DAMES AT SEA
Sunday, June 23rd, 201942nd Street meets Anything Goes in Sierra Madre Playhouse’s deliciously campy Dames At Sea, a nonstop song-and-dance extravaganza guaranteed to put a smile on your face and a tap in your step.
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A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER
Sunday, June 9th, 2019Lead performances to rival those of the original Broadway and touring casts and an ingeniously scaled-down production design are two very good reasons not to miss the hilarious salute to homicide that is Actors’ Repertory Theatre Of Simi’s A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder, the murderously mirthful quadruple-Tony-winning Best Musical of 2014.
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THE PAJAMA GAME
Friday, June 7th, 2019Racially diverse casting skyrockets a sixty-five-year-old Broadway classic into the 21st century without sacrificing an iota of its Golden Era charm in UCI Claire Trevor School Of The Arts’ big-stage, big-talent revival of 1954’s The Pajama Game.
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DISNEY BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Sunday, June 2nd, 2019Laurie Veldheer and Todd Adamson are simply sublime in La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment’s Disney Beauty And The Beast, the all-around best and most spectacular of the six big-stage regional productions I’ve seen so far.
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CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Wednesday, May 29th, 2019The Broadway National Tour of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory scores points for its colorful performances and sets (and for its singing-dancing Oompa Loompas), but audiences looking for characters they can care about, a plot that will maintain their interest, and songs they’ll want to hear more than once won’t find them at the Segerstrom Center For The Arts.
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SHOOTING STAR – A REVEALING NEW MUSICAL
Sunday, May 26th, 2019If there’s anything gay men adore, it’s musical theater and porn, just two of the reasons why Shooting Star – A Revealing New Musical, a Hudson Mainstage World Premiere, is the gay porn musical event of this or any other year.
BRONCO BILLY THE MUSICAL
Sunday, May 19th, 2019An heiress on the run finds an unexpected hideout and a unique new family of friends while being pursued by a gang of comic villains who can’t manage to shoot straight in the infectiously crowd-pleasing World Premiere musical Bronco Billy, quite possibly the most tuneful and entertaining L.A.-cast Broadway hopeful since Sister Act made its Pasadena Playhouse debut back in 2006.
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MAMMA MIA!
Friday, May 17th, 2019An all-POC cast (primarily Asian, significantly Filipino), inspired direction, electrifying choreography, and the most gorgeous of production designs breathe fresh new life into East West Players’ thrillingly trailblazing Mamma Mia!, the all-around best of the many MM!s I’ve seen.
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