ONE TOUCH OF VENUS

posted on February 7th, 2011 at 4:11 PM by Steven Stanley


Sparkling performances and Richard Israel’s deft direction make One Touch Of Venus, Musical Theatre Guild’s latest revival, a delightful 1940s bonbon.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Concert Staged Reading, WOW!

ADDING MACHINE: A MUSICAL

posted on February 6th, 2011 at 10:06 AM by Steven Stanley


“I’m sorry to lose an old and faithful employee, but you see, in an organization like this, efficiency is the first consideration. You will, of course, draw your salary for the full month. We couldn’t do anything less for such a valued and loyal employee. And I’ll direct my secretary to give you an excellent letter of recommendation.”
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posted in Musical, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

NERVE

posted on February 5th, 2011 at 4:02 PM by Steven Stanley

“Ask somebody to love you. Takes a lot of nerve. Ask somebody to love you. You got a lot of nerve.”
–Paul Simon

Can a couple of 20somethings on a blind date from hell find happiness ever after? That’s the question asked by playwright Adam Szymkowicz in Nerve, his disturbing but oh-so-romantic comedy now getting its West Coast Premiere at The Chance Theater.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Orange County, WOW!

THE ODD COUPLE

posted on February 4th, 2011 at 4:06 PM by Steven Stanley


How many plays can you think of that have generated a film adaptation (and a 30-years-later sequel), a long-running sitcom, a short-running African American-cast sitcom, an animated children’s series, an alternate version with the male and female roles reversed, and an updated version with an all new title?
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posted in Comedy, South Bay, WOW!

THE BREAK OF NOON

posted on February 3rd, 2011 at 10:22 AM by Steven Stanley


An embittered pink-slipped employee enters his former workplace and, automatic weapon in hand, murders thirty-seven of his ex-coworkers yet spares number thirty-eight, leaving the massacre’s sole survivor to wonder why. Why was he alone shown mercy? To whom does he owe this inexplicable stroke of salvation?
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posted in Drama, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

TUCUMCARI

posted on February 2nd, 2011 at 4:36 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
A rundown motel on Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico was the last thing Lillian expected as a honeymoon present, but that’s precisely what the young newlywed finds herself the co-proprietor of in Riley Steiner’s old-fashioned romantic drama Tucumcari, now playing at Beverly Hills’ Theatre 40.
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posted in Drama, Recommended, West Side/Beverly HIlls

MR. KOLPERT

posted on February 1st, 2011 at 3:59 PM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

When a play gets a 5-star review in London’s The Guardian yet fails to impress in an intimate Los Angeles production, one can’t help wondering, “What went wrong in the transatlantic transfer?”
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posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, Not Recommended

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

posted on January 31st, 2011 at 8:58 PM by Steven Stanley


From the moment the lights come up on Theseus, Duke Of Athens (Elijah Alexander), and Hippolyta, Queen Of The Amazons (Susannah Schulman) posing in glamorous 1950s garb to the flash of paparazzi light bulbs, you know this will not be your grandfather’s, your father’s, or even your older brother’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Clearly director Mark Rucker has tricks up his sleeve, the revelation of which make South Coast Repertory’s production of William Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy something very special indeed.
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posted in Comedy, Orange County, WOW!

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