MISSIONARY POSITION
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009RECOMMENDED
Mormon Boy Steven Fales recalls his two-year stint as missionary in Portugal in Missionary Position, a sort of prequel to Fales’ alternately captivating and compelling solo piece Confessions Of A Mormon Boy, which like its processor proves a terrific showcase for its writer-star’s triple-threat talents as actor, storyteller, and showman.
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THE SERMONS OF JOHN BRADLEY
Sunday, January 18th, 2009
The story of a young gay man’s journey to self-acceptance has been told countless times before in plays, films, and novels. What makes The Sermons Of John Bradley unique (and particularly powerful) is the manner in which playwright/actor Hunter Lee Hughes tells his story, as a series of “sermons” given by the son of a disgraced Southern Baptist preacher. Neither solo performance nor performance art (though it has aspects of both), The Sermons Of John Bradley is ultimately just very fine theater, and a memorable showcase for the talents of a gifted young writer-actor.
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RESIGNATION DAY
Saturday, January 17th, 2009NOT RECOMMENDED
In Resignation Day, playwright Charles Pike imagines a day in the life of Terry Southern (played by Chairman Barnes), screenwriter of such 60s classics as Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider as well as cult favorites Barbarella and Candy, a day in 1974 which happens also to be the day that Richard Nixon resigned the office of President of the United States.
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BILL W. AND DR. BOB
Sunday, January 4th, 2009RECOMMENDED
Bill W. And Dr. Bob, Samuel Shem and Janet Surrey’s biodrama about the founders of AA, has been around L.A. for quite a while now. Its current incarnation at Theatre 68 is in fact its fifth Los Angeles run and follows its 2007 New York Times-reviewed off-Broadway premiere at New World Stages. Having finally gotten the chance to see this often very moving story of the men who, almost by accident, revolutionized the treatment of alcoholism and other addictions, I can understand its popularity and appeal. Despite certain structural drawbacks and its air of “disease movie of the week,” Bill W. And Dr. Bob is both educational and entertaining, and in the second act especially, emotionally powerful.
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JANE AUSTEN UNSCRIPTED
Friday, December 19th, 2008
Improv is a tricky art form. It requires an actor’s imagination, concentration, quick thinking, and the ability to maintain a straight face no matter what is being said or done. Imagine now a group of actors improvising an entire two-act play. Quite definitely a daunting task, yet this is precisely the challenge which the sensational talents behind Impro Theatre have undertaken in their smash hit Jane Austen UnScripted.
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THE LIFE
Saturday, December 6th, 2008
The pimps and hookers of pre-Disneyfied Times Square are alive and well and still doing business in the much anticipated Los Angeles premiere of Cy Coleman’s last Broadway musical, 1997’s The Life, now in a limited run on the couldn’t-be-more-fitting Hollywood Boulevard, and directed with power and pizzazz by Joe Greene.
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THE DADDY MACHINE
Saturday, December 6th, 2008
Kids with same gender parents finally have a musical about their families–the absolutely delightful The Daddy Machine. Not that this hour-long musical comedy isn’t also great for kids growing up in so-called “traditional” families–or for adults of any age, gender, or sexual orientation. In fact, The Daddy Machine may just be the most entertaining family show around town these days.
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A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Thursday, December 4th, 2008
Jason Moyer’s fabulous gay adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is back for a return engagement with a new director (Michael A. Shepperd), a slightly tweaked book, a mostly new cast, and a whole new bigger-budgeted look and feel.
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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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