COSTA MESA THEATER REVIEWS

Ridiculously silly in all the right ways and featuring a comically gifted, star-studded principal cast--headed up by Richard Kind, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Rebecca Romijn, Dane Cook, Gary Beach, and Roger Bart--that delivers the goods with infectious gusto, this large-scale revival on this outdoor aren...

Making good on his promise to eventually show up in Orange County to speak about his enduring career in the theater, legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim finally made his long-awaited appearance at the Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa for the landmark event STEPHEN SONDHEIM: IN CONVERSA...

Musical Theatre West's latest top-notch production is the hilarious regional premiere of the Tony-winning musical Monty Python's SPAMALOT. Full of silly humor and absurdist gags that will have you laughing throughout the show, the show continues at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach ...

One of the most popular, highly-regarded stage musicals of all time, LES MISÉRABLES is, to put it simply, a moving, overtly theatrical epic. In this rich-looking--and rich-sounding--tour production, the emotional resonance seems more palpable than ever. The beautifully refreshed 25th Anniversary ed...

Something truly magical is happening right now in the city of La Mirada: almost 22 years after earning a Tony nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for playing this very same role, the ever-so vigorous Cathy Rigby looks about as spunky and acrobatic as she's ever been in this brand-new produ...

Now scaring up laughs at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through June 17, THE ADDAMS FAMILY: THE MUSICAL is a charmingly corny, ghoulishly droll musical comedy that features hummable music and a made-for-TV-ready story that is genuinely hilarious from top to bottom. What a pleasant, wonderful surp...

While watching the super-charged, though slightly frustrating Tony-nominated alt-rock musical AMERICAN IDIOT--whose national touring company recently spent a brief week at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County, CA--one can't help but feel genuinely entertained by the spectacle of it al...

Orange County, CA-based 3D Theatricals presents a fine, top-notch revival of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning A CHORUS LINE, now playing at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton through May 27. Buoyed mostly by its National Tour-caliber staging, choreography, lighting and costumes, this production ...

On May 19, 2012 the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles hosted Elaine Stritch's hilarious, anecdote-heavy Stephen Sondheim tribute concert ELAINE STRITCH: SINGIN' SONDHEIM...ONE SONG AT A TIME. Met with boisterous, well-deserved standing ovations both at the start and at the end of the ...

The six-time Tony-winning 1996 Revival of CHICAGO is still earning cheers and packing in audiences both on Broadway (now in its 16th year!) and its still-running national tour--the latter of which has shimmied its way back to L.A. for a return engagement at the Pantages Theatre through May 27. This ...

If you're looking for a good example of what great hidden gems are being produced at Southern California regional theaters these days, then look (and listen) no further than the enjoyable revival of the smash musical MISS SAIGON currently playing at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts thro...

Inspired by one fortuitous day that still resonates in the timeline of rock-and-roll history, the Tony Award-nominated Broadway hit MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET--now playing at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through May 6--is a genuinely enjoyable, musically-rich stage show that's high o...

Despite an intriguing premise and a lovely-sounding score delivered by a brilliant cast, CLOUDLANDS--the stirring but jumbled new Adam Gwon/Octavio Solis musical now having its commissioned World Premiere production at South Coast Repertory through May 6--just doesn't quite wow your socks off. Thoug...

Full of biting wit and hilarious parodies of various popular Broadway shows--and the famous actors that star in them--Musical Theatre West's cabaret-style send-up FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: GREATEST HITS, VOLUME 2 plays its final, laugh-filled set of performances this weekend ending April 29 at the Carpent...

Charming and unabashedly buoyant, BILLY ELLIOT--which danced away with 10 fairly well-deserved Tony Award wins including Best Musical back in 2009--is a smile-inducing, pleasingly-staged musical based on the 2000 film. The stage musical version's national tour has finally stopped in Los Angeles for ...

In THE PRINCE OF ATLANTIS, Steven Drukman's funny new play set in the heavy-accented neighborhood of Nonantum, Massachusetts, the characters all seem to believe that the key to good relations with others and living a good life (or at least a nicer-than-average one) is to make things appear better th...

A recent critical hit in New York as well as in its stop in Los Angeles last year, the Montreal-based TRACES is a sensational e-ticket thrill ride of a show that mixes extraordinary circus feats with the easy-going vibe of urban cool. A refreshing, high-energy cross between Stomp! and, yes, Cirque d...

Produced by L.A. troupe Moving Arts from a concept by Paul Stein, THE CAR PLAYS is seriously one of the most thrilling theater experiences you will ever witness--or rather, get stuck in (and in a good way). A unique, site-specific theatrical offering that truly lives up to the idea of riveting, in-y...

With two impressive lead stars--Davis Gaines and Lesli Margherita--at the forefront of a fresh, dynamic re-staging of a classic work, Musical Theatre West's brand new production of the 1965 Tony Award-winning musical MAN OF LA MANCHA is, hands down, one of the most complex, beautifully-rendered musi...

After seeing Andrea Martin's brand new, laugh-filled, autobiographical one-woman-and-a-pianist show ANDREA MARTIN: FINAL DAYS! EVERYTHING MUST GO!, it's quite clear to see why the ever-so-funny Tony- and Emmy-winning actress has had such a rich and storied career in entertainment. A born chameleon w...

While watching 3D Theatricals' largely pleasing stage production of the enduring Rodgers/Hammerstein Broadway classic THE SOUND OF MUSIC--now playing at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, CA through February 26--one can't help but be reminded of just how great the more popular, Oscar-winning movie...

The humor of Mel Brook's "Young Frankenstein: The Musical" follows that of the original 1974 film, but adds just enough new punch lines to make the show fresh for the younger generations unfamiliar with the movie. The comedy of show even sometimes exceeds that of the film, which follows the grandson...

While laughing fairly consistently throughout Molly Smith Metzler's funny new American play ELEMENO PEA--now having its West Coast premiere engagement at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through February 26--you'll probably feel like you're sitting in a live studio taping of a fresh new sitcom ab...

It seems eerie yet fitting that the Los Angeles stop of Cirque du Soleil's MICHAEL JACKSON: THE IMMORTAL WORLD TOUR took place over the weekend at none other than the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It is, after all, the very same venue where Jackson held rehearsals for his planned 2009 World Tour 'T...

Both history and literature are peppered with intense stories of sibling rivalry--the most contentious of which often recount the environmental and circumstantial forces that pit them against one another, sometimes resulting in wrenching, tragic results. Added to this cannon almost a decade ago was ...