THE ARCTIC CIRCLE (and a recipe for Swedish pancakes)/THE MATADOR

posted on September 1st, 2013 at 12:33 AM by Steven Stanley


Whimsy and more than a touch of the surreal link an entertaining pair of one-acts now getting their West Coast Premieres at Studio/Stage, both of them penned by members of The Playwright’s Lab @ Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.
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posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, Theater Review, WOW!

HAIRSPRAY

posted on August 31st, 2013 at 1:50 AM by Steven Stanley


Among the many reasons to catch Glendale Centre Theatre’s just-opened production of Hairspray (including a pair of sensational lead performances), there’s one that tops them all—the chance to see “Broadway’s Big Fat Musical Comedy Hit” in the round.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

CITY OF ANGELS

posted on August 26th, 2013 at 4:12 PM by Steven Stanley


They said it couldn’t be done, but Musical Theatre West went and did it—gave a sold-out house Broadway’s Tony-winning Best Musical of 1989 City Of Angels in concert staged reading form (i.e., without the design elements so much a part of its Broadway and post-Broadway success), and come out with a winner—and all with a mere twenty-five hours of rehearsal.
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posted in Concert Staged Reading, Long Beach/San Pedro, Theater Review, WOW!

IN THE NEXT ROOM (or the vibrator play)

posted on August 25th, 2013 at 3:54 PM by Steven Stanley

Debuting its new home at North Hollywood’s Secret Rose Theatre, L.A.’s award-winning The Production Company opens its seventh season with a sparkling Los Angeles Intimate Stage Premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s delightful, provocative, ultimately uplifting In The Next Room (or the vibrator play), a 2010 Best Play Tony nominee and one that more than matches Ruhl’s previous The Clean House, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, and Eurydice in quirky originality and charm.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, North Hollywood, Theater Review, WOW!

RED

posted on August 25th, 2013 at 12:41 PM by Steven Stanley

Following its six 2010 Tony wins (including Best Play), John Logan’s Red now gets its very first from-the-ground-up Los Angeles-area staging at Long Beach’s International City Theatre, and what a splendid production ICT has mounted under the astute, nuanced direction of its Artistic Director caryn desai.

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posted in Drama, Long Beach/San Pedro, Theater Review, WOW!

RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN

posted on August 23rd, 2013 at 5:02 PM by Steven Stanley


Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Gina Gionfriddo examines the changing roles of women from the pre-Betty Friedan 1950s to the post-post-Feminist now in Rapture, Blister, Burn—and if this sounds like a potentially dry (i.e. boring) way to spend a night at the theater, think again. I haven’t had a more exhilarating time with four fabulous women and one not-so-fabulous man in I don’t know how long.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Los Angeles, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

THE ROYAL FAMILY

posted on August 20th, 2013 at 6:05 PM by Steven Stanley


Theatrical royalty play theatrical royalty as Will Geer’s own “royal family” bring George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber’s The Royal Family to hilarious, effervescent life—with enough star power to rival those twinkling orbs shining down on the Topanga hills Theatricum Botanicum calls home.
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posted in Comedy, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

A BRIGHT ROOM CALLED DAY

posted on August 19th, 2013 at 12:56 AM by Steven Stanley


Director Jeremy Lelliott works wonders with Tony Kushner’s A Bright Room Called Day, turning a play that in other hands might seem stuffy or talky or dated into an exciting, utterly relevant evening of theater.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, Theater Review, WOW!

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