HAIRSPRAY
Saturday, January 7th, 2012RECOMMENDED
Following more than six years on Broadway, a pair of National Tours, and numerous regional theater productions, the smash hit musical Hairspray is at last being licensed to community theaters across the land, the better to spread its message of love and acceptance and equality to cities large and small. Moorpark’s High Street Arts Center is first out of the gate this year with a production which, while no match for MTW’s nigh-on perfect Equity staging this past November, nonetheless offers numerous delights to Ventura County audiences.
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STEEL MAGNOLIAS
Monday, August 29th, 2011
Those Steel Magnolias are back, and Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre has got’em—in a simply couldn’t-be-better production, one which is blessed with six of the finest performances you’re likely to see all year.
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THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
The hills of Thousand Oaks are alive with _____.
If anyone reading this is incapable of filling in the blank, this reviewer can only wonder where you’ve been during the half century since The Sound Of Music made its Broadway debut. Is there anyone in America who hasn’t seen either the 1964 movie adaptation—the third biggest moneymaker in film history when adjusted for inflation—or any one of a gazillion regional, community, or school productions of the Rodgers And Hammerstein classic?
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THE PRODUCERS
Friday, April 8th, 2011
Mel Brooks’ The Producers has arrived at Cabrillo Music Theatre with Michael Kostroff, Larry Raben, David Engel, and Sarah Cornell recreating the roles which won them raves two years ago at Musical Theatre West, and despite some flimsy-looking bus-and-truck sets this time around, the quartet’s sensational performances and those of an all-around terrific supporting cast make for a highly entertaining laugh-and-songfest.
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“MASTER HAROLD” … AND THE BOYS
Saturday, February 12th, 2011
Sometimes the event of a single day, of a single conversation even, can change a person’s life forever. This is certainly the case for seventeen-year-old Hally in Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold”…and the boys, now playing at Ventura’s esteemed Rubicon Theatre in a couldn’t-be-better production.
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HAPPY DAYS
Friday, October 22nd, 2010
Happy Days (and nights) have arrived at the Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center as Cabrillo Music Theatre presents Happy Days, the popular new(ish) musical based on Garry Marshall’s TV favorite.
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RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN’S CINDERELLA
Friday, July 23rd, 2010
Following its couldn’t-be-better production of Little Shop Of Horrors, Cabrillo Music Theatre now stages a show for children and parents alike in Rodgers And Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Kids will love seeing one of their favorite fairy tales brought to musical comedy life, and those above the age of ten will relish R&H’s music and lyrics, the cast’s all-around terrific performances, and seeing 1970s TV icons Marcia Wallace as Cinderella’s stepmother and Sally Struthers as her fairy Godmother. Though Rodgers And Hammerstein’s Cinderella may lack the sophistication and unified tone of Disney’s Beauty And The Beast, a great cast and Lewis Wilkenfeld’s savvy direction make for an enjoyable two hours of family entertainment.
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CRIMES OF THE HEART
Saturday, May 1st, 2010
It’s probably a toss-up as to which group of Southern women are the more famous, the gals who get their hair done at Truvy’s in Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias or the Magrath sisters of Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Crimes Of The Heart. In either case, those with a fondness for Henley’s quirky Mississippi siblings will be happy to know that they are alive and well and performing nightly at Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre.
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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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