PIPPIN

posted on May 14th, 2008 at 8:46 PM by Steven Stanley


East West Players has a long tradition of staging well known musicals which would normally feature “traditional” casting, shows like Stephen Sondheim’s Passion, Follies, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, and Sweeney Todd, and casting them with Asian actors who might under other circumstances be overlooked for the roles. This year, it’s Stephen (Wicked) Schwartz whose work is center stage, and the results are, as might be expected from EWP’s sterling track record, sensational.
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posted in Los Angeles, Musical, WOW!

MADISON DUNAWAY

posted on May 14th, 2008 at 3:05 PM by Steven Stanley

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posted in Interview

A HOUSE WITH NO WALLS

posted on May 11th, 2008 at 7:57 PM by Steven Stanley


Playwright Thomas Gibbons completes his trilogy about black/white relations in the United States with A House With No Walls, the latest production of the Robey Theatre  Company.  The Robey, which was named after the great African American actor/singer/civil rights pioneer Paul Robeson, dedicates itself to producing plays about the African American experience. A House With No Walls fulfills the Robey’s mission with an engrossing drama which spans over 200 years and features black and white characters with a wide range of political points of view. It is likely that virtually everyone in the audience will identify with at least one of the people on stage. That Thomas Gibbons happens to be white is merely a footnote, so authentic and well-written are his characters.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, WOW!

OLIVER

posted on May 10th, 2008 at 7:54 PM by Steven Stanley


Two decades before the British invasion of the 1980s, which transformed Broadway into an American “West End” with shows like Cats, Les Miz, Phantom, and Miss Saigon, a triple-threat British writer/composer/lyricist named Lionel Bart created a musical which may well outlive all of the above, a show by the name of Oliver.
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posted in Musical, Orange County, WOW!

AND HER HAIR WENT WITH HER

posted on May 9th, 2008 at 7:50 PM by Steven Stanley


Tonya Pinkins and Tracie Thoms are two actresses who could get together on a stage and captivate audiences merely by reading the proverbial phone book. Performing in a winner of a play like Zina Camblin’s And Her Hair Went With Her, the duo is theatrical magic.
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posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, WOW!

THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA

posted on May 8th, 2008 at 7:27 PM by Steven Stanley


Glendale’s A Noise Within (“California’s Classical Theatre Company”) is about the closest thing Los Angeles has to an “artists in residence” repertory ensemble, which for theatergoers means that each of their superb productions is likely to feature many of the same gifted actors who’ve delivered memorable performances in years past.  For the resident artists, it means a kind of job security which is almost non-existent in L.A. theater, plus a chance to perform some of the greatest roles ever written, in works by Shakespeare and Racine and Moliere and Shaw and Miller and Foote and, in the current production of The Night Of The Iguana, by Tennessee Williams.
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posted in Burbank/Glendale, Drama, WOW!

MISS SAIGON

posted on May 6th, 2008 at 7:23 PM by Steven Stanley


It’s a long and winding road which leads a Broadway smash to regional  theaters, one that can take years or even decades. In most cases, a show must finish its Broadway run and its national tours (that’s tours with an “s” because major hits often have three or more national tours). That’s why you won’t find still-running Broadway hits like The Phantom Of The Opera or Mamma Mia at your local CLO any time soon. And that is why Miss Saigon at Civic Light Opera Of South Bay Cities is such an event.

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posted in Musical, South Bay, WOW!

PEST CONTROL

posted on May 3rd, 2008 at 7:20 PM by Steven Stanley


Pest Control The Musical may well be the most visually and technically spectacular musical ever staged in a 99-seat L.A. area theater.  Its cast is a mix of stars with major Broadway credits and some of our finest local talents. Director- choreographer James J. Mellon and his Open At The Top Productions have mounted a sensational world premiere musical where only the number of seats is small.
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posted in Musical, North Hollywood, WOW!

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