BOOM
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
From the way Jules and Jo “meet cute” in Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s Boom, now playing at Pasadena’s Furious Theatre Company, you’d think you were in for the kind of romcom that’s made stars of Meg Ryan, Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts, and Reece Witherspoon, any one of whom could have played Jo at one point in their careers opposite a young Tom Hanks, Billy Crystal, or Mark Ruffalo.
(read more)
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WAY
Sunday, May 9th, 2010
Here’s a question for all you history buffs out there. What two 20th Century inventions revolutionized gay men’s search for quick, anonymous sex with other men?
(read more)
OEDIPUS EL REY
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
Where so-called “edgy” or “experimental” theater is concerned, the line between brilliant and pretentious is a fine one indeed, and in this reviewer’s experience at least, the latter is more often the case than the former. That’s why it’s such a pleasure to report that Theatre @ Boston Court’s production of Luis Alfaro’s Oedipus El Rey is out-and-out brilliant theater, even for playgoers whose tastes run, as mine do, more toward the traditional.
(read more)
MEN OF TORTUGA
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
In a stylish but sterile white office suite, three well-dressed men are discussing what appears to be an assassination plot with a rather scruffy, tattooed visitor whom one surmises to be the prospective assassin. The latter has qualms, not about the equipment he’ll be using, but about the pane of glass he’ll have to be shooting through. The window could affect the trajectory, he explains, adding that even humidity can affect a bullet’s course. “I’d have to say you have a low chance of success,” he informs the others. Since neither the time nor the place of the assassination can be changed, he concludes that a rifle is clearly not the answer. “If you want to do it, you’ll have to bomb the whole room,” he suggests. Maybe do it with a missile? The oldest of the three plotters has an even better idea—to put someone in the room who is willing to pay the price. He then volunteers to be that man.
(read more)
CAMELOT
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
If you’re an avid musical-theatergoer like this reviewer, you’ve probably seen at least one production of Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot that made you think, “Bo-ring.” Then there are those Camelots that feature a 60something King Arthur, forgetting that Richard Burton was but 35 when he originated the role on Broadway and Richard Harris all of 36 when he made the movie. Dozens of lords, ladies, and “simple folk” in 6th Century garb may be gorgeous to look at (the original Broadway production of Camelot had a cast of 55!), but they have tended to bog down Camelot’s romantic triangle under the weight of all those costumes. Besides, what theater can afford a cast of even 25 these days?
(read more)
BABY IT’S YOU
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
In the Eisenhower late-1950s, a housewife and mother did not suddenly come to the realization that there was life outside her kitchen and living room and traipse off to the big city in search of something more. She did not suddenly decide to “get into” the record business, even if her children were nearly grown and off on their own, and not even if told by her daughter, “Mom, there are some girls in my high school who sing so well they could be recording stars.” No. Back then housewives and mothers in Passaic, New Jersey knew that their place was in the home and they stayed there … all but one, all but Florence Greenberg. Florence saw that there was indeed life away from the suburbs, a life in New York City, and the four high school girls her daughter Mary Jane was telling her about became the first big girl group of the 1960s, The Shirelles, under contract to Scepter Records, Florence’s very own label.
(read more)
THE NIGHT IS A CHILD
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
Who wouldn’t want to escape the winter cold of Massachusetts for the beaches of Rio De Janeiro? Certainly not 50ish widow-housewife-mother-grandmother Harriet Easton, who’s just arrived in the land of sun and samba. Harriet’s face lights up with joy at the simple fact of being in Brazil, but her smile hides a pain almost too excruciating to live with, the grisly reason for which is revealed pouco a pouco in Charles Randolph-Wright’s magical new play The Night Is A Child, now getting a stunning staging at the Pasadena Playhouse under the nuanced direction of Sheldon Epps.
(read more)
CROWNS
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009RECOMMENDED
The all-around stupendous performances of its seven stars are the best reason to see Crowns at the Pasadena Playhouse. Six of the country’s most talented African American singer-actresses and one equally gifted singer-actor do powerful work in Regina Taylor’s musical adaptation of Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry’s eponymous book about church women and their beloved hats.
(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 2025 STEVEN STANLEY :: DESIGN BY