ADDING MACHINE: A MUSICAL
Sunday, February 6th, 2011
“I’m sorry to lose an old and faithful employee, but you see, in an organization like this, efficiency is the first consideration. You will, of course, draw your salary for the full month. We couldn’t do anything less for such a valued and loyal employee. And I’ll direct my secretary to give you an excellent letter of recommendation.”
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THE BREAK OF NOON
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
An embittered pink-slipped employee enters his former workplace and, automatic weapon in hand, murders thirty-seven of his ex-coworkers yet spares number thirty-eight, leaving the massacre’s sole survivor to wonder why. Why was he alone shown mercy? To whom does he owe this inexplicable stroke of salvation?
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TUCUMCARI
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011RECOMMENDED
A rundown motel on Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico was the last thing Lillian expected as a honeymoon present, but that’s precisely what the young newlywed finds herself the co-proprietor of in Riley Steiner’s old-fashioned romantic drama Tucumcari, now playing at Beverly Hills’ Theatre 40.
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GROUP: A MUSICAL
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
Musical group therapy might not be an effective way for people to work on their psychological problems and personal issues. There might not even be such a thing for that matter, or at least not as Adam Emperor Southard imagines it in Group: A Musical. One thing is certain, however. Musical group therapy is one terrific idea for a show, and Southard’s very first musical makes for one terrific evening of theater. As produced by the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble, Group: A Musical starts out promising, keeps getting better, and by the end of its second act, has earned every decibel of the audience cheers which erupted at Opening Night curtain calls.
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ISLAND OF BRILLIANCE
Sunday, December 19th, 2010NOT RECOMMENDED
Eighteen-year-old Evie is reputed to be one of the top students in her New Jersey high school, but you wouldn’t know it from her college interviews. She tells the Princeton interviewer that she applied to the Ivy League school because her guidance counselor “thought I might get in.” She tells the Dartmouth interviewer that he applied there to see if the school is worth attempting suicide for. (Someone she knows tried to off himself when the school rejected him.) As for Yale, she tells the boy next door that she can’t remember whether she applied there or not.
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BROADWAY HOLIDAY
Friday, December 17th, 2010
From the opening bars of The Four Seasons’ “Oh What A Night,” it’s clear that the Geffen Playhouse’s December offering isn’t going to be your traditional Christmas revue. In fact, Broadway Holiday splits its songs almost equally between the two words of its title, its cast of five Great White Way vets serenading their Westwood audience with a baker’s dozen of Broadway’s Greatest Hits and about as many holiday favorites.
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MURDERERS
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
Jeffrey Hatcher’s Murderers is a theatrical experiment that works, though at first glance you might have your doubts. You might well wonder, for example, if three monologs delivered one each by a trio of actors can possibly be called a play. After all, the actors appear together on stage only twice, first for Murderers’ opening lines (“I am a murderer.” “I am a murderer.” “I am a murderer.”) and second at curtain calls. In fact, the only thing the monologs have in common is their setting—Florida’s Riddle Key Retirement Community—and the fact that each is being delivered by a murderer. Is this really a play, let alone one given thumbs up by the New York Times?
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MAESTRO: THE ART OF LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Thursday, November 11th, 2010RECOMMENDED
Hershey Felder, the award-winning creator of George Gershwin Alone, Monsieur Chopin, and Beethoven, As I Knew Him, now returns with Maestro: The Art Of Leonard Bernstein.
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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