BYE BYE BIRDIE

posted on February 20th, 2017 at 2:55 PM by Steven Stanley

Glendale Centre Theatre’s terrific revival of the rock-n-rollin’ 1960 Broadway favorite Bye Bye Birdie makes at least two things abundantly clear. First, despite a number of cultural references certain to fly over the heads of whippersnappers too young for their AARP membership card, the fifty-seven-year-old Broadway smash remains younger than most musicals half its age. And second, there’s no SoCal theater better at staging musicals in-the-round than GCT.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

FOR PIANO AND HARPO

posted on February 17th, 2017 at 1:22 PM by Steven Stanley


Comedian, composer, pianist, actor, raconteur, best-selling author, quiz-show guest and talk-show host—Oscar Levant was all of these and more, and thanks to writer-star Dan Castellaneta, the largely forgotten 20th-century icon returns to self-deprecating, neurotic, pill-addicted, acerbic life in Castellaneta’s entertaining, elucidating bio-dramedy For Piano And Harpo, a Falcon Theatre World Premiere.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Comedy-Drama, Theater Review, WOW!

FREE OUTGOING

posted on February 16th, 2017 at 12:54 PM by Steven Stanley

Powerful performances highlighted by Anna Khaja’s riveting star turn command attention in the Los Angeles Premiere of Anupama Chandrasekhar’s Free Outgoing. Still, the unremitting bleakness of its shocking-but-true story of conservative Indian values in today’s anything-goes Internet age could make it a hard sell for East West Players.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, Theater Review

ZOOT SUIT

posted on February 14th, 2017 at 5:49 PM by Steven Stanley

Downtown Los Angeles explodes with music, dance, and dramatic fireworks as the Mark Taper Forum celebrates its 50th-Anniversary Season with a spectacular, timelier-than-ever revival of Luis Valdez’s legendary Zoot Suit.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

EVITA

posted on February 13th, 2017 at 1:32 PM by Steven Stanley

Refreshingly innovative direction, memorable lead performances, a sensational ensemble, fresh dance moves, and a stunning production design make Musical Theatre West’s revival of the international smash Evita by far the finest regional staging I’ve seen of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice classic.
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posted in Long Beach/San Pedro, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD

posted on February 12th, 2017 at 11:05 AM by Steven Stanley

Teens play teens, and winningly so, in Worst First Kiss Productions’ terrific intimate staging of Bert V. Royal’s hilarious, thought-provoking, ultimately transformative Dog Sees God: Confessions Of A Teenage Blockhead, a sold-out guest production this weekend only at Hollywood’s The Blank Theatre.
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posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Theater Review, WOW!

946: THE AMAZING STORY OF ADOLPHUS TIPS

posted on February 12th, 2017 at 11:00 AM by Steven Stanley

World War II England comes breathtakingly to life as Cornwall’s Kneehigh Theatre returns to the Wallis Annenberg Center For The Performing Arts with the magical, musical, mesmerizing (and fact-based) 946: The Amazing Story Of Adolphus Tips.
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posted in Musical, National Tour, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

posted on February 10th, 2017 at 6:44 PM by Steven Stanley

It’s a long summer day’s journey into the darkest nighttime of their souls for the illness-and-addiction-plagued Tyrones of Eugene O’Neill’s 20th-century classic Long Day’s Journey Into Night, now getting a superbly acted and designed Geffen Playhouse revival under Jeanie Hackett’s inspired direction.
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posted in Classic Play, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

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