SOUTH PACIFIC

posted on July 8th, 2013 at 12:12 PM by Steven Stanley


Inspired by the thrilling 2008 Broadway revival, and making splendid use of its gorgeous National Tour sets and costumes, Moonlight Stage Productions now brings Southern California audiences an unforgettable outdoor staging of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific under the inspired direction of its new artistic director Steven Glaudini.
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posted in Musical, San Diego County, Theater Review, WOW!

SWEET KARMA

posted on July 6th, 2013 at 1:36 PM by Steven Stanley


He was a 35-year-old physician when the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia, and barely escaped the holocaust that took the lives of more than a quarter of his countrymen. He was a refugee-turned-movie actor, winning an Oscar for his film—and acting—debut as real-life Cambodian journalist Dith Pran. He was a humanitarian who worked to rebuild his shattered country. And after surviving the killing fields, he met his death in the streets of Los Angeles, murdered by members of a predominantly Cambodian street gang.

This was the life—and death—of Dr. Haing S. Ngor, explored by playwright Henry Ong in the powerful Sweet Karma, now getting an exquisitely designed, imaginatively directed, and beautifully acted West Coast Premiere at the Grove Theatre Center.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Drama, Theater Review, WOW!

KISMET

posted on July 2nd, 2013 at 9:06 PM by Steven Stanley


A dozen supremely talented musical theater triple-threats and an inspired director-choreographer joined forces this past weekend to bring back the Golden Age Broadway hit Kismet, demonstrating once again that the “concert staged reading” may well be the very best way to revive forgotten musical theater gems.
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posted in Concert Staged Reading, Long Beach/San Pedro, Theater Review, WOW!

ABSOLUTELY FILTHY

posted on July 2nd, 2013 at 7:53 PM by Steven Stanley


For anyone who has ever wondered how the Peanuts gang might have turned out later in life, Brendan Hunt’s Absolutely Filthy now joins Bert V. Royal’s Dog Sees God in answering just that question; and though Royal’s Peanuts-As-Teens satire ends up more to my liking than Hunt’s Peanut-At-Thirty parody, it’s easy to understand why Absolutely Filthy became such a hit for Sacred Fools that they brought it back for five performances at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
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posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Theater Review, WOW!

THE KING AND I

posted on July 1st, 2013 at 11:05 AM by Steven Stanley


Following its adults-only production of The Full Monty, Candlelight Dinner Theatre now greets the summer with an entertaining revival of the family-friendly The King And I, trimmed of a few of its songs to get the kiddies (both those in the audience and those onstage) back home at a decent bedtime.
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posted in Musical, San Gabriel Valley, Theater Review, WOW!

STEEL MAGNOLIAS

posted on June 29th, 2013 at 12:02 PM by Steven Stanley


A trio of L.A. busiest community and 99-seat theater veterans, a pair of musical theater triple-threats, and one relative newcomer to our Los Angeles stage scene join forces to bring Little Fish Theatre’s revival of Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias to effervescent life.
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posted in Comedy, Long Beach/San Pedro, Theater Review, WOW!

THE BONEYARD AND TALISMAN

posted on June 28th, 2013 at 10:02 AM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

There’s no L.A. actress whose work I enjoy seeing more than Elephant Theatre Company’s Kate Huffman. Elephant artistic director David Fofi is one of the consistently finest directors in town. Timothy McNeil’s Supernova was singled out for a Scenie as one of The Twelve Best Plays Of The Year and McNeil’s performance in The Little Flower Of East Orange won him a Best Lead Actor Scenie. That’s why it’s disappointing to report that their latest collaboration as star, director, and writer/star of the pair of one-acts entitled The Boneyard and Talisman ended up not this reviewer’s cup of tea despite three excellent performances and Fofi’s sharp direction.
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posted in Drama, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Not Recommended

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

posted on June 26th, 2013 at 1:52 PM by Steven Stanley


Charismatic conman Frank Abagnale, Jr. is up to his old tricks again, but this time he’s doing it “Live In Living Color” as the Segerstrom Center For The Arts presents the National Tour of Catch Me If You Can, the Broadway musical adaptation of Steven Spielberg’s popular 2002 biopic, and a wow of a show it is, filled with one catchy tune after another, plenty of pizzazzy production numbers, a castful of sensational performances, and a surprising dollop of heart.
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posted in Musical, National Tour, Orange County, Theater Review, WOW!

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