THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA

posted on February 4th, 2014 at 5:25 PM by Steven Stanley


An absolutely exquisite production of the century’s most exquisite musical —Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas’s The Light In The Piazza —has arrived at South Coast Repertory. Need I say more?
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posted in Musical, Orange County, Theater Review, WOW!

THE PRODUCERS

posted on February 3rd, 2014 at 6:38 PM by Steven Stanley


A stupendous cast and a topnotch directorial/choreographic team recreating the Tony-winning work of Broadway superstar Susan Stroman have come up with an all-around splendid revival of the megasmash hit musical The Producers, once again providing proof positive that a 3-D Theatricals production is the next-best-thing to Broadway—and a heck of a lot more convenient.
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posted in Musical, Orange County, Theater Review, WOW!

BELFRY

posted on February 2nd, 2014 at 3:48 PM by Steven Stanley


A lonely Irish sacristan looks back on the brief shining moments in his life when he loved another man’s wife in Billy Roche’s exquisite gem of a memory play, Belfry, at last getting its West Coast Premiere at a revitalized Malibu Playhouse under the assured, nuanced direction of Veronica Brady.
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posted in Drama, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THOMAS JEFFERSON, CHARLES DICKENS AND COUNT LEO TOLSTOY: DISCORD

posted on February 1st, 2014 at 12:25 PM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

Three superb performances, a snazzy design package, a delightful opening sequence, and then a whole lot of speechifying add up to a less than compelling ninety minutes as the NoHo Arts Center presents the World Premiere engagement of Scott Carter’s The Gospel According To Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens And Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, North Hollywood, Not Recommended, Theater Review

CHICAGO

posted on January 29th, 2014 at 7:21 PM by Steven Stanley


You may have seen Kander & Ebb’s Chicago at your nearby regional, community, or 99-seat theater, but you haven’t seen Chicago in all its Broadway brilliance till you’ve seen the National Tour of the Walter Bobbie-directed, Ann Reinking-choreographed 1996 revival, now dazzling Southern California audiences this week only at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center For The Arts.
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posted in Musical, National Tour, Orange County, Theater Review, WOW!

CALL ME MADAM

posted on January 28th, 2014 at 6:21 PM by Steven Stanley


Musical theater lovers can once again thank Ken and Dottie Reiner and Musical Theatre West’s Reiner Reading Series for bringing back to life a musical theater gem grown too obscure to inspire a fully staged production. (After all, given the choice of the two Tony-winning musicals of 1951, Guys And Dolls and Call Me Madam, which one would you choose to program as part of an upcoming season?)
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posted in Concert Staged Reading, Long Beach/San Pedro, Theater Review, WOW!

GOD OF CARNAGE

posted on January 26th, 2014 at 4:25 PM by Steven Stanley


Yasmina Reza’s Tony-winning Best Play of 2009 God Of Carnage arrives at La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts in a production so excitingly staged and performed that even those who may have caught its star-packed L.A. debut a few years back won’t want to miss this staging—the third and last of McCoy Rigby Entertainment’s trio of Best Play Tony winners.
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posted in Comedy, Downey/La Mirada, Theater Review, WOW!

LET’S MISBEHAVE: THE MUSIC AND LYRICS OF COLE PORTER

posted on January 25th, 2014 at 5:35 PM by Steven Stanley


Take three of Southern California’s most talented musical theater performers, then add three-dozen or so Cole Porter songs linked together by an ingenious book, and you’ve got Patrick Young and Karin Bowersock’s Let’s Misbehave, a brand spanking new Cole Porter musical now getting a sparkling California Premiere at Long Beach’s International City Theatre.
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posted in Long Beach/San Pedro, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

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