THE MOST HAPPY FELLA
Friday, April 5th, 2013
Advisory to all musical theater lovers in Los Angeles and beyond: Run, don’t walk, to USC’s Bing Theatre this week and next to catch Frank Loesser’s 1956 Broadway musical drama The Most Happy Fella in a production the likes of which you are unlikely to see any time soon (or even not that soon).
Now before you say, “But I don’t see student productions,” allow me to point out that this is USC’s prestigious School Of Dramatic Arts, many of whose grads have gone on to star on Broadway and beyond. Not only that, but The Most Happy Fella has been impeccably directed by Tony winner John Rubinstein and choreographed with athleticism and panache by two-time Ovation Award nominee Lili Fuller (herself a recent USC grad), and it features a full pit orchestra under the baton of award-winning musical director Alby Potts. Talk about credentials!
(read more)
ON THE SPECTRUM
Friday, March 29th, 2013
Young man with Asperger syndrome and young woman with autism fall in love to his single mom’s dismay.
Rarely has a play had as Hollywood-ready a “log line” as On The Spectrum, now getting its West Coast Premiere at The Fountain Theatre, and though Ken LaZebnik’s dramedy is not at the level of the stellar production it is being given at the Fountain, a pair of breathtaking lead performances and an extraordinary video/sound design are more than enough put it on every L.A. theater lover’s must-see list.
(read more)
TENDER NAPALM
Tuesday, March 12th, 2013
The East London exes of Philip Ridley’s Tender Napalm could give the long-married spouses of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? a lesson in how to use language as both weapon and aphrodisiac, or so Los Angeles audiences can now discover in the sensational West Coast Premiere of Ridley’s surreal romantic tragedy at the downtown warehouse-turned-performance space Six-01 Studio.
(read more)
DAVID DEAN BOTTRELL IS WORKING
Thursday, March 7th, 2013
You’ve undoubtedly heard it said that “Everyone has at least one good book in them.” Substitute “solo performance” for book and you’re in Hollywood, and if you should happen to doubt my words, you’ve only to check out how many One-Man or One-Woman Shows there are every summer at the Fringe Festival.
Still, despite this solo performance glut, there aren’t that many you’d actually pay good money to see, all the more reason to celebrate the return of story-telling master David Dean Bottrell, who not only has a Scenie-winning Solo Performance in him, he’s got a wingdinger of a follow-up to it, entitled simply David Dean Bottrell Is Working.
(read more)
THE TROUBLE WITH WORDS
Monday, March 4th, 2013
What do you do when you’ve won your second Ovation Award (for music directing The Color Purple) a mere twelve months after winning Ovation Number One for the music and lyrics of your original song cycle The Trouble With Words … and you’ve only just turned thirty?
The answer, if you’re Gregory Nabours, is to revisit The Trouble With Words in a smartly tweaked 2013 production for Coeurage Theatre Company, one which features the talents of its original director and band and most of its original cast, along with four new songs and a brand new choreographer and design team, all of this adding up to a TTWW 2.0 even more splendiferous than it was the first time round.
(read more)
STAY ON THE LINE: A Rock Musical
Saturday, March 2nd, 2013RECOMMENDED
A crisis hotline center serves as the setting for Stay On The Line: A Rock Musical, a revised remounting of a 2001 Cal State Fullerton project and one that works best as a showcase for its phenomenally talented cast of mostly 20something triple threats under the direction of Crystal K. Craft and Scott Mlodzinski.
(read more)
A FAMILY THING
Tuesday, February 19th, 2013
Alcoholism, drug addiction, childhood abuse, homophobia, racism, and murder would hardly seem a recipe for laughter, yet despite its dramatic underpinnings, Gary Lennon’s World Premiere A Family Thing turns out to be one of the funniest shows in town. It’s also one of the best acted, and one L.A. playgoers in search of a dark, gritty, yet thoroughly entertaining hour-and-a-half of theater won’t want to miss.
(read more)
CHRISTMAS IN HANOI
Friday, February 15th, 2013
East West Players takes a chance on something new—a ghost story set in contemporary Vietnam—and comes up with a winner in Eddie Borey’s Christmas In Hanoi. As brought to life by a topnotch creative team, Borey’s EWP’s playwriting competition-winning script makes for a strong 2013 opener for the country’s premier Asian-American theater.
(read more)
Since 2007, Steven Stanley's StageSceneLA.com has spotlighted the best in Southern California theater via reviews, interviews, and its annual StageSceneLA Scenies.
COPYRIGHT 2025 STEVEN STANLEY :: DESIGN BY