LITTLE BLACK SHADOWS
Tuesday, April 17th, 2018Kemp Powers’ Little Black Shadows takes an intriguing concept (the lives of teenage house slaves serving white teen masters in early-1850s Georgia), then veers off track into family dysfunction, folktales, magical realism, and a couple of weird plot twists that left me scratching my head despite the best efforts of a Grade-A cast headed by the simply sensational Giovanni Adams and Chauntae Pink.
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GODSPELL
Tuesday, April 17th, 2018Godspell will never make my list of favorite musicals. Despite its melodious Stephen Schwartz score, I find the show itself pretty much a snooze. Still, its many fans could hardly ask for a more imaginatively directed or more sparklingly performed production than The Wayward Artist’s at Santa Ana’s Grand Central Art Center.
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SHREW!
Wednesday, April 4th, 2018Amy Freed returns to South Coast Repertory with another hit-or-miss (but mostly miss) World Premiere comedy, this time a purportedly feminist take on William Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew retitled simply Shrew!
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DISNEY THE LITTLE MERMAID
Tuesday, March 27th, 2018
A tremendously talented cast and a terrific, all-original production design make Cal State Fullerton’s Disney The Little Mermaid a tuneful treat for audiences of all ages.
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THE BOOK OF MORMON
Thursday, March 22nd, 2018
Six years into touring the U.S. and still going strong, The Book Of Mormon pays its third visit to the Segerstrom Center For Arts with an absolutely fabulous, almost entirely new cast, the 2011 Best Musical Tony winner continuing to entertain and delight audiences with its distinctive mix of raunch and romance, hilarity and heart.
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CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND
Thursday, March 15th, 2018
The Cambodian genocide may seem the least likely of subject matters for a raucous rock-music comedy, but this is precisely what Lauren Yee has pulled off in Cambodian Rock Band, her most accomplished, fulfilling play to date.
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THE GRADUATE
Monday, March 5th, 2018
Melanie Griffith delivers a superstar turn as befits a Best Actress Oscar nominee, director Michael Matthews once again proves himself an L.A. theater superstar, and newcomer Nick Tag reveals emerging-star power in Laguna Playhouse’s The Graduate, a production so stellar you might just think you’re seeing a Broadway show.
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VIOLET
Monday, February 12th, 2018
A physically scarred young woman takes a road trip towards healing and redemption in Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley’s New York Drama Critics’ Circle-winning 1997 off-Broadway musical Violet, streamlined for Broadway in 2014 and now opening Chance Theater’s 20th-anniversary 2018 season in an intimate staging that is as imaginatively directed as it is powerfully performed.
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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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