THE GOLDEN GAYS

posted on September 10th, 2009 at 4:27 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
John Patrick Trapper’s The Golden Gays has just opened at Casita Del Campo in Silverlake, and though this men-in-drag Golden Girls spoof runs about half an hour too long (and would do better with a stronger focus on the “girls” themselves), it provides laugh after unsophisticated laugh and is a likely crowd pleaser.
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posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, Recommended

THE NIGHT IS A CHILD

posted on September 9th, 2009 at 4:36 PM by Steven Stanley


Who wouldn’t want to escape the winter cold of Massachusetts for the beaches of Rio De Janeiro? Certainly not 50ish widow-housewife-mother-grandmother Harriet Easton, who’s just arrived in the land of sun and samba.  Harriet’s face lights up with joy at the simple fact of being in Brazil, but her smile hides a pain almost too excruciating to live with, the grisly reason for which is revealed pouco a pouco in Charles Randolph-Wright’s magical new play The Night Is A Child, now getting a stunning staging at the Pasadena Playhouse under the nuanced direction of Sheldon Epps.
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posted in Drama, Pasadena, WOW!

I LOVE YOU BECAUSE

posted on September 6th, 2009 at 4:51 PM by Steven Stanley


I Love You Because is one of the funniest and most delightful new musicals of the past few years.  It has one of the most tuneful, memorable scores you’re likely to hear this year or next.  It’s also the most unabashedly romantic musical comedies ever.  Its San Diego premiere at North Coast Repertory is a reminder that yes, indeed, there are times that big city L.A. theater is trumped by its neighbor to the south.
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posted in Musical, San Diego County, WOW!

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

posted on September 5th, 2009 at 4:57 PM by Steven Stanley


In my July review of Musical Theatre West’s big-stage, big-budget production of Little Shop Of Horrors, I wrote, “Little Shop Of Horrors is that rarity in musical theater—a show which works equally well in a tiny space and on a Broadway-sized stage, one which can delight and entertain whether performed by teenagers, amateurs, or … A-List professionals,” a comment proved spot-on by the intimate theater revival just opened at the Knightsbridge. Though it doesn’t have the big bucks behind it that MTW’s did, and though its leads haven’t yet starred on Broadway or been TV regulars, under Jaz Davison’s nothing-short-of-inspired direction, this may well be the most exciting Little Shop I’ve seen.
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posted in Los Angeles, Musical, WOW!

GROSS INDECENCY

posted on September 4th, 2009 at 5:02 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
When contemporary theatergoers hear the name Oscar Wilde, probably the first thing that pops into most of their heads is Wilde’s oft-performed classic comedy The Importance Of Being Earnest, or perhaps one of his many famous sayings.  (“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” “Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” “One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.”)  The Oscar we meet in Moisés Kaufman’s Gross Indecency (subtitled The Three Trials Of Oscar Wilde) is quite a different one.
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posted in Drama, North Hollywood, Recommended

LUCKY STIFF

posted on September 3rd, 2009 at 5:07 PM by Steven Stanley


Glendale Centre Theatre follows its sensational staging of Footloose The Musical with Lucky Stiff, an absolutely delightful, albeit smaller scale musical treat, and the first collaboration of Ragtime’s Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.  Though it is based on Michael Butterworth’s novel The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo, movie fans will most likely be reminded of Weekend At Bernie’s. You remember Bernie, the corpse that Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman had to convince everyone was hale and hearty and having the time of his life?  Well, the “stiff” in Lucky Stiff is murder victim Anthony Hendon, who has left a $6,000,000 fortune to his British nephew Harry Witherspoon on one condition:  Harry must take Uncle Anthony’s corpse on one last vacation to Monte Carlo.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Musical, WOW!

BLOCK NINE

posted on August 30th, 2009 at 6:50 PM by Steven Stanley


If ever a production could be called unique, then Tom Stanczyk’s Block Nine is just that production.  Press materials describe it as “an unapologetically same-sex, retro-noir 1930s gangster homage” and “an exploration of sexuality, gender, stereotype, romance and aggression (in) an underworld full of guns, jail breaks, booze and bodies.” How’sthat for something out of the ordinary?
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posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, WOW!

VISITING MR. GREEN

posted on August 29th, 2009 at 6:57 PM by Steven Stanley


The “Odd Couple Two-Hander” has become something of a Colony Theatre specialty over the past few years. Take a mismatched duo, put them in the same space, and watch the sparks fly.  The two characters can be the same sex or opposite, they can be the same age or decades apart, and the space in which they find themselves can be indoors or outdoors. All that is required is that those sparks start flying.
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posted in Comedy, North Hollywood, WOW!

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