BAT BOY THE MUSICAL
Thursday, October 9th, 2008NOT RECOMMENDED
In the eleven years since Bat Boy: The Musical began its life here in L.A. at the Actors’ Gang Theatre, it has gone on to be produced Off-Broadway, in London’s West End, at the Edinburgh Festival and in dozens of regional and international productions. The original L.A. production received four Ovation Awards, and Off-Broadway it won both the Lucille Lortel Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award as Best Musical. The revised London script is now getting its first local staging in a production which I wish I could say is worthy of the material.
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FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIRE DE LUNE
Thursday, September 4th, 2008
Frankie and Johnny were lovers and (as the song goes), “Oh Lordy, how they could love,” that is until she caught Johnny cheating on her “with that high-browed Nellie Bly” and shot him dead.
Fortunately, things are a good deal more hopeful for the lovers in Terrence McNally’s moving two-character, two-act dramedy, Frankie And Johnny In The Clair De Lune, now playing at International City Theatre in Long Beach. With the superb Libby West and Thomas Fiscella in the title roles and master director Todd Nielsen at the helm, ICT’s production proves to be one of their finest.
THE WIZARD OF OZ
Saturday, July 12th, 2008
“We’re off to see the wizard!”
Children of all ages (and that means parents and grandparents too) will be following the yellow brick road from now until July 27 as Musical Theatre West concludes its 55th season with its very first staging of the L. Frank Baum/MGM classic.
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THE SWEEPERS
Thursday, June 19th, 2008
ICT has yet another winner in the West Coast premiere of The Sweepers, the first of John C. Picardi’s proposed 10-play cycle focusing on the Italian American experience. Set in the summer of 1945, The Sweepers begins as a Neil Simonesque comedy about squabbling female neighbors in Boston’s Italian neighborhood, then in its final quarter veers into Arthur Miller territory. That this startling transition from comedy to drama happens organically, and not as if from another play entirely, is thanks to the very real characters Picardi has created, and the superb performances of the cast ICT has assembled.
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PARK YOUR CAR IN HARVARD YARD
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
Theatergoers who made the recent production of Trying a monster hit for the Colony Theatre are hereby advised to head on down to Long Beach for International City Theatre’s superb revival of Israel Horovitz’ 1981 two-hander, Park Your Car In Harvard Yard. Like Trying, Park Your Car takes two people who are different in every possible way (age, sex, education, religion, family background, etc.), puts them in the same space, and lets the sparks fly. Like Trying, affords an actor in his eighties the part of a lifetime. Like Trying, the actress playing opposite said actor gets the gift of a role so richly drawn that sinking her teeth into it proves a veritable feast, both for the actress and for the audience.
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THE ANDREWS BROTHERS
Sunday, April 20th, 2008
Musical Theatre West has come up with the perfect musical for those who found last year’s Altar Boyz a bit too young and edgy for their tastes. In fact, the highly entertaining The Andrews Brothers is the kind of show which the older you are, the more you will love.
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ALL SHOOK UP
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
If there were more justice in the world of Broadway theater, All Shook Up
would now be in its third year of playing there to standing ovations. It has a
clever and very funny book by Joe DiPietro. Ken Robertson and Sergio Trujillo
came up with a bunch of sensational dances. It featured a truly star-making
performance by Cheyenne Jackson and an equally stellar supporting cast.
Most notable of all, it was built around two dozen songs made famous by Elvis
Presley, in other words, some of the most recognizable, hummable hits ever on
a Broadway stage.
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CABARET
Friday, February 8th, 2008
When a musical has been around as long as John Kander and Fred Ebb’s
Cabaret has (the original Broadway production opened in 1966), it becomes a
show that most veteran theatergoers have seen multiple times. Thus,
whenever a new production opens, it is up to the performers and director to
keep it fresh and vital. I’m pleased to report that International City Theatre’s
Cabaret features a trio of fine lead performances and a director whose
concept and vision distinguish this Cabaret from others which have come
before.
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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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