VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE

posted on May 25th, 2014 at 7:07 PM by Steven Stanley

Christopher Durang’s Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike has arrived at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre, and though it does not quite reach the level of brilliance of V&S&M&S’s Los Angeles premiere earlier this year, the 2013 Best Play Tony winner proves a hilarious, crowd-pleasing treat (especially for the over-50 set) and a definite winner for The Old Globe. (read more)

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posted in Comedy, San Diego County, Theater Review, WOW!

THE GONDOLIERS

posted on May 24th, 2014 at 1:33 PM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

Gorgeous voices fill the stage at the Sierra Madre Playhouse but that’s about all there is to recommend in Alison Eliel-Kalmus’s adaptation of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Gondoliers. Though G&S fans may find the production more interest-piquing than this reviewer did, SMP’s follow-up to 2012’s Ruddigore could benefit from a tighter directorial hand, less “director’s concept,” and a stricter adherence to the operetta’s original book.
(read more)

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posted in Musical, Not Recommended, San Gabriel Valley, Theater Review

THE MUSIC MAN

posted on May 24th, 2014 at 12:23 AM by Steven Stanley

Director-choreographer Valerie Rachelle and a couldn’t-be-better cast get everything right in Glendale Centre Theatre’s crowd-delighting revival of Meredith Willson’s 1957 classic The Music Man, an in-the-round production well worth a 76-trombone salute.
(read more)

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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

BEIJING SPRING

posted on May 22nd, 2014 at 6:03 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED

A sensationally talented, mostly very young cast of Asian-American triple-threats, exciting, eclectic choreography, and a story that merits retelling are the best reasons to catch East West Players’ season closer, Tim Dang and Joel Iwataki’s Beijing Spring. The musical itself, however, still needs work despite considerable revision since its 1999 World Premiere.
(read more)

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posted in Los Angeles, Musical, Recommended, Theater Review

TARTUFFE

posted on May 21st, 2014 at 12:33 PM by Steven Stanley

You may have seen Molière’s Tartuffe before (what theater lover hasn’t?), but you’ve never seen a Tartuffe quite like the stunningly conceived, directed, designed, and performed production now dazzling audiences at South Coast Repertory—or at least those willing to see the Molière classic through a strikingly different lens.
(read more)

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posted in Comedy-Drama, Orange County, Theater Review, WOW!

GREASE

posted on May 19th, 2014 at 12:02 PM by Steven Stanley

Grease is the word down Escondido way, and will be through the end of July as Escondido’s Welk Theatre presents their all-around terrific revival of the 3,388-performance Broadway megahit Grease.
(read more)

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posted in Musical, San Diego County, Theater Review, WOW!

I TOTALLY KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST (DONNA) SUMMER

posted on May 17th, 2014 at 11:48 AM by Steven Stanley

The wild-and-wacky (and wildly talented) folks who brought you Are You There, God? It’s Me, Karen Carpenter (in the Summer of 2012) and Prairie-oke! (in the Summer of ’13) are back with their latest summer spoof (and who cares that it’s still spring?), the aptly-named “new musical mash-up parody slasher musical” I Totally Know What You Did Last (Donna) Summer, and if its current Cavern Club Celebrity Theatre run is, like, totally sold-out, the good news is that it’s coming back in the Fall!
(read more)

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posted in Los Angeles, Musical Spoof, Theater Review, WOW!

A DELICATE BALANCE

posted on May 16th, 2014 at 6:04 PM by Steven Stanley

A superb, superbly-directed cast not only manage to survive an overlong, overly talky first act that perhaps no contemporary playwright could get away with, they go on to make theatrical magic as the Odyssey Theatre presents A Delicate Balance, Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musings on the nature of family and friendship—and the responsibilities that each entails.
(read more)

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posted in Drama, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

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