A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2

Nora’s come back to the “doll’s house” she once called home, though how long she’ll stay is anybody’s guess in Lucas Hnath’s audacious, scabrous, wordy, discussion-prompting, and often surprisingly droll sequel to the Henrik Ibsen classic, the South Coast Repertory World Premiere of A Doll’s House, Part 2.
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ANDREW LIPPA’S WILD PARTY

Dramatically dark and daringly sexual, Andrew Lippa’s Wild Party, the latest from Cal State Fullerton, showcases not just its multitalented ensemble headed by a phenomenal Hannah Clair as blonde bombshell Queenie. CSUF’s Wild Party is direction, choreography, and design at their SoCal pro-level best.
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WEST SIDE STORY

It takes brilliance and balls to pull off the reinvention of a musical theater classic, particularly one as renowned for its iconic choreography as for its book, music, and lyrics, but this is precisely what director Richard Israel and choreographer John Todd have accomplished in the brilliant, ballsy West Side Story they have mounted for The La Mirada Theatre and McCoy Rigby Entertainment.
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SISTER ACT

A triumphant Daebreon Poiema and a sublime Debbie Prutsman head a terrifically talented, bigger-than-Broadway cast of nearly three-dozen in Cabrillo Music Theatre’s Sister Act, as tuneful and crowd-pleasing a musical comedy treat as I’ve seen up Ventura County ways in many a moon.
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BERNARDA ALBA


Michael John LaChiusa’s Bernarda Alba, the multiple-Tony-nominated composer-lyricist’s darkly dramatic adaptation of the Federico García Lorca classic, not only provides its all-female, mostly Cal State Fullerton student cast with an equal-parts challenging/rewarding showcase for their considerable musical theater gifts, it offers Southland audiences the opportunity to see a rarely-produced chamber gem in a production so stunning, it rivals the finest intimately-staged musicals in town.
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LITTLE WOMEN THE BROADWAY MUSICAL

The four March sisters have taken up brief midweek residence at Candlelight Pavilion as Inland Valley Repertory Theatre presents Little Women The Broadway Musical, a big-stage revival that merits cheers for its terrific young cast, live orchestra, and above all Jaclyn Kelly Shaw’s radiant star turn as Jo.
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FAILURE: A LOVE STORY

Center Theatre Group opens Block Party, its three-play salute to the best of Los Angeles intimate theater, with an exquisitely expanded Kirk Douglas Theatre staging of Coeurage Theatre Company’s multiple-award-winning Failure: A Love Story, Philip Dawkins’ whimsical meditation on the fragility of life and the resiliency of those who live it.
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PURE CONFIDENCE

Pure confidence is just one of the qualities distinguishing Simon Kato from his fellow Kentucky slaves in the year 1860. Another is the champion jockey’s talent for winning any race he sets his mind to, and these days what Simon wants to win (or more precisely to buy) is his freedom.

Welcome to the world of Carlyle Brown’s Pure Confidence, the latest from Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble and quite possibly the most purely entertaining (and elucidating and emotionally powerful) show in town.
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