Review: South Coast Repertory Presents World Premiere Play GALILEE, 34
by Michael Quintos - May 05, 2024
Eleanor Burgess’ brilliant, thoughtful, and often bitingly funny GALILEE, 34—currently having its impressive world premiere production at South Coast Repertory through May 12, 2024—is a humorously insightful, beautifully-performed new play that offers an unreliably revisionist examination of suppose...
Review: A Triumphant JERSEY BOYS Debuts at the La Mirada Theatre
by Michael Quintos - April 26, 2024
A brand-new, reimagined regional iteration of the Tony-winning 2005 musical JERSEY BOYS now at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts is exceeding all expectations. Featuring a superb ensemble cast performing The Four Seasons' greatest hits, this spectacular, high-energy, crowd-pleasing produ...
Review: Musical Theatre West Brings MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET Back to Life in Long Beach
by Michael Quintos - April 19, 2024
More like one elongated impromptu jam session than a typical musical, Musical Theatre West's new production of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET doesn't involve a complex storyline, but instead focuses on imagining what it must have been like to be in the room where music history happened. The resulting concer...
Review: MJ - THE MUSICAL Moonwalks Into OC's Segerstrom Center
by Michael Quintos - March 23, 2024
An overall resounding triumph despite its insistence on side-stepping some of the more salacious scandals associated with its subject, pop star Michael Jackson—MJ - THE MUSICAL is a genuinely entertaining and nostalgic show that purposely aims to celebrate the creative, if misunderstood genius behin...
Review: Grammy Nominee Jane Monheit Makes OC Return at Irvine Barclay
by Michael Quintos - March 19, 2024
Returning to Orange County, CA for a one-night-only concert at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, Monheit stunned the audience with her incredible talents, offering fresh live performances of superb tunes—including many from the Broadway stage—that are slated for her upcoming new studio album releasing thi...
Review: Musical Theatre West Revisits Classic 42ND STREET in Long Beach
by Michael Quintos - February 13, 2024
For the most part, MTW's brand-new, admirably plucky 2024 production—now on stage through February 25—succeeds as an entertaining, visually cheerful show, filled with strong performances, a rousingly robust orchestra, and dynamic, zestfully tap-tastic dance numbers. Despite its lack of any real, ser...
Review: Bold Staging of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Rocks Chance Theater
by Michael Quintos - February 09, 2024
Featuring a humorous yet surprisingly poignant original story from John Cameron Mitchell and piercing, high-octane tunes from composer Stephen Trask, the gloriously ribald glam-rock musical HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH is currently flipping its wigs out in a brand new extremely engaging production at t...