast, and a whole new bigger-budgeted look and feel.
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PROBLEM CHILD
Sunday, November 16th, 2008
The comedy is dark indeed in George F. Walker’s Problem Child, and thanks to Walker’s twisted take on life and a quartet of pitch-perfect performances, this Bella Productions/Actor’s Workout Studio production is black comedy at its blackest and funniest.
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Since 2007, Steven Stanley's StageSceneLA.com has spotlighted the best in Southern California theater via reviews, interviews, and its annual StageSceneLA Scenies.
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