THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG
Saturday, October 9th, 2010
Two years after Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical Chapter Two chronicled the widowed playwright’s second-chanceat-happiness marriage to Marsha Mason, his They’re Playing Our Song brought to the Broadway stage a fictionalized version of another real-life romance, that of songwriting partners Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager, this time told as a musical comedy featuring a dozen original songs by the selfsame team.
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THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
Saturday, October 2nd, 2010
Since discovering USC’s Musical Theatre Repertory nearly three years ago with their sensational intimate staging of Sunday In The Park With George, I’ve tried never to miss an MTR production. Unlike USC mainstage productions, MTR shows are entirely student produced, directed, designed, and performed, thereby providing sneak previews of future Broadway/regional theater on-and-offstage talents. With veteran MTR members graduating each June and moving on to professional careers, every new school year introduces a fresh batch of Trojan theater majors every bit as talented as their predecessors, something MTR’s current production of William Finn’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee makes perfectly clear.
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NO, NO, NANETTE
Friday, October 1st, 2010
“Tea For Two” and “I Want To Be Happy,” two of the biggest hits of the 1920s, made their Broadway debut eighty-five years ago in No, No, Nanette, a show that won a grand total of four big Tony Awards—not in its original Broadway engagement but forty-six years later in a revival that ran almost three times longer than the original. For this reason alone, No, No, Nanette is worthy of attention, even in 2010, and 21st Century theatergoers now have the chance to discover this little bit of Broadway nostalgia at the Downey Civic Light Opera.
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SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN
Friday, September 24th, 2010
1920s matinee idol Don Lockwood is once again “walkin’ down the lane with a happy refrain” as the Norris Center For The Performing Arts presents the live stage adaptation of the MGM musical Singin’ In The Rain in an all-around terrific production sure to delight theater and movie buffs of all ages.
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MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
Saturday, September 18th, 2010
For a show that lasted only sixteen performances in its original 1981 Broadway run, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along has had a remarkable “afterlife.” Over the past three decades, there’s probably not an American musical theater company that hasn’t staged it at least once. This reviewer alone has seen five productions of Merrily in the last four and a half years, Actors Co-op’s current revival being the latest and quite possibly the overall best of the bunch—and that’s saying a lot.
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YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
When the very first Broadway musical for which you write book, music, and lyrics wins a record-breaking twelve Tony awards and runs for over 2500 performances, what do you do for an encore?
If you’re Mel Brooks, your follow-up to The Producers is Young Frankenstein, and though the comic master’s sophomore musical ran less than 500 performances, it’s nonetheless a tuneful, laugh-filled treat for Brooks fans and horror buffs alike.
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MISS SAIGON
Saturday, September 11th, 2010
One of Broadway’s biggest smash hits of the 1990s, Miss Saigon, now lights up the nights at the San Diego-adjacent Moonlight Amphitheatre with its blend of war, romance, gorgeous melodies, and show-stopping production numbers. In a production directed with sensitivity and dazzle by Steven Glaudini and starring Jennifer Paz in the role which won her the 2008 Ovation Award as Best Actress In A Musical, Miss Saigon provides Broadway pizzazz and operatic passion in equal measure.
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THE BEDROOM WINDOW
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
REVIEW UPDATE:
There’s a reason why Broadway musicals have out-of-town tryouts and weeks of previews before opening to the New York press. Creating a new musical requires the kind of tweaking that only performances in front of live audiences can suggest. Scenes may need to be cut or rewritten, old songs may have to make way for new ones, and cast changes may need to be made.
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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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