SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE
Friday, April 16th, 2010
Michael John LaChiusa’s See What I Wanna See is not your grandmother’s musical. There’s no star-struck romantic couple. There are no melodic love songs. There’s not a single dance number. No chorus line. No strings in the orchestra. And not a happy ending in sight.
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HAIRSPRAY
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
It’s been five years since Hairspray has been anywhere near L.A., so the arrival of the long-running National Tour at Costa Mesa’s Orange County Performing Arts Center is exciting news indeed. This fabulous touring production features lead and supporting actors who create memorable characters and a team of young triple-threats who sing and dance Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s tuneful songs to deserved audience cheers.
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INTO THE WOODS
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
Anyone interested in getting a preview of tomorrow’s musical theater stars today could do no better than to check out the USC School Of Theatre’s current production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into The Woods, performed CLO-scale and directed by Emmy, Tony, Drama Desk, Ovation and LADCC Award-winning John Rubinstein (Broadway’s original Pippin). Like last year’s sensational Brigadoon, also directed by Rubinstein, Into The Woods is a terrifically performed treat, and one that does justice to its brilliant source material.
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ALTAR BOYZ
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
I have a confession to make. I’m in love with Altar Boyz. The Boyz themselves and the musical that bears their name. Since discovering the Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording in 2005 (which I’ve listened to more times that I could possibly count), I’ve had the thrill of seeing the show’s First National Tour, two regional productions, Altar Boyz’ first L.A. intimate theater staging, and now, a sensational Altar Boyz #5 at Santa Ana’s OC Pavilion, a production which puts the Boyz back on the big stage where the shows probably fits best.
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URINETOWN
Saturday, March 27th, 2010
Musicals with one-word titles are a grand Broadway traditon. There’s Annie, Brigadoon, Cabaret, Dreamgirls, Grease, Hair, Kismet, Mame, Oklahoma!, Oliver!, Pippin, and Rent—to name just a dozen. Still, neither Rodgers and Hammerstein nor Jerry Herman nor Lerner and Lowe could ever in their wildest of dreams have conceived of titling a musical Urinetown. From its one-of-kind title alone, you know from the get-go that Urinetown is not going to be your parents’ or grandparents’ musical.
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VIOLET
Friday, March 26th, 2010
Besides offering audiences some of the finest musical theater productions around, Los Angeles and its environs house some of the country’s finest university level musical theater programs. Just check the performers’ bios the next time you see a show at a local CLO and you’ll find ample proof of the caliber of triple-threats UCLA, USC, Cal State Fullerton, and UC Irvine (to name just four) are turning out.
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SWEENEY TODD
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
Downsizing may be the best thing that’s ever happened to Stephen Sondeheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. First came the 2004 London-to-New York transfer that had a cast of ten actor-musicians who not only performed the roles but became the show’s onstage orchestra. More true to its source material than that this “high-concept” revival was The Production Company’s brilliant 2009 downscaling (once again to ten actors) in North Hollywood’s 34-seat Chandler Studio Theatre. To this reviewer, at least, The ProdCo’s “Teeney Todd” felt more like the real thing than its West End-Broadway counterpart, and the same holds true with Cygnet Theatre Company’s superb eleven-actor midsized revival down in Old Town San Diego.
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A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
What a difference a director, a cast, and an orchestra can make! The Reprise! Theatre Company production of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum is the third I’ve reviewed in less than two years, and though numbers one and two were each excellent in their own way, David Lee’s direction, an all-Equity cast, and a 22-piece orchestra elevate this Forum to a whole new level of brilliance.
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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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