HAVING IT ALL
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
A group of disparate (and perhaps desperate) strangers find themselves stuck in the same space and, not surprisingly, hate each other at first sight. As the minutes tick by, however, they begin talking—out of frustration or necessity—and little by little discover how wrong their first impressions have been. By the time their enforced proximity comes to an end, bonds have been formed, friendships even, and each of these strangers comes out changed for good (in both senses of the term). A proven formula for drama, comedy, and in the case of Having It All, for an original musical now earning cheers at North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts Center.
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I LOVE YOU BECAUSE
Saturday, March 12th, 2011
I Love You Because is one of the funniest and most delightful new musicals of the past few years. It has one of the most tuneful, memorable scores you’re likely to hear this year or next. It’s also one of the most unabashedly romantic musical comedies ever. So, you may be asking yourself, “Why have I never heard of it?” to which this reviewer would add, “Why has this near perfect gem of a chamber musical comedy still not gotten its Los Angeles Premiere in the five years since it debuted off-Broadway?”
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THE NEXT FAIRY TALE
Friday, March 11th, 2011
If there were a book titled Everything I’ve Learned In Life, I’ve Learned From Fairy Tales, then what lessons could a pintsized LGBT-in-training gain from it? That Cinderella found her Prince? That a Prince awoke Sleeping Beauty with a kiss? That a kiss turned a Princess’s frog into a handsome Prince? Where’s a little boy or girl to look for fairytale inspiration when what they’re secretly dreaming of is a Prince for him, and a Princess for her?
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WICKED
Thursday, March 10th, 2011
The international smash musical sensation that is Wicked has arrived in Costa Mesa for a four-week run, two-to-four times longer than most of the Broadway Tours that play the Segerstrom Center For The Arts—and no wonder. Few musicals can rival Wicked in terms of song, romance, color, spectacle, and heart.
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CHICAGO
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
When a Broadway musical settles in for a long run on the Great White Way, it’s a pretty sure bet that your local big city CLO won’t be producing its own regional production for a good long while. That’s why you’re unlikely to see Musical Theatre West or Civic Light Opera Of South Bay Cities presenting Mamma Mia, Jersey Boys, The Lion King, Phantom Of The Opera, or Wicked anytime soon. That’s also why Inland Valley Repertory Theatre’s production of Chicago is big news indeed.
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THE WEDDING SINGER
Sunday, March 6th, 2011
Fullerton’s Maverick Theater scores a coup by staging the 2006 Tony Award-nominated musical The Wedding Singer, and an entertaining production it is—a thoroughly enjoyable two hours of music, comedy, 1980s nostalgia, and romance.
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SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
Friday, March 4th, 2011
If it’s true that money can’t buy happiness or love, then it’s also true that money can’t guarantee a successful theatrical endeavor, the best example being the money pit that Spider Man: Turn Off The Dark has turned into. $65 million as of last count, which was back in November, so goodness (or in this case badness) only knows how much its cost has risen to as of March 2011. By the same token, terrific theater can be made for a pittance, as proven by Still Hungry Theater’s on-a-shoestring intimate revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Sunday At The Park With George.
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ROCK OF AGES
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
The ‘80s have taken over the O.C. as the Broadway smash Rock Of Ages arrives at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center For The Arts. Long-haired rock stars, big-haired rock babes, and the hits of Styx, Journey, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Steve Perry, Poison and Asia come together with a wisp of a jukebox musical plot to make for two hours and twenty minutes of joyous nostalgia and hard rock “noize” (as in Quiet Riot’s 1983 cover of “Cum On Feel the Noize.”)
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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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