THE FIRST WIVES CLUB

posted on August 2nd, 2009 at 6:29 PM by Steven Stanley


Take a hit movie about a trio of 40something wives getting even with husbands who’ve abandoned them for younger women, add songs written by a trio who can truly be called legendary, cast the show with some of Broadway’s finest performers—and you have The First Wives Club, a thoroughly entertaining new musical now in its pre-Broadway run at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre, under the brisk direction of Francesca Zambello.
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posted in Musical, San Diego County, WOW!

TWELFTH NIGHT

posted on August 1st, 2009 at 6:32 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
The Classical Theatre Lab has returned to West Hollywood for their third consecutive summer of Shakespeare In The Parks with a well-acted and directed production of Twelfth Night Or What You Will.
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posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood

FOOTLOOSE

posted on July 30th, 2009 at 2:20 PM by Steven Stanley


Ever hear of Bomont, the town where it’s illegal to dance? Well, if you’re a movie buff, you certainly have.  That’s the town where Kevin Bacon and his mom moved in 1984’s Footloose, much to Kevin’s dismay. The movie introduced a heap of 80s hits, including the title song, “Let’s Hear It For the Boy,” “Almost Paradise,” “Holding Out For A Hero,” “I’m Free,” “Somebody’s Eyes,” and “The Girl Gets Around.”  Fourteen years later Footloose made it to Broadway, as a full-fledged musical this time, with most of the movie hits integrated into its story line and a bunch of new Tom Snow creations added. The resulting production ran for over 700 performances, and though it’s reputed to be a favorite high school musical, I can’t recall a major L.A. production. 
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Musical, WOW!

BEGGARS IN THE HOUSE OF PLENTY

posted on July 29th, 2009 at 2:31 PM by Steven Stanley


What a difference a director and cast can make!  

When I saw a production of John Patrick Shanley’s Beggars In The House Of Plenty about four years ago, I found myself squirming in my seat waiting for it to end. I couldn’t make head nor tail of what was going on as the play got more and more bizarre and heavy-handed. My guest and I looked at each other when the lights went back up and said almost simultaneously, “Now what was that about?” Arriving home, I did some googling and saw that at least one reviewer had raved about the production, leading me to wonder what she had seen in it that my friend and I had not.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, WOW!

DOG SEES GOD

posted on July 26th, 2009 at 2:37 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
Bert V. Royal’s Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead imagines the lives of a group of high schoolers suspiciously similar to teenage versions of Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang.  Though legal considerations require a “has not been authorized or approved in any manner by the Charles M. Schultz Estate” disclaimer, fans of the comic strip will recognize CB (whose pet beagle has just been put down for rabies, though not before tearing to shreds “a little yellow bird who used to hang around”), Beethoven (a sensitive i.e. gay piano prodigy), Tricia (née Patricia formerly Patty, of the Peppermint variety) and her best friend Marcy (who used to spell her name with an –ie), Matt (a once dirt-cloud-plagued kid turned tough guy germo-homophobe), and Van (a stoner currently mourning the death-by-fire of his beloved blanket).  CB’s sister and Van’s (neither of whom are referred to by name) complete the gang.
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posted in Comedy, North Hollywood, Recommended

TERMINUS AMERICANA

posted on July 25th, 2009 at 2:43 PM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

Publicity materials for Terminus Americana provide the following synopsis for Matt Pelfrey’s play: “After barely surviving an office rampage, Mac Winchell is thrust into a nightmare landscape populated by lost Marlboro Men, psychotic vagabonds, sinister corporate thugs and a strange cult known as a ‘The Church of Christ, Office Shooter’.  Mac attempts to escape this twisted reality by undertaking a quest that ultimately leads him into the darkest corners of the American Dream.  Terminus Americana is a surreal, visceral and challenging examination of our violence-saturated culture.”

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posted in Drama, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Not Recommended

CROWNS

posted on July 23rd, 2009 at 2:56 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
The all-around stupendous performances of its seven stars are the best reason to see Crowns at the Pasadena Playhouse.  Six of the country’s most talented African American singer-actresses and one equally gifted singer-actor do powerful work in Regina Taylor’s musical adaptation of Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry’s eponymous book about church women and their beloved hats.  
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posted in Musical, Pasadena, Recommended

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

posted on July 23rd, 2009 at 2:52 PM by Steven Stanley


The prolonged ovation which greets Topol’s first entrance in Fiddler On The Roof confirms that this Farewell Tour, starring the man whose name has become synonymous with that of its lead character, is an event of the first order. As Tevye, the milkman of Anatevka, Chaim Topol gives a brilliant performance in an absolutely superb revival of the 1964 Broadway classic.  That the production which surrounds him is of Broadway caliber elevates this Fiddler to must-see status.
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posted in Hollywood/West Hollywood, Musical, WOW!

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