LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
Friday, September 4th, 2026
Even last-minute improvised emergency lighting couldn’t dim the opening night excitement at Altadena Music Theatre’s all-around fabulous open-air revival of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s Little Shop Of Horrors.
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NEXT TO NORMAL
Saturday, August 22nd, 2026
Next To Normal has arrived at the Hudson Backstage for an all-too-short 4-performance run that more than does justice to the powerful, deeply moving multiple Tony Award winner.
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RIDE THE CYCLONE
Tuesday, August 11th, 2026 
Triple-threat performances by a super-talented Gen Z cast score a solid A from this Boomer, but having now seen two different productions of Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond’s Ride The Cyclone, the best I can give the musical itself is a C-.
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FROZEN
Tuesday, August 11th, 2026
The Broadway musical Frozen may not be nearly as preschool-kids-friendly as Disney’s The Little Mermaid or Beauty And The Beast, but Torrance Theatre Company once again gives professional regional theaters stiff competition with their splendidly performed and gorgeous-to-look-at big-stage production of the 2018 Broadway hit.
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MARY POPPINS
Saturday, August 8th, 2026
Carter Thomas not only proves himself a director par excellence, he gives silver screen greats like Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and Dick Van Dyke a run for their dance showmanship as Bert (the role Van Dyke originated on screen) in Highlands Theater’s magical and mesmerizing revival of the Broadway smash Mary Poppins.
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GREASE
Friday, August 7th, 2026
I’ve seen eleven different productions of Grease, but none of them has reached the heights of Altadena Music Theatre’s thrillingly innovative under-the-stars reinvention of the 1972 Broadway smash.
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THE FULL MONTY
Friday, July 31st, 2026
The sextet of laid-off upstate New York factory workers with plans to offer Buffalo gals a night they’ll never forget are at it again, but this time round they’re doing it in the round in The Nocturne Theatre’s inventively staged revival of Terrence McNally and David Yazbek’s 2000 Broadway hit musical The Full Monty.
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APPLAUSE
Saturday, July 25th, 2026
Leslie Stevens and Savannah Mortenson deliver matching star turns as Margo Channing and Eve Harrington in the Group Rep’s Summer of 2026 revival of Applause, but the stage adaptation of the Hollywood classic All About Eve pales in comparison to its fellow 1970s Best Musical Tony winners Company, A Little Night Music, A Chorus Line, and Sweeney Todd.
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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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