PLASTIC CRYSTAL
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008RECOMMENDED
Michael Miller has lived with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder since the age of seven. He always arranges his shoes “just so” before going to bed, moving them from this position to that one and back again, and then to another, until he is satisfied. He locks his apartment from the outside even when his girlfriend is still inside, even when she has just told him not to. Even worse are his obsessions, most particularly his obsession with blood. Michael once found a small stain on a shirt and soon became convinced that it was AIDS infected blood. The discovery of a band-aid inside a load of laundry washed at a public laundromat sends him into a frenzy, disinfecting everything the clothes may have touched.
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THE NEXT BIG THING
Saturday, July 19th, 2008RECOMMENDED
Anyone craving an evening of 80s nostalgia will find much to enjoy in The Next Big Thing, a new musical just opened at the art/Works Theatre. Like Pretty In Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Can’t Buy Me Love, The Next Big Thing features a cast of energetic, attractive teens (or more precisely 20somethings passing as teens) with dreams to fulfill, and adults who occasionally get in their way.
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FACING EAST
Sunday, July 13th, 2008RECOMMENDED
Who is to blame when a gay man kills himself? Is it the “sin of homosexuality” that is at fault, or is it the judgment of those around him who chose to shun and shame, rather than to embrace? Sadly, even in the year 2008, there are far too many who believe the former. Religious faith, instead of being based on love and acceptance, is too often used to judge and condemn, something which author/playwright Carol Lynn Pearson knows all too well.
METAMORPHOSES
Thursday, July 10th, 2008RECOMMENDED
Athena Theatre has undertaken its biggest challenge yet in staging an Equity waiver production of Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses.
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ORANGE FLOWER WATER
Sunday, June 15th, 2008RECOMMENDED
A bit of advice for the SoCal theatergoer. Whenever you see the words, “written by Craig Wright,” don’t hesitate. Just go. The TV scribe most famous for Dirty Sexy Money and Six Feet Under is also an accomplished playwright, capable of writing comedy in the face of tragedy (Recent Tragic Events), testosterone-filled drama (Lady), and suspenseful tragedy (Grace). In Orange Flower Water, Wright takes a plot as old as humankind itself (adultery) and adds his unique voice to its repercussions on the cheaters and the cheated upon.
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A VERY BRADY MUSICAL
Friday, June 6th, 2008The Brady Bunch is (are?) alive and well and on stage at Theatre West in the brand new A Very Brady Musical. With music and lyrics by Hope and Laurence Juber and book by Lloyd J. Schwartz and Hope Juber, A Very Brady Musical mixes multiple plots with catchy songs to create a mostly entertaining evening of tuneful entertainment.
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TEEN GIRL
Thursday, May 29th, 2008RECOMMENDED
Though Justin Tanner’s Teen Girl features some of the wackiness of his Space Therapy and Oklahomo, it is at heart the story of a teen girl’s awakening to the possibilities of love.
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BOISE U.S.A.
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008RECOMMENDED
The 1950s are often thought of as “happy days” for the U.S., yet a closer look reveals a not so happy picture for many Americans of the era. Segregation was the law in the once Confederate South, liberal minded Americans were being branded Communists by Senator Joe McCarthy and his ilk, and in Boise, Idaho, another albeit less famous witch-hunt was underway.
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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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