JOURNEY TO DOLLYWOOD

posted on September 16th, 2007 at 11:52 AM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
The small-town diner has proven the surefire setting for numerous movies, TV 
shows, plays, and musicals, from Alice, to Pump Boys and Dinettes, to The 
Spitfire Grill to…Diner. Add to that list Jessie McCormack’s very funny new play 
Journey to Dollywood, now at the Matrix Theatre.
(read more)

posted in Comedy, Los Angeles, Recommended

HAIR

posted on September 15th, 2007 at 11:44 AM by Steven Stanley


The year was 1968. 

16,592 American soldiers lost their lives in Vietnam, the greatest number of 
casualties for any year of the war.  At home, assassins’ bullets killed Bobby 
Kennedy and Martin Luther King.  10,000 or more enraged Americans 
protested the Vietnam War outside the Democratic convention in Chicago, 
leading to hundreds of arrests and police-inflicted injuries.
(read more)

posted in Hollywood/West Hollywood, Musical, WOW!

AND NEITHER HAVE I WINGS TO FLY

posted on September 14th, 2007 at 11:39 AM by Steven Stanley


Ann Noble’s heartwarming And Neither Have I Wings to Fly feels like a theater classic that’s been around forever.  Hard to believe it’s a fairly recent play which is only now getting its Southern California premiere, in an absolutely gorgeous production at the Road Theatre, directed by award winning Scott Cummins.
(read more)

posted in Drama, North Hollywood, WOW!

DEAD BRIDE RUNNING

posted on September 13th, 2007 at 11:36 AM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
If you’re a devotee of sophisticated, stylish and witty Noel Coward
drawing room comedies…check your theater listings for the production of
Private Lives nearest you. If, on the other hand, you’re a fan of Saturday
Night Live/Mad TV style outrageous over-the-top humor, Dead Bride
Running will be right up your alley.
(read more)

posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Recommended

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

posted on September 12th, 2007 at 11:33 AM by Steven Stanley


A musical at South Coast Repertory is a rarity, and in the case of the currently
running A Little Night Music, it is a cause for celebration–well cast, beautifully
performed and (especially in the second act) gorgeous to look at.
(read more)

posted in Musical, Orange County, WOW!

DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

posted on September 7th, 2007 at 11:29 AM by Steven Stanley


In a city where most plays run 6 weeks or less, The Elephant Theater’s
production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, John Patrick Shanley’s
unexpected love story of two very lost and damaged souls, has become a real
L.A. theater phenomenon. Recipient of the very hard-to-get L.A. Times “Critics
Choice,” Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, now in its fifth sold-out month, has
been extended yet again, through October.  Last night I found out why.
(read more)

posted in Drama, Hollywood/West Hollywood, WOW!

MATTER OF HONOR

posted on September 5th, 2007 at 11:26 AM by Steven Stanley


Near the beginning of Michael J. Chepiga’s Matter of Honor, the audience at
the Pasadena Playhouse is plunged into darkness. We hear a loud noise, like a
powerful echoing drumbeat, then a series of cries. A beating is taking place. We
know from that moment that we are in for a theatrical experience very much
out of ordinary.
(read more)

posted in Drama, Pasadena, WOW!

THE LADY IN QUESTION

posted on September 2nd, 2007 at 11:21 AM by Steven Stanley

RECOMMENDED
Nobody spoofs classic movie genres better than Charles Busch.  On film, I’ve
loved his Psycho Beach Party (which as the title indicates spoofs at least two
genres at once) and Die Mommie Die (a brilliant takeoff on 50s/60s women’s
melodramas). Now I’ve had the chance to discover The Lady in Question,
Mr. Busch’s hilarious and spot-on send-up of 40s “woman in danger in Nazi
Germany” flicks.
(read more)

posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Recommended

Next PagePrevious Page