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

THE COLUMBINE PROJECT

posted on April 25th, 2009 at 3:14 PM by Steven Stanley


Paul Storiale’s The Columbine Project attempts the impossible—to document, explore, and try to make sense of the 1999 massacre of twelve students and one teacher at Columbine High School, outside of Denver, Colorado. Against all odds, The Columbine Project proves a triumph for the writer-producer-director and his cast of twenty-one mostly very young actors. That Storiale has been able not only to explore the hows and whys of that most horrific of days, but that he has also somehow managed to fill his stage with nearly two dozen gifted performers is nothing short of miraculous.
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posted in Drama, North Hollywood, WOW!

THE SEAFARER

posted on April 23rd, 2009 at 3:16 PM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

Once in a great while, I see a show which, despite first class acting, direction and design, just doesn’t work for me.  This is the case with Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer, now playing at the Geffen. The London Observer called The Seafarer “succinct, startling and eerie, and the funniest McPherson play to date,” and Ben Brantley of the New York Times wrote about the Broadway production, “McPherson is quite possibly the finest playwright of his generation.” As someone who would prefer all his theatergoing to provoke wows, I wish I could understand their enthusiasm.
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posted in Drama, Not Recommended, West Side/Beverly HIlls

BETRAYAL

posted on April 22nd, 2009 at 3:19 PM by Steven Stanley


It’s New Year’s Eve, 1968, and Jerry is confessing to Emma his love for her, in the very bedroom she shares with her husband Robert, Jerry’s best friend.  “I must tell you,” Jerry declares passionately.  “I want to tell you.  I have to tell you. You’re lovely. I’m crazy about you. All these words I’m using, don’t you see, they’ve never been said before.  I’m bowled over, I’m totally knocked out, you dazzle me, you jewel, my jewel…” Heady words, and with them Jerry and Emma begin a love affair, virtually under the eyes of his wife and her husband, an affair which will last seven years, only to have become a distant memory when they meet again, nine years later.
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posted in Drama, Long Beach/San Pedro, WOW!

TUNA DOES VEGAS

posted on April 21st, 2009 at 3:30 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
Joe Sears and Jaston Williams are back with the fourth installment of what till now has been the Tuna Trilogy. Since the folks in Tuna, Texas have already seen and done just about everything they can in the third-smallest town in the Lone Star State, Tuna Does Vegas sends a dozen or so of them off to Sin City. Though the fish-out-of-water concept doesn’t play out quite as well or as hilariously as one might have wished, there are still plenty of laughs and, as always, the pleasure of watching two very talented actors embody close to a dozen characters each, all the while making almost inhumanly quick costume changes just out of our line of sight.
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posted in Comedy, Downey/La Mirada, Recommended

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN

posted on April 20th, 2009 at 3:37 PM by Steven Stanley


When the folks at Musical Theatre Guild were planning their 2008-2009 season of rarely performed Broadway musicals, it probably didn’t occur to anyone that their one-night-only revival of Kiss Of The Spider Woman would come only months after L.A.’s first fully staged production of Kiss since Chita Rivera and the National Tour played at the Ahmanson in 1996.  Havok’s production (which featured many MTG performers, and which many felt surpassed the Tour in excellence) would indeed be a hard act to follow.  There was no way a “concert staged reading” could match Havok’s design elements or the complexity of the many production numbers which recently won Lee Martino the LADCC Award for Best Choreography. MTG’s readings are, after all, presented with minimal sets and lighting, and few if any costume changes, and the entire show is allowed only 25 hours rehearsal time per Actor’s Equity rules. On the other hand, what MTG could and did offer Monday’s audience at Glendale’s Alex Theatre was a whole bunch of superb performances, and a chance to go back to the basics of Terrence McNally’s book, John Kander’s music, and Fred Ebb’s lyrics. The result, I’m happy to say, was an absolute triumph.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Concert Staged Reading, WOW!

NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY

posted on April 19th, 2009 at 3:53 PM by Steven Stanley


A serial killer is on the loose in New York, strangling elderly women one by one, and leaving a lipstick kiss on the forehead of each of his victims.  Hardly the stuff of musical theater, you might think. 
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posted in Musical, North Hollywood, WOW!

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