MIDDLETOWN
Thursday, May 4th, 2017
Birth. Life. Death. Infinity. Playwright Will Eno addresses all of the above in Middletown, his 21st-century response to Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, and if the Pulitzer Prize finalist tends to take quirkiness to extremes, inspired direction, design, and performances make this Chance Theater Southern California Premiere well worth a trip to Anaheim Hills.
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SYLVIA
Monday, May 1st, 2017
There’s never been a romantic triangle quite like the one that propels A.R. Gurney’s Sylvia, now getting a cheer-worthy Rubicon Theater revival with an irresistible Ashley Fox Linton as the canine homewrecker who gives this alternately hilarious and heartstrings-tugging romcom its name.
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THE MUSIC MAN
Saturday, April 29th, 2017
Palos Verdes Performing Arts scores a musical comedy bulls-eye with their big-stage, up-close-and-personal revival of Meredith Willson’s 1957 classic The Music Man, the all-around best of the half-dozen Music Men I’ve seen so far.
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UNCANNY VALLEY
Friday, April 28th, 2017
Hot topics don’t get much hotter than artificial intelligence, whether in headline news, or movies like Ex Machina, or Jimmy Fallon interviewing “Robot Sophia” on late-night TV, or in Thomas Gibbons’ fascinating, discussion-prompting, edge-of-your seat two-hander Uncanny Valley, now getting its Los Angeles Premiere at Long Beach’s International City Theatre.
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AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
Wednesday, April 26th, 2017
There’s been more than one “new (i.e. jukebox) Gershwin musical” before An American In Paris’s 2015 Broadway debut, but there’s never been one as gloriously song-and-dance-packed (emphasis on dance) as the gorgeously choreographed and designed quadruple Tony winner, a veritable feast of color and light and ballet and tap and more.
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A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2
Tuesday, April 25th, 2017
Nora’s come back to the “doll’s house” she once called home, though how long she’ll stay is anybody’s guess in Lucas Hnath’s audacious, scabrous, wordy, discussion-prompting, and often surprisingly droll sequel to the Henrik Ibsen classic, the South Coast Repertory World Premiere of A Doll’s House, Part 2.
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ANDREW LIPPA’S WILD PARTY
Monday, April 24th, 2017
Dramatically dark and daringly sexual, Andrew Lippa’s Wild Party, the latest from Cal State Fullerton, showcases not just its multitalented ensemble headed by a phenomenal Hannah Clair as blonde bombshell Queenie. CSUF’s Wild Party is direction, choreography, and design at their SoCal pro-level best.
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WEST SIDE STORY
Sunday, April 23rd, 2017
It takes brilliance and balls to pull off the reinvention of a musical theater classic, particularly one as renowned for its iconic choreography as for its book, music, and lyrics, but this is precisely what director Richard Israel and choreographer John Todd have accomplished in the brilliant, ballsy West Side Story they have mounted for The La Mirada Theatre and McCoy Rigby Entertainment.
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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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