TOPHER RHYS TALKS ABOUT SPRING AWAKENING IN CONCERT

posted on July 12th, 2012 at 2:15 PM by Steven Stanley

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posted in Interview

OUR HOUSE

posted on July 10th, 2012 at 10:58 PM by Steven Stanley


Theresa Rebeck skewers reality TV in her very funny—and very smart—Our House, now getting a terrific West Coast Premiere at Hollywood’s Lounge Theatre.
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posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, WOW!

JEKYLL & HYDE

posted on July 9th, 2012 at 8:44 PM by Steven Stanley


If there’s anything Los Angeles theater can be justifiably proud of, it’s our particular talent for scaling down big-stage, big-bucks Broadway musicals to intimate dimensions. Recent productions of The Color Purple and Spring Awakening not only rivaled their Tony-winning New York counterparts, in the eyes of some observers they even surpassed them. Now, DOMA Theatre Company tries its hand at a downsized Jekyll & Hyde, and if a bit of miscasting and some roughness around the edges prevent it from reaching the heights hit by the aforementioned 99-seat smashes, the Marco Gomez-directed production nonetheless makes for an exciting evening of musical theater at its most dramatic and tuneful.
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posted in Hollywood/West Hollywood, Musical, WOW!

CRAZY FOR YOU

posted on July 9th, 2012 at 3:08 PM by Steven Stanley


Santa Monica’s venerable Morgan-Wixson Theater once again redefines “community theater” with its latest big-stage musical revival, Crazy For You, the Tony-winning Best Musical of 1992, directed with assurance and pizzazz by Anne Gesling.
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posted in Musical, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

12th NIGHT

posted on July 7th, 2012 at 3:13 PM by Steven Stanley


Twelfth Night. Eighty minutes. No intermission. Shakespeare purists may cavil, but to those with more contemporary sensibilities, these words could hardly be more musical to the ears.

A shorter, brisker running time proves but one of many reasons why Vanguard Rep’s stripped-down 12th Night comes as such a delightful treat this summer season. Add to that inventive direction by adapter Sam R. Ross and featured player Matthew Kellen Burgos, sparkling performances by an all-Equity cast of nine, a splendid production design, and an optional pre-show bring-your-own-feast picnic with a panoramic view of the San Gabriel Valley and you’ve got a 2012 La Cañada Flintridge Shakespeare Festival offering too irresistible to say “No” to.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Comedy, WOW!

THE IMMIGRANT

posted on July 6th, 2012 at 4:34 PM by Steven Stanley


From the rear of the Pico Playhouse comes a foreign-accented male voice singing a beautiful, mournful refrain: “The stars can see what we cannot, the stars remember what we forgot. See that shining spark. God is there in the dark…” Little by little, a slight, bearded figure enters our field of vision, pushing a cart filled with ripening bananas down the center aisle.
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posted in Musical, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

KAREN VOLPE: DINNER AND A FANCY DRESS

posted on July 5th, 2012 at 6:23 PM by Steven Stanley

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posted in Interview

LEGALLY BLONDE

posted on July 2nd, 2012 at 5:21 PM by Steven Stanley


Nothing makes this musical theater lover happier than when a recent Broadway favorite makes its way to regional productions on our local stages. Such is the case with 2007’s Legally Blonde, now getting its Southern California Regional Premiere at Vista’s Moonlight Amphitheatre, and if 90 or so miles seems a bit of a schlep to catch SoCal’s very first from-the-ground-up Legally Blonde, then you’re far less of a musical theater (and Elle Woods) aficionado than this reviewer. The Broadway stage adaptation of the 2001 movie smash is a textbook example of how to turn a hit celluloid romcom into a nigh-on-perfect musical comedy, and one that the folks down at Moonlight have staged about as terrifically as imaginable.
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posted in Musical, San Diego County, WOW!

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