SEESAW
Monday, September 15th, 2008
What would L.A. musical theater lovers do without MTG? Who else but the musical theater magicians who make up Musical Theatre Guild would give Angelinos the chance to see a production of a rarely produced Broadway semi-hit like 1973’s Seesaw? Who else could do it with a mere 25 hours of rehearsal? And who else could achieve such overall excellence in a “concert staged reading” that it could easily hold its own against many a “fully staged production” on local stages?
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THE FIX
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
If there are any L.A. musical theater lovers who are not yet Musical Theatre Guild subscribers, I have only five words for you, “What are you waiting for?”
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OUT OF THIS WORLD
Monday, April 21st, 2008
Here’s some great news for Cole Porter fans! Even his lesser known musicals are now being given new life by writers who are fashioning fresh new books to fit the fabulous Porter songs. David Lee’s revisal of Can-Can at the Pasadena Playhouse last year won kudos and awards galore. MTW is beginning its 2008-9 season with a newly rewritten Silk Stockings. And MTG (the Musical Theatre Guild) has just presented an absolutely smashing concert staged reading of one of the great Mr. Porter’s least familiar musicals, Out Of This World, featuring a revised book by Greg MacKellan.
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ASPECTS OF LOVE
Sunday, February 10th, 2008
Musical Theatre Guild once again proves its level of talent and versatility with
its latest “Broadway in Concert” presentation, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
Aspects Of Love. The talent is personified by Broadway’s Kim Huber and
Christina Saffran Ashford and National Tour/regional theater vets Roger
Befeler, Chuck Bergman, and Michael G. Hawkins. The versatility is proven by
this season’s selection of musicals. Following The Mystery Of Edwin Drood with
its big cast/big production numbers and the small cast, comedy skit filled As
Thousands Cheer, Musical Theatre Guild now undertakes very nearly an opera
with the entirely sung-through “Pucciniesque” Aspects of Love, which has a
cast of 13.
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AS THOUSANDS CHEER
Monday, November 19th, 2007
Fans of those Saturday Night Live sketches spoofing George Bush, Paris Hilton, and
Brangelina (that’s Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) might be surprised to learn that way
back in 1933, an Irving Berlin Broadway musical used the very same format to
lampoon President Herbert Hoover, heiress Barbara Hutton, and film stars Douglas
Fairbanks, Jr. and Joan Crawford.
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THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD
Sunday, September 23rd, 2007
The members of the Musical Theatre Guild are musical theater magicians. How
else could they create musical theater magic in just 25 hours of rehearsal time?
They’ve done it again, with a delightful, tuneful (book in hand and sans sets but
otherwise pretty much fully staged) production of Rupert Holmes’ The Mystery of
Edwin Drood (based on Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel). Their first of two
performances (at the Alex in Glendale last Monday) happened to coincide with
the mammoth Chess benefit, but I was able to catch yesterday’s reprise
performance at the much more intimate Janet & Ray Scherr Forum in Thousand
Oaks, which was a treat for the ears and the eyes.
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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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