THE NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME WATCH
Saturday, October 6th, 2007NOT RECOMMENDED
In Craig Alpaugh’s The Neighborhood Crime Watch, a pair of burglars break into a
Canoga Park home. One wears pantyhose over his head, the legs dangling over
his face like long rabbit ears. The other is elegantly dressed. They are brothers,
improbably so as the elegantly dressed one looks thirty to forty years older than the
one wearing the panty hose, once he has removed them. Older brother would
rather die than go back to prison he says. After all, “prisons are filled with
dangerous criminals and elected officials.” The burgling brothers have been
nicknamed “The Brunch Bandits.” Their motto is “We dine and then we steal,”
though all they can find in the kitchen of this house is a boring tuna fish sandwich.
(In an early break-in, there wasn’t a thing to eat, so they ordered pizza.)
(read more)
SHIPWRECKED!
Sunday, September 30th, 2007
Whether you are eight years old or eighty, run, don’t walk to Costa Mesa and
delight in the sheer magic of live theater at South Coast Rep’s world premiere
production of Donald Margulies magnificent adventure story, Shipwrecked!
What would cost Hollywood a couple hundred million dollars to achieve, the
geniuses behind this production and its three supremely gifted actors (doing
the work of the proverbial “cast of thousands”) achieve at a fraction of the
cost, with equal or greater entertainment value.
(read more)
BUNNY BUNNY
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
He called her Gilbert. She called him Zweibel, accent on the “bel.” She became
one of the most famous, funniest, and most beloved comediennes of the 1970s.
He wrote for the TV show that made her a star and later co-created a hit TV
sitcom. They loved each other for fourteen years, though each married
another. They were the best of friends until her untimely death. She was Gilda
Radner. He is Alan Zweibel. Bunny Bunny is the beautifully funny, affectionately
written, and exquisitely directed and performed “sort of romantic comedy” of
two lives intertwined.
(read more)
JOURNEY TO DOLLYWOOD
Sunday, September 16th, 2007RECOMMENDED
The small-town diner has proven the surefire setting for numerous movies, TV
shows, plays, and musicals, from Alice, to Pump Boys and Dinettes, to The
Spitfire Grill to…Diner. Add to that list Jessie McCormack’s very funny new play
Journey to Dollywood, now at the Matrix Theatre.
(read more)
DEAD BRIDE RUNNING
Thursday, September 13th, 2007RECOMMENDED
If you’re a devotee of sophisticated, stylish and witty Noel Coward
drawing room comedies…check your theater listings for the production of
Private Lives nearest you. If, on the other hand, you’re a fan of Saturday
Night Live/Mad TV style outrageous over-the-top humor, Dead Bride
Running will be right up your alley.
(read more)
THE LADY IN QUESTION
Sunday, September 2nd, 2007RECOMMENDED
Nobody spoofs classic movie genres better than Charles Busch. On film, I’ve
loved his Psycho Beach Party (which as the title indicates spoofs at least two
genres at once) and Die Mommie Die (a brilliant takeoff on 50s/60s women’s
melodramas). Now I’ve had the chance to discover The Lady in Question,
Mr. Busch’s hilarious and spot-on send-up of 40s “woman in danger in Nazi
Germany” flicks.
(read more)
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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