FOOTLOOSE: THE MUSICAL
Sunday, April 10th, 2011
If you’ve ever seen Kevin Bacon in Footloose, you’ve heard of Bomont, the Midwest town where high-schooler Ren McCormack discovered to his dismay that it was illegal to dance. The 1984 film introduced a heap of 80s hits, including the title song, “Let’s Hear It For the Boy,” “Almost Paradise,” “Holding Out For A Hero,” “I’m Free,” “Somebody’s Eyes,” and “The Girl Gets Around.” Fourteen years later Footloose made it to Broadway as a full-fledged musical, with most of the movie hits integrated into its story line and a bunch of new Tom Snow creations added. The resulting production ran for over 700 performances, and has since become a favorite high school and college musical.
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THE PRODUCERS
Friday, April 8th, 2011
Mel Brooks’ The Producers has arrived at Cabrillo Music Theatre with Michael Kostroff, Larry Raben, David Engel, and Sarah Cornell recreating the roles which won them raves two years ago at Musical Theatre West, and despite some flimsy-looking bus-and-truck sets this time around, the quartet’s sensational performances and those of an all-around terrific supporting cast make for a highly entertaining laugh-and-songfest.
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SUMMER OF LOVE
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011
I’ve no idea what the weather was like in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district the summer of 1967, but America’s political climate was hot indeed. The total number of U.S. troops in Vietnam had reached 475,000 with the number and size of anti-war demonstrations increasing in equal proportion on our home turf. Cleveland and Newark saw race rioting and looting in the streets and 7000 National Guard were brought in to restore law and order to a riot-ravaged Detroit. As for the San Francisco district known as The Haight, its streets and parks were full of “tribes” of pro-peace “flower children,” whose use of recreational drugs gave Haight-Ashbury the affectionately stoned nickname of “Hashbury.”
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BIG RIVER
Saturday, April 2nd, 2011
Glendale Centre Theatre’s in-the-round stage provides the perfect setting for the 1985 Tony-winning Best Musical Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, placing the audience smack dab in the middle of the Mississippi with Huck and Tom’s self-propelled raft just yards away from even the farthest onlooker.
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…AND THEN I WROTE A SONG ABOUT IT
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
Triple threat Nick Cearley dazzles as quadruple threat “Randall Klausner” in the thoroughly marvelous …And Then I Wrote A Song About It, directed to perfection by Igor Goldin at San Diego’s Diversionary Theatre.
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THE 25TH ANNUNAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
Sunday, March 20th, 2011
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Since first hearing the Original Cast Recording in 2005 and then a year and a half later getting to see the National Tour, Spelling Bee has earned the Number Three spot on my list of Most Seen Musicals, its latest incarnation at Santa Monica’s Morgan-Wixson Theatre the eighth of what may end up to be a dozen or more different Bees at the rate I’m going. And no wonder. I adore The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and treasure each chance I get to see a new group of actors put their own stamps on the sensational roles Rebecca Feldman has conceived for them.
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GLORY DAYS
Saturday, March 19th, 2011
For many of us, the best days of our lives start after high school, and if anyone doubts this, a quick look at the thousands of It Gets Better videos available for online viewing on will correct that misperception. At the same time there are those like Will in the Broadway musical Glory Days, who may spend the rest of their post-high school lives remembering how much better things were back then.
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PARADE
Friday, March 18th, 2011RECOMMENDED
Here’s a question for musical theater enthusiasts. What do five of the following six musicals—Annie, Brigadoon, Grease, Oklahoma!, Oliver, Parade—have in common and which one doesn’t belong on the list?
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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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