MY FAIRYTALE

posted on September 1st, 2011 at 6:12 PM by Steven Stanley


Solvang celebrates its 100th birthday with the American Premiere of a new(ish) musical by Stephen Schwartz of Wicked fame—newish because the Hans Christian Anderson bio-fantasy got its World Premiere six years ago in Copenhagen (to mark the fairy tale master’s bicentennial) and American because the original production was acted and sung in Andersen’s native tongue. Though not on a par with the aforementioned Oztastic megahit, the still highly entertaining My Fairytale benefits from an outstanding cast, breathtaking costuming, beautifully staged production numbers, and a number of instantly hummable Schwartz tunes.
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posted in Musical, Santa Barbara County, WOW!

TARTUFFE (OR THE IMPOSTER)

posted on August 31st, 2011 at 9:02 PM by Steven Stanley

If like this reviewer you’ve never seen a show at The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, then you are in for a treat, particularly if Moliere’s Tartuffe is your first exposure to this rustic gem of a an outdoor theater.

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

RABBIT HOLE

posted on August 30th, 2011 at 8:03 AM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
For a play that won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole has had surprisingly few local productions in the ensuing years, perhaps a result of its seemingly grim subject matter. For that reason alone, the play’s arrival at Theatre Palisades is good news for L.A. theatergoers. Though this high-end community theater production doesn’t reach the heights of the Chance Theater’s award-winning 2008 production, it is one worth checking out, whether you’ve seen last year’s Oscar-nominated film adaptation, a previous live staging, or this is your first exposure to Rabbit Hole.
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posted in Drama, Recommended, West Side/Beverly HIlls

STEEL MAGNOLIAS

posted on August 29th, 2011 at 11:52 AM by Steven Stanley


Those Steel Magnolias are back, and Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre has got’em—in a simply couldn’t-be-better production, one which is blessed with six of the finest performances you’re likely to see all year.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Ventura County, WOW!

PRIVATE LIVES

posted on August 27th, 2011 at 2:04 PM by Steven Stanley


For a comedy that’s now reached the ripe old age of seventy one, Noël Coward’s Private Lives remains as young, fresh, and lively as ever—and those in need of proof need simply check out the terrific Private Lives revival now playing at Long Beach’s International City Theatre.
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posted in Comedy, Long Beach/San Pedro, WOW!

LIFE ON THIS COUCH

posted on August 26th, 2011 at 7:12 PM by Steven Stanley


ec•cen•tric ([ik-sen-trik, ek-)—adjective: (of a person or behavior) Unconventional and slightly strange, as in “No one writes eccentric characters quite like Laura Richardson.”

For proof of the above, head on over to Open Fist Theatre where Richardson’s latest, Life On This Couch, is delighting audiences with the playwright’s unique, quirky, and thoroughly entertaining take on life. Like the eccentrics in Richardson’s Do Do Love and Come Back Little Horny, the people who live on and around Cece Taylor’s sofa are folks you might not want to live with 24/7, but it sure is fun to spend a couple hours observing the habits, mating and otherwise, of this wild and crazy bunch.
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posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, WOW!

BEAU JEST

posted on August 25th, 2011 at 7:16 PM by Steven Stanley


Perhaps the three best words of advice to offer any theater company hoping to stay in business year after year are the following: Know Your Audience. The post-retirement set who make up Glendale Centre Theatre’s loyal subscribers keep coming back again and again because they trust GTC to give them the kind of time-proven hit musicals and plays that they grew up enjoying, shows like this season’s Forever Plaid, To Kill a Mockingbird, Big River, and 1776, to name just a few.

Beau Jest, the current Glendale offering, isn’t going to win any “Drama Critics’ Circle” awards for sophistication, daring, or cutting-edgedness. In fact, the New York Times savaged a New Jersey production back in 1994 in a review which still shows up first if you Google the title. But tell that to last night’s mostly over-65 crowd, who loved every one of Beau Jest’s sitcommy jokes and archetypical characters, and you know what? Even though I’m not quite as up there in age as the majority of the aforementioned, I too had a ball from start to finish, thanks in great part to the terrific talent who’ve put together GCT’s latest offering.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Comedy, WOW!

ENGAGING SHAW

posted on August 24th, 2011 at 10:56 PM by Steven Stanley


If it’s true that the human brain is our largest erogenous zone, then things must have gotten pretty darned erotic between George Bernard Shaw and Charlotte Payne-Townshend, or at least such is the case in Engaging Shaw, John Morogiello’s highly intelligent, highly entertaining, and yes, highly engaging romantic comedy, now getting its West Coast Premiere at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, San Diego County, WOW!

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