INSULTED. BELARUS

posted on November 21st, 2023 at 1:02 PM by Steven Stanley


A nation’s failed efforts to unseat one of the world’s most reviled dictators comes to stunning, gut-punching life in City Garage Theatre’s English-language World Premiere of Andrei Kureichik’s Insulted. Belarus, an eye-opener to those like myself who knew little to nothing about recent events in Europe’s 13th largest country.
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posted in Drama, Theater Review, West Side/Beverly HIlls, WOW!

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

posted on November 20th, 2023 at 11:36 AM by Steven Stanley

Whether you love the entirety of the Porters of Hellgate’s All’s Well That Ends Well, or enjoy some parts of it more than others, will likely depend on how much of a William Shakespeare fan you are where this “problem comedy” is concerned.
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posted in Classic Play, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Theater Review

A FAMILY BUSINESS

posted on November 18th, 2023 at 12:44 PM by Steven Stanley


All hell breaks loose when a dating couple and two sets of parents get together for the first time in A Family Business, Matt Chait’s thoroughly entertaining follow-up to Bearings, which won the playwright a 2022-2023 Best Of The Year Scenie.
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posted in Comedy, Hollywood/West Hollywood, Theater Review, World Premiere, WOW!

70, GIRLS, 70

posted on November 13th, 2023 at 11:09 AM by Steven Stanley

Its songs may not be John Kander and Fred Ebb at their Cabaret-Chicago best, and its wisp of a book may give them little to write memorably about, but there’s no denying the exuberance of a cast made up almost entirely of performers anywhere from 50something to 93 years young in The Group Rep’s intimate revival of the 1971 Broadway flop 70, Girls, 70.
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posted in Musical, North Hollywood, Theater Review

BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL

posted on November 12th, 2023 at 11:11 AM by Steven Stanley


“It’s Too Late” “So Far Away” “You’ve Got a Friend” “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman” “I Feel The Earth Move” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?”

If these six megahits don’t have you itching to spread the word about Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts, then Sara Shepard’s star turn as the woman who wrote and performed some of the mid-20th century’s Greatest Hits most definitely will.
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posted in Downey/La Mirada, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

MAMA MAMA CAN’T YOU SEE

posted on November 11th, 2023 at 12:29 PM by Steven Stanley


Wars past and present merge into an uber-theatrical fever-dream mix of life-or-death drama and mesmerizing modern dance in Stan Mayer and Cecilia Fairchild’s Mama Mama Can’t You See, now blowing audience minds at Studio/Stage.
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posted in Dance, Drama, Los Angeles, Theater Review, WOW!

RESET

posted on November 7th, 2023 at 10:37 AM by Steven Stanley

Described in press materials as a “sci-fi morality play,” Howard Ho’s Reset, the latest Moving Arts World Premiere, features an intriguing premise, a promising opening sequence, and a particularly appealing lead performance.

Unfortunately, things go downhill, way downhill, once a character known as “Old Man” shows up.
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posted in Drama, Los Angeles, Theater Review, World Premiere

INHERIT THE WIND

posted on November 6th, 2023 at 11:57 AM by Steven Stanley


Inherit The Wind may have made its Broadway debut way back in 1955 and the real-life events that inspired it may have taken place nearly a century ago, but under Michael Michetti’s inspired direction (and given the play’s renewed relevance in today’s ever more polarized America), the multiple Tony-winner’s Broadway-caliber Pasadena Playhouse revival feels as if it could have been written yesterday.
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posted in Drama, Pasadena, Theater Review, WOW!

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