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Theater Review: PETER PAN GOES WRONG (Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles)
A PERFECTLY CRAFTED TRAINWRECK Having brought the house down with The Play that Goes Wrong, Mischief Theatre Company has followed up with a delicious offering: Peter Pan Goes Wrong. Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, the play introduces the fictional Cornley Youth Theater to theatergoers and their catastrophic attempt to stage a production of the 1904…
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Theater Review: LES MISÉRABLES (National Tour)
DON’T MIZ IT Unlike most of the characters in the blockbuster sung-through musical Les Misérables, the show itself will never die. Consistently presented either on Broadway, national tours, and globally since the English-language version opened on the West End in 1985, audiences can’t get enough of Victor Hugo’s story about ex-con and do-gooder Jean Valjean and…
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Dance Review: FRIDA (Dutch National Ballet)
FRIDA PEOPLE We live in the age of Frida Kahlo iconography. Distilled to the mere visual suggestion of a unibrow, braided updo, and flower headpiece, her image graces wall murals, tote bags, socks, umbrellas, T-shirts, and all manner of decorative objects the world over. Known during her lifetime primarily as the wife of Mexican muralist…
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Theater Review: INTO THE WOODS (National Tour)
WISHES ARE CHILDEN In the wake of news that Center Theatre Group, home of three major L.A. theaters, is “pausing” productions at their mid-size Mark Taper Forum and offering “select programming” at their smaller Kirk Douglas Theatre for the 2023/24 season, all eyes are on its largest and most commercially viable venue, the Ahmanson Theatre,…
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Highly Recommended Concert Tour: PATTI LUPONE: DON’T MONKEY WITH BROADWAY (Segerstrom)
START POURING THAT MARTINI Patti LuPone has hit the road with her new tour Don’t Monkey with Broadway, which played Provincetown last month before heading to California. If you’re in the L.A./Orange County area, that means in just under two weeks, July 15, 2023 at 8pm, the three-time Tony Award winner La LuPone is coming…
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Theater Review: SIX THE MUSICAL (National Tour)
THESE SIX QUEENS SLAY IT The cast of Six riled up the audience at Segerstrom in this pop concert remix of Tudor history. Catchy earworms, check. Iconic costumes, check. American-Idol-esque belting moments, double-triple check. Thundering applause and cheers erupt from the crowd following every number? Check. Did I mention that the songs are earworms? It…
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Highly Recommended Cabaret: JESSIE MUELLER and SETH RUDETSKY (The Wallis in Beverly Hills)
MUELLER IS COOLER IN UP-CLOSE CABARET The Wallis in Beverly Hills lays claim to being the place to see and be seen on Friday June 16 at The Wallis in Beverly Hills, as one of Broadway’s brightest stars, Jessie Mueller, headlines a one-night-only special concert event. This superstar-sized evening of incredible music and intimate, hilarious, behind-the-scenes…
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Theater Review: A SOLDIER’S PLAY (National Tour)
THIS WAR WITHIN A WAR IS COMMANDING AND COMPELLING The North American tour of A Soldier’s Play — Roundabout’s 2020 Tony Award-winning Best Revival of a Play — opened last Wednesday at L.A.’s Ahmanson Theater and plays through June 25, the end of this tour. Don’t miss it. Broadway star Norm Lewis leads the cast…
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Theater Review: CHICAGO (National Tour)
ALL THAT JAZZ AND MORE Bandstand, shining lights, and sexy murderers in lingerie. Chicago celebrates 25 years of razzle dazzle with this national tour featuring the original New York production directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Ann Reinkingin the style of Bob Fosse. With the bandstand as the centerpiece of this City Center’s Encores!…
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Theater Review: HAIRSPRAY (National Tour)
THIS HEAVYWEIGHT TAKES THE PRIZE Can you ask for a more perfect pairing than a drag queen and the high camp of musical theater? In this national tour production of Hairspray, Tracy Turnblad and friends turn up the heat with their dance movies on the stage of Segerstrom Hall. The band is tight, the movements…
