KISS ME KATE
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
Compared to the 510 years that Petruchio has been telling Katherina to “Kiss me, Kate” in William Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew, the mere 62 that he’s been doing the same thing in Cole Porter’s Tony Award-winning Kiss Me Kate seem like no time at all, especially in as fresh and fun a production as the one currently on stage at Glendale Centre Theatre.
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HIGH SPIRITS
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
For a musical based on the oft-revived Noël Coward comedy Blithe Spirit—and one that got eight Tony Award nominations to boot—you’d think that 1964’s High Spirits would have ended up a perennial CLO favorite. Somehow it didn’t, thereby making it ideal for one of Musical Theatre Guild’s concert staged readings of lesser known Broadway hits and misses. High Spirits’ one-performance-only production on Monday proved not only the rightness of the choice, but also that this is a show which deserves considerably more recognition than has been the case. With absolutely stellar work by its four leads and its superb direction by the multi-talented Richard Israel, MTG’s High Sprits had its audience in high, high spirits indeed.
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BROADS THE MUSICAL
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
Life begins at 65 for Elaine, Louise, Myra and Nilda, aka The Broads, and for those of you out there who’ve never heard of them, just ask any of their fellow residents at South Florida’s Millennium Manor. They’ll tell that you the Broads are the next best thing to Metamucil, and that when the time rolls around for Millennium Manor’s annual variety show, it’s by far the Senior Citizen event of the year.
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COUSIN BETTE
Saturday, February 20th, 2010
Who would ever have thought that a 164-year-old French novel would provide the basis for the juiciest, funniest, most twisted 3-act, 3-hour family saga since Tracy Letts’ August Osage County? But that’s precisely what Jeffrey Hatcher’s delicious adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s Cousin Bette has turned out to be, particularly under the brilliant direction of Jeanie Hackett and as performed by the superb troupe of actors who make up the Antaeus Company, “L.A.’s Classical Theater Ensemble.”
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THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
For Andrew Lloyd Webber fans, there’s no better place to be this week than at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. A sextet of Broadway stars and a full onstage symphony orchestra join forces to perform thirty of Sir Andrew’s most famous compositions, making for a spectacular two hours of song.
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MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
Sunday, February 14th, 2010
Some productions belong to the actors, some to the writer, some even to the designers. Then there are Sondheim shows directed by Oanh Nguyen. These productions belong to the director, and the latest Sondheim/Nguyen collaboration, the composer’s 1981 Merrily We Roll Along, is no exception. That’s not to say that Nguyen’s cast aren’t delivering fine performances. They are. That’s not to say that his design team haven’t produced some brilliant work here. They have. But what sets this Merrily apart from others is Nguyen’s vision. You may have seen Merrily We Roll Along before, but you haven’t seen this Merrily We Roll Along.
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CELADINE
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
The titular leading lady of Charles Evered’s Celadine runs a London coffee house, writes plays, occasionally does a bit of spying, and still looks fabulous well into her forties. Assisting her at the coffee house are Mary, a former hooker, and Jeffrey, a young hunk with a penchant for cross-dressing and for crawling under his boss’s skirt. Completing Celadine’s entourage in the play’s West Coast premiere at the Colony Theatre are Elliot and Rowley, the former a handsome young actor, the latter an ex-lover. If Celadine’s young daughter Marie were still alive, the lady would seem to have it made—the very picture of a modern 21st Century woman, right?
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BARK! THE MUSICAL
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
You’re my man, I’m your pet. We’re as close as two can get. You love me to the end. That’s why you are dog’s best friend,” sings Rocks, the Jack Russell pup in Bark! The Musical, the smash hit returning to the L.A. area for the first time in nearly four years in a supersized staging by Civic Light Opera Of South Bay Cities that merits five barks out of five.
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