StageSceneLA

THE WOMEN

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

Godfather Vito Corleone’s advice to “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” could easily have been inspired by a night at the theater—had the play in question been Clare Boothe Luce’s comedy classic The Women, now getting a mostly top-notch revival at L.A.’s venerable Theatre West.
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posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, WOW!

COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS

posted on May 10th, 2013 at 5:23 PM by Steven Stanley

A man walks into a bar and all hell breaks loose in Ron Klier’s edge-of-your-seat World Premiere suspense thriller Cops And Friends Of Cops, the latest offering from VS. Theatre Company and one that suits their spiffy new Mid-City space to a T.
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Tags: Los Angeles Theater Review, VS. Theatre Company
posted in Drama, Los Angeles, WOW!

FLASHDANCE THE MUSICAL

posted on May 8th, 2013 at 12:17 PM by Steven Stanley

The ‘80s come exhilaratingly back to life as Alex Owens once again pursues her dream of leaving behind her drab steel mill-worker-by-day, nightclub-dancer-by-night life and becoming a serious ballerina in Flashdance The Musical, now playing at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center For the Arts. And the verdict? Despite a book that still needs work, last night’s Opening Night standing ovation leaves no doubt that Flashdance is a bona fide crowd-pleaser.
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posted in Musical, National Tour, Orange County, WOW!

PETER PAN: THE BOY WHO HATED MOTHERS

posted on May 6th, 2013 at 5:05 PM by Steven Stanley

He’s been the hero of a play, a novel based on that play, a prequel, a sequel, a silent film, several stage adaptations of the original play, an oft-revived and televised Broadway musical, a Disney animated feature (and its sequel), a live-action feature film, a Japanese anime, an animated TV series, a theme-park ride, and most recently a mammoth “360-degree” staging and a Broadway prequel, the winner of five 2012 Tony awards.

With all of the above behind him, you’d think that at the ripe old age of 109, Peter Pan, aka The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, would be ready to call it quits, but you’d be wrong, since just when most centenarians would be poised to take their final bows, along comes Michael Lluberes’ Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers, proving that a) there’s still life in the young/old boy and b) that you don’t need a gazillion dollars (or however much the budget of Peter Pan threesixty° was) to make theatrical magic.
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Tags: Los Angeles Theatre Review, Michael Matthews, Peter Pan, The Blank Theatre
posted in Drama, Hollywood/West Hollywood, WOW!

WHAT THE BUTLER SAW

posted on May 4th, 2013 at 11:51 PM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

The late great Joe Orton wrote three of 20th Century England’s most outrageously funny, audacious, and sexually provocative screwball farces, though you’d hardly know it from the misguided revival of 1969’s What The Butler Saw now playing at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre under Ben Lupejkis’ direction.
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posted in Comedy, Not Recommended, WOW!

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE

posted on May 4th, 2013 at 1:26 PM by Steven Stanley

The Tony-winning 2006 Broadway musical The Drowsy Chaperone makes for a terrifically entertaining Spring Musical over at Cerritos College, starring a trio of Cal State Fullerton triple-threats under the expert supervision of director Patrick Pearson, musical director Hector Salazar, and choreographer Kelly Todd.
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posted in Downey/La Mirada, Musical, WOW!

THE NORTH PLAN

posted on May 4th, 2013 at 11:27 AM by Steven Stanley

Imagine that the fate of the entire free world, or of these United States at the very least, depended upon a single individual … who just happened to be the foulest-mouthed, reddest-necked single mom in all of small-town southern Missouri.

Playwright Jason Wells does just this in his uproarious, outrageous, yet frighteningly plausible political comedy thriller The North Plan, the funniest/ edgiest show in town and a terrific welcome back to Elephant Theatre Company.
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