Posts Tagged ‘Los Angeles Theater Review’
BIG FISH
Sunday, November 2nd, 2014
A deeply conflicted father-son relationship, a husband and wife’s lifelong love, a spellbinding lead performance, a bunch of captivating supporting turns, some terrific dance sequences, an often quite gorgeous production design, and above all one of the most beautiful scores of recent years add up to an entertaining and often quite moving West Coast Premiere of Andrew Lippa and John August’s Big Fish at Long Beach’s Musical Theatre West.
Still, when a Broadway musical closes less than three months after its opening and fails to score a single Tony nomination or even a non-Equity tour, it is worth asking why.
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WEDDING BAND: A LOVE/HATE STORY IN BLACK AND WHITE (Sweet Potatoes)
Sunday, November 2nd, 2014
If any great production is worth experiencing twice, any great Antaeus Company production (and so far just about everything Antaeus has done fits neatly into that category) is even more worth that second visit if only to experience the added excitement of seeing each and every role played by a brand new actor (courtesy of the Antaeus custom of “partner casting”).
A second visit to Alice Childress’s Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story In Black And White (click here for my original review) proves equally as rewarding as the first—and the “Sweet Potatoes” every bit as brilliant as the “Honey Bunches”—albeit with often quite distinctive looks and equally diverse takes on the multifaceted roles Childress has written for them.
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TRUE WEST
Saturday, November 1st, 2014
A quartet of USC grads have joined forces in “Let’s put on a show” tradition (with some 21st-century Kickstarter help) to bring Los Angeles theater lovers an excitingly performed revival of True West, Sam Shepard’s 1980 contemporary-classic tale of brotherly love and hate.
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BROOMSTICK
Friday, October 31st, 2014
Arriving just in time for Halloween and providing ample reason for Thanksgiving through the month of November, Jenny O’Hara’s star turn in Broomstick turns the West Coast Premiere of John Biguenet’s acclaimed solo play into a veritable theatrical event. Factor in scenic designer Andrew Hammer’s extraordinary witch’s lair of a set and you’ve got a performance and production design sure to set the L.A. playgoing public abuzz.
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JEKYLL & HYDE
Monday, October 27th, 2014
Some of the finest voices I’ve heard at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre along with Jason James’ assured direction make for a first-rate Jekyll & Hyde out Claremont way, with Janet Renslow’s exciting recreation of the show’s original choreography adding to the pizzazz.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Sunday, October 26th, 2014
Queer Classics’ reinvention of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Earnest, the Scenie-winning Hollywood Fringe Festival Production Of The Year, is back for a full-length run with almost all of its Comedic Ensemble Performance Of The Year cast intact—and if you’re any kind of Wilde fan (or simply want to enjoy ninety minutes of nonstop laughter), forget how many Earnests you’ve seen before and see this one. I repeat. See this one! (See it if it’s your first time too.)
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A Or B?
Saturday, October 25th, 2014
Sometimes the course a life takes can depend on something as inconsequential as a cell phone service provider, or so Abby and Ben discover in Ken Levine’s fascinating and funny romantic comedy A Or B?, now getting its World Premiere at the Falcon Theatre.
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PREMEDITATION
Friday, October 24th, 2014
Style may not be everything in Evelina Fernández’s Premeditation, but it plays a big part in making the playwright-actor’s comédie noire (or comedia negra) the exhilaratingly theatrical experience it is, and with Premeditation currently Ovation Award-nominated for Best Production, Direction, and Lighting Design, theatergoers can rejoice at the Latino Theater Company’s decision to bring it back as part of the month-long Encuentro 2014 festival at downtown’s Los Angeles Theatre Center. Premeditation is as stylishly directed, performed, and designed a production as you’re likely to see this or any month—and that is saying something indeed.
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Since 2007, Steven Stanley's StageSceneLA.com has spotlighted the best in Southern California theater via reviews, interviews, and its annual StageSceneLA Scenies.
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