BUDDY – THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY
Monday, January 19th, 2015
February 3, 1959 may well have been, as Don McLean sang it, “the day the music died,” but the music of Buddy Holly lives on at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theater in the crowd-pleasing musical/tribute concert hybrid that is Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story.
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BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL
Sunday, January 18th, 2015
Few Broadway shows of recent years combine the drama, the laughter, the heart, and the emotional punch of Billy Elliot The Musical, now playing at the La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts. Factor in the music of Sir Elton John, brilliantly original direction and choreography by La Mirada’s very own Brian Kite and Dana Solimando, and a cast who prove that nobody does it better than our SoCal triple-threats and you’ve got not only the first Must-See big-stage musical of 2015, you will likely find yourself waiting a good long while before any other locally-staged musical achieves the heights to which Billy—at one point quite literally—soars.
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SERRANO THE MUSICAL
Saturday, January 17th, 2015
SoCal’s major regional houses can eat their hearts out they didn’t get first dibs on the World Premiere of Serrano The Musical, while L.A. musical theater aficionados can rejoice that this sensational contemporary adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac told Goodfellas style is making its debut in the up-close-and-personal intimacy of the Matrix on Melrose.
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THE KING AND I
Friday, January 9th, 2015NOT RECOMMENDED
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s score is as glorious today as it ever has been, the now iconic “Small House Of Uncle Thomas” ballet remains a thing of unique beauty and charm, and Victoria Strong and Richard Bermudez not only prove sensational choices to play Anna and the King of Siam, they give the visiting English schoolmarm and the Siamese monarch a romantic, sexual chemistry almost unheard of since The King And I made its 1951 Broadway debut.
Unfortunately, the current Welk Resort Theatre staging of the R&J classic also features some racially insensitive casting choices straight out of the 1950s that underline the creakiness of book writer Hammerstein’s depiction of the Thai people and their centuries-old culture.
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KINKY BOOTS
Wednesday, December 31st, 2014
Only rarely does a “feel-good musical” come along with the transformative power and emotional punch to set it apart from the rest of the “feel-good” pack. That rare musical is Kinky Boots, the 2013 Tony–winning Best Musical now beginning a two-week stay at Orange County’s Segerstrom Center For The Arts.
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JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT
Sunday, December 21st, 2014
The international phenomenon Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat serves as a terrific vehicle for a talented young cast and an equally terrific showcase for director Jeff Lowe, choreographer Jenny Moon Shaw, and musical director Sarah Weinzetl at the Covina Center For The Performing Arts.
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THE GIFT OF THE MAGI THE MUSICAL
Saturday, December 20th, 2014NOT RECOMMENDED
The 2000-word classic The Gift Of The Magi might well make a charming twenty-minute one-act musical. Add to it over a dozen characters (none of whom would ever have entered O’Henry’s mind) and a dozen songs (only a couple of which might inspire a second listen), and despite the best efforts of director, choreographer, musical director, and cast, what you end up with is The Gift Of The Magi The Musical.
Rarely has this reviewer found two thirty-five minute acts so endless.
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KISS ME KATE
Sunday, December 14th, 2014
A couple dozen of Southern California’s most talented student triple-threats bring the Cole Porter classic Kiss Me Kate to vibrant, effervescent life down Orange County way, once again making it abundantly clear why Cal State Fullerton’s musical theater BFA program is among the country’s finest in turning out Broadway-bound talent.
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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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