STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

posted on August 19th, 2012 at 11:08 AM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

A smart, funny, sophisticated, incisive satire of old-school Orange County conservatives vs. the progressive LGBT minority in their midst would make for a terrific World Premiere production at Santa Ana’s Theatre Out. Unfortunately, Andy Black and Patricia Milton’s Strange Bedfellows is not that play.
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posted in Comedy, Not Recommended, Orange County

ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, KAREN CARPENTER

posted on August 18th, 2012 at 5:30 PM by Steven Stanley


“Dear God, don’t let New Jersey be too horrible!” prays eleven-year-old Margaret Simon, brand new to the Garden State and worried—like any girl her age finding herself in a new city—about fitting in, making new friends, and the particular challenges of being on the cusp of young womanhood. Easing Margaret’s adjustment to Jersey life are her new best friends Nancy, Gretchen, and Janie, aka the PTSes (Preteen Sensations). As for those love dreams any preteen is likely to have at night, who better to inspire them than neighborhood heartthrob Moose Freed, the first glimpse of whom makes Margaret hear, not bells, but the intro to “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” so that before you know it, Margaret and Moose are duetting the Carpenters classic, mikes in hand?
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posted in Los Angeles, Musical, WOW!

PAUL+CHRIS: TOGETHER AGAIN (FOR THE FIRST TIME)

posted on August 15th, 2012 at 11:21 AM by Steven Stanley


Take two of L.A.’s most handsome and vocally gifted musical theater performers—partners in music and life for the past eleven years. Stir in a dozen and a half tunes showcasing their talents both as individuals and as a duo. Back with some terrific ivory-tickling and surround with a theaterful of fans and friends and you’ve got Paul+Chris: Together Again (for the first time), an evening of musical theatre songs “exploring the surprises of friendship, longing, and love,” and one far too entertaining for its one performance only last night at the NoHo Arts Center.
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posted in Cabaret/Concert/Variety, North Hollywood, WOW!

GOD OF CARNAGE

posted on August 14th, 2012 at 3:50 PM by Steven Stanley


San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre stages Yasmina Reza’s Tony-winning Best Play of 2009 God Of Carnage with three graduates of its prestigious MFA program (and a fourth Old Globe favorite) and comes up with a production that easily rivals those which have starred far bigger names.
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posted in Comedy, San Diego County, WOW!

ALTAR BOYZ

posted on August 13th, 2012 at 5:13 PM by Steven Stanley


The Altar Boyz are back, and for diehard Los Angeles fans of this fictional Christian boy band, a hop, skip, and a jump down to San Diego’s Diversionary Theatre provides the first chance in over two years to spend an hour and a half being concertized by five of the cutest, sexiest, and most praise-raising triple-threats ever to share a musical theater stage.
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posted in Musical, San Diego County, WOW!

BLAME IT ON BECKETT

posted on August 13th, 2012 at 4:32 PM by Steven Stanley


Playwright John Morogiello skewers the backstage world of not-for-profit regional theater in his smart, revealing, and (most importantly) very funny new play Blame It On Beckett, now getting its West Coast Premiere at Burbank’s Colony Theatre.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Comedy, WOW!

A RING IN BROOKLYN

posted on August 11th, 2012 at 5:58 PM by Steven Stanley


The Academy For New Musical Theatre follows last year’s 40 Is The New 15 with another flashback-to-the-past World Premiere musical, A Ring In Brooklyn (subtitled “a frickin’ musical”), and if their latest project gets off to an iffy start, about halfway through Act One it kicks into gear and turns out a winner.
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posted in Musical, North Hollywood, WOW!

THE IRISH CURSE

posted on August 10th, 2012 at 11:46 PM by Steven Stanley


At the risk of sounding like a broken record, anyone with the slightest doubt about the quality of Los Angeles theater could do no better than to check out Scott Conte, Austin Hébert, Shaun O’Hagan, Joe Pacheco, and Patrick Quinlan in the Andrew Barnicle-directed The Irish Curse, now heading into the final weeks of its justly lauded two-month run at the Odyssey.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

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