SPRING AWAKENING
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
The arrival of Spring Awakening at the Orange County Performing Arts Center is welcome news indeed for anyone who missed the Tony-winning smash in its initial Los Angeles run a year ago. It’s equally exciting news for Spring Awakening fans like myself who simply couldn’t get enough of the Steven Sater/Duncan Sheik musical adaptation of Frank Wedenkind’s groundbreaking 1891 drama the first time around.
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JUNIE B. JONES
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
“The World According To Me” is just the first of ten sparkling musical numbers in Barbara Park’s Junie B. Jones And A Little Monkey Business, the latest entry in South Coast Rep’s Theatre For Young Audiences. Like its predecessors Imagine and The Brand New Kid, Junie B. Jones is a musical treat that will keep kids enthralled throughout its fast-moving under-ninety minutes (intermission included for snack and potty breaks). Fortunately for any adults in attendance, Joan Cushing’s delightful book, music and lyrics, a talented sextet of triple-threat performers, and a fanciful rainbow-hued set and costumes are likely to entertain audience members of any age.
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WHITE CHRISTMAS
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Christmas has arrived early this year in beautiful downtown Fullerton as FCLO Music Theatre presents the stage adaptation of the 1954 movie classic White Christmas. Those who wonder if that’s jumping the gun a tad have only to visit their neighborhood shopping mall to see that the holiday season is already upon us. Besides, with Irving Berlin hits like “Blue Skies,” “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing, “Sisters,” and “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep” appropriate for any month of the year, a plot that isn’t all that “Christmas-centric,” and choreography that entertains equally in October or December, White Christmas is an appealing Fall CLO offering.
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MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS
Saturday, October 10th, 2009
Hollywood legend has it that movie mogul David O. Selznick shut himself, director Victor Fleming, and script doctor Ben Hecht inside his office for five straight days, the three men subsisting entirely on a diet of bananas and peanuts, as Hecht rewrote the entire script of Gone With The Wind, a book he’d never read.
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THE HAPPY ONES
Sunday, October 4th, 2009
It’s 1975 in sunny Garden Grove, California, and Walter Wells is one of The Happy Ones. With his own business, a home in the suburbs, and a wife and two young children, things couldn’t be better for Walter, a man living the quintessential American Dream. “Beautiful women. Beautiful children. Great neighbors. Fantastic jobs. Gorgeous weather.” Walter and his fellow Garden Grovians could hardly imagine a world any different from the one in which they live such perfect lives.
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THE SEAGULL
Saturday, September 26th, 2009RECOMMENDED
The award-winning Chance Theater takes on Chekhov’s The Seagull with admirable results, the production featuring excellent performances, astute direction, and a gorgeous design. Then again, what else would you expect from Orange County’s finest intimate theater?
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PUTTING IT TOGETHER
Sunday, September 20th, 2009
You won’t find a more tuneful, sophisticated or better performed show around town than South Coast Repertory’s beautifully staged revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Putting It Together.
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MY WAY: A MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO FRANK SINATRA
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
“Frank Sinatra recorded 1500 songs, and tonight we’re going to sing every single one of them,” jokes Jason Watson at the beginning of My Way: A Musical Tribute To Frank Sinatra. Though a complete retrospective of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ discography would doubtless take (in Watson’s words) “the next eight days,” My Way does a terrific job of showcasing Sinatra’s best-known hits (and a few of his rather more obscure songs as well), making it one of the most entertaining “jukebox” musical revues ever.
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