INCORRUPTIBLE

posted on May 6th, 2009 at 1:29 PM by Steven Stanley


Can you imagine anything more improbable than a screwball comedy set in a monastery in 13th Century Europe?  Wacky, zany, and madcap are not adjectives one would normally use to describe what Wikipedia refers to as “a period of cultural decline or societal collapse that took place in Western Europe between the fall of Rome and the eventual recovery of learning.” And yet Michael Hollinger’s Incorruptible is indeed a wacky, zany, madcap romp which takes place in 1250 France.  I saw Incorruptible at the Colony Theatre in 2001—and loved it—and I am delighted to report that Theatre 40 has put together an equally rib-tickling production—now available for your delectation.
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posted in Comedy, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

THE CRUCIBLE

posted on May 3rd, 2009 at 1:32 PM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible holds a special place in my heart.  It gave me my very first experience as a stage actor at the age of 16, and though I later watched the 1996 film on video, it wasn’t until December 2007 that I saw The Crucible staged for the very first time, decades after high school, in a production that left me devastated, as the playwright certainly intended.
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posted in Drama, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Not Recommended

WAIT UNTIL DARK

posted on May 2nd, 2009 at 1:41 PM by Steven Stanley


The dark is a scary place to be. Just think back on all the movie and TV thrillers with the word “dark” in their title: Dark Shadows, The Dark House, Whispers In The Dark, Are You Afraid Of The Dark, Dark Water, and of course Elvira Mistress Of The Dark—to name just a few. 
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posted in Drama, South Bay, WOW!

IS HE DEAD?

posted on May 1st, 2009 at 1:41 PM by Steven Stanley


Straight men in drag have made for sure-fire comedy since long before Milton Berle donned wigs, lipstick, and gowns on TV’s Texaco Star Theater back in the 1950s and Barry Humphries created Dame Edna several decades later. Charley’s Aunt made the first of his/her six Broadway appearances way back in 1893, and only five years after that Mark Twain wrote Is He Dead?.
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posted in Comedy, Long Beach/San Pedro, WOW!

PHOTOGRAPH 51

posted on April 30th, 2009 at 2:53 PM by Steven Stanley


In an ironic twist of fate, Dr. Rosalind Franklin, the woman who should have shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for the discovery of DNA’s double helix structure received no recognition whatsoever from the Nobel Foundation.  True, the Foundation does not award the prize posthumously, and Dr. Franklin had died four years earlier.  No, the real irony is that Rosalind Franklin died without even knowing her part in this world-changing discovery.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, WOW!

APPLE

posted on April 29th, 2009 at 3:02 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
Theatre 40 offers its subscribers something out of the ordinary in their latest production, the Los Angeles premiere of Vern Thiessen’s Apple. Far more “theatrical” than their customary bill of fare, and rated R for liberal use of the “F” word, Apple is the kind of drama that could easily have become a “Disease Play Of The Week” if not for its unusual structure/staging and a trio of accomplished performances.
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posted in Drama, Recommended, West Side/Beverly HIlls

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

posted on April 28th, 2009 at 3:05 PM by Steven Stanley


As one of the few musical theater buffs who’d never seen a big stage production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar, I didn’t know quite what I’d be in for at Civic Light Opera Of South Bay Cities’ big-cast, big-scale revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber rock classic, though given CLOSBC’s great track record and the sensational lineup of talent in the JCS cast, I knew I’d be in for something special.
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posted in Musical, South Bay, WOW!

EMILIE

posted on April 26th, 2009 at 3:10 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
When South Coast Repertory announced the world premiere of Emilie—La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life At The Petit Théâtre At Cirey Tonight, I had two thoughts.  The first was, “What a long title for a play!” and the second was, “Who the heck is Emilie?” Doubtless for those with an inability to remember long titles, SCR’s webside has redubbed Lauren Gunderson’s play a short but sweet Emelie.  As for Emilie du Châtelet, a quick Wikipedia search reveals the following: Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise du Châtelet (December 17, 1706 – September 10, 1749) was a French mathematician, physicist, and author during the Age of Enlightenment.
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posted in Drama, Recommended

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