ABOVE THE LINE
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
a•bove-the-line: (ə-bŭv’-THə-līn’) adj. the part of a film’s budget that covers the costs associated with major creative talent: the stars, the director, the producer(s) and the writer(s)
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SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM
Sunday, March 14th, 2010
Yes, Virginia, there was a Stephen Sondheim before Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday In The Park with George, Into The Woods, Assassins, Dick Tracy, and Passion—as the 1976 musical revue Side By Side By Sondheim makes perfectly clear.
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WIREHEAD
Sunday, February 21st, 2010RECOMMENDED
Anyone thirty-five or older can remember a time in their teenage or adult lives when they functioned quite well without the Internet or a cell phone. Those days are long gone, prompting most of us of a certain age to wonder how we ever did without. Our lives have become so technology-dependent that that if a person’s cell phone doesn’t have Internet access (heaven forbid!), he or she is seriously behind the times. (I need to get with it on this!)
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CAVE QUEST
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010RECOMMENDED
Did you ever see that Coca Cola commercial from 1970s, the one that had a couple thousand peace-seeking grownups and kids warbling “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony”? Well, that’s basically Justin Yi’s motivation in climbing to the top of the Himalayas in Les Thomas’ new play Cave Quest. To be more specific, the young Asian American wants to teach the world to “find inner peace” by means of a $49.99 video game. The key to Justin’s achieving this goal is a “legendary” Buddhist nun named Padma—who just happens to have started out a small-town Fresno girl named Ruby Riyono.
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SEASCAPE WITH SHARKS AND DANCER
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
A young man pulls a young woman out of the ocean and brings her back to his rundown Provincetown beach house. He says she was drowning; she says she was dancing. From the get-go, romantic sparks seem to be flying between them. Their repartee recalls those screwball comedies of the 1930s, but the year is 1975 and there are hints that the young woman’s playfully argumentative nature hides a darker side. There’s also the engagement ring she finds hidden in a desk drawer that suggests that the young man too may carry emotional baggage.
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URINETOWN
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
USC’s Musical Theatre Repertory proves once again (in the immortal words of The Who) that “the kids are alright” with their latest production, the 2001 Broadway hit musical Urinetown.
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ORPHEUS DESCENDING
Friday, January 15th, 2010
Frantic Redhead Productions’ presentation of Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending is a prime example of Los Angeles theater at its finest. A big-name trio of leading players with serious theatrical credits and training, a gifted director with an inspired concept, and one of the finest design teams in town have combined forces to make one of Williams’ lesser known dramas not only a surefire hit but the first major artistic success of 2010 as well.
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ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD
Sunday, January 10th, 2010RECOMMENDED
After staging ten Shakespeare productions over the past three years, The Porters Of Hellsgate are for the first time paying royalties. Not that they really had to leave the public domain, there still being a few dozen more Shakespeare plays left for the talented young troupe of Bard-o-philes to produce and perform. On the other hand, having chosen Hamlet as production number ten, their decision to run Shakespeare’s Greatest Play in rotating rep with Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead (with the same casts no less) was an inspired one.
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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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