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!

ModRock

posted on June 24th, 2013 at 3:18 PM by Steven Stanley


The city was London, the season was Summer Of ’65, and the Beatles had only recently “crossed the pond” to conquer America. Back in the UK, the Profumo Affair and its sexy instigator Christine Keeler was being splashed across British tabloids while at nearby seaside resorts, leather-clad Rockers were clashing in the streets with trendily dressed Mods.

This heady period in 20th Century English history now returns to bouncy, tuneful life in ModRock, Hagan Thomas-Jones’ dandy new jukebox musical that’s a little bit Romeo & Juliet, a little bit Grease, and a whole lot of fun.
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posted in Musical, North Hollywood, Theater Review, WOW!

LOVE SONGS

posted on June 23rd, 2013 at 11:51 AM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
Six simply marvelous performances and a couple dozen simply gorgeous songs are the best reasons to see Love Songs A Musical, Steven Cagan’s minimal-plot song cycle now getting its World Premiere by Chromolume Theatre at the Attic in a production that comes across more like a low-budget workshop than the fully-staged premiere Cagan’s work deserves and L.A. theatergoing regulars will likely be expecting.
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posted in Los Angeles, Musical, Recommended, Theater Review

THE FANTASTICKS

posted on June 22nd, 2013 at 1:10 PM by Steven Stanley


The Sierra Madre Playhouse revives the world’s longest-running musical The Fantasticks in a production so perfectly cast, so beautifully performed, so imaginatively directed, and so gorgeous to look at that I finally understand why the Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt musical chalked up 17,162 performances over its 42-year off-Broadway run.

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posted in Musical, San Gabriel Valley, Theater Review, WOW!

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