WHAT THE BUTLER SAW
Saturday, August 15th, 2009
Here’s a question for theater aficionados? Can you think of a play which deals with, features, or mentions all of the following: depravity, disguises, gender identity, the government, hanky-panky, hermaphroditism, homosexuality, incest, insanity, marriage, mistaken identities, nymphomania, pederasty, psychiatry, rape, religion, reunited orphan siblings, slapstick, and transvestitism? Who could possibly have found a way to put all of the above into one play—and make it one of the most laugh-out-loud hilarious screwball farces ever?
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LEGALLY BLONDE
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Having conquered both Harvard Law School and Hollywood in the movie smash that made Reese Witherspoon an A-list star, Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods then went on to take Broadway by storm as the heroine of 2007’s Legally Blonde The Musical. Now, the not-so-dumb-blonde has arrived at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre in a textbook example of how to turn a hit celluloid romcom into a nigh-on-perfect Broadway musical.
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TREEFALL
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
At some time in the perhaps not so distant future, after a series of “ecological events” has altered civilization as we know it, a trio of teenage boys have set up house in a primitive one-room mountain cabin somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Despite the cataclysms that have befallen society, the “family unit” has somehow found a way to survive in Henry Murray’s Treefall, now in its world premiere engagement by Rogue Machine. Though a post-apocalyptic nightmare fairy tale would not be my usual theatrical cup of tea, the performances of its talented, charismatic young cast, the contributions of a superb design team, and some ultimately moving, thought-provoking writing make Treefall an absorbing piece of theater.
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THE MUSIC MAN
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
If you want to know why The Music Man is one of the three longest-running musicals of the 1950s, head on up to Solvang for proof positive that Meredith Willson’s biggest hit is also one of the best Broadway musicals ever.
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THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP
Monday, August 10th, 2009
A young woman arrives at a grand and stately manor, the second wife of its handsome owner, only to be surrounded by memories of wife number one, particularly those brought up by the mansion’s sinister housekeeper. (That’s Alfred Hitchcock-Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca, right?) Among the household staff is a hunchback swineherd who turns into a werewolf whenever the moon is full. (What? You don’t remember that from Rebecca?) Another household worker is rumored to be one of those “beings who never die,” aka a Vampire. (Now that sounds like Dracula!) Our widowed, remarried hero journeys to Cairo where his presence brings a long-dead Egyptian mummy back to life. (What kind of movie mishmash is this? Have we died and gone to horror movie heaven, or hell?)
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CLOSER THAN EVER
Saturday, August 8th, 2009
Ten talented Asian-American performers sing about “life, love, and all the doors in between” in Lodestone Theatre Ensemble’s next-to-very-last production, an ingeniously-staged, brightly-performed revival of Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire’s musical revue Closer Than Ever.
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LIFE COULD BE A DREAM
Friday, August 7th, 2009
Looking for a great evening of musical nostalgia, romance, and laughter? Then travel back in time to the days of “Doo-Wop” in Roger Bean’s sure-to-be-a-smash new musical Life Could Be A Dream, just opened at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre.
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SAY GOODBYE, TOTO
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, the Munchkins, and the Wizard himself are back—in Amy Heidish’s charming, delightful, and surprisingly original Say Goodbye, Toto, a Wizard Of Oz not just for the kiddies.
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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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