DUSK RINGS A BELL

posted on October 14th, 2011 at 6:50 PM by Steven Stanley


Playwright Stephen Belber starts off his latest with a classic romantic setup—then throws the audience an unexpectedly serious curve—in Dusk Rings A Bell, his not quite perfect but nonetheless highly affecting two-hander, now playing at Hollywood’s Blank Theatre in an exquisitely acted and directed West Coast Premiere.
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posted in Drama, Hollywood/West Hollywood, WOW!

SHIRLEY VALENTINE

posted on October 12th, 2011 at 8:36 PM by Steven Stanley


Chick flick fans of a certain age may recall British actress Pauline Collins’ Oscar-nominated performance as Shirley Valentine in the 1989 movie of the same name.  If you’re like me, you sat entranced watching 40something Liverpool housewife Shirley leave the drudgery of her day-to-day existence for a life-altering holiday in Greece, her traveling companion not her inattentive, unappreciative lug of a husband but contest-winning best friend Jane—who promptly abandons Shirley upon arrival. Befriended by an English couple whose xenophobia proves too much to take, Shirley takes off into the night and into arms of a handsome Greek named Costas.
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posted in Comedy, Orange County, WOW!

THE DINOSAUR WITHIN

posted on October 12th, 2011 at 10:45 AM by Steven Stanley


An aging, wheelchair-bound 1960s movie goddess longs for a return to past glories. Her greatest fan, a young Australian aborigine hoping to break into the movie biz in Hollywood, still mourns the death of his two older brothers to suicide. A newspaper reporter remains incapable of recovering from the disappearance of his ten-year-old son years before.

The lives of these three disparate characters intersect in both “The Dreamtime” and “The Dream Factory” in John Walch’s powerful, engrossing, deeply moving The Dinosaur Within, now getting its most major production to date at Pasadena’s Theatre @ Boston Court under the inspired direction of Michael Michetti.
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posted in Drama, Pasadena, WOW!

tick, tick … BOOM!

posted on October 10th, 2011 at 6:06 PM by Steven Stanley


With its twelve years and 5,124 performances on Broadway, a major motion picture, countless recent Southern California productions large and small, and an ongoing off-Broadway revival, it seems hard to believe there was ever a time before Jonathan Larson’s Rent.

But there was.
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posted in Los Angeles, Musical, WOW!

THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS

posted on October 9th, 2011 at 10:33 PM by Steven Stanley

Stephen Metcalfe’s gripping new drama The Tragedy Of The Commons takes as its title a term coined in the early 1960s by sociobiologist Garrett Hardin, though it’s not until late in the play that its protagonist explains Hardin’s concept: (read more)

posted in Drama, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

CarnEvil

posted on October 8th, 2011 at 2:20 PM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

Sacred Fools Theatre Company, the troupe that brought Los Angeles such delightful oddities as Hamlet Shut Up, Land Of The Tigers, and BeaverQuest! The Musical, now gives us CarnEvil: A Gothic Horror Rock Musical, a show which makes its predecessors seem positively tame by comparison and one that David Cronenberg fans may well drink up like Dracula at a victim’s neck. Still, despite considerable talent onstage and off, CarnEvil ended up being not this reviewer’s cup of tea, or goblet of blood as the case may be.
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posted in Los Angeles, Musical, Not Recommended

LOVE SICK

posted on October 7th, 2011 at 4:50 PM by Steven Stanley


A loaded gun proves the best medicine for lovesick Emily in Kristina Poe’s deliciously dark comedy Love Sick, now getting its World Premiere production at the always edgy Elephant Theatre.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Hollywood/West Hollywood, WOW!

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS

posted on October 6th, 2011 at 11:27 PM by Steven Stanley


The 1954 MGM musical movie hit Seven Brides For Seven Brothers comes to life in-the-round at Glendale Centre Theatre in a production that provides old-fashioned G-rated family entertainment under Robert Marra’s assured direction.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Musical, WOW!

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