BRIGHT IDEAS

posted on August 28th, 2009 at 7:04 PM by Steven Stanley


Remember Beverly Sutphin, the sociopathic serial killer heroine of John Waters’ movie Serial Mom?  Well, dear old Bev may just have met her match in Genevra Bradley, a mother who will do anything—and I do mean anything—to get her 3-year-old son into Bright Ideas, the most prestigious preschool in town.
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posted in Comedy, Long Beach/San Pedro, WOW!

ADELINE’S PLAY

posted on August 27th, 2009 at 8:08 PM by Steven Stanley


In the final five days of the homestretch of StageSceneLA’s 2nd calendar year, just when I think that there can’t possibly be another truly great new play (and production) to add to my upcoming Best Of 2008-9 lists, along comes Kit Steinkellner’s Adeline’s Play, the best World Premiere I’ve seen this year in a production which could not be better.  Blessed with six performance gems and directed with love and finesse by Amanda Glaze, Adeline’s Play is the kind of play you find yourself enjoying so much that you simply can’t bear to see it end.
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posted in Comedy, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

OEDIPUS THE KING. MAMA

posted on August 26th, 2009 at 8:13 PM by Steven Stanley


The Troubadour Theater Company is back with Oedipus The King, Mama, one of their funniest shows ever and of those I’ve seen the best danced bar none.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Musical, WOW!

SCHOOL FOR SUCKERS

posted on August 25th, 2009 at 8:16 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
A quintet of 20something USC grads recall their journeys from childhood to adulthood in School For Suckers, an enjoyable program of five self-penned solo performances now playing mid-week at the Lillian.
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posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Recommended

STEPHEN SCHWARTZ

posted on August 23rd, 2009 at 8:27 PM by Steven Stanley


Upright Cabaret’s Wicked Summer Nights came to a smashing conclusion with a star-studded tribute to mega-composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz at Hollywood’s Ford Amphitheatre on Sunday, August 23, produced by power duo Chris Isaacson and Shane Scheel, and directed by Broadway’s sensational Billy Porter.
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posted in Cabaret/Concert/Variety, Hollywood/West Hollywood, WOW!

THE RECEPTIONIST

posted on August 22nd, 2009 at 5:01 PM by Steven Stanley


A middle-aged man in a business suit sits alone on the edge of a blackened stage, illuminated by a sole spot, and quietly describes the humane way to kill a fish which has been wounded by the fisherman’s hook in such a way that it cannot be thrown back into the water to carry on its submarine life. He then comments somewhat ambiguously, albeit ominously, about “people who don’t like what we do to people over there.”
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posted in Comedy, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

ANITA BRYANT DIED FOR YOUR SINS

posted on August 21st, 2009 at 5:13 PM by Steven Stanley


If every man’s life is a story, then the time has come to write mine,” types fifteen-year-old Horace Poore from his tree house at the start of Anita Bryant Died For Your Sins, Brian Christopher Williams’ terrific memory play. Under West Coast Ensemble Co-Artistic Director Richard Israel’s inspired direction, and with a star-making turn by the brilliant young Wyatt Fenner, Anita Bryant Died For Your Sins shapes up to be this summer’s most talked-about and praised new play.
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posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, WOW!

BREAKING AND ENTERING

posted on August 19th, 2009 at 5:24 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
A legendary one-hit-wonder novelist receives an unwelcome late night visit from his “biggest fan” in Colin Mitchell’s Breaking And Entering, a very dark comedy now in its world premiere production at Beverly Hills’ Theatre 40 under the able direction of Mark L. Taylor.

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posted in Drama, Recommended, West Side/Beverly HIlls

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