R.R.R.E.D. / THE REDHEAD MUSICAL MANIFESTO
Sunday, September 7th, 2008
Though it won’t be for all tastes, R.R.R.E.D. / The Redhead Musical Manifesto is a wow of a showcase for a wow of a redheaded singer-songwriter, Katie Thompson, and her talented redheaded musical cohort Patrick Livingston.
(read more)
AS U2 LIKE IT
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
Matt Walker and his zany band of Troubies are back with their latest mix of song, dance, laughter, Shakespeare, and adlibs galore. The troupe, which has won L.A. hearts with (among others) Much Adoobie Brothers About Nothing, Hamlet (The Artist Formerly Known As The Prince Of Denmark), and OthE.L.O, now blends As You Like It with cleverly rewritten U2 hits to produce As U2 Like It, a total delight from start to finish.
(read more)
EDUCATING RITA
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008
Willy Russell’s Educating Rita is probably best known to Americans as the 1983 film which starred Michael Caine as alcoholic Professor Frank Bryant and introduced Julie Walters to the world as hairstylist turned open university student Susan “Rita” White, a role which won her the Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination.
(read more)
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?”
(read more)
THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Glendale’s A Noise Within (“California’s Classical Theatre Company”) is about the closest thing Los Angeles has to an “artists in residence” repertory ensemble, which for theatergoers means that each of their superb productions is likely to feature many of the same gifted actors who’ve delivered memorable performances in years past. For the resident artists, it means a kind of job security which is almost non-existent in L.A. theater, plus a chance to perform some of the greatest roles ever written, in works by Shakespeare and Racine and Moliere and Shaw and Miller and Foote and, in the current production of The Night Of The Iguana, by Tennessee Williams.
(read more)
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.
(read more)
THE IMMIGRANT
Saturday, April 5th, 2008
Black and white photos show immigrants arriving in the United States in the early 1900s as the sound of a howling wind blows across the southeast Texas plains. While a newspaper headline announces “Victims Of Russian Massacres,” a sign welcomes travelers to Galveston, the “Treasure Island Of America.” A foreign-accented male voice is heard singing a beautiful but mournful tune: “The stars can see what we cannot, the stars remember what we forgot. See that shining spark. God is there in the dark…”
(read more)
DON JUAN
Sunday, March 30th, 2008
I have a confession. I’d much rather see a comedy by Molière than one by William Shakespeare. I think it’s mostly the language. Since Molière is usually translated from 17th century French into modern English, his plays feel contemporary, even when set hundreds of years ago. I felt so last June when I saw The Imaginary Invalid at ACT in San Francisco and I felt so again last night watching Don Juan at A Noise Within, Glendale’s diamond of a classical theater company.
(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