LAST CHRISTMAS II THE NORTH POLE STRIKES BACK OR “RETURN OF THE MAGI”
Monday, December 5th, 2011
Santa Ana’s Theatre Out celebrates the holiday season with a primetime sequel to their 2008/2009 late night hit, Darcy Hogan’s Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart But The Very Next Day You Said You Were Gay, this time titled Last Christmas II The North Pole Strikes Back Or “Return Of The Magi”–and the results are an hour of tuneful, risqué, often hilarious December merriment with a decidedly gay twist.
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THE WEDDING SINGER
Monday, November 21st, 2011
The Department Of Theatre And Dance at Cal State Fullerton follows last spring’s Footloose: The Musical with yet another sensational salute to the 1980s, Chad Beguelin, Tim Herlihy, and Matthew Sklar’s The Wedding Singer, an adroitly concocted blend of music, comedy, and ‘80s nostalgia. Utterly delightful from start to finish, this is a “student production” in name only, and one that easily rivals the best our local CLOs have to offer.
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ANNE OF GREEN GABLES
Sunday, November 20th, 2011RECOMMENDED
The thousands of angry Orange Countians who picketed or emailed the Chance Theater in outraged protest over Jerry Springer: The Opera, the company’s recently Ovation Awarded Best Intimate Theatre Musical, will have to look elsewhere this holiday season for a show to get their knickers in a twist over, or at least not on the nights or afternoons that Anne Of Green Gables is being performed.
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THE VIOLET HOUR
Monday, November 7th, 2011
The first time I saw Richard Greenberg’s The Violet Hour back in 2008, I wrote, “It’s quite possibly a play requiring a second viewing in order to be fully appreciated.” Having now seen it a second time at Santa Ana’s Theatre Out, I’d like to amend that statement. Even two viewings may not be quite enough to grasp the playwright’s intentions, particularly in the play’s densely written second act. Nevertheless, it remains a (as I wrote back then) “funny and thought-provoking evening of theater.”
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THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL
Friday, November 4th, 2011
The lives of ordinary people make for extraordinary theater in Horton Foote’s 1953 drama The Trip To Bountiful, revived to perfection at South Coast Repertory under the delicately shaded direction of Martin Benson.
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THE WIZARD OF OZ
Saturday, October 15th, 2011
Children of all ages (and that means parents and grandparents too) can now join Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, and Toto in following the yellow brick road to the Land Of Oz as 3-D Theatricals concludes its second season with the L. Frank Baum/MGM classic The Wizard Of Oz.
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SHIRLEY VALENTINE
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
Chick flick fans of a certain age may recall British actress Pauline Collins’ Oscar-nominated performance as Shirley Valentine in the 1989 movie of the same name. If you’re like me, you sat entranced watching 40something Liverpool housewife Shirley leave the drudgery of her day-to-day existence for a life-altering holiday in Greece, her traveling companion not her inattentive, unappreciative lug of a husband but contest-winning best friend Jane—who promptly abandons Shirley upon arrival. Befriended by an English couple whose xenophobia proves too much to take, Shirley takes off into the night and into arms of a handsome Greek named Costas.
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SHREK THE MUSICAL
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Forget any preconceived notions you may harbor about Shrek The Musical being just another animated movie-turned-Broadway musical or a show designed only for tiny tots. With book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire (the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Rabbit Hole) and music by multiple award-winning Jeanine Tesori (Caroline, or Change, Thoroughly Modern Millie), Shrek The Musical is a smart, funny, tuneful musical treat whose fresh new non-Equity tour, now playing at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center For The Arts, puts it at the top of my list of favorite recent Broadway hits.
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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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