THE VALUE OF NAMES
Monday, November 16th, 2009
Academy Award buffs will recall a dramatic moment in the 1999 Oscar ceremony when 89-year-old Elia Kazan, two-time Best Director winner (for Gentleman’s Agreement and On The Waterfront), was awarded a special lifetime achievement Oscar. Though Warren Beatty, Kathy Bates, Karl Malden, Meryl Streep and Helen Hunt were among those who gave Kazan a standing ovation, others like Nick Nolte and Ed Harris remained seated, not joining in the applause. Nolte, Harris, and those who shared their disapproval of the Academy for honoring Kazan remained unforgiving of the octogenarian director for having named names at the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952. Even forty-seven years later, Kazan’s decision to aid and abet the blacklisting of some two hundred artists for alleged Communist connections was one that could not be forgotten.
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JUST 45 MINUTES FROM BROADWAY
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
Start with quite possibly the most gorgeous set ever designed for a 99-seat theater production, add to that an intelligent, witty script which reads like a 21st Century version of Kaufman and Ferber’s The Royal Family, cast it with some of L.A.’s finest stage and screen talent—and the result is Henry Jaglom’s Just 45 Minutes From Broadway, one of the best new plays I’ve reviewed on StageSceneLA.
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DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009RECOMMENDED
Theatre 40 undertakes something out of the ordinary in presenting the Los Angeles premiere of Jeffrey Hatcher’s Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, an experimental theater-style adaptation of Robert Lewis Stevenson’s classic of psychological suspense. Though Hatcher’s take on the Jekyll/Hyde tale proves problematic, an all-around fine cast under Jeff G. Rack’s frequently ingenious direction, as well as some particularly striking design elements, make this at the very least an interesting venture for Beverly Hills’ premier theater company. (It may also be the first time you’ve heard the title character’s surname pronounced JEE-kul. Apparently we’ve been getting it wrong till now.)
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LOUIS AND KEELY LIVE AT THE SAHARA
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
World Premiere musicals are pretty much a monthly event in Los Angeles, and though many of them become audience and critical favorites, even the best of them tend to disappear after their initial engagements, the business of musical theater being what it is. Thus, one can suppose that when Jake Broder and Vanessa Claire Smith debuted Louis And Keely Live At The Sahara at Sacred Fools Theater back on May 30 of last year, the duo had reason to expect that their self-penned tribute to Louis Prima and Keely Smith would close as scheduled on June 29–and that would be the end of it.
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CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT
Sunday, October 25th, 2009
You might expect a musical about Bram Stoker entitled Children Of The Night to be the Dracula tale (with songs), but you’d be wrong. Scott Martin’s original musical, now getting its first fully-staged production at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, turns out to be a love story, albeit of the unrequited kind, and a love letter to the theater—and to the “children of the night” who are its actors.
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THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED
Saturday, September 19th, 2009RECOMMENDED
Santa Monica’s venerable Morgan-Wixson Theatre begins its 64th season with arguably its boldest choice ever, The Little Dog Laughed, Douglas Carter Beane’s hilarious, biting Hollywood-New York showbiz satire. It’s not every community theater that will take a chance on a love story between a gay movie star and a bisexual hustler, featuring a lesbian agent, R-rated language, brief full frontal male nudity, and plenty of same-sex smooching. Fortunately for L.A. theatergoers in search of cutting-edge entertainment, the Morgan-Wixson has taken just such a chance, the result of which is a brilliantly written, well acted and directed, and funny slash conversation-provoking evening of theater.
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MATTHEW MODINE SAVES THE ALPACAS
Thursday, September 17th, 2009
When a celebrity’s career has gone to pot, there’s nothing like a little humanitarian work to get him or her back on the A-List, or at least that’s what Matthew Modine has decided in Matthew Modine Saves The Alpacas, Blair Singer’s marvelously silly (and entertaining) mockumentary now diverting audiences at the Geffen.
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ADELINE’S PLAY
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
In the final five days of the homestretch of StageSceneLA’s 2nd calendar year, just when I think that there can’t possibly be another truly great new play (and production) to add to my upcoming Best Of 2008-9 lists, along comes Kit Steinkellner’s Adeline’s Play, the best World Premiere I’ve seen this year in a production which could not be better. Blessed with six performance gems and directed with love and finesse by Amanda Glaze, Adeline’s Play is the kind of play you find yourself enjoying so much that you simply can’t bear to see it end.
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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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