CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
The Tennessee Williams estate is very particular about whom it grants right to Mr. Williams’ plays. Justly concerned about protecting the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright’s reputation, the estate won’t let just any theater company stage the Williams oeuvre, particularly the two plays which won him the Pulitzer—A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. Other than A Noise Within’s 2000 production and the Geffen’s in 2005, I can’t recall a local staging of Cat, nor can I recall its being produced by a 99-seat theater. Thus, The Neighborhood Playhouse’s just-opened revival of the 1955 classic is a major Southland theatrical event.
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MY WAY: A MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO FRANK SINATRA
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
“Frank Sinatra recorded 1500 songs, and tonight we’re going to sing every single one of them,” jokes Jason Watson at the beginning of My Way: A Musical Tribute To Frank Sinatra. Though a complete retrospective of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ discography would doubtless take (in Watson’s words) “the next eight days,” My Way does a terrific job of showcasing Sinatra’s best-known hits (and a few of his rather more obscure songs as well), making it one of the most entertaining “jukebox” musical revues ever.
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TWIST
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
“A baby’s born to be adored, and cuddled, hugged, and kissed. But not this one. He’s no one’s son. He’s all alone. He’s Twist.”
Sound familiar? An abandoned newborn in mid-19th Century London grows up in an orphanage, and when he makes the mistake of asking, “Please sir, may I have some more?”, is promptly sold to an undertaker, then falls in with a gang of miscreants under the thumb of a wily leader named Fagin. All the while, said comely youth indulges in all manner of S&M/B&D games in a Victorian England of leather boots, pimps, whips, whores, chains, fish-net stockings, cross-dressers, and scoundrels of every sexual persuasion and perversion.
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HAIR
Saturday, July 11th, 2009
It was mid-1968. LBJ was still President, with Richard Nixon’s election and seven more years of war in Vietnam yet to come. Already, though, there were “tribes” of young people in their teens and twenties whose dissatisfaction with an America riddled with racism, poverty, sexism, sexual repression, and political corruption led them to create the hippie movement of the 60s. More than anything else, though, these “new American patriots,” as they saw themselves, were in revolt against a war they believed to be unjust, unnecessary, and un-American.
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THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA
Friday, July 10th, 2009
Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas’ The Light In The Piazza is the most exquisite musical to come from Broadway in many years. The story of a mother and daughter who travel to Italy in the summer of 1953, Piazza was nominated for eleven Tony awards in 2005 and won six, including one for Guettel’s score. Most of its other wins were in design categories, most notably for Michael Yeargan’s superb scenic design. In fact, the Broadway and touring company sets were so breathtakingly beautiful that at times they may even have overshadowed the material, particularly Lucas’ complex, haunting music.
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EQUUS
Saturday, July 4th, 2009
Let’s play a game of word association. I say “Equus” and you say the first thing that pops into your head. Here goes. “Equus.” All right, what was your answer? Was it
a) Horse? b) Richard Burton? c) Psychiatrist? d) Nudity? e) Broadway?
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BACH AT LEIPZIG
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
The year is 1722 and some of the finest musicians of the age have descended on Leipzig, Germany, in hopes of succeeding Johann Kuhnau as organist of the Thomaskirche. Since no early 18th Century musician can achieve success without the patronage of the nobility or the church, a post like Kuhnau’s is one worth fighting for, even if this means lying, scheming, and double-crossing to obtain it.
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THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
FINANCIER BILKS CLIENTS OF INVESTMENTS
FORTUNES LOST IN FINANCIAL SCANDAL
Sound familiar? Could these headlines be referring to convicted felon Bernie Madoff?
Actually, not.
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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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