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Arts & Entertainment
ARTS &BEST ENTERTAINMENT OF 2017
Available from GERMAN SHEPHERD RESCUE OF ORANGE COUNTY BEST PLAY THE AWKWARD PARTY
READERS’ CHOICE: THE BOOK OF MORMON
PARADE Full disclosure: The crack(ed-out) reviewing staff of this infernal rag did not make it to this Chance Theater show, set against the backdrop of racism and polarizing politics in 2017—er, 1913ish America. But someone typed about it ahead of time, and
BEST THEATRICAL ENSEMBLE MOON OVER BUFFALO There wasn’t a weak link in the eight-person cast of director Amanda DeMaio’s staging of Ken Ludwig’s doorslamming farce, set in 1953 at a theater in Buffalo, New York. Whether called upon to shamelessly overact (these are actors playing actors, for crissakes), desperately try to plug the holes threatening to sink the traveling troupe, or merely reacting to the madness caused in large part by the roaring ego of the impresario at its center (a masterful Brian J. Cook), the cast excelled at working together by not-so-quietly ripping apart at the individual seams. It was a fun STAGEStheatre show made even
BEST OF 2017
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BEST MUSICAL PRODUCTION
READERS’ CHOICE: HAMILTON
OctO b er 20 -26, 2 017
Is it fair to give this nod to a play that didn’t exist the second before the lights came up, was performed on one night and will never be done again? Probably not, but since director Josh Nichols (and his company, Spectacles Improv Engine) and his seven-person cast succeeded in creating one of the most memorable, entertaining shows on a local stage the past 12 months, screw it. The long-form improv genre is called the Woolf, and the audience members at STAGEStheatre were as essential as the performers, as ideas were solicited from them as they entered the lobby, then filtered to the cast, who were given a simple scenario and generic character types, then told to go balance on a tightrope for 90 minutes without a net. It was brave, unpredictable, exciting and different. And that sounds like something any play, anywhere, should strive for.
it seemed very promising. And according to those who did review it, director Kari Hayter’s production absolutely delivered. Raconteurs from the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times to Broadway World and StageScene LA lavished praise on it, calling the play “richly evocative,” “visually arresting,” “emotionally arresting,” “magnificent,” “captivating” and “unforgettable.” Can so many people typing about theater ever be wrong about anything? We also heard the people who actually paid to see it really dug it as well.
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