SWEENEY TODD

posted on March 12th, 2012 at 7:25 PM by Steven Stanley


Santa Monica’s venerable Morgan-Wixson Theatre once again stretches the definition of “community theater” with their production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, proving that there are indeed exceptions to the rule (expressed to me just yesterday by the Artistic Director of one of our leading CLOs) that “community theaters should never do Sondheim.” The Morgan-Wixson not only can do Sondheim, they can do him quite excitingly indeed.
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posted in Musical, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

THE COLOR PURPLE

posted on March 10th, 2012 at 2:59 PM by Steven Stanley


The 2005 Broadway smash The Color Purple now makes its Los Angeles Intimate Theater debut in a production so spectacular that it virtually redefines the term “intimate theater musical.” Brilliantly directed by Michael Matthews and starring as musically and dramatically gifted a cast as you’ll see this year on any stage large or small, this Celebration Theatre production looks to be the Intimate Theater Event of 2012.

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posted in Hollywood/West Hollywood, Musical, WOW!

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

posted on March 9th, 2012 at 7:06 PM by Steven Stanley


Audience members become residents of the Russian village of Anatevka as Glendale Centre Theatre now presents the 1964 Broadway classic Fiddler On The Roof … in the round.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Musical, WOW!

CORONADO

posted on March 7th, 2012 at 9:46 PM by Steven Stanley


Wide shot of dive bar: A young man and woman are seated in a booth. An older couple sits at a nearby table. Two men, one older, one younger, are sitting at another table. An attractive young woman tends bar.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, WOW!

THE INDIANS ARE COMING TO DINNER

posted on March 6th, 2012 at 9:35 PM by Steven Stanley


Imagine what might happen if you crossed a screwball comedy clan like the one George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart created in You Can’t Take It With You with the Greekly tragic family Arthur Miller wrote about in Death Of A Salesman. What you’d end up with would doubtless be something quite like Jennifer W. Rowland’s highly original and thoroughly entertaining tragicomedy The Indians Are Coming To Dinner, now getting its World Premiere at Venice’s Pacific Resident Theatre.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

posted on March 5th, 2012 at 2:15 PM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

Antony and Cleopatra. For anyone around in the 1960s, those two names can’t help but conjure up memories of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, whose scandalous real-life love story mirrored that of the legendary historical couple they were playing on screen.
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posted in Drama, Not Recommended, Pasadena

THE SEAGULL

posted on March 4th, 2012 at 9:20 PM by Steven Stanley


I’ll admit it. When I hear the name Chekhov, the first words that pop into my head are dull, somber, and talky. That’s why it’s such a pleasure to report that the Antaeus Company’s revival of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull not only held my attention virtually throughout, it actually had me laughing more times than I could count. Talky it still may be, with characters often choosing monolog over dialog, but wonder of wonders, Seagull director Andrew Traister and company have brought to life on the Deaf-West stage is indeed the comedy its playwright intended it to be.
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posted in Comedy, North Hollywood, WOW!

THE FALL TO EARTH

posted on March 1st, 2012 at 5:57 PM by Steven Stanley


There are times when a reviewer must decide that the less said, the better, and in this reviewer’s humble opinion, his colleagues have been giving away far too much about The Fall To Earth (recently opened at the Odyssey). Therefore, if this is the first time you’re reading about Joel Drake Johnson’s richly complex dramedy, read no further than this review.  Trust me.  This is one play you will want to be surprised by.
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posted in Drama, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

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