PUTTING IT TOGETHER

posted on November 17th, 2014 at 1:54 PM by Steven Stanley

Putting It Together, aka The Greatest Hits Of Stephen Sondheim Volume Two, has made a splendid arrival at Chromolume Theatre, the 1999 Broadway revival version of the original 1992 UK production updating 1976’s Side by Side by Sondheim with songs from S.S. shows as recent as 1990’s Assassins—news which should come as the best end-of-year gift to Sondheim lovers near and far.
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posted in Los Angeles, Musical Revue, Theater Review, WOW!

CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL

posted on November 16th, 2014 at 6:41 PM by Steven Stanley

The summertime Fringe Festival spirit lives on as the leaves turn their fall colors (or would if we lived in Utah or Colorado) in Coeurage Theatre Company’s hysterically funny, terrifically performed, absolutely shpadoinkle* live staging of Trey Parker’s tongue-in-cheek (and flesh-in-mouth) cult movie “classic” Cannibal! The Musical.
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posted in Los Angeles, Musical Spoof, Theater Review, WOW!

MEMPHIS

posted on November 15th, 2014 at 12:57 PM by Steven Stanley

Todd Adamson gives one of the year’s truly great performances as DJ Huey Calhoun opposite a sensational SoCal-debuting Lakeisha Renee Houston as star-to-be Felicia Farrell in Cabrillo Music Theatre’s Regional Premiere of Memphis, the fact-inspired tale of a Tennessee disc jockey who made history by daring to play “race music” on white radio back in the still-segregated 1950s.
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posted in Musical, Theater Review, Ventura County, WOW!

COMPLETENESS

posted on November 14th, 2014 at 5:07 PM by Steven Stanley

Finding one’s soulmate proves every bit as complicated as the algorithms computer science nerd Elliot uses to charm molecular biology grad student Molly in Itamar Moses’s Completeness, now being given a pitch-perfect first Los Angeles production by Vs. Theatre Company and Firefly Theater & Films.
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posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, Theater Review, WOW!

TAKARAZUKA!!!

posted on November 14th, 2014 at 1:06 AM by Steven Stanley

The women are gorgeous and the men … Well, the men are women—and every bit as stunning to look at—in Takarazuka, the all-female Japanese musical revue that is the setting for Susan Soon He Stanton’s fascinating new behind-the-scenes play-with-music Takarazuka!!!, now getting its West Coast Premiere at East West Players.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, Theater Review, WOW!

PIPPIN

posted on November 12th, 2014 at 11:37 AM by Steven Stanley

The spectacular and the personal mesh to perfection in the most extraordinary Pippin you will ever see, and if you don’t believe me, check out the 2013 Best Revival Tony winner during its two-week stop at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center For The Arts.
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posted in Musical, National Tour, Orange County, Theater Review, WOW!

STOP KISS

posted on November 10th, 2014 at 4:36 PM by Steven Stanley

Don’t let the gay bashing that is the pivotal event of Diana Son’s Stop Kiss scare you away from its exciting Pasadena Playhouse debut. Under Seema Sueko’s nuanced direction and with a pair of star turns by Angela Lin and Sharon Leal, Son’s 1998 off-Broadway hit reveals itself at its heart to be the subtly shaded tale of two women who find themselves almost accidentally falling in love.
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posted in Drama, Pasadena, Theater Review, WOW!

HANDLE WITH CARE

posted on November 9th, 2014 at 1:46 PM by Steven Stanley

The more romantic your soul, the more likely you will be to fall in love with the West Coast Premiere of Handle With Care at Burbank’s Colony Theatre. Cynics may carp, but if you’re anything like this reviewer, Jason Odell Williams’ cross-cultural romcom will have you believing in soul mates and destiny all the way up to its uber-romantic finale.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Comedy, Theater Review, WOW!

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