ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD

posted on May 17th, 2023 at 8:53 AM by Steven Stanley

The performances are sparkling, the melodies are tuneful, and the show’s heart is in the right place, but without a plot, dialog, or interconnected characters to keep an audience spellbound, a nearly two-and-a-half-hour running time is much too long for a song cycle like Paulo K Tiról and Noam Shapiro’s On This Side Of The World.
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posted in Los Angeles, Song Cycle, Theater Review, World Premiere

THE BOOK OF WILL

posted on May 15th, 2023 at 11:21 AM by Steven Stanley


A race against time to preserve the words of the world’s greatest playwright before they fade from memory propels Lauren Gunderson’s The Book Of Will, the fascinating, illuminating, crowd-pleasing latest from A Noise Within.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Pasadena, Theater Review, WOW!

JACK CRADDOCK IS HAVING A PARTY

posted on May 13th, 2023 at 12:04 PM by Steven Stanley


Actor Harrison Harvey proves himself an accomplished first-time playwright with Jack Craddock Is Having A Party, an incisive, insightful look at three Millennials and a Zoomer, ninety real-time minutes that start out bright and breezy, then gradually darken as lies get exposed and secrets revealed.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Los Angeles, Theater Review, World Premiere, WOW!

UNDER THE SKIN

posted on May 8th, 2023 at 11:08 AM by Steven Stanley


A philandering father suffering from kidney failure. An estranged daughter ill-inclined to donate one of her own. A tearjerker-movie-of-the-week plot-propeller if there ever was one, but one that has inspired an honest-to-goodness comedy, Michael Hellinger’s Under The Skin, the terrific latest from International City Theatre.
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posted in Comedy-Drama, Long Beach/San Pedro, Theater Review, WOW!

A NEW BRAIN

posted on May 7th, 2023 at 11:29 AM by Steven Stanley


Gender-expansive casting revitalizes William Finn’s New Brain, now being given the most gloriously imaginative of intimate revivals by Celebration Theatre at the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
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posted in Hollywood/West Hollywood, Musical, Theater Review, WOW!

THE LARAMIE PROJECT

posted on May 6th, 2023 at 10:56 AM by Steven Stanley

An impressive, gender-bending cast salute Matthew Shepard’s memory in The Laramie Project, Moises Kaufman’s powerful examination of the aftermath of the gay Wyoming university student’s murder, though the Hollywood Fringe Festival look it is given at the Group Rep does the play no favors.
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posted in Drama, North Hollywood, Theater Review

HAIRSPRAY

posted on May 4th, 2023 at 8:55 AM by Steven Stanley


Hairspray remains as fresh and fabulous at the ripe old age of 21 as it was when it made its Broadway debut back in 2002, and if you doubt my words, check out the spiffy National Tour now stopping at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre.
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posted in Hollywood/West Hollywood, Musical, National Tour, Theater Review, WOW!

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

posted on May 1st, 2023 at 12:05 PM by Steven Stanley


Pasadena Playhouse’s epic Sondheim Celebration continues this month with A Little Night Music, a Broadway-couldn’t-do-it-better revival that tops even February’s magnificent Sunday In The Park With George.
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posted in Musical, Pasadena, Theater Review, WOW!

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