RESIGNATION DAY
posted on January 17th, 2009 at 12:42 PM by Steven StanleyNOT RECOMMENDED
In Resignation Day, playwright Charles Pike imagines a day in the life of Terry Southern (played by Chairman Barnes), screenwriter of such 60s classics as Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider as well as cult favorites Barbarella and Candy, a day in 1974 which happens also to be the day that Richard Nixon resigned the office of President of the United States.
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posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Not Recommended
THE BIRD AND MR. BANKS
posted on January 16th, 2009 at 12:46 PM by Steven Stanley
How, you might wonder, could a middle-aged nebbish of an accountant named Seymour Banks have become the FBI’s most wanted man in America? The answer to this puzzler can be found in Keith Huff’s quirky, original, and entirely unpredictable dark comedy, The Bird And Mr. Banks, now getting its West Coast Premiere at the illustrious Road Theatre.
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posted in Comedy, North Hollywood, WOW!
WES WHITEHEAD
posted on January 15th, 2009 at 4:11 PM by Steven Stanleyposted 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 StanleyNOT 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 StanleyRECOMMMENDED
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 Stanleyposted 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!
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