All stories by Tony Frankel on BroadwayStars

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Theater Review: A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE (Coronado Playhouse in San Diego) by Tony Frankel

A STORY OF IMPORTANCE Unlike manipulative Broadway machines such as Priscilla and Kinky Boots, which shove issues down our throats, the societal consequences for a homosexual in A Man of…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 02:14PM
Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Theater Preview: WASHED UP ON THE POTOMAC (San Francisco Playhouse) by Tony Frankel

LOOKING FOR PROOF Proofreading: It may be a lost art. As an editor, I have become accustomed to scanning copy everywhere for mistakes, either in grammar or with facts. But lately, the effect…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 01:26AM
Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Theater Preview: ANNIVERSARY! STORIES BY TOBIAS WOLFF AND GEORGE SAUNDERS (Word for Word) by Tony Frankel

WORD FOR WORD’S PERSONAL VICTORY LAP MAY BE THE BEST DEEP KISS YOU’VE EVER HAD San Francisco’s Word for Word has been transforming classic and contemporary fiction into amazing…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 05:31PM
Sunday, August 5, 2018

Theater Review: BAREFOOT IN THE PARK (The Old Globe in San Diego) by Tony Frankel

THE GLOBE MAKES IT LOOK LIKE A WALK IN THE PARK Barefoot in the Park, Neil Simon’s second Broadway hit after Come Blow Your Horn, played a staggering 1,530 performances in its initial run,…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 04:20AM
Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Theater Review: ANNIE (Hollywood Bowl) by Tony Frankel

SHE’S BA-A-A-ACK For those who think the sun won’t come up until 2020, here comes another Annie, that 1977 optimistic spitfire of a musical — based on the Harold Gray comic st…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 09:32PM
Thursday, July 26, 2018

Theater Review: DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE (The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Davidson/Valentini Theatre) by Tony Frankel

ITCHING TO BE SWITCHING ROLES Burt Grinstead and Anna Stromberg’s take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde switches between comedic farce and serious …

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 04:11PM
Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Los Angeles Theater Review: PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES (Sierra Madre Playhouse) by Tony Frankel

PUMP GETS YOU PUMPED This invigorating, modest little 1980 musical was nominated for both a Tony and Drama Desk Award for Best Musical in 1982. It may seem commonplace now thanks to John Doy…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 08:16PM
Friday, July 20, 2018

Theater Review: CRY IT OUT (Echo Theater Company at Atwater Village Theatre in Los Angeles) by Tony Frankel

WE NEVER STOP CRYING IT OUT The term “cry it out” refers to the practice of letting babies bawl until their fit subsides without parents coddling and mollifying them; assumedly t…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 05:16PM
Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Theater Review: BIG FISH (Chance Theater) by Tony Frankel

FRIED, STEWED OR BROILED, THIS FISH WILL NEVER TASTE GOOD So here’s what baffles me: A show which is middling at best is suddenly showing up at regional, community and high school thea…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 09:11PM

Theater Review: ON YOUR FEET (National Tour) by Tony Frankel

DANCE DELIRIUM As jukebox musicals go, the rags-to-riches bio On Your Feet! definitely earns its exclamation point. No question, the upbeat tunes, with their irresistible Cuban-fusion str…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 04:30PM
Monday, July 2, 2018

Los Angeles Film Review: THE 2018 MONTALBÁN SUMMER MOVIE SERIES (The Montalbán Theatre) by Tony Frankel

THE MONTALBÁN MIXES MOVIES, MINGLING AND MERRY MASTICATING Always fun, outdoor cinema hits the summer ether like the smell of fresh cut grass and smoked meat (or is that fresh cut meat and …

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 07:01PM
Thursday, June 28, 2018

CD Review: MY FAIR LADY (2018 Broadway Cast) by Tony Frankel

BETTER THAN FAIR As musical revivals went from a few nostalgic productions in the 1970s to the ubiquity of resurrections we see today — both from the Golden Age (Porter, Rodgers and Ha…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 12:24AM
Saturday, June 23, 2018

Theater Review: SWEET CHARITY (Reprise 2.0) by Tony Frankel

SWEETER THE SECOND TIME AROUND It’s like kicking a puppy dog to dislike Charity Hope Valentine. Charity is the heroine of the 1966 musical Sweet Charity — a strange amalgam of high h…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 08:42PM
Friday, June 22, 2018

Los Angeles Theater Review: THE HUMANS (National Tour at the Ahmanson Theatre) by Tony Frankel

ALL TOO HUMAN Stephen Karam’s remarkable Tony-winning play The Humans — which is winding up its national tour at the Ahmanson with members of the Broadway production  — begi…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 04:35PM
Thursday, June 21, 2018

Los Angeles Theater Review: PARADE (3-D Theatricals) by Tony Frankel

DON’T LET THIS PARADE PASS YOU BY With no intentions of reviewing, I attended 3-D Theatricals’ astounding rendition of Parade, bookwriter Alfred Uhry and composer/lyricist Jason…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 05:40PM
Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Theater Review: LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (The Wallis in Beverly Hills) by Tony Frankel

ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH Eugene O’Neill twice turned his troubled youth into all-absorbing drama. His family first appeared as a happy tangle of eccentric loved ones in Ah, Wilderness!, a…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 06:17PM
Monday, June 18, 2018

Theater Review: CULT OF LOVE (IAMA Theatre Company in Atwater Village) by Tony Frankel

ON CONFORMING AND CHRIST Ah, what better fodder for drama is there than the dysfunctional American family? You know the ingredients: accusations hurled back and forth by the walking wounded;…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 04:06PM
Saturday, June 16, 2018

Music Review: CONSIDERING MATTHEW SHEPARD (Ford Amphitheatre) by Tony Frankel

BREAKING DOWN FENCES An American requiem, an oratorio, and a choral masterpiece elegantly and movingly performed, Considering Matthew Shepard, which closes tonight at the Ford Amphitheatre, …

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 04:06PM
Thursday, June 14, 2018

Theater Review: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (After Hours Theatre Company in Burbank) by Tony Frankel

FLY TO THIS NEST Boy oh boy, if you like immersive theater, than check yourself into the madhouse over in Burbank. When the rebellious, charismatic and playful Randle McMurphy gets reassigne…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 09:54PM
Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Theater Review: AS WE BABBLE ON (East West Players) by Tony Frankel

SORRY TO BURST YOUR BABBLE In this unfortunate world premiere, the winsome cast begins with angry pessimistic post-millennial Benji (Will Choi), an Asian-American comic book artist whose bos…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 07:39PM
Sunday, June 10, 2018

Chicago Theater Review: THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE (Music Theater Works in Evanston) by Tony Frankel

PIRATES STEALS YOUR HEART Music Theater Works just unleashed 140 minutes of undiluted ecstasy and hilarious nonsense, and the lucky location is Northwestern University’s Cahn Auditorium in…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 04:06PM
Thursday, June 7, 2018

Dance Preview: LULA WASHINGTON DANCE THEATRE (Ford Amphitheatre) by Tony Frankel

LULA’S BACK IN TOWN The Ford Theatres presents Lula Washington Dance Theatre (LWDT) on Friday, June 8 at 8:30pm, as part of its IGNITE @ the FORD! series. For this joyous evening of da…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 08:33PM
Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Los Angeles Theater Review: CABARET (Celebration Theatre in Hollywood) by Tony Frankel

COME TO THIS CABARET Aside from the fact that it will sell out quickly, there are a number of reasons to rush out and get tickets for Celebration Theatre’s revival of Cabaret. First o…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 02:36AM
Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Theater Review: THE COLOR PURPLE (National Tour) by Tony Frankel

WHILE HARDLY REVELATIONAL, A REVVED-UP REVIVAL BECOMES RELATABLE It’s a miracle. After seeing the original 2005 musical adaption, it seemed that nothing could fix this show. But then�…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 06:31PM
Tuesday, May 22, 2018

CD Review: THE PRINCE OF BROADWAY (Original Broadway Cast Recording) by Tony Frankel

CELEBRATING BROADWAY ROYALTY When I tell you that the Original Broadway Cast Recording of the revue covering Harold Prince’s oeuvre mostly works, it’s an enormous compliment. For…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 10:12PM
Monday, May 21, 2018

Theater Review: VIOLET (Actors Co-op in Hollywood) by Tony Frankel

NO SHY VIOLET Based on The Ugliest Pilgrim, a short story by Doris Betts, Violet — with book and lyrics by Brian Crawley and music by Jeanine Tesori — takes place in 1964 and fol…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 05:40PM
Sunday, May 20, 2018

Theater Review: THE GIANT VOID IN MY SOUL (Ammunition Theatre Company at Pico Playhouse) by Tony Frankel

FILLING THE VOID IN L.A. THEATER Neither my friend nor I were looking forward to this play — I mean, good grief, when I heard that it was about a couple of “fools” going on…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 09:02PM
Friday, May 11, 2018

Theater Review: THE IMMIGRANT (Sierra Madre Playhouse in Los Angeles) by Tony Frankel

BLENDING BANANAS AND BORSCHT Mark Harelik’s 1985 play The Immigrant is based on the story of his grandparents, Haskell and Leah Gorehlik, immigrants from Russia who settled in the tiny cen…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 07:52PM
Thursday, May 10, 2018

Theater Review: BELLEVILLE (Pasadena Playhouse) by Tony Frankel

SPLITSVILLE Five years after its world premiere, L.A. is just now getting Amy Herzog’s disturbing domestic thriller. Both praised and not, the controversy with this one-act has been m…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 06:25PM
Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Theater Review: THE BABY DANCE: MIXED (Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura) by Tony Frankel

AN UPDATED BABY IS STILL CAPTIVATING THEATER For all its melodrama, Jane Anderson’s The Baby Dance has always been one of my favorite plays since I first saw it at Pasadena Playhouse in 19…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 05:01PM

Theater Review: HONEYMOON IN VEGAS (Musical Theatre Guild in Los Angeles) by Tony Frankel

A HONEYMOON IN GLENDALE More fun than walking away a few bucks ahead from a black jack table, this pell-mell, silly-sweet, old-fashioned musical comedy (ya know, gangsters, lovers, Elvis imp…

SOURCE: Stage and Cinema at 01:50PM