HENRY IV, PART ONE

posted on March 20th, 2015 at 1:57 PM by Steven Stanley

Outstanding performances and a stylish contemporary design distinguish The Antaeus Company’s 2015 season opener, William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part One. A hefty three-hour running time may test the patience of those for whom “90 Minutes No intermission” are the sweetest four words ever heard, but Bard fans will definitely feel they’ve gotten their money’s worth with this one.
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posted in Drama, North Hollywood, Theater Review, WOW!

CARRIE: THE MUSICAL

posted on March 20th, 2015 at 12:08 AM by Steven Stanley

The La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts at long last gives Stephen King’s tormented telekinetic teen Carrietta N. White the smash hit musical her fans have been waiting for since Carrie: The Musical’s 1988 Broadway debut became, according to The New York Times, “the most expensive quick flop in Broadway history.”
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posted in Downey/La Mirada, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT

posted on March 18th, 2015 at 9:49 AM by Steven Stanley

Take a classic George and Ira Gershwin musical, rewrite the book, add a whole bunch of Gershwin hits not in the original, and what have you got? Well, until recently the answer would have been “The New Gershwin Musical Comedy” Crazy For You, right?

Since 2012, however, there have been two correct answers to the above question, 1992’s Crazy For You having recently been joined by Nice Work If You Can Get It (which bills itself simply as “A New Musical Comedy”), the latter now getting its very first L.A.-adjacent production as its First National Tour makes its 30th-and-final stop at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center For The Arts—and to quote from one of the show’s lesser known ditties, it’s simply “delishious!”
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posted in Musical, National Tour, Orange County, Theater Review, WOW!

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

posted on March 16th, 2015 at 8:45 PM by Steven Stanley

Actors Repertory Theatre Of Simi gives its audiences the best big-scale musical I’ve seen at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center in their sensationally entertaining mid-sized staging of Broadway’s 2011 Best Musical Tony nominee Catch Me If You Can, a production that requires no allowances to be made “for community theater.” This is topnotch work from start to finish, and a production any professional theater would be proud to call its own.
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posted in Musical, Theater Review, Ventura County, WOW!

DONTRELL, WHO KISSED THE SEA

posted on March 16th, 2015 at 6:44 PM by Steven Stanley

An African-American teenager in search of his roots finds them deep under the Atlantic Ocean in Nathan Alan Davis’s Dontrell, Who Kissed The Sea, now getting an exquisitely staged and performed World Premiere production by Skylight Theatre Company and Lower Depths Theatre Ensemble.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, Theater Review, World Premiere, WOW!

tokyo fish story

posted on March 16th, 2015 at 11:41 AM by Steven Stanley

Sushi Wa Jinsei. Sushi Is Life … in Kimber Lee’s “slice-of-sushi” dramedy tokyo fish story, now getting its World Premiere at South Coast Repertory, and like the raw-fish-&-steamed-rice confections created by master chef protagonist Koji, Lee’s latest is one tangy treat.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Orange County, Theater Review, World Premiere, WOW!

BENJAMIN PEREZ

posted on March 16th, 2015 at 11:16 AM by Steven Stanley

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posted in Interview

MAME

posted on March 14th, 2015 at 9:56 AM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED

Auntie Mame Dennis, the woman who can “coax the blues right out of the horn” and “charm the husk right off of the corn,” is back. Yes, Kentwood Players’ revival is community theater and not the great-big Equity production L.A. has been awaiting the past baker’s dozen years. Still, with a pizzazzy lead performance and several supporting gems, it’s worth a visit to the Westchester Playhouse to rediscover the gal who took Broadway by storm not once but twice.
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posted in Musical, Recommended, South Bay, Theater Review

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