Written by Alina Mae Wilson
Cypress College’s Little Women is quaint to behold and provides brief glimpses of pleasure but is ultimately joyless and gives the impression that the actors are in over their heads –or at the very least need more time to prepare. Continue Reading
(All photos by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio)
Written by Alina Mae Wilson
Someone once suggested to me that every being holds a story. That each person on Earth has the tears and drama in their history to make them fascinating to someone, the story simply has to be well written. Seminar (playing at the Chance Theater) makes a strong case for the accuracy of that statement. Seminar is a play about a group of people that for their own personal reasons want to be writers, and have therefore decided to take a $5,000.00 (each!) writing class from a well-known author and teacher. While other plays might be valued for their spine-tingling twists, Seminar prompts and encourages us to crawl through the fascinating muck of self-reflection. Continue Reading
(photos by: Nancy Hickey)
Written by Daniella Litvak
The first thing you need to know about The Producers is that Mel Brooks created it (and fortunately the playbill tells you this right upfront). Mel Brooks is the creative giant behind so many beloved masterpieces: Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Spaceballs to mention only a few. Brooks has a very distinctive style. Some of his trademarks are bawdiness, meta-humor, and merciless mockery. The Producers is no exception. Continue Reading
(photo credit Susie Sprinkel Hudson)
Written by Mike Martin
Blame it on the Movies, currently playing at Vanguard University, is a true cabaret style production. This has its benefits and drawbacks. The audience is spared the tacked on (and often tacky) “story” that gets written for most “Juke Box Musicals” (think All Shook Up, Ring of Fire, Crazy, and the like), which is a blessing. Instead this show is a collection of songs from the movies, pure and simple. While I appreciated dispensing the pretense of trying to make a full blown musical out of it, it does mean the show rests on the songs themselves and the performances, and that is where Blame it on the Movies has its ups and downs. Continue Reading
