Costa Mesa Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 10

BWW Review: South Coast Repertory's Quirky Play THE ROOMMATE Shakes Things Up
by Michael L. Quintos - January 20, 2017

Quirky and surprisingly unexpected, playwright Jen Silverman explores a delightfully fresh and edgy new take on the formulaic 'opposite personalities that live together' paradigm in the new dark comedy THE ROOMMATE, now continuing its West Coast premiere performances at Orange County's Tony Award-wi...

BWW Review: ELF - THE MUSICAL Jingles into OC's Segerstrom Center
by Michael L. Quintos - December 26, 2016

Upon learning that part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts' holiday programming this season was to finally bring a national tour production of ELF - THE MUSICAL---the 2010 Broadway stage musical adaptation of the popular Will Ferrell holiday movie---to its stage, I was pretty ecstatic. For the most p...

BWW Review: Michael Arden Reinvigorates MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG at The Wallis
by Ellen Dostal - December 07, 2016

When MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG opened on Broadway in 1981, no one anticipated that it would be a flop. With a score by Stephen Sondheim and direction by Hal Prince, it should have been the next success in a series of highly successful collaborations by the two kings of musical theatre, following such ga...

BWW Review: NOT One Of My Favorite Things! THE SOUND OF MUSIC Misses The Emotional Mark At The McCallum
by David Green - November 23, 2016

Everyone deserves to see a great production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC in their lifetime. For those who attended the Jack O'Brien production last night at The McCallum, who have never seen one before, they are still waiting. It is a gorgeous, lavish production. The sets and costumes are beyond incredible...

BWW Review: Darren Criss Slays in Pantages Stop of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Tour
by Michael L. Quintos - November 15, 2016

In a theatrical touchdown for the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, stage and screen star Darren Criss has agreed to reprise the notable title role he stepped into last year on Broadway: as Hedwig in the just-launched national tour of the rousing 2014 Tony Award-winning reboot of the glam rock musical ...

BWW Review: OC's Segerstrom Center Presents HARRY POTTER - IN CONCERT
by Michael L. Quintos - November 14, 2016

With the popularity of film screenings paired with live symphony orchestras at an all time high, I'm glad one of the many to get the treatment is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the first installment of the 8-film movie franchise adapted from JK Rowling's worldwide best-selling books. What an...

BWW Review: South Coast Rep Lovingly Skewers Telenovelas in DESTINY OF DESIRE
by Michael L. Quintos - November 07, 2016

Lovingly skewering the not-so-subtle art of telenovelas, Karen Zacarías' winning play DESTINY OF DESIRE---now being performed at Orange County's South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through November 13---compresses an entire series' worth of over-the-top melodramatic goodness into a two-act play that...

BWW Review: Both Provocative And Poignant — And All Played In Pumps! CASA VALENTINA Engages, Educates And Delights At Dezart Performs In Palm Springs
by David Green - November 06, 2016

I had the absolute pleasure of seeing two things last night that I had never seen before. A production of Harvey Fierstein's CASA VALENTINA and a sold out, standing room only crowd at The Pearl McManus Theatre. Brava to Dezart Performs on both counts!! CASA VALENTINA is the premiere performance of D...

BWW Review: La Mirada Brings the Laughs with LEND ME A TENOR
by Michael L. Quintos - November 04, 2016

When it comes to the theatrical art of farce, Ken Ludwig's hilarious 1986 stage play LEND ME A TENOR certainly qualifies as a perfect example of the genre. Amusingly cheeky throughout, the 9-time Tony Award nominated comedy has been revived locally with a posh new production under the direction of A...

BWW Review: Cirque du Soleil Creates a Wondrous World in TORUK - THE FIRST FLIGHT
by Ellen Dostal - November 04, 2016

Don LaFontaine was one of the most prolific voice actors in the movie industry for more years than I can even remember, until his death in 2008. You may not know his name but you've certainly heard his deep bass voice and famous catch phrase, 'In a world…' in hundreds of movie trailers during his mo...

CASA VALENTINA Kicks Off Ninth Theatrical Season at DEZART PERFORMS in Palm Springs
by David Green - October 20, 2016

To kick-off its 9th season, DEZART PERFORMS will present Casa Valentina, a thoroughly entertaining Tony Award-nominated "dramedy" written by Harvey Fierstein, the multiple Tony Award-winning actor/playwright and American Theatre Hall of Famer. Fierstein's raucous dramedy, CASA VALENTINA, is a hugely...

BWW Review: South Coast Rep Reimagines Shakespeare in DISTRICT MERCHANTS
by Michael L. Quintos - October 17, 2016

Coming off the heels of another politically-charged play ALL THE WAY that they presented last month, Orange County's Tony Award-winning regional theater South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa is following up that searing drama with a staging of a brand new production of playwright Aaron Posner's DISTRI...

