THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Thursday, July 21st, 2016
If you’re one of the gazillion who’ve watched Julie Andrews declare the Austrian hills “alive with the sound of” you know what, or seen any of the gazillion community, school, or regional stagings of a certain Rodgers & Hammerstein Tony Award winner, you may be asking yourself, “Do I really want to see The Sound Of Music again?” If this is the case, here are ten reasons not to miss the one-in-a-gazillion touring production now captivating audiences at the Segerstrom Center For The Arts.
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HELLO, DOLLY!
Monday, July 18th, 2016Dolly Levi is still glowing, still crowing, and going stronger than ever as 3-D Theatricals debuts its splendiferous 2016 revival of one of Broadway’s Golden Era greatest, the record-breaking 10-Tony-Award-winning Best Musical of 1964, Hello, Dolly!
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RECORDED IN HOLLYWOOD
Sunday, July 17th, 2016Last year’s 99-seat World Premiere musical smash Recorded In Hollywood has returned big time as a Kirk Douglas Theatre guest production in a much retooled upscale transfer that promises even greater things ahead for the crowd-pleasing, get-up-and-dance Memphis/Motown-style tribute to 1950s/60s African-American R&B groundbreaker John Dolphin.
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DISNEY THE LITTLE MERMAID
Saturday, July 16th, 2016More than three dozen terrifically talented performers fill Thousand Oaks’ Kavli Theatre with an ocean’s worth of Under The Sea magic this weekend and next as Cabrillo Music Theatre gives Disney The Little Mermaid one of CMT’s biggest and best productions ever.
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ALL SHOOK UP
Thursday, July 14th, 2016A whole lot of shaking’s going on in Laguna Beach this summer as a mix of East-coasters and OC locals join talents to entertain audiences of all ages with All Shook Up, the crowd-pleasingest jukebox musical since Mamma, Mia!
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DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS
Monday, July 11th, 2016Few 21st-century musicals have put the Comedy back into Musical Comedy like Best Musical Tony nominee Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, at long last getting the big-stage professional production SoCal musical theater lovers have been waiting for since its National Tour stopped at the Pantages a full decade ago, and what a production it is thanks to the Musical Comedy Pros at Musical Theatre West.
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A CHORUS LINE
Sunday, July 10th, 2016It takes balls to reimagine a classic and an abundance of talent to pull it off, particularly when the classic in question is the 1975 megaclassic A Chorus Line. Fortunately, Chance Theater’s Oanh Nguyen and Hazel Clarke have both, resulting in an A Chorus Line that might provoke protests from purists who’d have Michael Bennett’s direction and choreography set in stone but will likely thrill everyone else, this reviewer included.
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THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
Saturday, July 9th, 2016The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has set up shop at the Sierra Madre Playhouse for the next two months in a 99-seat production sure to delight both Bee newbies and veteran Bee buffs like this reviewer, who enjoyed Bee 14.0 every bit as much as his very first thanks to Robert Marra’s zesty direction/choreography and a cast to rival the best I’ve seen.
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