THE RETURN TO MORALITY
Saturday, August 4th, 2012
With the United States presidential election just three months away, the timing couldn’t be more perfect for The Production Company to present the Los Angeles premiere of Jamie Pachino’s political satire The Return To Morality, imaginatively directed by Mark L. Taylor and terrifically performed by Alias’s Kevin Weisman and five of L.A.’s finest supporting players.
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ALL YOUR HARD WORK
Friday, July 27th, 2012
A decade or so ago, Jim and Mary-Ellen were college lovers, though perhaps not exclusively. Both seemed headed toward success, he in business, she in journalism. Now Jim is racking up those frequent flyer miles, doing business in fifteen cities in ten states, married, the father of a young child, and the owner of a “starter” house he was able to purchase with a $50,000 cash down payment. Mary-Ellen, on the other hand, works 12-hour shifts at Urban Outfitters, lives in a cramped studio apartment, and is just about the only person she knows without a spouse and children, though you could hardly call her celibate …or a teetotaler.
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MELVIN ROBERT: THE SECOND ACT
Tuesday, July 17th, 2012
Triple-threat Melvin Robert fulfilled a childhood dream when in 2009 he dazzled audiences as Tom Collins in the Los Angeles Regional Premiere of Jonathan Larson’s Rent, a performance about which I wrote: “His rendition of the ‘I’ll Cover You’ reprise [is] one of the evening’s most gut-wrenching and beautifully performed moments.” Robert won an Outstanding Featured Performance Scenie for his powerful work opposite Jai Rodriguez in that production, and a second for Best Ensemble Cast for the Moonlight Stages production of Miss Saigon the following year.
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OUR HOUSE
Tuesday, July 10th, 2012
Theresa Rebeck skewers reality TV in her very funny—and very smart—Our House, now getting a terrific West Coast Premiere at Hollywood’s Lounge Theatre.
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JEKYLL & HYDE
Monday, July 9th, 2012
If there’s anything Los Angeles theater can be justifiably proud of, it’s our particular talent for scaling down big-stage, big-bucks Broadway musicals to intimate dimensions. Recent productions of The Color Purple and Spring Awakening not only rivaled their Tony-winning New York counterparts, in the eyes of some observers they even surpassed them. Now, DOMA Theatre Company tries its hand at a downsized Jekyll & Hyde, and if a bit of miscasting and some roughness around the edges prevent it from reaching the heights hit by the aforementioned 99-seat smashes, the Marco Gomez-directed production nonetheless makes for an exciting evening of musical theater at its most dramatic and tuneful.
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FLUFFY BUNNIES IN A FIELD OF DAISIES
Friday, June 29th, 2012
With a title as cutesy yet unwieldy as Fluffy Bunnies In A Field Of Daisies, you’d hardly expect Matt Chaffee’s 2002 two-acter to be a delightful, smart, cleverly written, occasionally raunchy but more often than not mush-hearted comedic gem, let alone one that ran off-and-on for an amazing two or three years in its initial Los Angeles run. Still, this is precisely what Fluffy Daisies is, as audiences can once again discover in its 10 Year Anniversary Revival at Hollywood’s Arena Stage Theatre.
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D IS FOR DOG
Saturday, June 23rd, 2012
What starts out as a clever, visually stunning satire of 1950s family sitcoms like Father Knows Best, The Donna Reed Show, and The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet turns into something a good more Twilight Zonesque in Rogue Artists Ensemble’s D Is For Dog, now returning to Los Angeles a year after its award-winning initial run, terrific news for those like this reviewer who somehow missed it the first time around.
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THE CRUCIBLE
Saturday, June 16th, 2012RECOMMENDED
When Arthur Miller’s The Crucible was written in 1953, it was considered an allegory for the McCarthy “witch hunts,” Communism taking the place Satan occupied in the original Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Today, as religious fundamentalists of various creeds use blind belief in dogma as a way to persecute those they disagree with, The Crucible stands stronger than ever as an indictment of religious fanaticism gone amok, making this election year a particularly fitting time to revive the Miller classic, one of a number of reasons to check out the production now playing at Hollywood’s Lillian Theatre.
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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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