YOU NEVER CAN TELL
Sunday, March 13th, 2016
The words “frothy romp” may not be the first to pop into a theatergoer’s head when describing a George Bernard Shaw comedy, but this is precisely what the author of Man And Superman, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, and Saint Joan confectioned back in 1897 when he wrote You Never Can Tell (his “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” response to Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Earnest), evidence of which can currently be savored at A Noise Within’s ever so frothy, ever so rompy revival of this lesser-known Shaw gem.
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CLOUD 9
Saturday, March 12th, 2016
Nearly four decades have passed since Cloud 9 made its West End debut, but Caryl Churchill’s comedic examination of gender and sexuality remains every bit as entertaining, as contemporary, and as downright mind-blowing in 2016 as it was in 1979, particularly as given vibrant new life by The Antaeus Company in a “partner-cast” staging that would give any Broadway revival a run for its money, albeit on a far more intimate (and infinitely more affordable) scale.
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LOUIS & KEELY: ‘LIVE’ AT THE SAHARA
Thursday, March 10th, 2016
Louis & Keely: ‘Live’ At The Sahara is back, but if you think the current Laguna Playhouse might be just a carbon copy of the original 2008 Sacred Fools production, or its much-tweaked 2009 Geffen Playhouse transfer, or even of the 2015 Chicago production that transfered to the Geffen over New Years, think again. Louis Prima and Keely Smith are indeed back, but fresh and new and more crowd-pleasingly sensational than ever.
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THE MONGOOSE
Monday, March 7th, 2016NOT RECOMMENDED
Acting, direction, and design are all Grade A in The Mongoose, but what on earth prompted The Road Theatre Company to give Will Arbery’s head-scratcher of a script the go-ahead?
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DUSK RINGS A BELL
Sunday, March 6th, 2016
Stephen Belber’s dramatic, romantic, heartbreaking Dusk Rings A Bell provides a compelling acting showcase for two of the finest young talents in town, Brea Bee and Wes McGee.
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SUMMER AND SMOKE
Sunday, March 6th, 2016
Hollywood’s increasingly risk-taking Christian-based Actors Co-op takes a walk on the wild(er) side with its terrifically acted revival of Tennessee Williams’ Summer And Smoke, one that provides a surprising number of laughs along the way to the dramatic second act you might expect from the man who heated things up with A Streetcar Named Desire and Suddenly Last Summer.
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VIEUX CARRÉ
Friday, March 4th, 2016
Memories light the corners of Tennessee Williams’ mind in Vieux Carré, the Great American Playwright’s reminiscences of time spent in New Orleans’ French Quarter, revived to vibrant, excitingly theatrical life by Coeurage Theatre Company under Jeremy Lelliott’s inspired direction.
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ONLY THE MOON HOWLS
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016
Star-crossed love gets a fresh new highly theatrical spin as Theatre Unleashed gives Dean Farell Bruggeman’s 50-minute Hollywood Fringe Festival gem, Only The Moon Howls, a thoroughly engaging first full staging.
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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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