THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
The projects are alive with the sound of music in Tim Acito’s adaptation of Gloria Naylor’s The Women Of Brewster Place, but don’t expect any “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens” or “cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels” anywhere in the vicinity of the walled-in housing development where these women lead their dreary, heartbreaking, and heartache-plagued lives. Times are indeed tough for Mattie, Etta Mae, Kiswana, Lorraine, Tee, Cora Lee, Mavis, and Sophie, but they’ve got their music—and each other—to pull themselves through.
(read more)
JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
It’s taken me twenty-eight years to see my first production of 1982’s Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (and even longer if you count the show’s pre-Broadway incarnations), and now, having finally experienced the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical on the great big stage of the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, it’s rainbow clear to me why the Joseph has become an international phenomenon. The show is one hundred minutes of pure, unadulterated, Technicolor music and fun.
(read more)
NINE
Sunday, April 25th, 2010
When Rob Marshall’s movie adaptation of Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston’s Nine came out last year, many reviewers and moviegoers shook their heads. Could this film (rated a mere 6.2 by imdb.com users and a dismal 49/100 by major media reviewers*) actually have been nominated for twelve Tonys and won five (including Best Musical and Best Score) when it debuted as a Broadway musical in 1982? What did the original show have that Marshall’s movie lacked?
(read more)
STARMITES
Saturday, April 24th, 2010
Here’s a trivia question for all you musical theater buffs out there. Name a Broadway musical (within the last quarter century) nominated for six Tony awards including Best Musical—that absolutely no one has heard of.
(read more)
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
Friday, April 23rd, 2010
Audrey II, the “strange and interesting plant” that made his/her/its? first appearance way back in Roger Corman’s 1960 Z-movie classic, is back, newly arrived in Thousand Oaks for a two-week visit with much voracious munching on his/her/its cannibalistic mind—and you all know what that means. “They may offer you lots of cheap thrills, fancy condos in Beverly Hills, but whatever they offer you, don’t feed the plants!”
(read more)
THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
Quite possibly the biggest L.A. theater success story of past decade has been that of The Marvelous Wonderettes, Roger Bean’s wonderfully marvelous look back at the pop music of the 1950s and ‘60s as sung by a quartet of high school girls at their 1958 prom and their 1968 class reunion. From its original incarnation (a 45-minute workshop in Milwaukee) to its two-year run at North Hollywood’s El Portal Theatre to its successful off-Broadway engagement, The Marvelous Wonderettes has truly conquered the American musical theater world.
(read more)
DREAMGIRLS
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
Dreamgirls is back, bigger, brighter, bolder, and more dazzling than ever. In fact, the National Tour which has just begun a two-week run at Costa Mesa’s Orange County Performing Arts Center is one of the most visually spectacular and spectacularly performed touring productions ever. In many ways, it’s in a class all by itself.
(read more)
BUDDY—THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY
Saturday, April 17th, 2010
February 3, 1959 will forever be known in the world of Rock & Roll as “the day the music died,” for it was on that date that 22-year-old Buddy Holly lost his life in a plane crash just five miles from Clear Lake, Iowa’s Surf Ballroom, the site of the pop star’s final concert.
(read more)
Since 2007, Steven Stanley's StageSceneLA.com has spotlighted the best in Southern California theater via reviews, interviews, and its annual StageSceneLA Scenies.
COPYRIGHT 2026 STEVEN STANLEY :: DESIGN BY