DREAM BOY
Sunday, January 31st, 2016
Nine years after a pair of gay teen boys fell unforgettably into first love in Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing, Celebration Theatre and director Michael Matthews reunite for the similarly themed (albeit considerably darker) Dream Boy, Eric Rosen’s meticulously faithful adaptation of Jim Grimsley’s haunting Southern Gothic novel, an imaginatively directed, superbly performed, gorgeously designed Los Angeles Premiere marred only by poor sightlines that will often have you craning to see the action.
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PAL JOEY
Monday, January 25th, 2016
Musical Theatre West’s Reiner Reading Series has once again done what it does best—treat Broadway buffs to a one-night-only almost fully-staged revival of a show unlikely to get an extended MTW run—in this case Rodgers & Hart’s Pal Joey, which despite the unsympathetic characters who populate John O’Hara’s often unengaging book proves a showcase for a couple of R&H’s best known song classics (and for the triple-threats who perform them and many more).
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DEATHTRAP
Saturday, January 23rd, 2016
Thrills and chills and gasp-worthy plot twists galore highlight the topnotch revival of Ira Levin’s Broadway suspense classic Deathtrap now exciting and delighting audiences on the proscenium stage of the historic Sierra Madre Playhouse.
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GUYS AND DOLLS
Wednesday, January 20th, 2016
Damon Runyon’s picturesque band of New York denizens have arrived in Claremont for an all-around terrific revival of Frank Loesser’s 1950 Broadway classic Guys And Dolls.
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PRIVATE EYES
Sunday, January 17th, 2016
Reality and fiction. Truth and lies. Has any playwright had more fun fooling (and delighting and engaging) an audience than Steven Dietz does in Private Eyes, the best straight-play production I’ve seen at Santa Monica’s venerable community theater, the Morgan-Wixson, and one that easily holds its own against the top professional houses in town.
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DEN OF THIEVES
Saturday, January 16th, 2016
Organized crime meets a quartet of disorganized would-be criminals to wild and wacky effect in Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Den Of Thieves, now getting a hilarious 20th-anniversary revival by 2Cents Theatre Group.
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THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY
Saturday, January 16th, 2016
The Absolute Brightness Of Leonard Pelkey, James Lecesne’s hilarious, touching stage adaptation of his 2008 novel has arrived as a guest production at the Kirk Douglas Theatre only months after generating plenty of well-earned off-Broadway buzz for its author-performer.
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THE MADWOMAN IN THE VOLVO
Wednesday, January 13th, 2016RECOMMENDED
Solo queen Sandra Tsing Loh has arrived at South Coast Rep with a couple of guest actresses in tow for The Madwoman In The Volvo, an autobiographical look at menopause and infidelity more likely to appeal to female theatergoers forty-five and older than to those who don’t fit this specific demographic.
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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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