PICK OF THE VINE 2019
Monday, January 21st, 2019Pick Of The Vine ups the quirky a bit too much in 2019, the main reason why, for this reviewer at least, only about half of Little Fish Theatre’s annual collection of “This Year’s Best Short Plays” hit the mark the way almost all of last year’s did.
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ELF THE MUSICAL
Saturday, December 1st, 2018
After taking the movies by storm in 2003 and winning Broadway’s heart seven years later, Buddy The Elf has traveled by iceberg to Long Beach to offer Musical Theatre West audiences the season’s most delightful musical treat for grown-ups and kids alike.
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A SPLINTERED SOUL
Monday, October 22nd, 2018World War II Holocaust survivors and Los Angeles theater audiences deserve far better than the preposterously plotted 1940s B-movie melodramatics of Long Beach playwright Alan L. Brooks’ A Splintered Soul, a major misfire from the almost always stellar International City Theatre.
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BRIGHT STAR
Monday, October 22nd, 2018
Gorgeous bluegrass melodies, a leading lady’s incandescent star turn, all-around terrific supporting performances, ingenious staging, and a plot straight out of a 1930s/40s Hollywood weeper will have you crying joyful tears that Musical Theatre West has made Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s Bright Star its 66th season opener.
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THE GLASS MENAGERIE
Friday, August 31st, 2018
The Glass Menagerie is in expert hands as International City Theatre revives the masterpiece that first put Tennessee Williams’ name on the map, giving it a 74th-anniversary revival sparked by impeccable direction, striking design, and performances that breathe fresh new life into a classic.
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YANKEE DOODLE DANDY
Monday, July 9th, 2018A talented cast do their best to breathe life into Musical Theatre West’s Yankee Doodle Dandy, a well-intentioned but ill-conceived look back at the life of George M. Cohan, the father of 20th-century musical comedy.
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THE 39 STEPS
Saturday, June 23rd, 2018
Richard Hannay is on the run again in Patrick Barlow’s masterful four-actor comedic adaptation of John Buchan’s The 39 Steps, as supremely imaginative an evening of theater as you’re likely to experience any time soon.
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DO RE MI
Monday, June 4th, 2018It’s precisely for shows like Do Re Mi that Musical Theatre West’s Reiner Reading Series was created, Broadway chestnuts that for one reason or another have faded from memory despite Tony recognition and decent runs, and with Daniel Smith directing a crème-de-la-crème cast at Long Beach’s Beverly O’Neill Theatre, Do Re Mi’s one-night-only concert staged reading provided more than a few delights.
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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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