Posts Tagged ‘Orange County Theater Review’

SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS

What becomes a legend most?

When the legend in question is Oscar-nominated film icon Leslie (An American In Paris, Lili, Gigi, The L-Shaped Room, etc., etc., etc.) Caron, what becomes the legend most is a triumphant return to the stage in Richard Alfieri’s Six Dance Lessons In Six Weeks. Add to the equation six-time Ovation Award winner David Engel as Miss Caron’s onstage partner and what you have at the Laguna Playhouse is a production Broadway can only wish were on the Great White Way.
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INTO THE WOODS

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony-winning Into The Woods receives its first major L.A.-area production in nearly a decade as 3-D Theatricals presents a beautifully acted, assuredly directed, and gorgeously designed revival of the contemporary classic, though all concerned must surely be wishing they’d had the benefit of a couple more previews before Saturday’s technical-glitch-marred Opening Night.
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PASSION PLAY

Chance Theater challenges adventurous theatergoers and rewards them in equal measure with director Trevor Biship’s powerfully staged vision of Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play, three acts, two intermissions and all. Bows may not get taken till nearly three-and-a-half hours after curtain, but if you’re anything like this reviewer, you’ll find yourself enthralled from fanciful start to emotional finish.
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CORPUS CHRISTI

Director Tito Covert-Ortiz has restaged his Scenie-winning vision of Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi with its original star Jeffrey Fargo at Santa Ana’s Theatre Out and the result is an even more powerfully moving production than it was at Long Beach’s Garage Theatre the first time round.
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FIVE MILE LAKE

Some plays grab you from their first moments and hold you in their grasp till the lights go out. Others sneak up on gradually until at a certain point you realize that you’ve been hooked … and hooked you stay till the final curtain. Rachel Bonds’ Five Mile Lake, the latest World Premiere from South Coast Repertory, falls into the latter category, and quite a small wonder of a play it is.
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LEGALLY BLONDE

The Broadway/regional theater triple-threats of tomorrow are onstage today as Cal State Fullerton’s esteemed musical theater BFA program presents an absolutely terrific staging of Broadway’s multiple Tony-nominated Legally Blonde.
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REST

Native Idahoan Samuel D. Hunter once again turns the lives of ordinary folk into world-class drama in his latest play, Rest, being given an all-around superb World Premiere production at South Coast Repertory under Martin Benson’s inspired direction.
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MAMMA MIA!

Mamma Mia! and its two dozen of ABBA’s Greatest Hits are back at the Segerstrom Center For The Arts for the first time in three years, and though this is the international smash’s first non-Equity tour, this latest Mamma Mia! comes across Grade-A professional all the way.
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