A RUBICON FAMILY CHRISTMAS
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
When I was a kid, my Decembers were brightened and my holiday spirit heightened by much-anticipated yearly TV Christmas specials, hosted by Andy Williams, Perry Como, and Dinah Shore, sponsored by Kraft Foods, and “brought to you in living color on NBC.” The Rubicon Theatre brings back those days with its lovingly conceived and terrifically performed A Rubicon Family Christmas. Though L.A. stages are currently filled to the brim with A Christmas Carols and holiday themed comedies, the Rubicon is the place to go for music of the season, especially as performed by six of the finest musical theater talents the Southland has to offer.
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RESPECT: THE GIRL EM-POWERED MUSICAL
Thursday, July 24th, 2008
Time was when a woman was nothing without a man, and if she ever made the mistake of throwing the bum out, it was only a matter of time until she took all the blame and begged him to return. Need proof? Just sing a few bars of “Bill Bailey Won’t You Please Come Home?” and you’ll see how true this was back at the turn of the last century:
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IT’S ONLY LIFE
Saturday, June 21st, 2008
In 2005 I paid my first visit to Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre, to see its justly lauded production of Jason Robert Brown’s musical revue Songs For A New World. Now, a bit more than three years later, the Rubicon has become one of my favorite Southland theaters and (despite outlandish gasoline prices) still worth the drive north, especially when the production being presented is as sensational as 2008’s musical revue, John Bucchino’s It’s Only Life. In fact, it’s only distance and gas prices that prevent me from seeing It’s Only Life a second, or even third time.
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TINTYPES
Saturday, March 1st, 2008
On Broadway, Tintypes received three Tony nominations including Best Musical
of 1981, but it ran only 93 performances. Had Marsha Moode directed it, it
might very well have run 993 performances and won all those Tonys. That’s
how sensational Moode’s Tintypes “revisal,” the current production of the
Downey Civic Light opera, is. Moode, following numerous accomplishments as
DCLO’s director extraordinare, now has her biggest artistic success so far.
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AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’
Saturday, January 5th, 2008
Five terrifically talented singers, a virtuoso piano player, and a sensational
onstage band combine forces with the music of Fats Waller to get the joint (i.e.
the Thousand Oaks Civics Arts Plaza) jumpin’ in Ain’t Misbehavin’, the
Southland’s first CLO production of 2008. If this show is any indication, this looks
to be the start of a fantastic year of musical theater for Angelenos.
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WINTER WONDERETTES
Thursday, December 6th, 2007
In a town where a 3-4 month run in a 99-seat theater can be considered a
smashing success, The Marvelous Wonderettes’ 16 month run at the El Portal
is nothing short of miraculous, and proof positive that even in much
maligned L.A., if you stage it right, they will come.
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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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