Posts Tagged ‘Orange County Theater Review’
THE WHIPPING MAN
Wednesday, January 14th, 2015
On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House, at long last ending what is still the deadliest war in United States history. Five days later, President Abraham Lincoln was dead, the victim of an assassin’s bullet. Coincidentally, during this fateful week in our country’s history, Jews in both North and South observed Pesach, the festival of Passover, celebrating the freeing of the Israelites from centuries of slavery in Egypt.
Inspired by this bit of historical happenstance, and armed with the knowledge that there were indeed Jewish slaveholders (and Jewish slaves) in the pre-Civil War Deep South, playwright Matthew Lopez sat down to write The Whipping Man, a gripping, eye-opening look at three Jews—two black, one white—in the days just following Appomattox, a play now brought to compelling life in a spectacular South Coast Repertory debut set to transfer next month to the Pasadena Playhouse.
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KINKY BOOTS
Wednesday, December 31st, 2014
Only rarely does a “feel-good musical” come along with the transformative power and emotional punch to set it apart from the rest of the “feel-good” pack. That rare musical is Kinky Boots, the 2013 Tony–winning Best Musical now beginning a two-week stay at Orange County’s Segerstrom Center For The Arts.
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KISS ME KATE
Sunday, December 14th, 2014
A couple dozen of Southern California’s most talented student triple-threats bring the Cole Porter classic Kiss Me Kate to vibrant, effervescent life down Orange County way, once again making it abundantly clear why Cal State Fullerton’s musical theater BFA program is among the country’s finest in turning out Broadway-bound talent.
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STRIKING 12
Thursday, December 11th, 2014
Rock, folk, jazz and pop get fused for the holidays—and gorgeously, infectiously so—as the Laguna Playhouse celebrates New Year’s Eve a few weeks ahead of time with the L.A./OC Premiere of the GrooveLily musical Striking 12, and a more entertaining, exhilarating ninety minutes of nearly non-stop holiday magic you won’t find anywhere else in town.
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SHE LOVES ME
Monday, December 8th, 2014
A tale almost as old as time returns magically, musically to life as Chance Theater gives Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick’s She Loves Me a perfectly marvelous intimate staging just in time for the holiday season.
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PIPPIN
Wednesday, November 12th, 2014
The spectacular and the personal mesh to perfection in the most extraordinary Pippin you will ever see, and if you don’t believe me, check out the 2013 Best Revival Tony winner during its two-week stop at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center For The Arts.
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ZEALOT
Wednesday, October 29th, 2014
The phrase “ripped from today’s headlines” has rarely been more applicable than it is to Theresa Rebeck’s gripping, provocative new drama Zealot, a South Coast Repertory World Premiere sure to inspire post-performance discussion as highly-charged as the action unfolding at the temporary headquarters of the British Consul in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where Zealot is set.
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VENUS IN FUR
Wednesday, October 15th, 2014
Provocative, daring, audacious, intriguing, and sexy as all get-out, David Ives’ Venus In Fur has at long last made it to L.A.-adjacent Costa Mesa following dozens of regional productions, giving its arrival at South Coast Rep bona fide event status. That director Casey Stangl and stars Jaimi Paige and Graham Hamilton deliver the goods … and then some, makes a drive down to Orange County an absolute must for any theater lover worth his or her salt.
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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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