A RUBICON FAMILY CHRISTMAS

posted on December 11th, 2008 at 6:48 PM by Steven Stanley


When I was a kid, my Decembers were brightened and my holiday spirit heightened by much-anticipated yearly TV Christmas specials, hosted by Andy Williams, Perry Como, and Dinah Shore, sponsored by Kraft Foods, and “brought to you in living color on NBC.”  The Rubicon Theatre brings back those days with its lovingly conceived and terrifically performed A Rubicon Family Christmas.  Though L.A. stages are currently filled to the brim with A Christmas Carols and holiday themed comedies, the Rubicon is the place to go for music of the season, especially as performed by six of the finest musical theater talents the Southland has to offer.
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posted in Musical Revue, Ventura County, WOW!

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

posted on December 9th, 2008 at 7:08 PM by Steven Stanley


There are times in musical theater when all the elements—performance, direction, choreography, musical direction, and design—come together to form an absolutely perfect whole. One of these times is now, in CLOSBC’s brilliant revival of Fiddler On The Roof.
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posted in Musical, South Bay, WOW!

BOB’S HOLIDAY OFFICE PARTY

posted on December 7th, 2008 at 7:11 PM by Steven Stanley


Hilarious, crazy, zany, drunken Midwest Hell Christmas insanity” is how my friend Marc describes his first exposure to Bob’s Holiday Office Party, and I wholeheartedly agree. No wonder Bob’s Holiday Office Party is celebrating thirteen consecutive years of shocking and delighting L.A. audiences with its particular blend of mirth, drunken shenanigans, and Christmas spirit.
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posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, WOW!

THE LIFE

posted on December 6th, 2008 at 7:34 PM by Steven Stanley


The pimps and hookers of pre-Disneyfied Times Square are alive and well and still doing business in the much anticipated Los Angeles premiere of Cy Coleman’s last Broadway musical, 1997’s The Life, now in a limited run on the couldn’t-be-more-fitting Hollywood Boulevard, and directed with power and pizzazz by Joe Greene. 
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posted in Hollywood/West Hollywood, Musical, WOW!

THE DADDY MACHINE

posted on December 6th, 2008 at 12:55 AM by Steven Stanley


Kids with same gender parents finally have a musical about their families–the absolutely delightful The Daddy Machine. Not that this hour-long musical comedy isn’t also great for kids growing up in so-called “traditional” families–or for adults of any age, gender, or sexual orientation. In fact, The Daddy Machine may just be the most entertaining family show around town these days.
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posted in Hollywood/West Hollywood, Musical, WOW!

THE LAST FIVE YEARS

posted on December 5th, 2008 at 7:40 PM by Steven Stanley


Since discovering Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years about four years ago, I have rarely missed a chance to see it performed. Whether in a large professional theater (The Pasadena Playhouse) or an intimate space (The Chance) or even in concert form (Brown himself opposite Julia Murney), TL5Y is a musical which never fails to move me.  Tonight’s superbly directed and terrifically performed UCLA production was no exception.
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posted in Musical, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

posted on December 4th, 2008 at 7:42 PM by Steven Stanley


Jason Moyer’s fabulous gay adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is back for a return engagement with a new director (Michael A. Shepperd), a slightly tweaked book, a mostly new cast, and a whole new bigger-budgeted look and feel.
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posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, WOW!

THE BUSY WORLD IS HUSHED

posted on November 30th, 2008 at 10:07 AM by Steven Stanley


Besides being one of the best and most intelligent new plays in quite a while, Keith Bunin’s The Busy World Is Hushed couldn’t come at a more appropriate time.  Following a Yes On 8 victory which was fueled largely by so-called “devout Christians,” it is refreshing indeed to see a play which presents a gay-affirming branch of Christianity, and a lead character (and person of the cloth) who not only accepts that her son is gay but actively encourages his quest for Mr. Right.
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posted in Drama, Hollywood/West Hollywood, WOW!

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