SHAKE
Saturday, August 7th, 2010
There’s something about Reverse Chronology that can work magic with a tale of innocence lost. Take for example Harold Pinter’s Betrayal or Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, the former beginning with the end of a marriage and ending with the characters’ first meeting, the latter starting off with three irreparably estranged friends and climaxing with the threesome as starry-eyed best-friends-forever. There’s something particularly poignant about a happy ending when you already know the disillusionment yet to come.
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TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
Friday, August 6th, 2010NOT RECOMMENDED
Ben Brantley, the chief drama critic of the New York Times (i.e. the most important theater reviewer in the United States) called Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog “as exciting as any new play from a young American since Tony Kushner’s Angels In America.” It was nominated for a Best Play Tony Award and won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. I found it one of the two longest evenings I’ve spent in a theater in the past year.
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THE EXISTENTS
Friday, July 30th, 2010
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to witness the coming together—and ultimate breakup—of a superstar rock band like, say, Fleetwood Mac, you won’t want to miss The Existents, the new rock musical by Ty Taylor, Douglas Crawford, and Jason Wooten.
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[title of show]
Friday, July 16th, 2010
West Hollywood’s Celebration Theatre celebrates its twenty-eighth year of presenting quality live theater to the LGBTQQIA community—and has its third big musical hit in just the past twelve months—with the Los Angeles Premiere of Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen’s award-winning off-Broadway hit [title of show]. Directed with consummate panache by Celebration Artistic Director Michael A. Shepperd, [title of show] is the perfect musical for show queens of any gender or sexual orientation.
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BLANK
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
If it takes guts merely for an actor to stand up in front of an audience and play a role, imagine how much more courage is required when there’s no one else on stage to be his safety net—and the role that he’s playing is himself.
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SORORITY QUEEN IN A MOBILE HOME
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010RECOMMENDED
Divorced couple Grace and Dennis each tell their own version of what went wrong in their marriage in Sorority Queen In A Mobile Home, a midweek offering at Open Fist Theatre. Though its format (extended monologs interspersed with a handful of multiple character scenes) proves a barrier to audience involvement in Grace and Dennis’s stories, performances go a long way towards making Sorority Queen a rather entertaining two-acter.
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OUR FAVORITE SINGS
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010What do you call a blend of musical revue and cabaret?
RECOMMENDED
The Tre Stage calls it Our Favorite Sings, an entertaining hour and a quarter of musical theater talents singing their favorite songs live and un-miked in an intimate black box space.
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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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