Orange County Theatre Reviews

La Habra, Musical, Mysterium, News, Press Releases, Theater, Uncategorized Comments Off on Mysterium Theatre at the La Habra Depot Playhouse needs your support! |

Mysterium Theatre at the La Habra Depot Playhouse needs your support!

(photo courtesy: Robert Ladd)

A Message from the Mysterium Theatre: 

“Two years ago, we moved to this wonderful historic building and we are doing renovations and putting on between 15-21 shows each season.  We just got hit with some pretty big expenses and the rights to several shows coming up are larger than we had hoped.  We have some fantastic folks both on and off stage that have come along for the adventure of creating art that the community desperately needs.  We are also developing an after school program to have the future generation fall in love and participate in the arts – singing, dancing, acting on set, lighting design and much more.  At the moment we need an immediate 2,500.00.” Taken from the website

GO FUND ME 

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Laguna Niguel, Laguna Niguel Community Theatre, News, Press Releases, Uncategorized, Video Comments Off on “Our Town” playing now @ Laguna Niguel Community Theatre – Video |

“Our Town” playing now @ Laguna Niguel Community Theatre – Video

Laguna Niguel Community Theatre “Our Town” Promo Video 2017 from Jeanette Ordish on Vimeo.

March 31, April 1 & 2  2017

 

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fullerton, Review, Stagestheatre, Theater, Uncategorized Comments Off on Kill Me, Deadly! @ STAGEStheatre in Fullerton – Review |

Kill Me, Deadly! @ STAGEStheatre in Fullerton – Review

Written by Scotty Keister 

The fictional world of the hard-boiled private eye, known in cinema as film noir, has been endlessly lampooned; its arch dialogue, cynical perspectives, femme fatales, low life criminals and world-weary detectives are wide open for ribbing. Now, Bill Robens’ “Kill Me, Deadly!” – originally produced in 2009 by Theatre of NOTE in Los Angeles – has found its way to STAGEStheatre in Fullerton. Relying on genre archetypes, well-worn hard-boiled dialogue and an impossibly complicated plot (Raymond Chandler was once asked by the producer of the filmed version of his novel “The Big Sleep,” who killed the chauffeur? to which he responded with a shrug – he had no idea), “Kill Me, Deadly!” is an often sharply written and frequently hilarious parody that is not without its faults. Continue Reading

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Cypress College, Musical, Review, Uncategorized Comments Off on Follies @ Cypress College – Review |

Follies @ Cypress College – Review

Written by Alina Mae Wilson 

Ten years ago Cypress College opened their new campus theater with a musical –Stephen Sondheim’s Follies.  To celebrate their 50th anniversary, they’re doing it again.  Follies has returned to Cypress.   It’s a pleasant show to look at.  All of the costumes are colorful and luxurious while all of the sets suit the story.  Every singer is talented and well trained.  The largest problems in Cypress College’s Follies do not stem from lack of effort but from a lack of natural ease.  Too many actors have difficulty delivering their lines, which results in them sounding robotic and disconnected.  The show occasionally switches between being fun and entertaining to being awkward because of uncomfortable line-reading. Continue Reading

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Huntington Beach, Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts, Musical, Review, Uncategorized Comments Off on Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical @ Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts – Review |

Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical @ Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts – Review

Written by Alina Mae Wilson 

There is a reason The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is as famous as it is.  The essential idea behind all the action is delightful.  Stevenson’s novella is centered on the increasingly strange behavior displayed by the well known and well respected Dr. Henry Jekyll. As it turns out, Jekyll has been performing experiments on himself, which transform him into the immoral Mr. Edward Hyde.  Thus we have what is loosely considered by many to be a story focusing on the good and evil battling inside every person.  It’s one of the most delicious plot concepts ever put to paper.  In 1997 Jekyll & Hyde the Musical made its Broadway debut.   It has a score requiring powerful singing and a story calling for skilled actors, yet I find something is missing from it.  While I appreciate its intellectual aspects, I often find myself irritated because of the story’s lack of shock value and emotional pain. Fortunately, the Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts has taken any pressure they might have felt from tackling such a show and used it as a propellant to overcome those issues.  In short, these youthful performers are excellent. Continue Reading

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Counter-Balance Theatre Company, Physical Theatre, Review, Theater, UCI, Uncategorized Comments Off on Counter-Balance Theatre Presents: Longitude @ UCI – Review |

Counter-Balance Theatre Presents: Longitude @ UCI – Review

Longitude’s show run is over. It had a very short run, but it will remount at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. I will keep you updated on the continuing showtimes. 

Written by Patrick Chavis 

No props, no sets, just people and a projector were used to tell the story of a rarely talked about 17th-century inventor and clockmaker, John Harrison. Longitude is a physical theatre production, which means the sets and everything else was made with the human body. The use of the human body in this production is quite creative and establishes the point of feeling for many of the scenes. Watching Longitude is a truly educational experience that requires focus and intellectual curiosity. It might leave many turned off when exposed to a wider audience because it tended to focus less on John Harrison, the person, and more on his accomplishments and tenacity to make clocks. Since it’s hard to feel for Harrison, you wind up experiencing an hour-long introduction to the inventor in one of the most fascinating and unique ways possible. Continue Reading

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