SALLY SPECTRE THE MUSICAL

posted on November 9th, 2011 at 12:48 AM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
Sally Spectre, the heroine of David P. Johnson’s charming if wispy chamber musical of the same name, has lived her life (sorry, make that her death) with a hatchet in her head for the past fifty years, trapped inside the bedroom that was hers during her short time on earth. Though Johnson’s book is vague on just why she’s unable to flee from her room or what exactly will happen if and when she does make her escape, a bunch of terrific performances and some clever, tuneful songs make Sally Spectre The Musical an entertaining hour and fifteen minutes of gothic froth.
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posted in Musical, North Hollywood, Recommended

THE VIOLET HOUR

posted on November 7th, 2011 at 7:41 PM by Steven Stanley


The first time I saw Richard Greenberg’s The Violet Hour back in 2008, I wrote, “It’s quite possibly a play requiring a second viewing in order to be fully appreciated.” Having now seen it a second time at Santa Ana’s Theatre Out, I’d like to amend that statement. Even two viewings may not be quite enough to grasp the playwright’s intentions, particularly in the play’s densely written second act. Nevertheless, it remains a (as I wrote back then) “funny and thought-provoking evening of theater.”
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Orange County, WOW!

TWELFTH NIGHT

posted on November 6th, 2011 at 7:14 PM by Steven Stanley


Even if you think you’ve seen enough Twelfth Nights to last you a lifetime, leave it to A Noise Within to put a fresh new spin on Shakespeare’s classic tale of gender-switching and mistaken identity. As for those seeing their very first Twelfth Night, ANW’s Caribbean-set retelling proves as entertaining an introduction to it as any lover of the Bard could desire.
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posted in Comedy, Pasadena, WOW!

NEXT FALL

posted on November 5th, 2011 at 11:20 PM by Steven Stanley


Rarely has the romantic axiom that “Opposites attract” proven more true than for the couple at the heart of Geoffrey Nauffts’ Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award-nominated Next Fall, now getting a powerful, beautifully acted West Coast Premiere at the Geffen Playhouse.
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posted in Drama, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

VICTOR/VICTORIA

posted on November 5th, 2011 at 1:49 PM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

A show-stopping performance by Kristin Towers-Rowles, StageSceneLA’s Scenie-winning Breakthrough Musical Theater Performer Of The Year, is the best reason to see Malibu Stage Company’s small-stage production of the rarely staged Victor/Victoria.
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posted in Musical, Not Recommended, West Side/Beverly HIlls

THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL

posted on November 4th, 2011 at 1:08 PM by Steven Stanley


The lives of ordinary people make for extraordinary theater in Horton Foote’s 1953 drama The Trip To Bountiful, revived to perfection at South Coast Repertory under the delicately shaded direction of Martin Benson.
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posted in Drama, Orange County, WOW!

BHUTAN

posted on November 2nd, 2011 at 11:20 PM by Steven Stanley


Something went dreadfully wrong in the life of New Hampshire high school senior Warren Conroy a year ago, or so we surmise from our first glimpse of him, behind bars, in Daisy Foote’s riveting family drama Bhutan, now getting a superb West Coast Premiere at Rogue Machine Theatre under the inspired direction of Elina de Santos.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, WOW!

HERMETICALLY SEALED

posted on November 1st, 2011 at 5:37 PM by Steven Stanley


Hermitically Sealed is both the title of Kathryn Graf’s compelling new family drama and an apt description of the way 40something caterer Tessie May has chosen to live the life she shares with her teenage male offspring—like an egg, “safe and sound in its own little world.”
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, WOW!

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