THE QUESTION
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
Productions like Susan Stroman’s Tony-winning Contact and Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man have shown how powerfully and effectively contemporary dance can tell dramatic stories without a single spoken word being uttered. To that list can now be added JT Horenstein’s The Question, an Alfred Hitchcock-esque romantic thriller told through dance.
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THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
Sunday, March 8th, 2009
Director Geoff Elliott re-envisions Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew as a 1950s movie set in Italy and succeeds at the challenge with flying colors, making A Noise Within’s production a veritable treat for Shakespeare lovers and classic film buffs alike.
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BAREFOOT IN THE PARK
Friday, March 6th, 2009
One of my favorite things about being a theatergoer is having the chance to see new productions of favorite plays. Unlike the movies, where the word “remake” usually spells artistic disaster, revivals of popular theater favorites give directors and actors the opportunity to put their own stamp on iconic productions and roles, and playgoers the chance to revisit favorite characters and situations—with a fresh new twist.
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THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
I’ve been known to say that I’m not the world’s biggest Shakespeare fan. In last December’s review of Love’s Labor’s Lost, I confessed that “I often get lost in his convoluted plots, whole chunks of dialog whizzing past me or over my head without really sinking in.” Well, just as I thoroughly enjoyed Love’s Labor’s Lost last December, I’m happy to report that I absolutely loved The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and Circus Theatrical’s new production of The Taming Of The Shrew. It only took the first lines of dialog for me to have that “Eureka!” moment of thinking, “Wow, I’m actually understanding everything they’re saying, and it’s funny to boot!” Precisely what audiences in Shakespeare’s time must have been thinking when Shakespeare’s verse was not that far removed from actual contemporary speech.
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TENNESSEE IN THE SUMMER
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
Tennessee Williams was a complicated man, to say the least. Not the nicest person to be around. Putting it mildly, he was a screwed-up mess, or at least that’s how he comes across in Joe Besecker’s Tennessee In The Summer. Still, there are far less interesting people to spend an hour and a half with than the multi-award-winning playwright, especially as brought to vivid and complex life by Dan Alemshah in the ”member-initiated production” currently playing Tuesdays through Thursdays at West Coast Ensemble under Justin French’s assured direction.
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THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL
Sunday, March 1st, 2009
Long before Bruce Wayne concocted a secret identity for himself in order to fight evil and wrongdoers as Batman, an 18th Century English baronet named Sir Percy Blakeney disguised himself as The Scarlet Pimpernel. His goal—to rescue French aristocrats from the blade of the dreaded guillotine.
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DOUBLE INDEMNITY
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
Adapting Double Indemnity for a 99-seat theater could easily prove disastrous. Make the wrong directorial, acting, or design choices and the enterprise could easily turn into an unintentional sequel to Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, Steve Martin’s brilliant parody of film noir.
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THE THREEPENNY OPERA
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
Fans of The Threepenny Opera will be hard-pressed to find a better production of the Kurt Weill-Bertolt Brecht classic than International City Theatre’s current revival. Directed with consummate vision and artistry by Jules Aaron, beautifully choreographed by Broadway’s Kay Cole, performed by a sensational cast accompanied by a masterful quintet of musicians, and designed by a SoCal “dream team,” this Threepenny Opera may well be ICT’s all-around best musical production in years.
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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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