THOUSAND OAKS THEATER REVIEWS

The Max Factor Factor boasts precision dancing and gorgeous harmonies amidst well-timed madcap shtick....

Without a doubt there are scenes in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus that are difficult to watch. Actions that might come across as ludicrous on the page make one shrink with revulsion when viewed in the flesh, and within the confines of a small theater the effect is much like that of a horror show ta...

'Spirit tells me lots of things. It likes to talk.' And talk it did to J.B. Murray, a man who believed that the Holy Spirit came to him in a vision and called him into the service of the Lord. At the age of 70 this illiterate Southern farmer began to paint and write non-semantic script (a kind of wr...

Directed by Adam Shankman and featuring a talented, impossibly photogenic cast that includes Kristen Bell, Hunter Parrish, Benjamin Walker, Amber Riley, Mario, Jenna Ushkowitz and Jonah Platt, the Hollywood Bowl production of the 60's hippie-centric HAIR is lively and unabashedly joyful to the core....

Tennessee Williams' classic A Streetcar Named Desire is revered as one of the greatest plays of the 20th century with Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski, two of the most fascinating characters in theatrical history. Written in the 40s, the play does have many dated elements, but given a taut, well...

Intense, riveting tale of two estranged brothers, and as expected with a Neil LaBute script, reveals the darker, deeper secrets of familial loves that maybe should have remained hidden. Yes, LaBute does go there. And how!...

REDCAT opened its eleventh annual New Original Works Festival this weekend with a trio of intriguing pieces incorporating movement, dance, music, and a variety of theatrical elements that push the boundaries of thought and creativity. Together they make up the first of three programs that will be of...

The setting is Paris in the 18th Century with THE GAMESTER performed in rhymed couplets. But don't let the timeframe, language or fabulous costumes fool you. This story of true love, schemes, casual lusts, machinations, treachery and too many casinos feels as modern as today. After all, haven't we...

When I heard The Aerospace Players were going to present A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, I almost decided not to see it as I have seen it twice before and never really understood why the show was just not as funny as it ought to be. Now I know why - those other shows did not have Da...

The concept: A high school prom in the first act filled with songs from the 1950's. A 10-year reunion in the 2nd act filled with songs from the 1960's. One set. Four girls. Sounds pretty simple, yes. NOT! As the choreographer for the original production of WONDERETTES, Janet Miller, told me this is ...

Playwright Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo as well as Leading Ladies) is one of a dying breed of American farceurs. How many presently exist? In the UK, yes, there are many. Farce is their specialty, but not in the US. So, that given, Leading Ladies is a uniquely special ode to the th...

Ah, the rhythms of the 50s/60s! Got 'A Lot of Livin' to Do'! Lee Adams and Charles Strouse wrote the music and lyrics of Bye Bye Birdie to honor a generation of fans who swooned and literally gave themselves over to the rock and roll of Elvis Presley. Conrad Birdie (Austin MacPhee) is an obvious pla...

Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival's production of William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra brings royal-like acting to the Conejo Valley stage....

While there is speculation that Twelfth Night was written for the 12th night of Christmas by request of Queen Elizabeth, a holiday which celebrates revelry by turning the world upside down, with masks, music, dance, celebrating a moment where servants are masters, masters are servants, and not all s...

Once/book by Enda Walsh/music & lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova/directed by John Tiffany/Pantages Theatre/through August 10...

The world premiere of Peter Lefcourt's play THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT takes an in-depth and often comic look at two couples, a pair of ex-spouses and their new mates. When the four get together for the first time in years, it blows up in a delightful mess of romantic complications proving you should...

In a faraway kingdom turned upside down, things get ugly when an unseemly ogre - not a handsome prince - shows up to rescue a feisty princess. Throw in a donkey who won't shut up, a bad guy with a SHORT temper, a cookie with an attitude, and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits, and you've got the ...

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. A gifted powerhouse vocalist, Ms. Bean is one of those entertaine...

Winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical, Monty Python's SPAMALOT tells the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in 932AD as they embark on their quest for the Holy Grail....

Orange County-based 3D Theatrical's surprisingly ebullient new production of the Irving Berlin musical revue I LOVE PIANO--now performing through September 23 at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton before it moves to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, September 28-30--is buoyed by its compose...

Arguably the most anticipated Broadway musical to ever hit the road in recent decades, the worship-worthy comedy THE BOOK OF MORMON--whose first national tour is now cheerfully spreading its gospel at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through November 25--certainly lives up to its massive box office...

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...

Jekyll & Hyde will never be a perfect musical, but with a terrific cast and in this first-rate production, it is well worth a visit......