MAESTRO: THE ART OF LEONARD BERNSTEIN

posted on November 11th, 2010 at 8:01 AM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
Hershey Felder, the award-winning creator of George Gershwin Alone, Monsieur Chopin, and Beethoven, As I Knew Him, now returns with Maestro: The Art Of Leonard Bernstein.

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posted in Recommended, Solo Performance, West Side/Beverly HIlls

CRIMES OF THE HEART

posted on November 10th, 2010 at 10:55 PM by Steven Stanley


East West Players 2010-11 season continues with its second smash hit in a row—an absolutely splendid staging of the quirky Southern comedy Crimes Of The Heart. The third major Southern California revival of Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play since May, East West’s is the first to feature an all-Asian American cast—and why not? As Artistic Director Tim Dang has stated, “Asians do live in the South, Asians do speak with Southern accents and Asians historically have been part of the American landscape for well over a century.” Since Hollywood casting directors remain for the most part blithely unaware of this reality, it’s up to theater companies like East West to give members of the Asian American acting community roles like Henley’s delightfully quirky Magrath sisters—parts which Elizabeth Liang, Kimiko Gelman, and Maya Erskine bring to vivid, authentic, hilarious, and emotionally resonant life.
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posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, WOW!

CHRISTOPHER SPENCER

posted on November 10th, 2010 at 1:14 AM by Steven Stanley

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posted in Interview

HELLO AGAIN

posted on November 8th, 2010 at 11:25 PM by Steven Stanley


Michael John LaChiusa’s Hello Again has inspired Musical Theatre Guild’s very best production since 2009’s two-in-a-row stagings of Kiss Of The Spider Woman and Violet. Under Michele Spears’ inspired direction and starring ten of the country’s finest musical theater talents, this seductive chamber musical, based on Arthur Schnitzler’s 1897 classic La Ronde, proved again that when MTG members and guest artists have the right material, their “concert staged readings” can the equal the very best fully staged productions in town.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Concert Staged Reading, WOW!

BLITHE SPIRIT

posted on November 7th, 2010 at 1:07 AM by Steven Stanley


WWII London had just undergone the eight months of sustained bombing by Hitler’s Luftwaffe (and seen tens of thousands of its citizens killed, and even more injured) when Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit opened in June of 1941, offering shell-shocked Londoners a welcome escape from the horrors of the night skies and keeping them laughing throughout the war—for a grand total of 1997 performances.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Comedy, WOW!

DADDY LONG LEGS

posted on November 6th, 2010 at 11:01 PM by Steven Stanley


“An exquisite gem of a musical” is how I described Daddy Long Legs in its world premiere engagement at the Rubicon last year. Since then, Paul Gordon and John Caird’s adaptation of Jean Webster’s 1912 novel has had several more engagements across the country, allowing the writers the opportunity for fine-tuning, a must in the creation of any new musical. It’s this adeptly tweaked Daddy Long Legs that returns to Southern California for a three-week engagement at the La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts, an even more polished gem of a musical than it was before, and not just one for the kiddies. Though Webster’s novel fits squarely in the Children’s Books section of your local library or Barnes And Noble, its musical adaptation proves absolutely right for ages eight to eighty.
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posted in Downey/La Mirada, Musical, WOW!

HOBOKEN TO HOLLYWOOD

posted on November 5th, 2010 at 11:28 PM by Steven Stanley


Start spreading the news! There’s a new singing star on the horizon and his name is Luca Ellis.

Ellis’s cameo appearance in last December’s A Vegas Holiday! Songs From “Live At The Sahara” prompted this reviewer to describe the 21st Century crooner as “hearthrob-handsome” and “a vocal dead-ringer for Frank Sinatra.” These words ring truer than ever in Hoboken To Hollywood: A Journey Through The Great American Songbook, the exciting new musical production now playing at Santa Monica’s Edgemar Center For The Arts.
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posted in Musical Revue, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

INTO THE WOODS

posted on November 4th, 2010 at 11:36 PM by Steven Stanley


If you love Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods even half as much as I do, you must see Lucid By Proxy’s remarkable new revival, brilliantly directed by Calvin Remsberg in the most unique Into The Woods setting ever.

Since its Broadway premiere 23 years ago, Into The Woods has become one of the most performed musicals in the U.S.—in regional CLOs, on college and high school campuses, and in intimate theaters. Its first act, which magically combines some of the best loved of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and its second, which explores with considerable depth what happens after “happily ever after,” make for a show which retains its freshness and originality two decades after it first captivated Broadway audiences.
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posted in Los Angeles, Musical, WOW!

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