OLIVER
Saturday, May 10th, 2008
Two decades before the British invasion of the 1980s, which transformed Broadway into an American “West End” with shows like Cats, Les Miz, Phantom, and Miss Saigon, a triple-threat British writer/composer/lyricist named Lionel Bart created a musical which may well outlive all of the above, a show by the name of Oliver.
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AND HER HAIR WENT WITH HER
Friday, May 9th, 2008
Tonya Pinkins and Tracie Thoms are two actresses who could get together on a stage and captivate audiences merely by reading the proverbial phone book. Performing in a winner of a play like Zina Camblin’s And Her Hair Went With Her, the duo is theatrical magic.
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THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Glendale’s A Noise Within (“California’s Classical Theatre Company”) is about the closest thing Los Angeles has to an “artists in residence” repertory ensemble, which for theatergoers means that each of their superb productions is likely to feature many of the same gifted actors who’ve delivered memorable performances in years past. For the resident artists, it means a kind of job security which is almost non-existent in L.A. theater, plus a chance to perform some of the greatest roles ever written, in works by Shakespeare and Racine and Moliere and Shaw and Miller and Foote and, in the current production of The Night Of The Iguana, by Tennessee Williams.
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MISS SAIGON
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
It’s a long and winding road which leads a Broadway smash to regional theaters, one that can take years or even decades. In most cases, a show must finish its Broadway run and its national tours (that’s tours with an “s” because major hits often have three or more national tours). That’s why you won’t find still-running Broadway hits like The Phantom Of The Opera or Mamma Mia at your local CLO any time soon. And that is why Miss Saigon at Civic Light Opera Of South Bay Cities is such an event.
PEST CONTROL
Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
Pest Control The Musical may well be the most visually and technically spectacular musical ever staged in a 99-seat L.A. area theater. Its cast is a mix of stars with major Broadway credits and some of our finest local talents. Director- choreographer James J. Mellon and his Open At The Top Productions have mounted a sensational world premiere musical where only the number of seats is small.
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PARK YOUR CAR IN HARVARD YARD
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
Theatergoers who made the recent production of Trying a monster hit for the Colony Theatre are hereby advised to head on down to Long Beach for International City Theatre’s superb revival of Israel Horovitz’ 1981 two-hander, Park Your Car In Harvard Yard. Like Trying, Park Your Car takes two people who are different in every possible way (age, sex, education, religion, family background, etc.), puts them in the same space, and lets the sparks fly. Like Trying, affords an actor in his eighties the part of a lifetime. Like Trying, the actress playing opposite said actor gets the gift of a role so richly drawn that sinking her teeth into it proves a veritable feast, both for the actress and for the audience.
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SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE PALACE
Thursday, May 1st, 2008
A brief news clipping reporting the aftermath of a crime in 1980s Apartheid-ruled South Africa inspired renowned playwright Paul Slabolepszy to imagine the 90 minutes which might have led up to it. The harrowing result, Saturday Night At The Palace, had its Cape Town premiere at a time when it was illegal for black and white actors even to appear on stage together.
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THE INJURED PARTY
Sunday, April 27th, 2008
South Coast Repertory has a bonafide hit on its hands. Richard Greenberg’s latest, The Injured Party, is one of the most exciting plays I’ve seen since John Guare’s Six Degrees Of Separation, a work which it shares a number of common themes with. Both deal with family, love, art, money and ambition among New York’s very rich. Both are exceedingly smart without being pretentious. Like Six Degrees, The Injured Party features a gay lead character whose sexual orientation is not central to the story. Both plays keep you riveted from curtain up to curtain calls.
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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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