Non-Registered Critics: Jordan Young
Next To Normal
Not too sure about the so-called New Normal, but the new “Next to Normal,” at Anaheim’s intimate Chance Theater through Feb. 27, is a smash.
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Yellowman
The OC premiere of Dael Orlandersmith’s Yellowman exemplifies what makes live theater so magical.
Director Khanisha Foster has done an outstanding job of bringing this character-driven play to life.
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She Loves Me
The production is outstanding in almost every respect, conveniently obscuring the fact that the show itself has some failings—the primary one being the absence of a single great song. “Vanilla Ice Cream” and “A Trip to the Library,” arguably the two best tunes, are both in the second act, making this two-and-one-half-hour confection a very long evening.
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Fun Home
Intimate theatrical experience is what the Chance does best, and this dysfunctional family drama and lesbian coming out story is a fine example—and a perfect choice as their 22nd season opener. Only a pair of geniuses such as Kron & Tesori could pull a rabbit out of a hat on Broadway with a piece of material like Bechdel’s memoir; the Chance is fortunate once more to have the services of Marya Mazor, a magician in the guise of a director who navigates the delicate balance with aplomb.
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Fireflies
Love’s exceptionally well crafted play, attentively directed by Lou Bellamy, is as riveting as it is realistic... Lester Purry and Christiana Clark bring the drama to life in extraordinary performances. Jeffrey Elias Teeter’s projections of fireflies filling the night sky are worthy of note.
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Aubergine
Cho is a master of words and silences whose spare, poetic writing makes precise use of both and doesn’t waste a morsel of either.
Lisa Peterson works so well with the offbeat sensibilities of Culture Clash it comes as something of a surprise her direction of this play is so perfectly in tune with Cho, who could not be more different...
All told “Aubergine” resembles an exquisite meal prepared by a great chef, not unlike one depicted in the drama. It’s the kind of play SCR made its reputation on, the sort that will stick to the ribs of the devoted theatregoer who maintains a steady diet of plays, to obtain the kind of experience they simply can’t get from movies—even the best ones.
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The Vandal
Hamish Linklater’s “The Vandal” (continuing in its West Coast premiere at the Chance Theater in Anaheim Hills through October 20) is one of those plays that doesn’t spell everything out for the audience, and is the more compelling for it.
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ON BECKETT
Rather than analyze it in the manner of a college professor, the MacArthur-Guggenheim-Fulbright-NEA recipient dissects the writing in a way that makes it as accessible to a mass audience as it’s ever going to get.
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A PLAY IS A POEM
Neil Pepe capably directs a well-chosen ensemble of actors, drawing notably fine performances from Joey Slotnick (in three of the five plays), Saul Rubinek and Michaela Diamond among others. Singer Nellie McKay, who wanders about vocalizing between acts, is largely incomprehensible but offers up a delectable cabaret entertainer a la Marlene Dietrich.
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Ragtime
Though they promised “all the hits,” the Paragon did not simply offer the standard greatest hits program today’s audiences have come to expect; the 11-piece ensemble also played sparkling renditions of everything from an eponymous rag composed for a minstrel show to waltzes from Cohan’s melodrama “The Yankee Prince.”
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Happy Days
This Yale Repertory Theatre production is a must-see for serious theatregoers, so rarely is the piece performed.
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M. Butterfly
You’ve seen the movie, why bother with the play? In the case of David Henry Hwang’s “M. Butterfly” (through June 8 at South Coast Repertory), you’ll want to make the time to catch this revival—especially if you missed it on Broadway. The play exemplifies what live theatre does best, bringing this Tony Award-winning show to vivid life with an electricity the film adaptation—fine as it was—failed to capture.
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Tigers Be Still
Kim Rosenstock's “Tigers Be Still” (in its regional premiere at the Chance through June 2) seems like a garden variety comedy at the outset, but not for long; within minutes it's clear the audience is in for a wild ride. The humor is more than a little outrageous at times but there's a dark side to it as well. All told it's a fast-moving 90 minutes that proves highly satisfying.
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Skylight
However, this is a terrific piece of theatre once it gets moving. There's an outstanding 90- or 100-minute play here centering on the up-and-down relationship between these two very different people, a London teacher who is devoted to the task of helping disadvantaged kids and a restaurateur who is dedicated only to making money; unfortunately, it takes Hare two hours and 20 minutes to tell his story.
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The Chosen
“The Chosen,” based on Chaim Potok's classic novel about two brilliant young men growing up five blocks and worlds apart in World War II Brooklyn, has been transformed into a play that's somehow even more compelling than the book.... The cast of four, fleshed out by fathers David Malter (Jonathan Arkin) and Reb Saunders (Alan Blumenfeld), is uniformly excellent; Blumenfeld's outsized performance almost knocks you out of your seat.
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It's Time
Though you won't sit through it with a dry eye it's an uplifting show that gladdens the heart, amidst the realization the clock is ticking perhaps faster than we admit to ourselves. Linke doesn't try to suppress the emotions or the tears when they come and that's part of the magic he brings to the stage, under the astute direction of his accomplice Edward Edwards—it's one of the most honest and candid performances you'll see all year.
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