BEDROOM FARCE
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Alan Ayckbourn is back at the Odyssey Theatre, the British playwright’s West Los Angeles “home away from home,” with his 1975 smash Bedroom Farce, While not exactly a farce per se (there are no slamming doors or mistaken identities), Bedroom Farce nonetheless provides two hours of frothy fun, particularly in its wild-and-crazy second act.
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HAIRSPRAY
Sunday, July 25th, 2010
Following over six years (and a grand total of 2642 performances) on Broadway and several Equity and non-Equity National Tours, the smash hit musical Hairspray has at last been made available to theaters across the country, and San Diego Repertory Theatre has scored big in getting the rights to its Southern California Regional Theater Premiere, making for a delightful, often outstanding production directed with assurance and flair by Sam Woodhouse and featuring actors who put their own stamp on John Waters’ memorable characters and Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s tuneful songs.
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NEVERWONDERLAND
Saturday, July 24th, 2010
Imagine a world in which Peter Pan and Alice are brother and sister, he off to his Neverland, she into her Wonderland, the entire tale imagined in dance—and you have some idea of Boom Kat Dance Theatre’s NeverWonderLand, as gorgeous an evening of music and visual imagery as I’ve seen since Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands.
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RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN’S CINDERELLA
Friday, July 23rd, 2010
Following its couldn’t-be-better production of Little Shop Of Horrors, Cabrillo Music Theatre now stages a show for children and parents alike in Rodgers And Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Kids will love seeing one of their favorite fairy tales brought to musical comedy life, and those above the age of ten will relish R&H’s music and lyrics, the cast’s all-around terrific performances, and seeing 1970s TV icons Marcia Wallace as Cinderella’s stepmother and Sally Struthers as her fairy Godmother. Though Rodgers And Hammerstein’s Cinderella may lack the sophistication and unified tone of Disney’s Beauty And The Beast, a great cast and Lewis Wilkenfeld’s savvy direction make for an enjoyable two hours of family entertainment.
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RING OF FIRE
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Johnny Cash fans will be in country music heaven through August 1 as FCLO Music Theatre present Ring Of Fire: The Music Of Johnny Cash. Correction: make that music fans, pure and simple. Singer-songwriter-icon Johnny Cash transcended easy classification, blending rock and roll, rockabilly, folk, and gospel, making this production a musical event of the first order.
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THE HASTY HEART
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
John Patrick’s The Hasty Heart is that theatrical rarity—a comedy-drama that is as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking, a life-affirming story about impending death that is, amazingly, oximoronically, a feel-good tearjerker.
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CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Monday, July 19th, 2010
How’s this for a clever idea? Gather a bunch of famous performers and have each one read a passage from the autobiography of a famous person, for example Brooke Shields reading from Touch Me: The [Autobiographical] Poems Of Suzanne Somers, emoting poetic gems like “we were making wild and crazy love before the ice had settled in our drinks … though I can barely remember your name …” And that’s only the start of ninety minutes of non-stop fun.
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40 IS THE NEW 15
Saturday, July 17th, 2010
What a difference a few tweaks can make!
40 Is The New 15, Larry Todd Johnson and Cindy O’Connor’s musical about five former high school classmates turning 40 and reflecting on the ways their lives have changed over the past quarter century, has made a triumphant return to North Hollywood a year after its workshop run. What was already an entertaining, moving, and very promising evening of musical theater has come back the polished gem that only years of rewrites and workshops can achieve.
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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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