The latest reviews and critic recommendations from Costa Mesa.
To close out its 60th Season in grand fashion, Musical Theatre West has commissioned a lush new revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tony Award-winning musical SUNSET BOULEVARD on its home stage at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.
One of the most exciting, edgy, in-your-face new musicals to have popped up in recent years, the electrically-transfused angst-rock musical BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON is making quite a splashy, enjoyable Orange County debut at The Chance Theater.
Delightful and down-right hilarious, SISTER ACT - THE MUSICAL---the nun-tastic stage adaptation of the hit 1992 motion picture of the same name---is, frankly, to my pleasant surprise, an unexpected gem of a show.
Hilarious, visually arresting, and surprisingly heart-warming, PRISCILLA - QUEEN OF THE DESERT---the rousing stage musical adaptation of the 1994 Oscar-winning indie film of the same name---is an outlandishly silly show from start to finish, filled with non-stop eye-popping visuals, out-of-this-worl
Now performing at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through June 9, Director Amanda Dehnert's beguiling new revival of THE FANTASTICKS comes to vibrant life as an old-timey vaudevillian review that just happens to have a love story woven into it.
What happens when you cram together the star quality of Barbra, the riffs of Beyonce, Whitney, and Mariah, the sass of Stevie, and the deep, emotional soul of Aretha? You get Broadway star and old-school soul revivalist Shoshana Bean.
One of the most stunning, brilliantly-staged productions I've seen in the past few years, Orange County's 3D Theatricals has, once again, outdone itself with its moving, epic-sized revival of Jason Robert Brown's Tony Award-winning musical PARADE.
Despite having a cast of incredible triple threats, overall, FLASHDANCE: THE MUSICAL---the new, Broadway-bound stage musical based on the popular 80's-era movie of the same name---seems like a well-meant endeavor that needs a serious overhaul in its disjointed execution.
It is easy to understand why Betty Buckley has been called the 'Voice of Broadway'.
In South Coast Repertory's amusingly naughty World Premiere production of Beau Willimon's THE PARISIAN WOMAN (now playing through May 5), 'Body of Proof' star Dana Delany plays Chloe, a morally ambiguous but undeniably tenacious Washington DC housewife with high political aspirations, especially for
This year's main-stage attraction of SCR's annual Pacific Playwrights Festival, SMOKEFALL---a co-production with Chicago's Goodman Theatre directed by Anne Kauffman---starts off initially intriguing, as if first unveiling itself as a dark dramedy that follows three generations of an eccentric family
I first reviewed the national tour of BILLY ELLIOT - THE MUSICAL during its triumphant five-week stop at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre a year ago (which you can read HERE) and found it to be quite an entertaining, well-executed show.
Billed as Barbara Cook's Special 85th Birthday Concert, the Tony Award-winning soprano's one-woman concert of musical theatre songs, rare selections, and jazz standards at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa was met with well-earned---and well-deserved---adoring cheers througho
Beautifully acted and heartbreakingly stirring, Samuel D.
While certainly a fun, buoyant little show---featuring some enjoyable music from HAIRSPRAY composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, as well as a very likable, extremely talented young actor, Stephen Anthony, at the center of its semi-autobiographical tale of successful grifting---CATCH ME IF YOU CA
Now in the final stretches of its 25-week national tour before ultimately making its sit-down Broadway transfer later this Spring, the brand-new, revamped revival of JEKYLL & HYDE - THE MUSICAL has finally returned to Southern California for the next few weeks, this time playing performances at the
Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang's immensely funny CHINGLISH, a recent hit on Broadway, is now playing at South Coast Repertory through February 24.
Armed with twice the vocal power and awash with plenty of real, fiery chemistry, Broadway vets -- and real-life married couple -- Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley's romantically-themed cabaret showcase titled 'He Said/She Said' played to packed audiences at the Samueli Theater in Costa Mesa over Vale
If you've ever sat through Steven Spielberg's e-ticket cinematic blockbuster Jurassic Park and wondered to yourself… 'Gee, I wonder how those dinosaurs feel about this whole situation,' then this cheeky, oddly hilarious musical send-up is the perfect show for you.
Hands down one of the most hypnotic, creatively-staged plays ever conceived for the theater, the Tony Award-winning WAR HORSE--whose National Tour is now on stage at Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center for the Arts through February 3--is an utterly stirring feat of theatrical magic, expertly combining da
In Stephen Adly Guirgis' wickedly funny, intensely riveting 2011 dark urban comedy THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT -- now enjoying a superb, profanity-laced new production at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through January 27 -- the idea of personal growth is explored mostly through the (cuss) wor
As expected (thankfully) 2012 provided Southern California audiences--specifically here in Orange County and nearby Los Angeles and San Diego--a season full of outstanding, remarkable theater offerings from touring companies, impressive regional productions, and even some tiny black box theaters.
This holiday season, Orange County found itself playing host to two very different families that couldn't be more disparate from one another--well, at least on the surface.
As far as theatrical arena shows go, Dreamwork's "How To Train Your Dragon Live" makes the top of the list for those worth seeing, and arena shows are growing in number (case in point, the rather boring, but visually interesting, Batman Live arena tour).
|
Elton Dom: The Young Elton Experience Rose Center Theater (10/16-10/18) |
|
Cody Fry Christmas Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall (12/18-12/19) |
|
Bonnie & Clyde The Laguna Playhouse (6/09-7/04) |
|
Shelley Conducts The Sorcerer's Apprentice & Strauss Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall (10/22-10/25) |
|
Shelley Conducts John Williams and The Planets Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall (5/20-5/23) |
|
Candlelight: 90s Unplugged at Lido Theater The Lido Theatre (12/06-12/06) |
|
The Music of Bond, James Bond Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall (4/16-4/17) |
|
UB40 Fred Kavli Theatre (10/25-10/25) |
|
Beethoven: I Shall Hear in Heaven Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall (1/30-1/30) |
|
A Charlie Brown Christmas The Phantom Projects Theatre at La Habra Depot (12/04-12/20) |
