THE SEAGULL

posted on September 26th, 2009 at 3:00 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
The award-winning Chance Theater takes on Chekhov’s The Seagull with admirable results, the production featuring excellent performances, astute direction, and a gorgeous design.  Then again, what else would you expect from Orange County’s finest intimate theater?
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posted in Drama, Orange County, Recommended

NAKED BOYS SINGING

posted on September 25th, 2009 at 3:03 PM by Steven Stanley


It was just over ten years ago that theater-maker extraordinaire Robert Schrock was struck with quite possibly the most brilliant idea of his lifetime.  If nudity, particularly of the male variety, filled theater seats, why not create a show in which every single actor performs naked, and not just brief blink-and-you-miss it full frontal flashes, but for virtually the entirety of the production?  And since the gays love their musical theater more than just about any other genre, why not make this new show a musical revue?  Finally, why not make this a revue about nudity, so that the naked bodies would be integral to the show and not simply gratuitous? 
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posted in Hollywood/West Hollywood, Musical Revue, WOW!

CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD

posted on September 24th, 2009 at 3:11 PM by Steven Stanley


It’s been thirty years since Mark Medoff’s Children Of A Lesser Gods opened theatergoers’ eyes to a new world, a silent world in which hand gestures take the place of the spoken word, and to a character who steadfastly refuses to venture out into what most would call “the real world.”  Technological breakthroughs since 1979, particularly the growth of the Internet and more recent developments like cell phone texting, have considerably reduced the schism between the hearing and deaf worlds.  Still, as Deaf West Theatre’s fine 30th Anniversary production of the Tony, Drama Desk, and Olivier Award-winning play makes clear, the deaf world and that of hearing people remain very different indeed.
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posted in Drama, North Hollywood, WOW!

OKLAHOMA!

posted on September 22nd, 2009 at 3:14 PM by Steven Stanley


Los Angeles has been treating Rodgers And Hammerstein’s Oklahoma to quite a fabulous extended 65th Anniversary party these past two years, with three major productions already reviewed on these pages. It’s now Civic Light Opera Of South Bay Cities’ turn to work its musical magic on R&H’s very first collaboration, and given their illustrious track record, it’s no surprise that this Stephanie A. Coltrin-directed revival is an all-around winner, precisely the kind of production an Oklahoma!-caliber classic deserves.
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posted in Musical, South Bay, WOW!

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

posted on September 20th, 2009 at 3:25 PM by Steven Stanley


You won’t find a more tuneful, sophisticated or better performed show around town than South Coast Repertory’s beautifully staged revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Putting It Together.
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posted in Musical Revue, Orange County, WOW!

THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED

posted on September 19th, 2009 at 3:29 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
Santa Monica’s venerable Morgan-Wixson Theatre begins its 64th season with arguably its boldest choice ever, The Little Dog Laughed, Douglas Carter Beane’s hilarious, biting Hollywood-New York showbiz satire. It’s not every community theater that will take a chance on a love story between a gay movie star and a bisexual hustler, featuring a lesbian agent, R-rated language, brief full frontal male nudity, and plenty of same-sex smooching.  Fortunately for L.A. theatergoers in search of cutting-edge entertainment, the Morgan-Wixson has taken just such a chance, the result of which is a brilliantly written, well acted and directed, and funny slash conversation-provoking evening of theater.
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posted in Comedy, Recommended, West Side/Beverly HIlls

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM

posted on September 18th, 2009 at 11:00 PM by Steven Stanley


In the days before Stephen Sondheim got serious with his 1970s hits Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, and Sweeney Todd, way back in the pre-Beatles early 60s, the soon-to-be multiple Tony Award-winner wrote A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. Even now, forty-seven years later, this early Sondheim hit remains the perfect choice for those who complain that Sondheim is “too dark” or that his melodies are inaccessible. A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum is hilarious farcical fun, with no higher goal than to present “something for everyone, a comedy tonight.”
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posted in Musical, South Bay, WOW!

MATTHEW MODINE SAVES THE ALPACAS

posted on September 17th, 2009 at 3:42 PM by Steven Stanley


When a celebrity’s career has gone to pot, there’s nothing like a little humanitarian work to get him or her back on the A-List, or at least that’s what Matthew Modine has decided in Matthew Modine Saves The Alpacas, Blair Singer’s marvelously silly (and entertaining) mockumentary now diverting audiences at the Geffen.
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posted in Cabaret/Concert/Variety, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

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