SPEECH & DEBATE
Saturday, February 19th, 2011NOT RECOMMENDED
Stephen Karam’s comedy Speech & Debate points a webcam lens at three teenage outsiders living up Salem, Oregon way, while at the same time making strong points about hypocritical politicians, “ex-gay” ministries, and the importance of coming out. Having seen two brilliant productions of it, this reviewer finds its current Orange County Premiere at Theatre Out a letdown.
(read more)
THE DROWSY CHAPERONE
Friday, February 11th, 2011
With Cupid’s day fast approaching, timing could not be more perfect for The Drowsy Chaperone, Broadway’s Valentine to Musical Theater, to make its West Coast Regional debut in an absolutely splendid production by 3-D Theatricals.
(read more)
THE WHO’S TOMMY
Thursday, February 10th, 2011
It’s not every day—or even every year—that an intimate theater production gets invited for a repeat engagement by a major Performing Arts Center. On the other hand, it’s not every year that an Orange County intimate theater production scores four Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award Nominations, wins a special Ovation Award for its spectacular video design, and is currently up for three Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, not to mention its nine Scenies including Best Intimate Theater Musical and Director Of The Year.
(read more)
NERVE
Saturday, February 5th, 2011
“Ask somebody to love you. Takes a lot of nerve. Ask somebody to love you. You got a lot of nerve.”
–Paul Simon
Can a couple of 20somethings on a blind date from hell find happiness ever after? That’s the question asked by playwright Adam Szymkowicz in Nerve, his disturbing but oh-so-romantic comedy now getting its West Coast Premiere at The Chance Theater.
(read more)
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Monday, January 31st, 2011
From the moment the lights come up on Theseus, Duke Of Athens (Elijah Alexander), and Hippolyta, Queen Of The Amazons (Susannah Schulman) posing in glamorous 1950s garb to the flash of paparazzi light bulbs, you know this will not be your grandfather’s, your father’s, or even your older brother’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Clearly director Mark Rucker has tricks up his sleeve, the revelation of which make South Coast Repertory’s production of William Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy something very special indeed.
(read more)
HAIR
Tuesday, January 25th, 2011
It was mid-1968. LBJ was still President, with Richard Nixon’s election and seven more years of war in Vietnam yet to come. Already, though, there were “tribes” of young people in their teens and twenties whose dissatisfaction with an America riddled with racism, poverty, sexism, sexual repression, and political corruption led them to create the hippie movement of the 60s. More than anything else, though, these “new American patriots,” as they saw themselves, were in revolt against a war they believed to be unjust, unnecessary, and un-American.
(read more)
THE BUSY WORLD IS HUSHED
Saturday, January 22nd, 2011
As an antidote to the strident, demonizing voices of the “Christian” Right, Keith Bunin’s The Busy World Is Hushed comes as manna from playwriting heaven. Bunin’s 2006 off-Broadway hit not only spotlights a gay-affirming branch of Christianity, it also features a lead character who is both a refreshingly open-minded member of the clergy and a mother so accepting of her son’s sexual orientation that she actively encourages his quest for Mr. Right.
(read more)
CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
There’s no treat for an avid theatergoer quite like the treat of seeing something absolutely fresh and original. Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation is just such a treat.
(read more)
Since 2007, Steven Stanley's StageSceneLA.com has spotlighted the best in Southern California theater via reviews, interviews, and its annual StageSceneLA Scenies.
COPYRIGHT 2026 STEVEN STANLEY :: DESIGN BY