CAROUSEL
Saturday, May 29th, 2010
If all you knew about Rodgers and Hammerstein was The Sound Of Music, you might expect an R&H show called Carousel with its big production numbers like “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over” to be all “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,” especially considering its 1945 Broadway debut, over a decade before shows started getting dark and dramatic with Bernstein and Sondheim’s West Side Story.
(read more)
BUDDY—THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY
Saturday, April 17th, 2010
February 3, 1959 will forever be known in the world of Rock & Roll as “the day the music died,” for it was on that date that 22-year-old Buddy Holly lost his life in a plane crash just five miles from Clear Lake, Iowa’s Surf Ballroom, the site of the pop star’s final concert.
(read more)
RODGERS AND HART A CELEBRATION
Friday, February 19th, 2010RECOMMENDED
Downey Civic Light Opera celebrates the songs of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in the second offering of their 2009-10 season, Rodgers & Hart: A Celebration.
(read more)
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
The competitive urge to come in first starts at an early age in William Finn’s Broadway smash, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Winning is everything for Finn’s band of adolescent regional spelling bee finalists, as well as for many of their parents, and if you have any doubt that kids can be every bit as competitive as adults, this quirky, highly original musical will soon cure you of this misconception.
(read more)
STEEL MAGNOLIAS
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Steel Magnolias: (n) any of those Southern women whose delicate exterior hides a tough-as-nails core
Anyone who’s seen the star-studded 1989 movie adaptation of Robert Harling’s off-Broadway play doesn’t need to consult Websters to know what a Steel Magnolia is. We all remember Sally Field’s M’Lynn, whose petite stature belied her inner strength in the face of tragedy, or Shirley MacLaine’s Ouiser, the curmudgeon with a marshmallow heart hidden deep inside. On the other hand, no matter how many times you’ve seen the movie or watched it on DVD (and laughed and cried at all the most memorable moments), seeing the original Harling play live on stage is a treat, and when performed by a cast as all-around terrific as the one assembled at the La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts, the treat is a tasty one indeed.
(read more)
MY FAIR LADY
Friday, October 2nd, 2009
When My Fair Lady opened on Broadway in 1956, Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times called it “one of the best musicals of the century,” quite a proclamation for a century that still had 44 years left to go. Still, looking back these 53 years later, it’s clear as crystal that even if My Fair Lady had opened in 1999, Atkinson’s rather bold statement would have been as spot-on as it was mid-century. In fact, as Downey Civic Light Opera 2009-2010 season-opening revival of the musical theater classic proves, there may indeed be no better 20th Century musical than My Fair Lady.
(read more)
RING OF FIRE
Saturday, June 6th, 2009
Johnny Cash fans will be in country music heaven through June 21 as La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment present Ring Of Fire: The Music Of Johnny Cash. Correction: make that music fans, pure and simple. Singer-songwriter-icon Johnny Cash transcended easy classification, blending rock and roll, rockabilly, folk, and gospel, making this production an L.A. musical event of the first order.
(read more)
42nd STREET
Friday, May 29th, 2009RECOMMENDED
It’s always a pleasure to see a Downey Civic Light Opera production. I don’t know of another L.A. area CLO with Downey’s hometown feel. Downey residents have come to know DCLO’s resident cast of musical theater stars including Bill Lewis, Charlotte Carpenter, Ed Krieger, Ann Peck McBride, and Glenn Edward, all of whom have done show after show under the direction of Marsha Moode, DCLO’s Executive Producer extraordinaire. Downey CLO concludes its 2008-2009 season with the ever popular 42nd Street, which just happens to star all of the above regulars under Moode’s as always inventive direction.
(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.
COPYRIGHT 2026 STEVEN STANLEY :: DESIGN BY