DOUBTING THOMASON

posted on July 16th, 2011 at 6:47 AM by Steven Stanley


Los Angeles theater buffs may recall one of the biggest Ovation Award upsets ever, when the under-the-radar West Coast Premiere of Tracy Letts’ Killer Joe went on to win four crystal statuettes, including Best Production, Best Ensemble, and Best Direction. Far fewer will be aware that, at about the very same time as that production was set to open, another group of L.A. actors were rehearsing the very same play, only to discover a week before their own opening that someone else (the future Ovation winners) had the rights to Killer Joe—and they didn’t.
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posted in Comedy, North Hollywood, WOW!

MARY POPPINS

posted on July 15th, 2011 at 6:50 AM by Steven Stanley


Mary Poppins has soared into Costa Mesa (by umbrella of course), the arrival of the London/Broadway hit the best possible news for Los Angeles and Orange County children of all ages, from today’s kindergartners to the 50&60something Boomers who first fell in love with the 1964 Walt Disney film on which it is based. Heck, you can make that children in their nineties, Mary Poppins having first debuted way back in the 1930s as a series of novels by P.L. Travers.
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posted in Musical, Orange County, WOW!

THE WEDDING SINGER

posted on July 14th, 2011 at 7:21 AM by Steven Stanley


The Wedding Singer may well be the most underrated Broadway musical of the last five years, and anyone wishing proof of the above has only to check out its regional professional premiere at Long Beach’s Musical Theatre West. An adroitly concocted blend of music, comedy, and 1980s nostalgia, The Wedding Singer is also one of the most unabashedly romantic musicals ever, and an utter delight from start to finish.
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posted in Long Beach/San Pedro, Musical, WOW!

HAIRSPRAY

posted on July 12th, 2011 at 7:23 AM by Steven Stanley


When most people think about just who creates a Broadway musical, probably the first names that pop into their heads are those of its composer and lyricist. Next would probably come the book writer, whose words link the songs in what is hopefully an interesting and cohesive plotline. Still, regardless of how great what’s “written down” is, no musical could possibly hit the jackpot without a fabulous director and choreographer helming the enterprise.
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posted in Musical, Santa Barbara County, WOW!

DENNIS MOENCH

posted on July 10th, 2011 at 7:43 AM by Steven Stanley

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posted in Interview

DAVID L. RAY

posted on July 10th, 2011 at 7:41 AM by Steven Stanley

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posted in Interview

RE-ANIMATOR: THE MUSICAL

posted on July 10th, 2011 at 7:24 AM by Steven Stanley


Every so often a show comes along that attracts audiences who’d never ordinarily set foot inside a legitimate theater, let alone for a musical, heaven forbid. Rare examples of these surprise cult hits include Spamalot, which drew in Monty Python fans in droves; Joe’s Garage, which had Frank Zappa fans lined up around the corner at Open Fist; and now Re-Animator™-The Musical, which opened in February for a six-week run at the Steve Allen Theatre and has been packing them in since then.
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posted in Los Angeles, Musical, WOW!

JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA

posted on July 9th, 2011 at 7:28 AM by Steven Stanley


Jerry Springer has arrived in Anaheim Hills, and some of the natives are up in arms. Open-minded theatergoers, on the other hand, will be lining up in droves to catch the Southern California Premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera, a sensational Chance Theater production which once again proves that for controversial, intimate-stage excellence in the OC,nobody does it better than the Chance.
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posted in Musical, Orange County, WOW!

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