13 THINGS ABOUT ED CARPOLOTTI

posted on January 25th, 2017 at 5:41 PM by Steven Stanley

Septuagenarian widow Virginia Carpolotti hums whenever she’s got reason to worry, and she’s got plenty of reason to whistle—and with Emmy-winner Penny Fuller playing her, audiences have plenty of reason to cheer—in the delightful, tuneful 13 Things About Ed Carpolotti, 70-minutes of one-woman musical theater showmanship at The Broad Stage.
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posted in Solo Performance, Theater Review, WOW!

THE FOUND DOG RIBBON DANCE

posted on January 24th, 2017 at 7:22 PM by Steven Stanley

Only the lonely populate The Found Dog Ribbon Dance, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that Dominic Finocchiaro’s wondrous World Premiere is anywhere near a downer. On the contrary, the latest from Echo Theater Company is precisely the kind of play you’ll want to tell all your romcom-loving friends (and just about anyone else in search of smart, funny, heartstrings-tugging, feel-good new theater) not to miss.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Los Angeles, Theater Review, World Premiere, WOW!

DISNEY BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

posted on January 24th, 2017 at 1:25 PM by Steven Stanley

Following a string of winners, most recently a heavenly Sister Act and an absolutely fabulous La Cage Aux Folles, Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre opens the new year with a disappointing, albeit still largely entertaining, Disney Beauty And The Beast.
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posted in Musical, San Gabriel Valley, Theater Review

THE LAST FIVE YEARS

posted on January 22nd, 2017 at 12:21 PM by Steven Stanley

Star-crossed Jamie Wellerstein and Cathy Hiatt fall in and out of love once more in McCoy Rigby Entertainment’s exceptional revival of Jason Robert Brown’s exquisite The Last Five Years, now thrilling audiences at the La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts.
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posted in Downey/La Mirada, Theater Review, Two-Hander, WOW!

LATE COMPANY

posted on January 21st, 2017 at 2:13 PM by Steven Stanley

Anti-gay bullying and its potentially fatal consequences are hardly topics you’d expect to see tackled by a theater company perhaps best known for seniors-friendly mystery/comedy fare, but these are precisely the issues that propel Canadian playwright Jordan Tannahill’s shattering family drama Late Company, now being given a compelling American Premiere at Beverly Hill’s Theatre 40.
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posted in Drama, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

COMPANY

posted on January 20th, 2017 at 11:35 AM by Steven Stanley

The all-student talent of USC’s Musical Theatre Repertory rises to the many challenges of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company—and then some—in an intimate staging that stands out as one of the finest of the eighteen MTR productions I’ve reviewed over the past nine years.
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posted in Los Angeles, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

THE LAST VIG

posted on January 15th, 2017 at 12:47 PM by Steven Stanley

Supporting performances are uniformly terrific and design elements as good as it gets, but with a low-energy Burt Young slowing things down to a snail’s pace, audiences in search of theatrical sparks had best look elsewhere than writer-director David Varriale’s potentially entertaining Mafia comedy The Last Vig*.
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posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, Theater Review, World Premiere

BEE-LUTHER-HATCHEE

posted on January 14th, 2017 at 3:39 PM by Steven Stanley

With racial violence on the rise, racists increasingly fearless in spouting (and acting upon) their hate, and an incoming President owing his election, at least in part, to racist backlash against his predecessor, the timing could hardly be more apt for Sierra Madre Playhouse to give Thomas Gibbons’ provative Bee-luther-hatchee the powerful revival it deserves, now more than ever.
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posted in Drama, San Gabriel Valley, Theater Review, WOW!

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