MIDDLETOWN

posted on May 4th, 2017 at 2:25 PM by Steven Stanley

Birth. Life. Death. Infinity. Playwright Will Eno addresses all of the above in Middletown, his 21st-century response to Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, and if the Pulitzer Prize finalist tends to take quirkiness to extremes, inspired direction, design, and performances make this Chance Theater Southern California Premiere well worth a trip to Anaheim Hills.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Orange County, Theater Review, WOW!

SYLVIA

posted on May 1st, 2017 at 4:21 PM by Steven Stanley

There’s never been a romantic triangle quite like the one that propels A.R. Gurney’s Sylvia, now getting a cheer-worthy Rubicon Theater revival with an irresistible Ashley Fox Linton as the canine homewrecker who gives this alternately hilarious and heartstrings-tugging romcom its name.
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posted in Comedy, Theater Review, Ventura County, WOW!

HAROLD AND MAUDE

posted on May 1st, 2017 at 4:14 PM by Steven Stanley

The strokes of inspiration that made last year’s Private Eyes one of Morgan-Wixson Theatre’s best are occasionally evident in Colin Higgins’ Harold And Maud, but this time around director Brandon Baer is hampered by casting missteps, pacing problems, and a stage too cavernous for the inventive look he and his design team have conceived.
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posted in Comedy, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls

THE MUSIC MAN

posted on April 29th, 2017 at 3:57 PM by Steven Stanley

Palos Verdes Performing Arts scores a musical comedy bulls-eye with their big-stage, up-close-and-personal revival of Meredith Willson’s 1957 classic The Music Man, the all-around best of the half-dozen Music Men I’ve seen so far.
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posted in Musical, South Bay, Theater Review, WOW!

UNCANNY VALLEY

posted on April 28th, 2017 at 6:37 PM by Steven Stanley

Hot topics don’t get much hotter than artificial intelligence, whether in headline news, or movies like Ex Machina, or Jimmy Fallon interviewing “Robot Sophia” on late-night TV, or in Thomas Gibbons’ fascinating, discussion-prompting, edge-of-your seat two-hander Uncanny Valley, now getting its Los Angeles Premiere at Long Beach’s International City Theatre.
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posted in Drama, Long Beach/San Pedro, Theater Review, Two-Hander, WOW!

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

posted on April 26th, 2017 at 5:44 PM by Steven Stanley

There’s been more than one “new (i.e. jukebox) Gershwin musical” before An American In Paris’s 2015 Broadway debut, but there’s never been one as gloriously song-and-dance-packed (emphasis on dance) as the gorgeously choreographed and designed quadruple Tony winner, a veritable feast of color and light and ballet and tap and more.
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posted in Musical, National Tour, Orange County, Theater Review, WOW!

A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2

posted on April 25th, 2017 at 12:19 PM by Steven Stanley

Nora’s come back to the “doll’s house” she once called home, though how long she’ll stay is anybody’s guess in Lucas Hnath’s audacious, scabrous, wordy, discussion-prompting, and often surprisingly droll sequel to the Henrik Ibsen classic, the South Coast Repertory World Premiere of A Doll’s House, Part 2.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Orange County, Theater Review, World Premiere, WOW!

ANDREW LIPPA’S WILD PARTY

posted on April 24th, 2017 at 6:16 PM by Steven Stanley

Dramatically dark and daringly sexual, Andrew Lippa’s Wild Party, the latest from Cal State Fullerton, showcases not just its multitalented ensemble headed by a phenomenal Hannah Clair as blonde bombshell Queenie. CSUF’s Wild Party is direction, choreography, and design at their SoCal pro-level best.
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posted in Musical Revue, Orange County, Theater Review, WOW!

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