NOISES OFF

posted on February 15th, 2009 at 12:19 PM by Steven Stanley


Nobody loves farce more than the British, whether it’s plays like No Sex Please, We’re British, or Joe Orton’s What The Butler Saw, or Alan Ayckbourn’s Taking Steps, or any of Ray Cooney’s frantically-paced comic gems (Move Over Mrs. Markham, Run For Your Wife, etc.) These British farces are so popular that they not only get major professional productions throughout the world, they have also become a staple of community theaters, where unfortunately they don’t always get the caliber of actors required.  Only performers with a) total command of their lines, b) perfect coming timing, and c) absolute readiness to enter and exit on cue can do these comedies justice.
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posted in Comedy, Orange County, WOW!

DIVORCE! THE MUSICAL

posted on February 14th, 2009 at 12:26 PM by Steven Stanley


Imagine you’re a multitalented young writer-musician-performer with two failed marriages under your belt—and you’re not yet thirty. Would you consult a lawyer?  Too late for that now.  See a therapist?  Been there, done that.  Write an original musical about your experiences on the divorce battlefield? Now THAT’s an idea!
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posted in Hollywood/West Hollywood, Musical, WOW!

THE GRADUATE

posted on February 13th, 2009 at 12:30 PM by Steven Stanley


Say the words The Graduate and the first thing likely popping into your head will be the voices of Simon and Garfunkel singing “Here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson” or perhaps “The Sounds Of Silence.” Then there’s the famous movie poster of a very young Dustin Hoffman gazing at Anne Bancroft’s stockinged leg filling the foreground.  And who can forget Hoffman’s semi-incredulous, “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me,” one of the American Film Institute’s 100 most famous movie lines … ever.
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posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, WOW!

TIME STANDS STILL

posted on February 12th, 2009 at 1:38 PM by Steven Stanley


Donald Margulies’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Dinner With Friends held a microscope up to the lives of two married couples, a foursome of best friends for a decade.  Throughout the course of the play’s two acts, the audience sees the two couples as they see one another … and as they see themselves in the privacy of their own homes.
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posted in Drama, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

SURVIVING SEX

posted on February 11th, 2009 at 2:36 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
David Landsberg’s Surviving Sex is a frequently funny (albeit almost totally implausible) look at men’s and women’s relationships seen through the eyes of the nebbish-next-door, aka Stan.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Comedy, Recommended

LOST IN YONKERS

posted on February 10th, 2009 at 2:43 PM by Steven Stanley


If anyone is wondering why Neil Simon’s Lost In Yonkers won both the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, head over to the La Mirada Performing Center For The Arts.  The McCoy Rigby Entertainment production of this Simon favorite is a textbook example of how to make an 18-year-old comedy seem as fresh as if it were only now getting its world premiere.
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posted in Comedy, Downey/La Mirada, WOW!

JESUS HATES ME

posted on February 8th, 2009 at 2:48 PM by Steven Stanley


Life in small town South Central Texas is anything but dull in Jesus Hates Me, Wayne Lemon’s quirky dark comedy getting its West Coast Premiere in a beautifully acted and directed (by Oanh Nguyen) production at Anaheim Hill’s Chance Theater.
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posted in Comedy, Orange County, WOW!

CANDIDA

posted on February 7th, 2009 at 2:54 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
Candida, George Bernard Shaw’s romantic comedy classic, has just opened at the Colony Theatre, and it’s hard to imagine a better production than the one directed by Kathleen F. Conlin.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Comedy, Recommended

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