HELLO, AGAIN
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
Arthur Schnitzler’s 1897 classic La Ronde becomes a seductive chamber musical in Michael John LaChiusa’s Hello, Again, currently being staged by USC’s Musical Theatre Repertory in an all around sensational production which proves that student produced-directed-acted-designed work can give any professional production a run for its money.
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DEAD MAN’S CELL PHONE
Sunday, September 28th, 2008
A woman sits alone at a table in a nearly empty café. Several yards away, at another table, a man’s cell phone rings. And rings. And rings. What else is the woman to do but go over to the man to see why he’s ignoring his phone. “Are you deaf?” she asks, then realizes the stupidity of her question. Nothing to do but answer the phone herself and take a message. Then it hits her why the man isn’t responding. She picks up a spoon from his table and holds it up to the man’s nose. Nothing. His cell phone still in her hand, she dials 911 and calmly informs the operator, “I think there’s a dead man sitting next to me.”
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KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
Friday, September 26th, 2008
What 1993 Broadway hit ran for over 900 performances and won 7 Tonys including Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score (inspiring not one but two different Broadway Cast Recordings), yet is only now getting its first major Los Angeles production since its 1996 National Tour played the Ahmanson?
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LOUIS AND KEELY LIVE AT THE SAHARA
Thursday, September 25th, 2008
By the time Louis Prima met 16-year-old Keely Smith in the late 1940s, the 37-year-old Italian-American entertainer’s career had already undergone several transformations. In his teens and 20s, Prima had played trumpet in jazz combos and bands. In 1940, he formed his own Big Band, singing most of the vocals himself. By the time the 1950s rolled around, the Glenn Miller/Benny Goodman sound was passé, and “Louis Prima and Keely Smith” began their successful Las Vegas career, performing multiple shows from midnight until dawn.
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PHANTOM
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008
Say the word Phantom, and most Broadway buffs will immediately think of the Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber megahit, currently in its 21st year on Broadway (over 8500 performances to date). But there’s another Phantom which will pop into the minds of true musical theater aficionados, the single-word-titled Phantom (no Of The Opera here), with book by Arthur Kopit and music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. Though the closest the “other Phantom” has gotten to Broadway is New Jersey, over the past 17 years it has become a regional theater staple (over 1000 regional performances), and now graces the Glendale Centre Theatre stage, in a production whose performances alone make it well worth seeing.
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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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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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