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Theater Review: 1776 (National Tour)
2023 COMES TO 1776 The founding of the United States of America has always been largely misunderstood, even by its own citizens. Fifty landowners got together in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and debated for two years on the efficacy of declaring a rationale for Independence; they needed sensible reasons for breaking away from the mother country, Great…
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Theater Review: INTO THE WOODS (National Tour at the Emerson Colonial Theater in Boston)
NO FAIRY TALE ENDINGS Last night, Boston became the third stop in the 2023 National Tour of the 2022 Broadway Revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s much-Tony’d and much-loved mash-up of some of the world’s most familiar fairy tales, ingeniously linked through plot and music. The touring company includes many cast members from the…
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Event Review: HINOTORI – THE WINGS OF PHOENIX (Yamato Drummers of Japan)
HUBBA HUBBA! YAMATO LIGHTS THE STAGE ON FIRE Have you ever attended a performance where you felt like you ran a marathon? Still, all you did was sit on the edge of your seat from the sheer awesomeness on the stage. The Yamato Drummers of Japan’s HINOTORI – THE WINGS OF PHOENIX tour landed in…
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Music Review: AX –¢ KAVAKOS –¢ MA (Disney Hall)
A QUEST FOR MUSIC AND HUMANITY On a delightful Saturday afternoon, January 28th, Los Angeles was graced by three masters at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Billed simply as Ax ’¢ Kavakos ’¢ Ma, the eponymous concert title did little to convey the content of the concert because, let’s face it, whatever these three will be…
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Music Recommendation: KODO ONE EARTH TOUR: TSUZUMI (North American Tour)
A POUND OF CURE Since 1981, KODO, Japan’s taiko performing arts ensemble, has brought the gloriously life-affirming art form of taiko to 46 countries around the globe. Under the banner of One Earth Tour, Kodo exemplifies why percussion is the primal source of all movement and rhythm. The newest production, Tsuzumi, is touring North America…
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Theater Review: MEAN GIRLS (National Tour)
STILL TRYING TO MAKE FETCH HAPPEN The musical adaptation of the 2004 teen comedy film Mean Girls opened on Broadway in April 2018 and was one of the many victims of the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in an early closure on March 11, 2020. The musical book and the original film are written by veteran comedian…
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Theater Review: THE EMPIRE STRIPS BACK (International Tour)
IT’S OK TO GET SAUCED FOR STUNNING SAUCY STRIPPERS AND SPECTACULAR SAUCERS, OR MAY THE TORSO BE WITH YOU Forget about Broadway or the latest Marvel Comic movie. The fun, hip and cool burlesque Star Wars parody ’” which isn’t just for fans of the franchise ’” is the show to see live onstage. Since the…
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Theater Review: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR 50TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR (New Cast for 2022-2023 Tour)
ROCK ON I still have the soundtrack album that I bought when I was 14. I saw the movie when I was 16. I saw the Broadway Revival in my late teens. Today, just over fifty years after Jesus Christ Superstar premiered on Broadway, I had the pure pleasure of seeing it again at the…
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Theater Review: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (North American Tour)
THIS MOCKINGBIRD SOARS To Kill a Mockingbird is an American masterpiece that has transcended time and medium, and which will continue to impact our cultural zeitgeist, reflected by the opening night sold-out crowd for this 2018 theatrical wonder, a sell-out for its Broadway run and now on tour at Segerstrom Hall. Patrons responded audibly and…
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Theater Review: MOULIN ROUGE! (North American Tour at SCFTA)
A GOOD TIME WITHOUT MUCH TO SAY In 2001, Baz Luhrmann co-wrote and directed the jukebox musical movie, Moulin Rouge! The film was especially praised for its highly stylized costumes and production values. In 2019, retaining much of the flamboyance and style, the Broadway production adapted by John Logan and directed by Alex Timbers opened,…
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