There is much more to Yeardley Smith than most people realize. Yes, she's best-known for voicing the character of Lisa Simpson, the wise and thoughtful 8-year-old vegetarian saxophonist in the animated series The Simpsons—now the longest running sitcom in U.S. history, Smith tells us proudly. But she ...
Review
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WHEN THE WORLD WAS GREEN, A CHEF'S FABLE
The world may have been green, way back when—a bucolic paradise of blue skies, fresh air, and clear water—but man proves to be the snake in his own Eden every time, like the hymnodist's description of Ceylon, where "every prospect pleases,/And only man is vile." Dazzled ...
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The history of theatre is filled with plays that, although important and groundbreaking when written, have since become dated and somewhat irrelevant. One example is this James Kirkwood play. Adapted in 1975 from his novel, the social comedy regarding love, homosexuality, and middle-age angst has lost shock value, and to ...
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This tuneful, jokey, nostalgic entertainment, created by Roger Bean, fits in along the spectrum of recent musical revues someplace between Forever Plaid and Pump Boys and Dinettes (minus the Dinettes). Four playful lads, uniformed as Texaco service station attendants circa 1950, sing, solo or in close harmony, more than two ...
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It would seem difficult to take a cast of talented jazz and blues singers, add classic American standards, and end up with an unmitigated disaster. But that is exactly what writer-director Jerry Jones has done with his two-act revue. Billed as a tribute to deceased legend Dinah Washington, this two-hour-plus ...
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The current Broadway revival of this beloved 1964 musical has been called everything from too somber to insufficiently Jewish. How does one introduce fresh nuances into this classic without losing its simple yet powerful virtues? In director Carey Curtis Smith's by-the-book staging, it's not audacious directorial choices that ...
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Opening This Week: A Cadillac Production
Miss Saigon As the 34-year-old granddaddy of Southland Civic Light Opera companies, Fullerton Civic Light Opera is ushering in a new era. The venerable founders Jan Duncan (artistic director) and her husband, Griff Duncan (producer-manager), have gradually been getting their audiences indoctrinated to modern trends in musical theatre. FCLO is ...
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Ismail Kanater's self-created solo show, which he adapted from the story by 19th century Russian writer Nikolai Gogol, arrives with the weight of past glories draped dramatically around it. Apparently, Kanater has been performing the show—which he also directed and produced—for more than 20 years, and the ...
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Frank Sinatra was the singers' singer, and his spectacular career spans several generations of fans who still listen to his music. This production comes with a caveat: If people come to look for impersonations, they will be disappointed. A program note claims that the concert attempts to "recall the essence ...
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If battlefield promotions were handed out on intimate stages, Tracy Merrifield would have returned with stars on her shoulders after a particularly mishap-riddled outing of the show she currently appears in, Long Beach Confidential. "Any time you can have a controlled space, it's better," says Merrifield rather deliberately, primarily ...