BWW Review: Alan Menken Debuts Fresh Retrospective Concert at Segerstrom Center
by Michael L. Quintos - October 10, 2016

The prolific eight-time Academy Award-winning composer---perhaps best known for his decades of unforgettable work in several landmark Disney animated musicals---was on hand to unveil a world premiere concert entitled 'A WHOLE NEW WORLD WITH ALAN MENKEN' on September 30, 2016 at Orange County's Seger...

BWW Review: Aptly Titled BEAUTIFUL - The Carole King Musical Charms OC
by Michael L. Quintos - October 06, 2016

Even without eye-popping special effects, a gimmicky storyline, or those oft-used literary or cinematic source materials, some stage musicals just manage to entertain by sheer likability alone. A big warm hug of a show that's brimming with lots of surprisingly snappy wit and, arguably, some of the p...

BWW Review: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN at the Norris Center - It Vas a Fun Night, Ya
by Ellen Dostal - September 27, 2016

When October hits and Halloween horror movies begin to flood late night TV, you can always count on at least one station somewhere airing Mel Brooks' 1974 classic comedy YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. But this year, the situation is a little different. With the recent passing of Gene Wilder, who stars in the t...

BWW Review: Outstanding ALL THE WAY Stirs at South Coast Repertory
by Michael L. Quintos - September 19, 2016

Right at the start of Robert Schenkkan's mesmerizing Tony Award-winning play ALL THE WAY---now playing in an outstanding new production at Orange County's South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through October 2---actor Hugo Armstrong is introduced in what would become one of the most powerful, fiery a...

BWW Review: Tony Winner Patti LuPone Returns to the OC with COULDA, WOULDA, SHOULDA
by Michael L. Quintos - September 12, 2016

The very second that Tony Award-winning Broadway Legend Patti LuPone sings---heck, even when she walks out before she belts a single note---you know you're in the presence of someone that deserves the mountains of accolades she has continuously enjoyed through a very long, illustrious career on the ...

BWW Review: The Troubies and Getty Villa Throw a HAUNTED HOUSE PARTY
by Ellen Dostal - September 09, 2016

Troubadour Theatre Company's classless clowns of classical comedy go rogue in their latest adaptation at the Getty Villa. Taking generous liberties with the source material (Plautus's Mostellaria) they reinvent the over-2000-year-old play as HAUNTED HOUSE PARTY, A Roman Comedy in their own unique st...

BWW Review: RTC's Revived CABARET Tour Returns to OC's Segerstrom Center
by Michael L. Quintos - August 16, 2016

CABARET's Tony Award-winning 1998 Broadway revival co-directed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall, still stands, arguably, as the show's definitive stage iteration. That same vibrant Roundabout Theatre Company production rightly serves as the basis for the newer 2014 revival that is now in the midst of ...

BWW Review: Dark and Thrilling National Tour of CABARET Plays Segerstrom Center
by Don Grigware - August 15, 2016

Perhaps Kander and Ebb's best musical, apart from Chicago, Cabaret has it all: a fine book, deliciously diverse characters, dynamite music and a subtext that will not quit. The subtext being: either compromise or get out if you value your life, the latter, to be sure, the wiser. This is Berlin, circ...

BWW Review: OC's Segerstrom Center Welcomes Delightful New THE SOUND OF MUSIC Tour
by Michael L. Quintos - July 27, 2016

A surprisingly well-done, beautifully-paced production that feels like a truly fresh revival of something many of us have forever seared in our brains, this brand new, Jack O'Brien-helmed national tour of THE SOUND OF MUSIC---now on stage at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Me...

BWW Review: It's Austen Time - SENSE AND SENSIBILITY / I LOVE YOU BECAUSE
by Ellen Dostal - July 25, 2016

This past week I saw two different musicals that have taken their inspiration from classic Jane Austen novels and, while completely different in size and scale, both have considerable merits. The first is in San Diego where Paul Gordon's to-die-for new musical SENSE AND SENSIBILITY is gracing the st...

BWW Review: The Con is On with DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS at Musical Theatre West
by Michael L. Quintos - July 20, 2016

The con is on! With plenty of wit, charm, and double entendres galore, Musical Theatre West's new regional production of the 2004 Broadway musical comedy 'DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS' is one enjoyably silly romp. The show which features a book by Jeffrey Lane and music and lyrics by David Yazbeck contin...

BWW Review: Chance Theater High-Kicks Intimate Production of A CHORUS LINE
by Michael L. Quintos - July 16, 2016

If there was ever one musical that, on the surface, can translate well as an intimately-staged production in a black box theater space, then A CHORUS LINE---the classic 1975 Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning backstage musical---should certainly qualify as a strong contender. This still dazzling...

BWW Review: Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID Swims Beautifully Into La Mirada
by Michael L. Quintos - June 13, 2016

Besides the Hollywood Bowl's all-star concert event, THE LITTLE MERMAID also made a splash at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. This visually-gorgeous, fully-staged new production of the film's Broadway stage adaptation---produced locally by McCoy Rigby Entertainment with new staging an...