StageSceneLA

THE GAS HOUSE

Wednesday, September 26th, 2007

What begins as a solo performance by a recently fired talk radio “shock jock”
who was “paid to be a jerk” soon turns into an affecting two person play about
a doomed romantic relationship in Sacred Fools’ West Coast Premiere of William
Donnelly’s The Gas House.
(read more)

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THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

Friday, September 21st, 2007

NOT RECOMMENDED

The Sight Unseen Theatre Group is one of my favorite local companies. Their
Quarterlife made my “Best of” lists for World Premiere Play, Intimate Theater Play,
and Ensemble. A Year Without Spring, directed by Andy Mitton, was another
fine world premiere drama, with outstanding performances (particularly by Eric
Bloom and Michael Laurino). Then, in a complete turnabout, Sight Unseen put
on a musical, Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, with AYWS director Mitton wearing
a much different hat, as musical director, Quarterlife star Clark Freeman in the
band, and sets and lighting co-designed by Sam Roberts. Once again, a Sight
Unseen production made my “Best of” list, this time for Intimate Theater
Musical, Now, Roberts, Freeman, and Mitton have combined forces again for
yet another challenge, that of fashioning a 99-seat theater production of
Alexandre Dumas’ classic adventure novel The Count of Monte Cristo, adapted
for the stage and directed by Roberts.
(read more)

Posted in Drama, Not Recommended, West Side/Beverly HIlls | Comments Off on THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

DURANGO

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

Durango begins on a bare stage, with just a chair and guitar far right. A
young man wearing shorts and a t-shirt enters, sits, picks up the guitar and,
beginning to strum, sings a sadly nostalgic song. “Main Street isn’t busy much
anymore. A neon girl dressed up with nowhere to go.” He seems to be
recalling the past, a past which we begin in the next scene to discover.
(read more)

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AND NEITHER HAVE I WINGS TO FLY

Friday, September 14th, 2007

Ann Noble’s heartwarming And Neither Have I Wings to Fly feels like a theater classic that’s been around forever. Hard to believe it’s a fairly recent play which is only now getting its Southern California premiere, in an absolutely gorgeous production at the Road Theatre, directed by award winning Scott Cummins.
(read more)

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DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

Friday, September 7th, 2007

In a city where most plays run 6 weeks or less, The Elephant Theater’s
production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, John Patrick Shanley’s
unexpected love story of two very lost and damaged souls, has become a real
L.A. theater phenomenon. Recipient of the very hard-to-get L.A. Times “Critics
Choice,” Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, now in its fifth sold-out month, has
been extended yet again, through October. Last night I found out why.
(read more)

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MATTER OF HONOR

Wednesday, September 5th, 2007

Near the beginning of Michael J. Chepiga’s Matter of Honor, the audience at
the Pasadena Playhouse is plunged into darkness. We hear a loud noise, like a
powerful echoing drumbeat, then a series of cries. A beating is taking place. We
know from that moment that we are in for a theatrical experience very much
out of ordinary.
(read more)

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CALLING APHRODITE

Saturday, September 1st, 2007

Beauty is at the heart of Velina Hasu Houston’s new play Calling Aphrodite,
currently having its world premiere production at Long Beach’s International
City Theatre. Beauty as something divine, beauty as a thing to be envied,
beauty as something destroyed by war, beauty as a sign of hope.
(read more)

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