WATSON
Friday, July 29th, 2011
You don’t have to be a Sherlock Holmes fan to deem Jaime Robledo’s Watson theatrical magic, as its return engagement at Sacred Fools Theater Company makes abundantly clear. No wonder Watson (aka The Last Great Tale Of The Legendary Sherlock Holmes) won a pair of coveted LA Weekly Awards—for Robledo’s direction and Henry Dittman’s bravura comedic work—in its initial run last fall. Robledo’s comedy thrills and astonishes again and again, making its midsummer encore the best possible news for Los Angeles theatergoers in the mood to be dazzled.
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BLACKBIRD
Monday, July 25th, 2011
A 30ish woman confronts the 60ish man who had sex with her when she was only 12 in David Harrower’s harrowing Blackbird, now shocking, disturbing, and dare I say entertaining audiences in equal measure in its Los Angeles premiere by Rogue Machine Theatre.
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THE INSIDIOUS IMPACT OF ANTON
Sunday, July 24th, 2011
You could hardly call Francesca “The Girl Who Has Everything,” but she for one is not complaining. She has a job and a small circle of sort-of friends, and while she doesn’t have a husband or a boyfriend, what she does have is a life which includes “people, cable, books on occasion, sex when required. And an apartment that always gets compliments.” And then she meets Anton.
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RE-ANIMATOR: THE MUSICAL
Sunday, July 10th, 2011
Every so often a show comes along that attracts audiences who’d never ordinarily set foot inside a legitimate theater, let alone for a musical, heaven forbid. Rare examples of these surprise cult hits include Spamalot, which drew in Monty Python fans in droves; Joe’s Garage, which had Frank Zappa fans lined up around the corner at Open Fist; and now Re-Animator™-The Musical, which opened in February for a six-week run at the Steve Allen Theatre and has been packing them in since then.
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A DEATH IN COLOMBIA
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011
It takes particular skill to write a thriller for the stage. Playwrights can’t rely on chase sequences or camera angles or other cinematic tricks as screenwriters can. Their task becomes all the more difficult if the stage thriller they’re writing is to unfold in real time on a single set with only a handful of characters. Add to the above a political theme, and you’ve got a doozy of a writing assignment.
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BROADSWORD: A HEAVY METAL PLAY
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
Sixteen years ago, four young New Jerseyans dreamed of a heavy metal stardom that would transport them far away from the Podunk town of Rahway. Then, as these things happen, their lead singer got a too-good-to-resist offer of a solo career and the remaining three were left to pick up the pieces. Now, a decade and a half later one of the the foursome is dead (or at the very least presumed dead), and his surviving bandmates have reunited for his memorial.
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BAKERSFIELD MIST
Friday, June 24th, 2011
If there’s anyone with whom most Los Angeles theatergoers would surely not want to change places, it would probably be Maude Gutman of Bakersfield, the heroine of Stephen Sachs’ impressive World Premiere comedy Bakersfield Mist, now playing at the Fountain Theatre. Not only would the mere idea of living without a hundred or more plays to choose from each week be eminently resistible, a mere glance at the rundown knickknack-filled trailer Maude calls (mobile) home would provoke a spontaneous urge to hightail it back to L.A. asap.
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WORKING
Sunday, June 5th, 2011
What A Chorus Line is to Broadway dancers, Working is to the American work force, a musical salute to the cleaning women, iron workers, masons, mill workers, supermarket checkers, teachers, waitresses and countless others who have built America and kept it strong.
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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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