DEATH OF A SALESMAN


What better way for South Coast Repertory to open its 50th Anniversary season than with what many consider the finest play of the 20th Century, Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Death Of A Salesman, and to do so with a twist—by casting the Lomans as an African-American family.
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FUNNY GIRL


In the forty-nine years since Funny Girl debuted on Broadway, this musical biography of Fanny Brice has pretty much faded into obscurity despite its eight Tony nominations, and if regional revivals have been few and far between, blame that on a leading role that’s a bear to cast, a book that’s been aptly dubbed problematic, and absolutely no Funny Girl sets or costumes available for rent.

3-D Theatricals solves two of these three problems in its sensational from-the-ground-up revival, and though Isobel Lennart’s book remains more than a bit of a hodgepodge, Nicole Parker’s absolutely stellar lead performance, Michael Matthews’ inspired direction, and brand new Broadway-caliber sets and costumes by Stephen Gifford and Cheryl Sheldon make this revival another 3-D-T winner.
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bare a rock musical


A Catholic high school is hardly the most welcoming environment for two boys to fall in love, especially when one of them is deeply conflicted about his sexuality, as Jon Hartmere and Damon Intrabartolo’s bare made heartbreaking clear in its 2000 World Premiere at the Hudson Mainstage Theater.

Now, thirteen years later, glory|struck productions brings bare back to the city of its birth in an exciting revival that could easily turn into the season’s biggest intimate musical smash.
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THE DREAM OF THE BURNING BOY


There are as many shades of grief as there are survivors in David West Read’s powerful The Dream Of The Burning Boy, now getting its West Coast Premiere at Malibu Playhouse in a production that easily rivals the best of L.A.’s higher-profile 99-seat houses.
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PROMETHEUS BOUND

NOT RECOMMENDED

There are a number of reasons to spend a September evening out in Pacific Palisades where the Getty Villa* is presenting its annual classic theater offering, the least of which is the play itself, for despite intense, committed performances, innovative design, and a couldn’t-be-better setting, Prometheus Bound remains that most acquired of tastes, Greek Tragedy.
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YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN


New York has met its match as Moonlight Stage Productions lives up to its catchphrase “Broadway’s Best Under The Stars”—and then some—with an all-around sensational production of Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein that gives SoCal audiences an open-air Broadway experience without the cramped seating, astronomical ticket prices, and hoity-toity attitude you might get on The Great White Way.
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SHERLOCK THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS


The world’s greatest detective meets the author of Alice of Wonderland in Gus Krieger’s Sherlock Through The Looking Glass, the latest from The Porters Of Hellsgate, and if Krieger’s play could stand some trimming, tightening, and clarifying, topnotch performances and exciting staging combine to further solidify the Porters’ reputation as one of L.A.’s most exciting young acting troupes.
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THE ARCTIC CIRCLE (and a recipe for Swedish pancakes)/THE MATADOR


Whimsy and more than a touch of the surreal link an entertaining pair of one-acts now getting their West Coast Premieres at Studio/Stage, both of them penned by members of The Playwright’s Lab @ Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.
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