WEST SIDE STORY
Thursday, February 21st, 2008
As I sat watching West Side Story last night, amazingly my first time ever at a
professional stage production of this musical theater classic, I couldn’t help
thinking about what Broadway audiences must have felt as they first
discovered it back in 1957. This was, after all, a Broadway whose most recent
Tony-winners were My Fair Lady, Damn Yankees, and The Pajama Game.
What must audiences who were accustomed to this fun and sunny fare have
thought about a show where the leading man and leading lady didn’t have
the proverbial happy ending, and whose characters lived dismal lives in the
worst parts of Manhattan and hated anyone whose differences threatened
their go-nowhere existences?
(read more)
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Sunday, February 17th, 2008
South Coast Rep’s revival of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Earnest is
a production full of color, imagination, and panache. (Note: For those in need
of a summary of the oft performed comedy of manners, click here for a
Wikipedia synopsis.) Director Warner Shook’s original vision for Earnest is evident
from the moment the audience first sets sight on Michael Olich’s gorgeous non-
literal set design. The Segerstrom Stage is ablaze with rich blue-greens and
reds, colorful Persian rugs, a handsomely brocaded divan and armchair, and a
leopard rug center stage, head intact, and not a wall in sight. Nephelie
Andoyadis’s costumes are the epitome of elegance, and match the set’s color
scheme, which by the way changes for each of the play’s three acts.
(read more)
1776
Saturday, February 16th, 2008
It’s always exciting for me to discover a new play or musical, and that’s exactly
how I felt experiencing 1776 at Actors Co-op. True, 1776 has been around for
nearly 30 years, and I believe that I just might have seen the first national tour
(though if so, obviously in my infancy). I think also that I may have rented the
movie version at some time or other since the advent of the VCR. Still,
whatever memories I have of any previous 1776s are vague to say the least.
That’s why seeing 1776 at last, especially in such a polished and class-act
production, filled me with a sense of discovery.
(read more)
STUPID KIDS
Friday, February 15th, 2008
Gay teens are once again center stage at the Celebration Theatre in John C.
Russell’s comedy Stupid Kids. Michael Matthews, nominated for the Ovation
Award for his direction of the Celebration’s previous teen play Beautiful Thing,
once again proves himself a director extraordinaire in this energetic, dance
and music filled, laugh out loud funny yet poignant exploration of
contemporary American teendom.
(read more)
DICKIE AND BABE: THE TRUTH ABOUT LEOPOLD & LOEB
Thursday, February 14th, 2008
Having recently attended opening night of Nick DeGruccio’s outstanding
production of the Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story, I found Daniel Henning’s
superb Dickie & Babe: The Truth About Leopold & Loeb of special fascination.
Thrill Me is an 80-minute romantic musical, told entirely through the eyes of the
two Chicago teenagers who gained fame, and infamy, from the 1924 “thrill
killing” of 14-year-old Bobby Franks, and features an entirely fictional twist at its
conclusion. Dickie & Babe runs twice as long, introduces over two dozen
additional characters including family members, friends, trial witnesses, and the
greatest attorney of his time, Clarence Darrow, and is scrupulously based on fact.
(read more)
ASPECTS OF LOVE
Sunday, February 10th, 2008
Musical Theatre Guild once again proves its level of talent and versatility with
its latest “Broadway in Concert” presentation, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
Aspects Of Love. The talent is personified by Broadway’s Kim Huber and
Christina Saffran Ashford and National Tour/regional theater vets Roger
Befeler, Chuck Bergman, and Michael G. Hawkins. The versatility is proven by
this season’s selection of musicals. Following The Mystery Of Edwin Drood with
its big cast/big production numbers and the small cast, comedy skit filled As
Thousands Cheer, Musical Theatre Guild now undertakes very nearly an opera
with the entirely sung-through “Pucciniesque” Aspects of Love, which has a
cast of 13.
(read more)
ASSASSINS
Sunday, February 10th, 2008
If by some chance you’ve never seen or heard of Stephen Sondheim and John
Weidman’s Assassins, here’s what it’s about, in brief:
It’s about eight men and women who either assassinated, or attempted to
assassinate, a United States President.
Not your usual bill of fare for a musical, is it?
(read more)
CABARET
Friday, February 8th, 2008
When a musical has been around as long as John Kander and Fred Ebb’s
Cabaret has (the original Broadway production opened in 1966), it becomes a
show that most veteran theatergoers have seen multiple times. Thus,
whenever a new production opens, it is up to the performers and director to
keep it fresh and vital. I’m pleased to report that International City Theatre’s
Cabaret features a trio of fine lead performances and a director whose
concept and vision distinguish this Cabaret from others which have come
before.
(read more)
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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