ADAM BAUM AND THE JEW MOVIE


In Modern Orthodox, Daniel Goldfarb hilariously contrasted two extremes of modern Judaism. In Adam Baum And The Jew Movie, he writes an equally laugh-filled comedy about the legendary Jewish studio heads who created decades of Jew-free movies in Hollywood.
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DOG SEES GOD


The teenagers in Dog Sees God: Confessions Of A Teenage Blockhead could come straight out of American Pie or Mean Girls, but they bear an uncanny resemblance to a celebrated bunch of comic strip kids.
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IMAGINE


The best children’s theater, like the best Disney classics, is theater that’s not just for kids.  South Coast Repertory knows this well, and the latest entry of its “Theatre For Young Audiences” series is sure to delight not only children … but also the grownups they bring along.

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shAme


When reminiscing about their high school years, most adults can probably recall having studied Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter at some point or other.  An imdb check shows over a dozen film or TV adaptations including 1995’s, which starred an improbably cast Demi Moore as Puritan adulteress Hester Prynne. The classic melodrama even made it to Broadway a century ago.  Never before, however, has it been set to music, or at least not until composer songwriter Mark Governor decided to turn it into a rock opera now making its Hollywood club  debut.
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TRACERS


With over 4000 Americans killed in Iraq since the United States declared its “war on terror” in the Middle East, now seems a particularly appropriate time to remember the Vietnam War and its more than 47,000 American casualties (not to mention the over 300,000 wounded in action). 

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THE BLOWIN OF BAILE GALL


Ronan Noone’s The Blowin Of Baile Gall deals with racism and xenophobia in Ireland, but it could just as easily be set anyplace in the United States where people frustrated with their own failures and inadequacies find it necessary to stereotype and demonize those who are “the other.” It could be about African Americans angry at Korean grocers taking over businesses in “their”  neighborhoods, or Latinos detesting the gentrification of their neighborhoods by upscale gays, or Caucasians complaining about “illegal immigrants.”  Sound familiar?
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A NEW BRAIN


Patrick’s Pearson breathtakingly conceived production of William Finn’s A New Brain is the most dazzling display of young talent you’re likely to see this year.
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A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM


“Something familiar, something peculiar, something for everybody: Comedy tonight!”

Those who associate the name of Stephen Sondheim with something  sophisticated, something subtle, something dour even (as in Passion) may not recognize the master of complex, reputedly un-hummable melodies and adult angst in Sondheim’s very first show as lyricist AND composer.
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