RICHARD III

posted on February 27th, 2026 at 4:35 PM by Steven Stanley

Ann Noble delivers a tour-de-force performance in the title role, but I found Guillermo Cienfuegos’s edgy, contemporary, stunningly staged take on William Shakespeare’s Richard III hard to follow (and most of its characters hard to distinguish one from another). Then again, that just might be me and my conflicted feelings about the Bard, particularly when he is in history play mode.
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posted in Classic Play, Pasadena, Theater Review

RED HARLEM

posted on February 24th, 2026 at 12:58 PM by Steven Stanley

An intriguing truth-is-stranger-than-fiction premise (Stalin-era Soviets’ recruitment of African-American performers for a movie expose on racism in the U.S. to be shot in the USSR) and some inventively stylized staging by director Bernadette Speakes are two major pluses in Kimba Henderson’s Red Harlem. What it needs to achieve full impact is a trim.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, Theater Review, World Premiere

UNCLE VANYA

posted on February 22nd, 2026 at 9:00 PM by Steven Stanley


Neil LaBute gives Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya a more contemporary-sounding tweak in the Tony nominated playwright’s third visit to Santa Monica’s City Garage Theatre, and the result is a Vanya that even Chekhov “non-fans” like this reviewer can enjoy.
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posted in Classic Play, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE

posted on February 21st, 2026 at 11:47 AM by Steven Stanley


Joe Di Pietro and Jimmy Roberts’ three-decades-old—but still delightfully relevant—smash off-Broadway musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change now gets a smashing 30th-anniversary revival at Long Beach’s International City Theatre
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posted in Long Beach/San Pedro, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

SIX

posted on February 20th, 2026 at 12:42 PM by Steven Stanley


Never has a sextet of triple-threats delivered more 5-star Broadway pizzazz than the 6 wives of Henry VIII do in Six The Musical, now making its 2nd appearance at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, back in 2026 for a must-see 3-week run.
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posted in Hollywood/West Hollywood, Musical, National Tour, Theater Review, WOW!

HERE LIES LOVE

posted on February 19th, 2026 at 2:12 PM by Steven Stanley

Center Theatre Group’s sensationally designed and performed West Coast Premiere of Here Lies Love, aka the Imelda Marcos Disco Musical, has everything an entirely sung-through show ought to have except one vital element–songs you’d want to listen to a second time.

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posted in Los Angeles, Musical, Theater Review

AMADEUS

posted on February 17th, 2026 at 12:42 PM by Steven Stanley


Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays and West End/Bridgerton breakout star Sam Clemmett burn up the stage in what may well be the most sumptuous production in Pasadena Playhouse history in Darko Tresnjak’s stunning take on Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus.
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posted in Drama, Pasadena, Play With Songs, Theater Review, WOW!

MAN OF LA MANCHA

posted on February 16th, 2026 at 1:30 PM by Steven Stanley


Career-best performances by Richard Bermudez and Monika Peña are just two of the reasons Musical Theatre West’s spectacular 60th-anniversary revival of the 1966 Best Musical Tony winner is a must-see.
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posted in Long Beach/San Pedro, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

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