COSTA MESA THEATER REVIEWS

Despite being a lesser-known composer to the average joe than, say, Bacharach or Mancini, Cy Coleman irrefutably built a solid, prolific career in popular music, which later led to an even more successful string of hits on the Broadway stage. In what is essentially a biographical history lesson set ...

Armed with current sensibilities that earlier versions could only lightly tap, the latest Broadway stage revival of WEST SIDE STORY--its touring version is currently taking up residence at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood for an extended engagement through January 2--truly excels with its fresh new...

Based on the 1991 hit movie musical masterpiece--the first animated feature film to ever score a Best Picture Oscar® nomination--Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST went on to become a hit stage musical as well, ushering a new, successful theatrical arm for the studio. That original 1994 Broadway product...

There was quite an electric, palpable excitement crackling in the huge 3,000-plus-seat Segerstrom Hall on this particular Sunday afternoon. The largest venue within the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, this stage is used to Broadway-caliber talent wowing its audience, since it usu...

There's this old showbiz cliche that says one should never work with kids and/or animals. Well, either species probably never really scared producers from creating ANNIE, the much-beloved musical classic now in production for Musical Theatre West in Long Beach, California through November 14. Here, ...

A great many wrong things can happen on a blind date, especially one between a couple of people that are such complete polar opposites of each other. But what happens when said blind date is not just an awful one... but, really, the worst blind date ever? Such is the premise of Gina Gionfriddo's en...

Theatre Out, Orange County's sole gay-and-lesbian theater company, has put on, in its short history of existence, a candy-colored selection of campy, outrageous productions through the years. Perhaps its most overtly homo-celebratory yet is its latest offering, the so-gay-it-bleeds-rainbows original...

There was one memorably poignant line uttered towards the end of the new play I LOVED LUCY-now playing at the Laguna Playhouse through October 31-that sticks with you: 'Make someone laugh enough, and you will be loved forever.' Perhaps the line best explains why the opening night audience in attenda...

Though times certainly have changed from when the Greatest Generation showed true heroism in the battlefields of European and Tropical soil, it's staggering to realize that in 2010, racial issues still feel like a haphazardly patched wound reopened. Prejudice, no matter what the decade, still stings...

'As you can tell, we're not really a cabaret. Surprise!' So begins Megan Mullally during the start of her series of concerts at the Orange County Performing Arts Center's Samueli Theater with her band Supreme Music Program. The mostly older crowd expecting jazz standards and showtunes on her return ...

Summary: Hands down one of the funniest new plays I've seen this year, IN THE NEXT ROOM, or THE VIBRATOR PLAY--with performances continuing through October 17 at the Julianne Argyros Stage--is a giddy, poignant, and often witty modern comedy that was a finalist for this year's Pulitzer Prize. Fresh ...

A charming hit direct from London (which later debuted in the U.S. for our neighbors up north in San Francisco over the summer), PETER PAN--now performing its only Los Angeles- and Orange County-area engagements at the Orange County Performing Arts Center through November 21--uses advanced projectio...

Currently the record-holder for being the longest-running show in Broadway history (and still counting), Andrew Lloyd Webber's most widely-seen masterwork THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has now taken up residence at Los Angeles' historic Pantages Theatre in Hollywood for the national tour's final engageme...

With its hilarious exchanges, high-brow pedigree, brisk direction, and impressively gorgeous set, South Coast Repertory's new revival of George Bernard Shaw's classic comedy MISALLIANCE-with performances continuing through October 10-is one sophisticated delight, a witty set of back-and-forth argume...

There is no mistaking what Ethel Merman brought to Broadway. A gifted comedienne, an accomplished actress, and a hurricane of a personality, Merman commanded attention from every stage she stood on with pure gumption and that incredibly booming voice. You may say the same thing about Rita McKenzie, ...

A wandering hump. Hyper-active hay rides. A tap-dancing, zipper-necked monster. One thing is clear: Mel Brooks is one silly man. In the world of comedy, silliness is definitely a positive trait. You certainly get a fair dose of his madcap genius in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, the stage musical adaptation of...

Recent events in the American political arena have certainly illustrated that, even to this day, there is--and perhaps, always will be--a conflict between the strict doctrine of most factions of organized religion and the equal-rights-seeking gay community. This heated, often deeply painful struggle...

On the weekend of August 6-8, the infamous 17,000-seat Hollywood Bowl plays host to a forcibly-scaled-up version of Jonathan Larson's Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical RENT, directed by none other than Neil Patrick Harris. Harris' challenge-besides honoring a beloved show as well as living up ...

Is it actually possible to like something more on repeat viewings? In the case of the traveling national tour production of IN THE HEIGHTS--now performing for a limited engagement at the Orange County Performing Arts Center through August 15--the answer is a very qualified 'yes.' That's quite a feat...

The latest to produce a full production of the rock opera THE WHO'S TOMMY is The Chance Theater in Anaheim Hills, the little store-front black box theater that, over the years, have managed to do quite a lot with its small space. In this fast-paced, tightly-directed new revival, THE WHO'S TOMMY-with...

There is no denying that Mel Brooks is a comedy legend. Brooks' oeuvre--particularly his hilarious film work--harkens back to a time when getting laughs meant less cynical snark but, rather, more outlandish farce and the endless use of double-entendres and wordplay. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, Brooks' stage...

Have you ever sat around with a bunch of your smart friends and just gabbed all night about anything and everything, mostly about personal creative struggles or maybe trading a few snarky pop culture anecdotes? Well, seeing the long-awaited Los Angeles premiere of the Tony Award-nominated musical [t...

It's safe to say that Roger Bean-the mind behind The Andrews Brothers, The Marvelous Wonderettes and its yuletide sequel Winter Wonderettes-has certainly become the most consistently successful purveyor of full-scale theatrical musicals that weave a simple story around a string of early to mid-20th ...

History buffs aside, most people would probably cringe at the thought of sitting through what could be-on the surface-a boring, classroom-like history lesson disguised as a stage musical that runs more than two and a half hours long.But yet, almost immediately, those fearful first impressions wonder...

When putting together an entertaining revival of a beloved musical theater entity such as HELLO, DOLLY! it helps to have a fresh perspective of such a familiar show, yet still have enough reverence to produce a work that honors its source material. With absolute certainty, 3D Theatricals' production...