OUR VERY OWN CARLIN MCCULLOUGH

posted on June 29th, 2018 at 3:23 PM by Steven Stanley

Amanda Peet takes a trio of characters we’ve seen before–a parent, a prodigiously talented child, and a dedicated coach–and weaves them together into the cliché-defying Our Very Own Carlin McCullough, as riveting a World Premiere as I’ve seen at the Geffen Playhouse, or just about anywhere else for that matter.
(read more)

Tags: , , ,
posted in Drama, Theater Review, World Premiere, WOW!

THE HUMANS

posted on June 27th, 2018 at 5:20 PM by Steven Stanley

Laughter and fears go hand in hand at Thanksgiving dinner in Stephen Karam’s justifiably honored Best Play Tony-winner The Humans, now playing at the Ahmanson with its Tony-winning stars Jayne Howdyshell and Reed Birney (and all but one of its original Broadway ensemble members) intact.
(read more)

Tags: , , ,
posted in Comedy-Drama, Los Angeles, National Tour, Theater Review, WOW!

MAMMA MIA!

posted on June 25th, 2018 at 11:01 PM by Steven Stanley

No matter how many times you’ve seen Mamma Mia!, you have never seen it as excitingly performed, expertly directed, thrillingly choreographed, or gorgeously designed as it is under Vista skies in its Moonlight Stage Productions SoCal regional debut.
(read more)

Tags: , ,
posted in Musical, San Diego County, Theater Review, WOW!

PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES

posted on June 24th, 2018 at 12:50 PM by Steven Stanley

The roadside joint’s a jumpin’ just a whoop-and-a-holler east of Pasadena as the Sierra Madre Playhouse treats audiences to the infectiously entertaining Pump Boys And Dinettes.
(read more)

Tags: ,
posted in Musical Revue, San Gabriel Valley, Theater Review, WOW!

THE 39 STEPS

posted on June 23rd, 2018 at 5:28 PM by Steven Stanley

Richard Hannay is on the run again in Patrick Barlow’s masterful four-actor comedic adaptation of John Buchan’s The 39 Steps, as supremely imaginative an evening of theater as you’re likely to experience any time soon.
(read more)

Tags: , , , ,
posted in Comedy, Long Beach/San Pedro, Theater Review, WOW!

SWEET CHARITY

posted on June 22nd, 2018 at 7:59 AM by Steven Stanley

Three-time Tony-winner Kathleen Marshall and Broadway’s original Elle Woods team up with some of L.A.’s finest musical theater talents as Reprise 2.0 treats audiences to Sweet Charity, both the 1966 Neil Simon-Cy Colemen-Dorothy Fields gem and the irrepressibly plucky title character brought to irresistible life by a sensational Laura Bell Bundy on the UCLA Freud Playhouse stage.
(read more)

Tags: , , , , , ,
posted in Musical, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

THE COLOR PURPLE

posted on June 20th, 2018 at 4:00 PM by Steven Stanley

Swing Nikisha Williams’ star turn as Celie, a fabulous supporting cast, and imaginative staging make the Broadway Revival Tour of The Color Purple, Alice Walker’s powerful recounting of a young black woman’s road to self-discovery and self-assertion, well worth seeing despite a minimalist scenic design ill suited to (and volume levels turned way too low for) a hall as mammoth as the Segerstrom Center For the Arts.
(read more)

Tags: , , , , , ,
posted in Musical, National Tour, Orange County, Theater Review, WOW!

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

posted on June 19th, 2018 at 3:02 PM by Steven Stanley

Victor Hugo’s classic tale of a deformed orphan and the tempestuous gypsy who wins his love while inflaming the lustful heart of the Catholic priest who raised him comes to musical life in PCPA Solvang’s mostly quite effective under-the-stars staging of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame marred only by a weak link in the romantic quadrangle that propels it.
(read more)

Tags: , , , ,
posted in Musical, Santa Barbara County, Theater Review

Next PagePrevious Page