FIVE MILE LAKE

posted on April 24th, 2014 at 4:33 PM by Steven Stanley

Some plays grab you from their first moments and hold you in their grasp till the lights go out. Others sneak up on gradually until at a certain point you realize that you’ve been hooked … and hooked you stay till the final curtain. Rachel Bonds’ Five Mile Lake, the latest World Premiere from South Coast Repertory, falls into the latter category, and quite a small wonder of a play it is.
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posted in Drama, Orange County, Theater Review, World Premiere, WOW!

NEXT TO NORMAL

posted on April 23rd, 2014 at 6:15 PM by Steven Stanley

California Repertory and director Joanne Gordon bring Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s Next To Normal to the Queen Mary’s Royal Theater in an excitingly imaginative rendition of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winner, one featuring a star-turn lead performance by Karole Foreman.
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posted in Long Beach/San Pedro, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

WATER BY THE SPOONFUL

posted on April 21st, 2014 at 6:58 PM by Steven Stanley

A recovering crack addict offers online counseling to fellow former drug users as a young Iraq vet and his music prof cousin attempt to cope with the impending death of their aunt, the woman who raised him.

These two initially distinct plot threads come together—and powerfully so—in Quiara Alegría Hudes’s Pulitzer Prize winning Water By The Spoonful, now getting a superbly acted West Coast Premiere at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre.
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posted in Drama, San Diego County, Theater Review, WOW!

THE LION IN WINTER

posted on April 20th, 2014 at 6:25 PM by Steven Stanley

Mariette Hartley and Ian Buchanan bring star quality, decades of stage and screen experience, and award-winning acting chops to the Colony Theatre’s splendid revival of William Goldman’s The Lion In Winter, a 12th-century drama so rich in family intrigue, it could easily have served as a model for any number of nighttime soaps.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Drama, Theater Review, WOW!

BE A GOOD LITTLE WIDOW

posted on April 19th, 2014 at 12:27 PM by Steven Stanley

The thin line between comedy and tragedy is tread quite astonishingly well by Bekah Brunstetter in her 2011 play Be A Good Little Widow, now getting a pitch-perfect Los Angeles Premiere, one that exemplifies intimate L.A. theater at its finest.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, North Hollywood, Theater Review, WOW!

RUTH DRAPER’S MONOLOGUES

posted on April 18th, 2014 at 5:24 PM by Steven Stanley

Four-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening brings her movie-star glamour and a career-long commitment to the legitimate stage to the Geffen Playhouse in Ruth Draper’s Monologues, as captivating and deliciously performed a one-woman show as you’re likely to see all year.

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

LILI FULLER

posted on April 16th, 2014 at 11:34 AM by Steven Stanley

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posted in Interview

COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA

posted on April 15th, 2014 at 10:14 PM by Steven Stanley

A gripping slice of contemporary Midwest life when it made its 1950 Broadway debut, William Inge’s Come Back, Little Sheba has now become a compelling period piece … and a superb 21st Century revival at A Noise Within.
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posted in Drama, Pasadena, Theater Review, WOW!

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