HANNAH AND THE DREAD GAZEBO

posted on August 19th, 2019 at 10:42 AM by Steven Stanley

Magic realism has never been my thing, and since Hannah And The Dread Gazebo relies on an abundance of it to tell the story of a 30something Korean-American’s visit to her parents’ homeland, I ended up unengaged by Jiehae Park’s overly fanciful comedy despite some terrific performances and a dazzling production design.
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posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, Theater Review

FRANKENSTEIN

posted on August 18th, 2019 at 10:46 PM by Steven Stanley

Playwright Nick Dear humanizes the monster commonly if incorrectly known as Frankenstein in his 2011 stage adaptation of the Mary Shelley classic, an A Noise Within season opener as compelling as it is unexpectedly poignant.
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posted in Drama, Pasadena, Theater Review, WOW!

DOPE QUEENS

posted on August 17th, 2019 at 9:48 AM by Steven Stanley

Dope Queens, Grafton Doyle’s seamy dissection of the go-nowhere lives of three drug-addicted, fresh-out-of-prison LGBTQ street walkers (two of them gender non-conforming POCs and one a GWM) is not just a major downer, it’s an overwrought, all-over-the-place two-acter that overstays its welcome by at least half an hour.
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posted in Drama, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Theater Review, World Premiere

ANNIE

posted on August 16th, 2019 at 11:40 AM by Steven Stanley

A nation in the midst of its gravest economic crisis. Out-of-work Americans on the streets. Underage orphans forced into backbreaking labor. And a perky little redhead with an unquenchable hope for a better “Tomorrow.” Annie The Musical is back at Glendale Centre Theatre, proving that even the grimmest of times can inspire the most cheerful, delightful, and tuneful of musical comedy treats.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH

posted on August 12th, 2019 at 4:09 PM by Steven Stanley

Climate change, natural disasters, cataclysmic war, and a leading lady who steps out of character to inform the audience that she doesn’t understand a word of the play in which she’s appearing. What must 1942 theatergoers have made of Thornton Wilder’s The Skin Of Our Teeth?

Check out Theatricum Botanicum’s zesty 2019 revival and savor for yourself this Greek Mythology-meets-The Bible-meets-Ancient History-inspired 20th-century classic, as charming as it is mind-blowing and as terrifically directed and performed as any Wilder fan could wish for.
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posted in Classic Play, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

SHREK THE MUSICAL

posted on August 11th, 2019 at 10:53 AM by Steven Stanley

The big green ogre made famous by Dreamworks Animation is back on stage as 3-D Theatricals revives its 2013 smash, the irresistibly crowd-pleasing Shrek The Musical.
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posted in Gateway Cities, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE

posted on August 10th, 2019 at 11:25 AM by Steven Stanley

Hot on the heels of their sensational A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder, The Drowsy Chaperone makes it two big winners in a row for Actors’ Repertory Theatre Of Simi with performances to rival those of the original Broadway and touring casts.
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posted in Musical, Theater Review, Ventura County, WOW!

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

posted on August 9th, 2019 at 3:32 PM by Steven Stanley

There’s no more bewitching way to spend a midsummer night than under the stars at William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a quarter-century Theatricum Botanicum tradition.
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posted in Classic Play, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

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