SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN
Friday, September 24th, 2010
1920s matinee idol Don Lockwood is once again “walkin’ down the lane with a happy refrain” as the Norris Center For The Performing Arts presents the live stage adaptation of the MGM musical Singin’ In The Rain in an all-around terrific production sure to delight theater and movie buffs of all ages.
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BEEHIVE
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010
Beehive: a) a structure housing a colony of bees; b) a hairstyle for women, popular around 1960, in which the hair is arranged in a high rounded shape on top of the head; c) a fabulous musical revue featuring the greatest hits of the top girl singers and girl groups of the swingin’, turbulent 1960s.
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DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS
Sunday, June 13th, 2010RECOMMENDED
The Relevant Stage, which bills itself as San Pedro’s Musical Theatre Company, has come a long way since Bat Boy, its freshman offering of a year and a half ago. Though its current production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels qualifies more as high-end community theater than as a fully professional staging of the Tony Award-winning hit, there are enough good to excellent performances (plus the show’s terrific songs and absolutely hilarious book) to make this an entertaining two and a half hours of wild and crazy fun.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
You don’t have to be a Shakespeare lover to love the Hermosa Beach Playhouse production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Gorgeous to look at and sparklingly performed by a talented cast who make Elizabethan English sound refreshingly modern, this Stephanie A. Coltrin-directed Midsummer Night’s Dream enchants and tickles the funny bone in equal measure.
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JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
It’s taken me twenty-eight years to see my first production of 1982’s Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (and even longer if you count the show’s pre-Broadway incarnations), and now, having finally experienced the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical on the great big stage of the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, it’s rainbow clear to me why the Joseph has become an international phenomenon. The show is one hundred minutes of pure, unadulterated, Technicolor music and fun.
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RENT
Friday, March 19th, 2010
Following their outstanding 2009 revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, The El Camino College Theatre Department has made Jonathan Larson’s Rent this year’s annual musical theater production, and the result is a thoroughly professional, often exciting staging of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning hit.
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SWEENEY TODD
Sunday, March 14th, 2010
Anyone who’s seen only Tim Burton’s film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd or the “high-concept” production at the Ahmanson last year is hereby advised to head down (or up or over) to Torrance and catch the absolutely phenomenal revival being staged at El Camino College.
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TWICE UPON A TIME
Friday, February 19th, 2010RECOMMENDED
Civic Light Operas owe their livelihood to revivals of Broadway classics and
more recent hits. Rarely if ever do they attempt something brand new. Thus,
Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities is taking quite a bold step in presenting a
world premiere musical, Twice Upon A Time, with book and direction by Ray
Cooney. Though the results are somewhat mixed, James A. Blackman III and
company deserve major props for venturing into unknown territory.
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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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