IN THE HEIGHTS

posted on July 12th, 2014 at 12:31 PM by Steven Stanley

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’s In The Heights now arrives in Anaheim Heights (sorry, make that Anaheim Hills) in as fine an intimate staging as any you could hope to see of the Tony-winning Best Musical of 2008, Chance Theater mainstays Oanh Nguyen and Kelly Todd directing and choreographing with their accustomed brilliance, aided and abetted by a sensational young cast.
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posted in Musical, Orange County, Theater Review, WOW!

DIXIE’S TUPPERWARE PARTY

posted on July 11th, 2014 at 7:34 AM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED

When playwright Kris Andersson and his Tupperware Lady alter ego “Dixie Longate” debuted their “one-woman” show Dixie’s Tupperware Party at the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival, little did they realize that ten years later, their comedy confection would earn a slot at Westwood’s Geffen Playhouse. As to whether it merits a run at one of L.A.’s most prestigious regional houses … Well, I’ll say this for Dixie and her honest-to-gosh Tupperware party: There are far less entertaining ways to spend an evening at the theater than in the presence of the trailer-trashy redhead and her multi-colored plastic bowls, canisters, jars, and other assorted gadgets.
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posted in Comedy, National Tour, Recommended, Solo Performance, West Side/Beverly HIlls

TWO GROOMS: BIG GAY NORTH HOLLYWOOD WEDDING REDUX

posted on July 7th, 2014 at 9:45 AM by Steven Stanley

You don’t have to be gay to add Two Grooms: Big Gay North Hollywood Wedding Redux to your Must-See List. In fact, this astutely tweaked reprise of 2009’s smash hit A Big Gay North Hollywood Wedding is fabulous entertainment for theatergoers of all sexual/gender shadings, and what’s even better, it’s all real … or the next best thing.
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posted in Comedy, North Hollywood, Theater Review, WOW!

FLIM FLAM: HOUDINI AND THE HEREAFTER

posted on July 6th, 2014 at 1:23 PM by Steven Stanley

“Spiritualism” may not be the first word to spring to mind when master illusionist/escape artist Harry Houdini and Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson-creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are mentioned, but it is precisely this fascinating but lesser-known aspect of the two men’s lives on which playwright Gene Franklin Smith has based his World Premiere drama Flim Flam: Houdini And The Hereafter, now entertaining and elucidating audiences at Malibu Playhouse.
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posted in Drama, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, World Premiere, WOW!

THE CURSE OF OEDIPUS

posted on July 5th, 2014 at 10:38 AM by Steven Stanley

Spending time with the Ancients has rarely if ever been as exhilarating as it is in Kenneth Cavander’s The Curse Of Oedipus, an Antaeus Company World Premiere which proves that even the deadly dullest of theatrical genres, Greek Tragedy, can end up the opposite of boring when given fresh new life by the right creative team.
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posted in Drama, North Hollywood, Theater Review, World Premiere, WOW!

LAND LINE

posted on July 1st, 2014 at 6:29 PM by Steven Stanley

“When a health crisis forces Terry to move back into his parents’ basement, his best friend John supports him with laughter, sympathy, bravado, and finally, honesty.”

Rarely has a press release taken such pains to be detail/spoiler-free, so in the interest of honoring Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA’s wishes, let me simply say: If you’re in the mood for a beautifully written, exquisitely acted, and often quite funny tearjerker, make plans to see Stephen Dierkes’ World Premiere dramedy Land Line—and should eye makeup be your thing, be sure your mascara is waterproof.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Los Angeles, Theater Review, World Premiere, WOW!

THE GOODBYE GIRL

posted on June 30th, 2014 at 11:18 PM by Steven Stanley

Sunday’s delightful “family-affair” concert staged reading of the 1993 Broadway flop The Goodbye Girl made it abundantly clear why, despite a stellar pedigree, the Neil Simon-Marvin Hamlisch-David Zippel musical was not destined for a long life on The Great White Way, yet proved a perfect choice for Musical Theatre West’s One-Night-Only Reiner Reading Series.
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posted in Concert Staged Reading, Long Beach/San Pedro, Theater Review, WOW!

STUPID FUCKING BIRD

posted on June 30th, 2014 at 11:55 AM by Steven Stanley

2014’s hottest “new” playwright may well be none other than the Russian master Anton Chekhov, his 19th Century classics having inspired not one but three current hits: Christopher Durang’s Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike, Donald Margulies’ The Country House, and now —most Chekhov-specifically—Aaron Posner’s inspired meta-dramedy Stupid Fucking Bird, currently being given a sensational West Coast Premiere under the ever-inventive direction of Michael Michetti.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Pasadena, Theater Review, WOW!

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