SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS
Thursday, May 8th, 2014
What becomes a legend most?
When the legend in question is Oscar-nominated film icon Leslie (An American In Paris, Lili, Gigi, The L-Shaped Room, etc., etc., etc.) Caron, what becomes the legend most is a triumphant return to the stage in Richard Alfieri’s Six Dance Lessons In Six Weeks. Add to the equation six-time Ovation Award winner David Engel as Miss Caron’s onstage partner and what you have at the Laguna Playhouse is a production Broadway can only wish were on the Great White Way.
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THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
Tuesday, May 6th, 2014
Misfit kids once again rule as Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre presents The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, one of the past decade’s crowd-pleasingest musicals, and whether it’s your first time at The Bee, or your eleventh (as it was for this reviewer), you’ll be smiling—and cheering on the competitors—from start to finish.
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INTO THE WOODS
Monday, May 5th, 2014
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony-winning Into The Woods receives its first major L.A.-area production in nearly a decade as 3-D Theatricals presents a beautifully acted, assuredly directed, and gorgeously designed revival of the contemporary classic, though all concerned must surely be wishing they’d had the benefit of a couple more previews before Saturday’s technical-glitch-marred Opening Night.
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PASSION PLAY
Sunday, May 4th, 2014
Chance Theater challenges adventurous theatergoers and rewards them in equal measure with director Trevor Biship’s powerfully staged vision of Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play, three acts, two intermissions and all. Bows may not get taken till nearly three-and-a-half hours after curtain, but if you’re anything like this reviewer, you’ll find yourself enthralled from fanciful start to emotional finish.
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WAKE
Saturday, May 3rd, 2014
An agoraphobic mortician, a homeschooled teenager, an increasingly forgetful grandmother, the ghost of a deceased spouse, and a man who just might sweep all the doldrums away take center stage in Carey Crim’s not-quite-perfect dramedy Wake, whose West Coast Premiere at South Pasadena’s Fremont Centre Theatre benefits enormously from Matt Kirkwood’s deft direction, an all-around terrific ensemble, and a topnotch production design.
TARZAN: THE MUSICAL
Monday, April 28th, 2014
The stage adaptation of the smash 1999 Disney animated feature Tarzan has finally arrived in Los Angeles eight years after its Broadway debut, and if the intimate staging now playing at North Hollywood’s El Portal doesn’t do quite everything right, it makes for a highly entertaining show for audiences five and up.
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CORPUS CHRISTI
Sunday, April 27th, 2014
Director Tito Covert-Ortiz has restaged his Scenie-winning vision of Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi with its original star Jeffrey Fargo at Santa Ana’s Theatre Out and the result is an even more powerfully moving production than it was at Long Beach’s Garage Theatre the first time round.
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THE DROWSY CHAPERONE
Saturday, April 26th, 2014
The Norris Center For The Performing Arts couldn’t have picked a better musical, nor staged it more sparklingly, than their 2013-2014 3-Play Series season closer The Drowsy Chaperone, winner of 5 Tony Awards and quite possibly the most entertaining Valentine to musical theater ever.
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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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