HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS
Monday, December 12th, 2011
The Grinch has been stealing Christmas for the past fifty-four years, ever since the now classic Dr. Seuss children’s book first hit the stands, yet who would have thought then that the curmudgeonly cave-dweller with a heart “two sizes too small” would go on to conquer the small screen (in a 1966 animated special featuring the voice of Boris Karloff as the Grinch), the big screen (Jim Carrey played the hairy Green One in 2000), and even Broadway (in musical theater form in 2006 and ’07)? Not even Dr. Seuss himself could have imagined such a future for his 1957 picture book.
(read more)
A CHRISTMAS WESTSIDE STORY
Sunday, December 11th, 2011
Take the storyline of a classic holiday flick, add the music of a revolutionary Broadway musical, stir in the iconic dance moves of that musical smash, and sprinkle with the zaniness that has become the trademark of Troubadour Theater Company, and you have A Christmas Westside Story, possibly the most sensational Troubies show yet.
(read more)
AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS
Saturday, December 10th, 2011
Amahl And The Night Visitors’ return to the Pasadena Playhouse stage for one weekend only is red-letter news indeed, for opera fans and newbies alike regardless of age. Once again impeccably directed by Stephanie Vlahos and performed by a stellar cast headed by Suzanna Guzman and Caleb Glickman, the Gian Carlo Menotti one-act is a one-of-a-kind holiday treasure.
(read more)
CHRISTMASTIME IS QUEER 4
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
The talented writers and actors of Playwrights 6 are back onstage at Celebration Theatre for the first time in seven years with the latest installment of their popular anthology of holiday/LGBT-themed one-acts, Christmastime Is Queer 4. Despite not even a dash of the nudity that made 2004’s Christmastime Is Queer 3: Naked Christmas particularly memorable, this all-new collection of playlets may well be the best of the bunch so far.
(read more)
LAST CHRISTMAS II THE NORTH POLE STRIKES BACK OR “RETURN OF THE MAGI”
Monday, December 5th, 2011
Santa Ana’s Theatre Out celebrates the holiday season with a primetime sequel to their 2008/2009 late night hit, Darcy Hogan’s Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart But The Very Next Day You Said You Were Gay, this time titled Last Christmas II The North Pole Strikes Back Or “Return Of The Magi”–and the results are an hour of tuneful, risqué, often hilarious December merriment with a decidedly gay twist.
(read more)
HEY, MORGAN!
Monday, December 5th, 2011
“Certain girls are born to greatness. Others don’t know what their place is. But whether you’re Michelle Obama, or selling tickets at the Cinerama, the story lives inside of you, a tale in every life.”
Little did Morgan Farkas (not her real last name) realize when she invited former high school classmate Isaac Laskan (his real last name) to become her post-college roommate that her not-so-extraordinary life would become the inspiration for an hour-long chamber musical that’s taken Los Angeles by storm (or at least as much as any show running in a 30-seat theater can be said to take a big city by storm).
(read more)
DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011
A beautiful young woman marries an elderly widower only to find herself irresistibly attracted to his twenty-five-year-old son, with whom she begins a torrid affair behind her septuagenarian hubby’s back. Wishing to insure that the old man’s property remains tied to wife rather than son, the ingenious beauty connives to conceive a child with her lover and pass it off as her aged spouse’s. Murder ensues.
(read more)
DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
Several years before Cher responded to Nicolas Cage’s declaration of love with a “Snap out of it!” and a pair of slaps in the now classic romcom Moonstruck, its Oscar-winning screenwriter John Patrick Shanley gained theatrical fame with Danny And The Deep Blue Sea, a two-character one-act “Apache Dance” performed by a pair of protagonists who make Moonstruck’s Ronny and Loretta seem positively angelic by comparison. These two characters, Roberta and Danny, are now brought to vivid, gutsy, mesmerizing life by Juliet Landau and Matthew J. Williamson in Crown City Theatre Company’s stunning revival of the early ‘80s Shanley gem.
(read more)
Since 2007, Steven Stanley's StageSceneLA.com has spotlighted the best in Southern California theater via reviews, interviews, and its annual StageSceneLA Scenies.
COPYRIGHT 2026 STEVEN STANLEY :: DESIGN BY