SEE ROCK CITY

posted on February 7th, 2016 at 6:17 PM by Steven Stanley

A couple of Kentucky newlyweds and their respective mothers are all it takes for playwright Arlene Hutton to evoke the societal changes wrought by World War II in the most entertaining of ways in her justifiably lauded home-front dramedy See Rock City, exquisitely staged and performed this month at Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Theater Review, Ventura County, WOW!

FOREVER HOUSE

posted on February 6th, 2016 at 12:23 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED

An authentically written, believably acted gay couple, a supporting cast mostly out of sitcomland save one refreshingly non-stereotypical evangelical, a sudden life-altering cataclysm, an overwrought detour into solo performance territory, and an apparent case of demonic possession inside a fixer-upper Craftsman-style house just outside L.A. add up to one decidedly disjointed dramedy in Tony Abatemarco’s Forever House, now getting its World Premiere at Los Feliz’s Skylight Theatre.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Los Angeles, Recommended, Theater Review

RED

posted on February 3rd, 2016 at 6:52 PM by Steven Stanley

John Logan’s Red, winner of six 2010 Tonys (including Best Play), has at long last made its Orange County debut in a production so pitch-perfect, it’s hard to imagine even the original Broadway team doing it any better than it’s being done at South Coast Repertory.
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posted in Orange County, Theater Review, Two-Hander, WOW!

DREAM CATCHER

posted on February 3rd, 2016 at 11:37 AM by Steven Stanley

Highly-charged subject matter, dynamic performances, and enough sexual heat to match the highest temperatures in the Mojave Desert spark Stephen Sachs’ thought-provoking Dream Catcher, now electrifying audiences in its World Premiere engagement at the Fountain Theatre.
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posted in Los Angeles, Theater Review, Two-Hander, World Premiere, WOW!

FLY

posted on February 2nd, 2016 at 11:49 PM by Steven Stanley

The Tuskegee Airmen take off to exhilarating, spellbinding, emotionally powerful effect as the Pasadena Playhouse presents Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan’s Fly, a West Coast Premiere destined to be one of the year’s most lauded, most unforgettable productions.
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posted in Drama, Pasadena, Theater Review, WOW!

THE DODGERS

posted on February 1st, 2016 at 4:05 PM by Steven Stanley

What if all it took to determine whether you lived or died was your date of birth? This was the worst nightmare come true of over 850,000 18-26-year-old American males back on December 1, 1969, when the United States government held its first “Draft Lottery,” the losers of which were virtually assured a one-way ticket to Vietnam.

Playwright Diana Amsterdam takes us back to this not-so-long-ago reality in her gripping new play The Dodgers, now getting an exciting World Premiere at the Hudson Mainstage with as star-studded a 20something cast as you’re likely to see all year in a 99-seat production.
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posted in Drama, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Theater Review, World Premiere, WOW!

DREAM BOY

posted on January 31st, 2016 at 12:44 PM by Steven Stanley

Nine years after a pair of gay teen boys fell unforgettably into first love in Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing, Celebration Theatre and director Michael Matthews reunite for the similarly themed (albeit considerably darker) Dream Boy, Eric Rosen’s meticulously faithful adaptation of Jim Grimsley’s haunting Southern Gothic novel, an imaginatively directed, superbly performed, gorgeously designed Los Angeles Premiere marred only by poor sightlines that will often have you craning to see the action.
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posted in Drama, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Theater Review, WOW!

PAL JOEY

posted on January 25th, 2016 at 7:59 PM by Steven Stanley

Musical Theatre West’s Reiner Reading Series has once again done what it does best—treat Broadway buffs to a one-night-only almost fully-staged revival of a show unlikely to get an extended MTW run—in this case Rodgers & Hart’s Pal Joey, which despite the unsympathetic characters who populate John O’Hara’s often unengaging book proves a showcase for a couple of R&H’s best known song classics (and for the triple-threats who perform them and many more).
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posted in Concert Staged Reading, Long Beach/San Pedro, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

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