BOOM
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
From the way Jules and Jo “meet cute” in Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s Boom, now playing at Pasadena’s Furious Theatre Company, you’d think you were in for the kind of romcom that’s made stars of Meg Ryan, Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts, and Reece Witherspoon, any one of whom could have played Jo at one point in their careers opposite a young Tom Hanks, Billy Crystal, or Mark Ruffalo.
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MADAGASCAR
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010
A young man disappears, and five years later remains missing with nary a clue of his possible whereabouts.
JT Rogers’ Madagascar looks at the effect of this disappearance on three of the people closest to him. Densely written, told almost entirely through monologs, Madagascar is a smart play that requires smarts from its audience.
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THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
Friday, May 21st, 2010
A hit musical’s becoming available for production by regional theaters can be a bonanza for CLOs in search of something fresh and new. After all, how many times can a theater stage a Rodgers & Hammerstein show or one by Jerry Herman, Kander & Ebb, or Lerner & Loewe before audiences start begging for something different? At the same time, theater reviewers may suddenly find themselves invited to see the same new show again and again ad nauseum. I don’t know how others feel about seeing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee more than once, but for this reviewer at least, no matter how many Bees I’m invited to review, I simply “Cain’t Say No.” I love The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and will jump at just about every chance to see a new group of actors put their own stamps on the sensational roles Rebecca Feldman has conceived for them.
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SARAH, SARAH
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
“How often do you see a comedy that’s not only consistently hilarious but is also a work of real substance, a play that makes you both laugh and think at the same time? Not often, I’d venture to guess.”
Thus began my review of Daniel Goldfarb’s Modern Orthodox a little under three years ago, and the same can be said of the playwright’s Sarah, Sarah, now delighting audiences as part of West Coast Jewish Theatre’s 2009-10 season.
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ROAD TO SAIGON
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
Three Filipina divas take center stage in the musical memoir Road To Saigon, now in its world premiere engagement at East West Players.
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CRIMES OF THE HEART
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Southern Quirky is a hard act to get right. There’s a tendency to overdo the Southern and overplay the Quirky that can turn characters into caricatures.
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LONDON’S SCARS
Saturday, May 15th, 2010
Two scarred Londoners take center stage in award-winning playwright Richard Martin Hirsch’s latest, the current-as-today’s-headlines London’s Scars, now in its World Premiere engagement as a guest production at West L.A.’s Odyssey Theatre.
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JANET KRUPIN RHAPSODY IN NEW
Saturday, May 15th, 2010
The sky’s the limit for Janet Krupin, superstar in the making, who followed her L.A.’s Next Great Stage Star 2010 victory with a sensational cabaret debut that people will be talking about in years to come.
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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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