JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Tuesday, April 11th, 2017
Candlelight Pavilion hits the Easter-season jackpot with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, a spellbinding big-stage revival that earns highest marks for Chuck Ketter and John LaLonde’s dynamic, imaginative direction, its all-around stunning production design, and a cast to rival regional theater’s finest. (Oh, and there’s not a note of prerecorded instrumentals to be heard.)
(read more)
THE BELLE OF AMHERST
Monday, April 10th, 2017
Ferrell Marshall is luminous as Emily Dickinson in Sierra Madre Playhouse’s gorgeously staged intimate revival of William Luce’s the Belle Of Amherst, impeccably directed by Todd Nielsen.
(read more)
42nd STREET
Monday, February 27th, 2017
There may be only a third as many hoofers onstage as in the original Broadway production and painted scrims may take the place of a more three-dimensional scenic design, but with one Harry Warren-Al Dubin song smash after another, a book as cleverly written as Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble’s, direction as sharp and choreography as imaginatively tweaked as DJ Gray’s, and above all a cast as all-around terrific as the twenty-two on stage at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre and 42nd Street makes for yet another crowd-pleasing Candlelight hit.
(read more)
DISNEY BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Tuesday, January 24th, 2017Following a string of winners, most recently a heavenly Sister Act and an absolutely fabulous La Cage Aux Folles, Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre opens the new year with a disappointing, albeit still largely entertaining, Disney Beauty And The Beast.
(read more)
BEE-LUTHER-HATCHEE
Saturday, January 14th, 2017
With racial violence on the rise, racists increasingly fearless in spouting (and acting upon) their hate, and an incoming President owing his election, at least in part, to racist backlash against his predecessor, the timing could hardly be more apt for Sierra Madre Playhouse to give Thomas Gibbons’ provative Bee-luther-hatchee the powerful revival it deserves, now more than ever.
(read more)
AMADEUS
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016Inland Valley Repertory Theatre closes its 2015-16 season at Candlelight Pavilion with a sumptuous big-stage revival of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus made memorable by Ron Hastings’ riveting lead performance.
(read more)
SISTER ACT
Monday, October 24th, 2016
Mark my words. Daebreon Poiema’s superstar turn as bodacious nightclub chantooze Deloris Van Cartier turned bogus Catholic nun Mary Clarence will have Southland audiences standing up and cheering Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre’s latest crowd-pleaser, the screen-to-stage Broadway hit musical Sister Act.
(read more)
VICTOR/VICTORIA
Wednesday, September 28th, 2016Roles made famous on the big screen by Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, and Lesley Ann Warren give a quartet of Southland musical theater stars the chance to shine on the big stage in Inland Valley Repertory Theatre’s three-performance-only revival of the Broadway hit Victor/Victoria, one whose Henry Mancini/Leslie Bricusse score still offers multiple delights but whose creaky Blake Edwards book could do with a major rewrite.
(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 2024 STEVEN STANLEY :: DESIGN BY