Orange County Theatre Reviews

Musical, Review, The Chance Theater, Theater, Uncategorized Comments Off on California Premiere of Ride the Cyclone @ Chance Theater in Anaheim – Review |

California Premiere of Ride the Cyclone @ Chance Theater in Anaheim – Review

(Photo by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio)

Written by Patrick Chavis

Ironically, this might be the happiest story about death I have ever seen. The Chance Theater has transformed its stage area to look like some haunted carnival that time has forgotten in the middle of the county. To further the illusion, the show tickets look like tickets you would use at a carnival. The seating pattern in The Chance also facilitated the feeling of going to the carnival. Add a strong cast of singers and a goofy but clever script with a unique twist on the genre, and, well, I think you’ve got a hit. Continue Reading

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Anaheim, Review, The Chance Theater, Theater, Uncategorized Comments Off on Lucha Dreams – Orange County Premiere : The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity @ Chance Theater – Review |

Lucha Dreams – Orange County Premiere : The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity @ Chance Theater – Review

(Photo credit: Doug Catiller, True Image Studio)

Written by Patrick Chavis

Pro-wrestling and theatre. When you think about it, it’s not a weird combination. Isn’t pro-wrestling recycled theatre with jocks? The stage is the wrestling ring, and the script determines the outcome. The only things that change are the characters (wrestlers), the storyline, and the performance. The Chance Theatre puts on a spectacle with the pro-wrestling satire The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. Continue Reading

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Anaheim, Musical, Review, The Chance Theater, Theater, Uncategorized Comments Off on Green Day’s American Idiot @ Chance Theater – Review |

Green Day’s American Idiot @ Chance Theater – Review

Photo credit : (Camryn Long & Doug Catiller)

Written by Daniella Litvak

“We are the kids of war and peace/From Anaheim to the Middle East” [1]

A lot has been said about the similarities between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. One way they differ, though, is how they impacted popular music. While the Vietnam War spawned a subgenre of protest songs that are highly regarded to this day, the protest songs commenting on the Iraq War are not numerous or as well remembered. Green Day’s 2004 rock opera American Idiot is the exception to the rule. In addition to becoming a commercial and critical success, American Idiot spawned a Broadway musical adaptation of the album, and now it’s playing at the Chance Theater. Continue Reading

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Review, The Chance Theater, Theater, Uncategorized Comments Off on Orange County Premiere of Cry It Out @ Chance Theater – Review |

Orange County Premiere of Cry It Out @ Chance Theater – Review

Written by Patrick Chavis

(Photos by Camryn Long)

The Orange County Premiere of Cry It Out is now playing at the Chance Theatre in Anaheim Hills. This play is a dramatic comedy about new mothers dealing with the struggles of motherhood in modern times. It’s set in 2019 and somewhere in Port Washington, Long Island. Chance Theater’s production of Cry It Out is incredibly entertaining, comedic, and serious. It is a beautifully cathartic telling of three different women living very close to each other but with very different lives. Continue Reading

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Musical, Review, The Chance Theater, Theater, Uncategorized Comments Off on Orange County Premiere of EDGES @ Chance Theater in Anaheim Hill – Review |

Orange County Premiere of EDGES @ Chance Theater in Anaheim Hill – Review

Written by Patrick Chavis

The Chance Theater brings back live, in-person theater for the first time since the pandemic with the Orange County premiere of EDGES, a musical written by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, the award-winning songwriters of La La Land, The Greatest Showman, and Dear Evan Hansen. EDGES is an earlier work from the award-winning duo, and the signs of their talent are all over this script. Still, this script’s bones (structure) feel uneven, and this striped-down production shows off the flaws in the material instead of improving on it.  Continue Reading

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Anaheim, Musical, Review, The Chance Theater, Theater, Uncategorized Comments Off on A Heart Breaker : The Story of My Life @ Chance Theater in Anaheim – Review |

A Heart Breaker : The Story of My Life @ Chance Theater in Anaheim – Review

(All photos courtesy of Chance Theater)

Written by Patrick Chavis

Heartstrings, heartstrings, heartstrings — writer Brian Hill hits you and keeps hitting you in the heart until the curtain closes at the end of the production. He understands the heart — or at least a portion of it — in this grounded two-hander about friendship, loss, and life now playing at the Chance Theater in Anaheim through a digital live-streaming production. Continue Reading

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