LEONARD BERNSTEIN’S PETER PAN

posted on December 22nd, 2009 at 5:51 PM by Steven Stanley

Leonard Bernstein’s Peter Pan has returned to Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre for the second Christmas in a row, good news for children from now through January 3.
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posted in Musical, Recommended, Santa Barbara County

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

posted on December 21st, 2009 at 5:52 PM by Steven Stanley


After 45 years of staging Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol around holiday time, the folks at Glendale Centre Theatre have learned how to do Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, and Tiny Tim right. Brenda Dietlein’s adaptation, with original music and lyrics by Steven Applegate and Byron Simpson, is bright, funny, tuneful, faithful to the original, and never dull or stodgy.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Musical, WOW!

A VEGAS HOLIDAY! SONGS FROM “LIVE AT THE SAHARA”

posted on December 19th, 2009 at 5:54 PM by Steven Stanley


Louis And Keely are back in town at NoHo’s El Portal Theatre with A Vegas Holiday! Songs From “Live At The Sahara,” an evening of the hits that made stars of Louis Prima and Keely Smith.  They’re also the songs that made Louis And Keely: Live At The Sahara one of L.A. musical theater’s greatest success stories in recent years.
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posted in Musical Revue, North Hollywood, WOW!

SANTASIA—A CHRISTMAS COMEDY

posted on December 18th, 2009 at 6:31 PM by Steven Stanley


Santasia—A Holiday Comedy is back for its 9th annual potpourri of skits, videos, musical production numbers, and recollections of Christmases past—and what a show it is, whether you’re someone who’s enjoyed the all-male cast’s wackiness in years past, or a newbie like me.  Of all the Christmas shows I’ve seen this season, Santasia is quite possibly the best blend of comedy and heart.
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posted in Comedy, San Fernando Valley, WOW!

A VERY MERRY HAPPY KOSHER CHRISTMAS

posted on December 18th, 2009 at 6:00 PM by Steven Stanley


Those of you who require subtlety and sophistication at the theater are hereby advised that Mark Troy’s latest comedy may not be your cup of four o’clock tea.  On the other hand, if you are simply on the lookout for laughs (and plenty of them) you will find them—and then some—in A Very Merry Happy Kosher Christmas. Troy’s hilariously outrageous new farce is peopled with nearly every New York stereotype in the book and acted with vim, vigor, and verve by the talented 68 Cent Crew Theatre Company.   
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posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, WOW!

FROSTY THE SNOW MANILOW

posted on December 17th, 2009 at 6:24 PM by Steven Stanley


The Troubies’ formula has rarely worked better than it does in Frosty The Snow Manilow, their 2009 holiday offering and one of their best shows ever.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Musical, WOW!

XANADU

posted on December 16th, 2009 at 6:30 PM by Steven Stanley


Who would ever have thought that Xanadu, one of biggest critical and commercial flops of the 1980s, would turn into a hit Broadway musical of the 2000s? Even the musical’s book writer, Douglas Carter Beane, is said to have had doubts about turning that lemon into lemonade. He need not have feared.  Xanadu scored a pair of Tony nominations, including one for Beane, and ran for over 500 performances.
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posted in Musical, National Tour, Orange County, WOW!

HAMLET

posted on December 14th, 2009 at 6:36 PM by Steven Stanley


From its opening moments, it’s clear that this Hamlet will be quite unlike any you’ve seen before.  Two young actors (Peter Weidman and Kirsten Kuiken) stand center stage in modern dress and begin reciting Hamlet’s instructions to the traveling players. You know the words.  “Speak the speech I pray you as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue …”  These oft-quoted acting tips will serve as advice to the cast of tonight’s performance of Hamlet, and the two actors are soon surrounded by the entire ensemble, joining voices till the final “Go make you ready.” 

Lights down. Lights up. The Tragedy of the Prince of Denmark has begun.
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posted in Drama, North Hollywood, WOW!

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