NYMPHONY IN 12D
Saturday, May 24th, 2008NOT RECOMMENDED
Apartment 12-D tenant Brick Wilson (Rusty Hamrick) is the biggest up-and-coming opera singer in the Ansonia Hotel, which isn’t saying much. His best role so far has been that of the bearded lady in a zarzuela. Brick is frequently visited by a beauteous (though occasionally invisible) nymph (Beth Whitney), whose mission is to inspire him to greatness. Unfortunately for the nymph, Brick is gay, so her beauteousness is pretty much lost on him.
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BOISE U.S.A.
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008RECOMMENDED
The 1950s are often thought of as “happy days” for the U.S., yet a closer look reveals a not so happy picture for many Americans of the era. Segregation was the law in the once Confederate South, liberal minded Americans were being branded Communists by Senator Joe McCarthy and his ilk, and in Boise, Idaho, another albeit less famous witch-hunt was underway.
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PIPPIN
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
East West Players has a long tradition of staging well known musicals which would normally feature “traditional” casting, shows like Stephen Sondheim’s Passion, Follies, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, and Sweeney Todd, and casting them with Asian actors who might under other circumstances be overlooked for the roles. This year, it’s Stephen (Wicked) Schwartz whose work is center stage, and the results are, as might be expected from EWP’s sterling track record, sensational.
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A HOUSE WITH NO WALLS
Sunday, May 11th, 2008
Playwright Thomas Gibbons completes his trilogy about black/white relations in the United States with A House With No Walls, the latest production of the Robey Theatre Company. The Robey, which was named after the great African American actor/singer/civil rights pioneer Paul Robeson, dedicates itself to producing plays about the African American experience. A House With No Walls fulfills the Robey’s mission with an engrossing drama which spans over 200 years and features black and white characters with a wide range of political points of view. It is likely that virtually everyone in the audience will identify with at least one of the people on stage. That Thomas Gibbons happens to be white is merely a footnote, so authentic and well-written are his characters.
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AND HER HAIR WENT WITH HER
Friday, May 9th, 2008
Tonya Pinkins and Tracie Thoms are two actresses who could get together on a stage and captivate audiences merely by reading the proverbial phone book. Performing in a winner of a play like Zina Camblin’s And Her Hair Went With Her, the duo is theatrical magic.
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THIRD GRADE REUNION
Friday, May 2nd, 2008When not busy with his communications major/advertising minor, USC senior Brent Lomas has a passion for musical theater. Lomas currently serves as one of the artistic directors of SC’s Musical Theatre Repertory, which in January debuted a splendid production of Sunday In The Park With George. A finalist in the USC Jonathan Larson Songwriting Contest, Lomas is currently putting the finishing touches on the book, music, and lyrics of his very first musical, entitled Third Grade Reunion. This past weekend marked the show’s initial workshopping, to an audience of enthusiastic parents, friends, and supporters of musical theater.
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A PIECE OF TIN
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
Who would have thought that an original musical about Queen Victoria, with book, music, and lyrics by an unknown writer, would turn out to be a tuneful, funny, and emotionally moving surprise?
A Piece Of Tin, by Rhett Judice, is all three.
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CORPUS CHRISTI
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
MCCV’s brilliantly directed and exquisitely performed production of Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi is currently thrilling audiences at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, moving them to laughter and tears as it did the many Southern (and Northern) Californians who saw it over the course of its one year journey to Scotland.
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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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