THE MUSIC MAN
Sunday, June 10th, 2012
Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre welcomes the upcoming Independence Day holiday with a terrific revival of The Music Man, one of the three longest-running musicals of the 1950s and one of the best Broadway shows ever. Refreshingly sophisticated, surprisingly deep, and more than a tad acidic at times, Meredith Willson’s self-described “valentine” to his home state of Iowa turns out to be far from the saccharine musical some have accused it of being
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ELTON JOHN & TIM RICE’S AIDA
Sunday, April 22nd, 2012RECOMMENDED
At any time in the 20th Century, if you’d asked a theatergoer to say the first word to pop into his or her head upon hearing the name Aida, chances are it would have been “opera” or “Verdi” or some other classical music reference. Then came the year 2000, and the smash Broadway hit of the same name, and a whole new bunch of word associations were born—composer Elton John, lyricist Tim Rice, original star Heather Headley, replacement stars Toni Braxton and Deborah Cox, “Written In The Stars” (the hit single by John and LeAnn Rimes), or any number of more contemporary references. These days, when you talk about Aida, more than Verdi’s heroine comes to mind.
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MORNING’S AT SEVEN
Saturday, April 14th, 2012
“Morning’s at seven. The hill-side’s dew-pearled. The lark’s on the wing. The snail’s on the thorn. God’s in His heaven. All’s right with the world!”
–Robert Browning
All does indeed seem right with the world, at least at first glance, in Paul Osborn’s 1939 classic Morning’s At Seven, now being revived at the venerable Sierra Madre Playhouse. Sisters Cora and Ida have each been married for decades to men they adore, and have lived in side-by-side houses somewhere in the American Midwest for the past forty years or so. Married eldest sister Esther lives only a block and a half away, while spinster Arry resides with Cora and Cora’s husband Thor. Aside from Thor’s hypochondriacal complaints, which his wife has long gotten used to, the Gibbs sisters would seem to be, if not the happiest siblings ever, then at least far from the unhappiest.
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HAIRSPRAY
Friday, March 30th, 2012
Inland Valley Repertory Theatre opens its 2012 season with a crowd-pleasing production of the 2003 multiple Tony award-winning Hairspray.
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A CHORUS LINE
Monday, March 12th, 2012
The first musical to explore the intimate stories of Broadway’s “gypsies,” 1975’s A Chorus Line forever changed the face of musical theater by revealing the hopes, fears, challenges, and dreams of a dozen and a half young dancers in dialog and song, in addition to dealing with issues of race and sexuality alongside big, flashy production numbers choreographed by the legendary Michael Bennett.
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TWENTIETH CENTURY
Monday, February 6th, 2012
Screwball comedy is in expert hands as the Sierra Madre Playhouse revives Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s Twentieth Century, tweaked by Ken Ludwig to give the 1930s piece a 21st Century sensibility while maintaining all the classic elements of screwball.
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THE LAST FIVE YEARS
Saturday, September 17th, 2011
One of the most exciting things about live theater is being able to see favorite plays and musicals revived with new actors tackling iconic roles, new directors putting their stamp on familiar material, and new design teams giving old shows new looks.
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GOOD NEWS
Sunday, September 11th, 2011RECOMMENDED
For the past ninety years, Whittier Community Theatre has been offering amateur thespians the opportunity to trod the boards while still maintaining their day jobs—to the delight of these eager and often very talented performers and of the audiences who get to see friends and family showing off their triple threats.
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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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