FLY
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016
The Tuskegee Airmen take off to exhilarating, spellbinding, emotionally powerful effect as the Pasadena Playhouse presents Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan’s Fly, a West Coast Premiere destined to be one of the year’s most lauded, most unforgettable productions.
(read more)
THE DODGERS
Monday, February 1st, 2016
What if all it took to determine whether you lived or died was your date of birth? This was the worst nightmare come true of over 850,000 18-26-year-old American males back on December 1, 1969, when the United States government held its first “Draft Lottery,” the losers of which were virtually assured a one-way ticket to Vietnam.
Playwright Diana Amsterdam takes us back to this not-so-long-ago reality in her gripping new play The Dodgers, now getting an exciting World Premiere at the Hudson Mainstage with as star-studded a 20something cast as you’re likely to see all year in a 99-seat production.
(read more)
DREAM BOY
Sunday, January 31st, 2016
Nine years after a pair of gay teen boys fell unforgettably into first love in Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing, Celebration Theatre and director Michael Matthews reunite for the similarly themed (albeit considerably darker) Dream Boy, Eric Rosen’s meticulously faithful adaptation of Jim Grimsley’s haunting Southern Gothic novel, an imaginatively directed, superbly performed, gorgeously designed Los Angeles Premiere marred only by poor sightlines that will often have you craning to see the action.
(read more)
AWAKE & SING!
Sunday, January 10th, 2016
Clifford Odets’ Depression-era drama Awake & Sing! has reopened at the Odyssey Theatre for a January extension, exciting news indeed for fans of the kind of big-cast, big-issue Great American Classics that don’t get written anymore.
(read more)
A GOOD FAMILY
Sunday, November 29th, 2015RECOMMENDED
A charge of rape lodged against their college student son casts a pall over a Midwestern American couple’s Christmas Eve celebration in A Good Family, Marja-Lewis Ryan’s World Premiere drama that combines several of the elements that made her award-winning One In The Chamber a critical/popular hit last year—crisp writing, outstanding acting, edge-of-your-seat suspense—yet feels incomplete, and not simply for its hour-and-change running time.
(read more)
WOOD BOY DOG FISH
Sunday, November 29th, 2015
Imagine Walt Disney’s Pinocchio had Tim Burton been in creative charge and opted for a live-action 99-seat Los Angeles theater staging rather than an animated film and you’ll have some idea of what to expect in Wood Boy Dog Fish, Rogue Artists Ensemble and Bootleg Theatre’s deliciously dark-and-twisted take on Carlo Collodi’s classic childhood tale.
(read more)
@thespeedofJake
Wednesday, November 25th, 2015
A grieving father’s attempt to connect with his deceased elementary-school-age son leads him on an unexpected journey towards healing in Jennifer Maisel’s transformative family drama @thespeedofJake, the superbly directed/acted latest World Premiere from Jon Lawrence Rivera and Playwrights’ Arena.
(read more)
FRONT DOOR OPEN
Monday, November 23rd, 2015NOT RECOMMENDED
An improbable script, grating characters, problematic performances, lackluster direction, and above all the trivialization of a crippling anxiety disorder afflicting over three million Americans make Tom Baum’s Front Door Open a World Premiere production not worth leaving your house for.
(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 2025 STEVEN STANLEY :: DESIGN BY