VIOLET

posted on March 26th, 2010 at 6:03 PM by Steven Stanley


Besides offering audiences some of the finest musical theater productions around, Los Angeles and its environs house some of the country’s finest university level musical theater programs.  Just check the performers’ bios the next time you see a show at a local CLO and you’ll find ample proof of the caliber of triple-threats UCLA, USC, Cal State Fullerton, and UC Irvine (to name just four) are turning out.
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posted in Musical, Orange County, WOW!

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

posted on March 25th, 2010 at 6:01 PM by Steven Stanley


There’s Shakespeare, and then there’s Shakespeare at A Noise Within. No In The Park, Under The Stars, or 99-Seat Plan Shakespeare guarantees the consistent excellence that A Noise Within’s team of world-class actors, directors, and designers deliver, time after time after time. Their current mounting of Much Ado About Nothing is no exception.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Comedy, WOW!

BRIDGET FLANERY

posted on March 25th, 2010 at 11:47 AM by Steven Stanley

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posted in Interview

THE SECOND CITY: CAN YOU BE MORE PACIFIC?

posted on March 24th, 2010 at 5:58 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
For the past fifty years, Chicago’s The Second City has been a launching pad for comedians, actors, and directors, including such luminaries as Bill Murray, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, and more recently Tina Fey, Steve Carell and Mike Myers. The Second City now brings its trademark brand of sketch and improvisational comedy to Orange County’s The Laguna Playhouse in a mostly fresh new concoction cleverly entitled The Second City: Can You Be More Pacific?
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posted in Comedy, Orange County, Recommended

BOEING-BOEING

posted on March 21st, 2010 at 5:55 PM by Steven Stanley


If laughter is indeed the best medicine, then there’s no better cure for the blues than a rollicking romp of a farce. British farces, like the recently reviewed See How They Run and No Sex Please, We’re British, have become a particular favorite of this reviewer. The word farce does come from the French, however, so it should come as no surprise that English masters of farce like Ray (Move Over, Mrs. Markham) Cooney have their Gallic counterparts, most notably the late Marc Camoletti, author of Boeing-Boeing and Don’t Dress For Dinner.
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posted in Comedy, San Diego County, WOW!

SWEENEY TODD

posted on March 21st, 2010 at 5:53 PM by Steven Stanley


Downsizing may be the best thing that’s ever happened to Stephen Sondeheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. First came the 2004 London-to-New York transfer that had a cast of ten actor-musicians who not only performed the roles but became the show’s onstage orchestra. More true to its source material than that this “high-concept” revival was The Production Company’s brilliant 2009 downscaling (once again to ten actors) in North Hollywood’s 34-seat Chandler Studio Theatre.  To this reviewer, at least, The ProdCo’s “Teeney Todd” felt more like the real thing than its West End-Broadway counterpart, and the same holds true with Cygnet Theatre Company’s superb eleven-actor midsized revival down in Old Town San Diego.
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posted in Musical, San Diego County, WOW!

ABOVE THE LINE

posted on March 20th, 2010 at 5:50 PM by Steven Stanley


a•bove-the-line: (ə-bŭv’-THə-līn’)  adj.  the part of a film’s budget that covers the costs associated with major creative talent: the stars, the director, the producer(s) and the writer(s)
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posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, WOW!

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM

posted on March 20th, 2010 at 5:47 PM by Steven Stanley


What a difference a director, a cast, and an orchestra can make! The Reprise! Theatre Company production of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum is the third I’ve reviewed in less than two years, and though numbers one and two were each excellent in their own way, David Lee’s direction, an all-Equity cast, and a 22-piece orchestra elevate this Forum to a whole new level of brilliance.
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posted in Musical, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

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