FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
The prolonged ovation which greets Topol’s first entrance in Fiddler On The Roof confirms that this Farewell Tour, starring the man whose name has become synonymous with that of its lead character, is an event of the first order. As Tevye, the milkman of Anatevka, Chaim Topol gives a brilliant performance in an absolutely superb revival of the 1964 Broadway classic. That the production which surrounds him is of Broadway caliber elevates this Fiddler to must-see status.
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THE BEST IS YET TO COME: THE MUSIC OF CY COLEMAN
Sunday, July 19th, 2009
City Of Angels, Sweet Charity, Little Me, Seesaw, On The Twentieth Century, I Love My Wife, The Will Rogers Follies, Barnam.
“Big Spender,” “It’s Not Where You Start,” “There’s Gotta Be Something Better” “Hey, Look Me Over,” Witchcraft,” “The Best Is Yet To Come.”
What do these Broadway shows and hit songs have in common? The answer in two words is Cy Coleman, composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist extraordinaire.
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THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
Saturday, July 18th, 2009
It’s not whether you win or lose. It’s how you play the game.”
It’s highly doubtful that any of the preteen contestants in William Finn’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee have ever taken these words of advice to heart. For these regional spelling bee finalists, and for many of their parents, winning is everything, and if you have any doubt that kids can be every bit as competitive as adults, Finn’s quirky, highly original musical will soon cure you of this misconception.
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ALTAR BOYZ
Friday, July 17th, 2009
Those Altar Boyz are back, and there’s no one happier about the news than I am. Since discovering the Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording in 2005 (which I’ve listened to more times that I could possibly count), I’ve had the thrill of seeing the show’s First National Tour, two regional productions—and now Altar Boyz’ first L.A. intimate theater staging at the Celebration Theatre. Directed by Patrick Pearson and choreographed by Ameenah Kaplan, with musical direction by Christopher Lloyd Bratten, and starring five sensational young triple threats, this may well be the best Altar Boyz yet.
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LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
For a 1982 off-Broadway musical based on a no-budget black-and-white film shot in two days, Little Shop Of Horrors has come a long, long way. A London West End production opened in 1983 and a movie version was released in 1986 even as Little Shop continued to entertain off-Broadway audiences for an amazing 2,209 performances. A big stage revival finally took the show to Broadway in 2003. Few are the high schools, community theaters, and regional CLOs which haven’t staged Little Shop at least once in the past twenty-seven years. Little Shop Of Horrors is that rarity in musical theater—a show which works equally well in a tiny space and on a Broadway-sized stage, one which can delight and entertain whether performed by teenagers, amateurs, or the kind of A-List professionals now starring in Musical Theater West’s sensational big theater revival.
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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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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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