SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
The future of musical theater is in good hands with talented students like those from USC who have put together a sensational black box production of Sondheim/Lapine’s Sunday In The Park With George, a production which actually surpasses last year’s outstanding Sunday/George at The Chance Theatre in both imagination and originality. This is due in large part to director/set designer Steve Edlund, aided by a fine cast and a star making performance by Natalie Peyser.
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THE CATHOLIC GIRL’S GUIDE TO LOSING YOUR VIRGINITY
Thursday, January 17th, 2008
24-year-old Lizzy’s boyfriend Steven is on top of her, attempting to entice her
into having sex with him. “If you don’t, you’re going to hell,” he informs her.
“No, really,” he adds. And then, “I mean it.” After all, he continues, “we’ve
been dating for three weeks now. Just relax.” Legs in the air, Lizzy replies,
“I’m not relaxed,” and then explains her real reason for just saying “no.” “I’m
saving myself for marriage,” she tells Steven. “But this is New York,” he
protests. “No one’s going to throw rocks as you.” And then he throws in the
kicker. “I love you!” (This is after three weeks.) And the final assault: “If we
stop now, this could physically harm me.” Literally begging: “Have a heart.
It’s Thanksgiving!”
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THE COMMON AIR
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
One superb actor. Six fascinating characters. Ninety minutes of compelling
and thought-provoking drama. This is The Common Air, sure to be
remembered at year’s end as one of the finest solo performances of 2008.
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A FEMININE ENDING
Saturday, January 12th, 2008
Amanda is a 25-year-old oboist and aspiring symphonic composer, though these
days she’s settled for a mundane job writing jingles that are deliberately
annoying because those are the kind that stick in your head. The oboe, she tells
us in one of her many asides to the audience, is “the Hamlet of musical
instruments.” If played poorly it sounds like a dying duck. If played well, it is the
instrument which best approximates the human voice. It is the oboe which
tunes the entire orchestra, Amanda informs us.
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WIT
Friday, January 11th, 2008
Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize winning Wit is a play one approaches with a certain
trepidation. Its subject matter is, after all, illness and death. Not a likely candidate
for an “entertaining” evening of theater. Yet somehow, miraculously, Wit is indeed
an entertaining, unexpectedly funny (it has more laughs than many a comedy),
and ultimately transformative evening of theater.
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WICKED
Thursday, January 10th, 2008
After nearly a year in Hollywood, the Broadway phenomenon that is Wicked
continues to fill all 2700 seats of the Pantages with no end in sight … and no
wonder. Few musicals can rival Wicked in terms of song, romance, color,
spectacle, and heart.
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EDGE
Sunday, January 6th, 2008
Sylvia Plath is at her desk, facing away, deep in concentration, as the audience
enters the theater. She remains so for perhaps ten minutes until the lights dim, she
turns to us, and it is Angelica Torn whose face we see, and whose voice announces
“This is the last day of my life.” For the next two hours plus, we are reminded again
and again that today, February 11, 1963, is the day that Sylvia Plath will take her
own life.
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AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’
Saturday, January 5th, 2008
Five terrifically talented singers, a virtuoso piano player, and a sensational
onstage band combine forces with the music of Fats Waller to get the joint (i.e.
the Thousand Oaks Civics Arts Plaza) jumpin’ in Ain’t Misbehavin’, the
Southland’s first CLO production of 2008. If this show is any indication, this looks
to be the start of a fantastic year of musical theater for Angelenos.
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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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