WES WHITEHEAD

posted on January 15th, 2009 at 4:11 PM by Steven Stanley

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posted in Interview

LA RONDE

posted on January 15th, 2009 at 12:49 PM by Steven Stanley


Even before the first of its ten “dialogues,” you know you’re not in for your great-great-great grandfather’s La Ronde in director Larry Biederman’s stunningly conceived, designed, and executed production of the 1900 Arthur Schnitzler classic. Despite its late-19th Century setting, there’s not a divan or gas lamp or bustle in sight. Instead, a black-and-white Annie Lennox (circa the Eurythmics) belting out “I need someone to listen to the ecstasy I’m faking” is projected on an irregularly-cut upstage canvas screen, behind which the outlines of cocktail party guests and the shadows of a man and woman move this way and that, seemingly unable to connect.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, WOW!

THE BALTIMORE WALTZ

posted on January 11th, 2009 at 12:57 PM by Steven Stanley

NOT RECOMMENDED

Paula Vogel’s 1992 The Baltimore Waltz received the Obie for Best New American Play, yet has rarely if ever been performed locally. For this reason alone, Rude Guerrilla’s just opened production is sure to generate considerable interest. Director R.J. Romero writes that Vogel’s work has been “a major presence throughout my adult reading and theatre viewing life,” making it a certainty that love and care have gone into this production. Romero’s sound design is especially effective in creating a fanciful, romantic atmosphere, and his cast demonstrate real commitment to achieving the director’s goals.
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posted in Comedy, Not Recommended, Orange County

YOU NERO

posted on January 11th, 2009 at 12:53 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMMENDED
Imagine a Mel Brooks spoof about the fabled Roman emperor Nero, or one written and performed by the Monty Python gang, or perhaps a classic Nero sketch from the 1950s’ Your Show Of Shows, with Sid Caesar as Nero.  Now, stretch it out to two acts with a running time of two hours and fifteen minutes and place it on the Julianne Argyros Stage at South Coast Repertory—and you have Amy Freed’s You, Nero.
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posted in Comedy, Orange County, Recommended

HUNTER LEE HUGHES

posted on January 10th, 2009 at 4:18 PM by Steven Stanley

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posted in Interview

AS MUCH AS YOU CAN

posted on January 10th, 2009 at 1:05 PM by Steven Stanley


Diversionary Theatre’s production of Paul Oakley Stovall’s As Much As You Can couldn’t come at a more appropriate moment, November’s Yes On 8 victory having focused attention on the African American community’s attitudes towards gays and lesbians in general and same-sex marriage in particular.  These timely topics form the heart of Stovall’s perceptive, thought-provoking, hopeful, and downright hilarious comedy, a contemporary gay take on Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner.
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posted in Comedy, San Diego County, WOW!

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO

posted on January 9th, 2009 at 1:31 PM by Steven Stanley


Neil Sedaka’s back—again—in Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, the entertaining new musical which features his most famous hits from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
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posted in Musical, Ventura County, WOW!

BILL W. AND DR. BOB

posted on January 4th, 2009 at 1:34 PM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
Bill W. And Dr. Bob, Samuel Shem and Janet Surrey’s biodrama about the founders of AA, has been around L.A. for quite a while now.  Its current incarnation at Theatre 68 is in fact its fifth Los Angeles run and follows its 2007 New York Times-reviewed off-Broadway premiere at New World Stages. Having finally gotten the chance to see this often very moving story of the men who, almost by accident, revolutionized the treatment of alcoholism and other addictions, I can understand its popularity and appeal.  Despite certain structural drawbacks and its air of “disease movie of the week,” Bill W. And Dr. Bob is both educational and entertaining, and in the second act especially, emotionally powerful.
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posted in Drama, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Recommended

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