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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BARK! THE MUSICAL
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
You’re my man, I’m your pet. We’re as close as two can get. You love me to the end. That’s why you are dog’s best friend,” sings Rocks, the Jack Russell pup in Bark! The Musical, the smash hit returning to the L.A. area for the first time in nearly four years in a supersized staging by Civic Light Opera Of South Bay Cities that merits five barks out of five.
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NO SEX PLEASE, WE’RE BRITISH
Friday, January 29th, 2010
All those doors is the first clue that we’re in the land of farce. After all, how many apartment living rooms have six (count’em) doors leading off who-knows-where, in addition to stairs leading up to a second floor? Only the needs of farce (plenty of “he goes out just as she comes in” moments and slammed doors galore) could inspire such a floor plan. Then there are the intercoms (not one, but two) and a hatch opening on to the kitchen that keeps flying down and shutting. Clearly we’re going to be in for an evening of screwball merriment.
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SYLVIA
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Sylvia is A.R. Gurney’s tale of an adorable mutt who finds herself a new master in a Manhattan park and a new home in a New York City brownstone. This comic tribute to Man’s Best Friend has become a regional audience favorite since its first staging in 1995 with Sarah Jessica Parker as Sylvia, and its latest incarnation at Hermosa Beach Playhouse is one of the Playhouse’s best.
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SEUSSICAL THE MUSICAL
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
Since Dr. Seuss’s very first children’s book, And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street (written way back in 1937), kids have grown up with the good doctor. Who among us hasn’t read (or had read to us) Dr. Seuss classics like The Cat In The Hat, Horton Hears A Who, or Horton Hatches The Egg? With so many Dr. Seuss fans of all ages all over the planet, it’s no wonder that Dr. Seuss eventually made it to Broadway. Seussical (The Musical), with songs by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, debuted on the Great White Way in 2000 and since then has gone on to considerable success in regional and children’s theater companies across the country.
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WAIT UNTIL DARK
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
The cell phone may well be the third-greatest invention of the past fifty years, right after the home computer and the Internet. Most of us look back at the pre-cellular 1980s (and before) and think, “How did we ever survive without them?” On the other hand, it’s fortunate indeed for lovers of classic stage thrillers that playwright Frederick Knott lived most of his life in a mostly cell phone-free 20th Century. How could Knott have written 1952’s Dial M For Murder had Margot Wendice had a cell phone in her purse or pocket? 1966’s Wait Until Dark is even harder to imagine in a cell phone age. Knott’s thriller about a blind New York City newlywed targeted by a trio of thugs in search of a heroin-filled doll they believe to be hidden somewhere in her walk-down flat is absolutely dependent on there being only one land-line phone in the apartment and a (now virtually non-existent) phone booth on a nearby corner.
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WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
The first act of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf is called “Fun And Games,” but beware. These are not your usual party games, as audiences can once again discover in Hermosa Beach Playhouse’s absolutely sensational revival of the 1962 Broadway classic. Under Stephanie A. Coltrin’s expert direction, and featuring bravura lead performances by Matthew Brenher as George and Suzanne Dean as Martha, this is a production that more than holds its own against the Bill Irwin/Kathleen Turner Broadway revival which played the Ahmanson a few years back, or last season’s Ovation-nominated staging at the Rubicon.
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