BYE BYE BIRDIE
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
It’s 1958 all over again in CLOSBC’s picture-perfect revival of the rock-n-rollin’ Broadway classic Bye Bye Birdie, with L.A. favorites John Bisom and Natalie Nucci giving New York originals Dick Van Dyke and Chita Rivera a run for their money in stellar triple-threat performances. Director-choreographer extraordinaire Dan Mojica once again works his magic in bringing to finger-snappin’ toe-tappin’ life the Elvis Presley-gets-drafted-inspired book by Michael Stewart and the oh-so-memorable songs by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams.
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SEA CHANGE
Monday, September 22nd, 2008
The year is 1974 and a quintet of Tufts University friends have gone whale watching off the coast of Provincetown. Virginal conservative gay guy Val and liberal lesbian Jan are arguing about politics, Val contending to Jan’s absolute horror that “you can’t blame Nixon for Kent State.” Blond Adonis Sunny is stoned as usual, and arguing with feisty lesbian Elle on whether it’s TLGC (Tufts Lesbian and Gay Community) or TGLC, alphabetical order making more sense to Sunny as a gay male. Completing the fivesome is Sunny’s devout Catholic boyfriend Gene.
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RAGTIME
Saturday, September 20th, 2008
Musical Theatre Of Los Angeles’ sensational revival of Ragtime The Musical is the kind of production they say “can’t be done,” and yet, miracle of miracles, they’ve done it. One of the most truly epic shows ever to have filled a Broadway stage, the original production featured a cast of 50. MTLA’s production scales that down somewhat (the program lists 37 performers) but even so, merely to fit those three dozen actors on the Hudson Backstage Theatre’s stage (plus a 10-piece orchestra and conductor) seems nigh on impossible, let alone have them move, interact, even dance. But they’ve done it. Yes, indeed, they’ve done it!
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43 PLAYS FOR 43 PRESIDENTS
Friday, September 19th, 2008
Arriving just in time for the election season, 43 Plays For 43 Presidents is a lickety-split rollercoaster ride through the last 219 years of American history.
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WEHO
Friday, September 19th, 2008
Classic nighttime soaps, Dynasty and Melrose Place to name just two, get a hilarious gay spoofing in the Celebration Theater’s latest late night hit, WeHo, named after “the most dramatic city never to hit prime time. Some call it West Hollywood. We call it WeHo!”
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SPEECH & DEBATE
Thursday, September 18th, 2008
A Salem, Oregon high school teacher cruises school restrooms and gay.com to pick up 18-year-old students for sex. Salem’s conservative mayor is rumored to up to similar shenanigans, all the while promoting an anti-gay agenda. Sounds like the basis for a stark, current-as-today’s-headlines drama, right?
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SOUVENIR
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008
Several decades before Mrs. Elva Miller (known affectionately as “Mrs. Miller”) blithely and cluelessly massacred such 1960s hits as “Downtown” and “A Lover’s Concerto” in her vibrato-heavy, wobbly, off-key mezzo, there was an even more celebrated “pure coloratura” who achieved now legendary fame in the operatic concert world by performing arias in a voice that makes Mrs. Miller’s seem nearly magnificent by comparison.
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SEESAW
Monday, September 15th, 2008
What would L.A. musical theater lovers do without MTG? Who else but the musical theater magicians who make up Musical Theatre Guild would give Angelinos the chance to see a production of a rarely produced Broadway semi-hit like 1973’s Seesaw? Who else could do it with a mere 25 hours of rehearsal? And who else could achieve such overall excellence in a “concert staged reading” that it could easily hold its own against many a “fully staged production” on local stages?
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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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