Dana Martin – Stage Raw. …Mean Girls is updated from the movie in order to reflect an era of smartphones and selfies but still manages to feel dated. Even the most feared book in school, the almighty Burn Book, loses a bit of its sting. Yet — Mean Girls doesn’t talk down to its audience and … Read more
Don Shirley – Angeles Stage The ‘Mean’ musical. Mean men in ‘Angry’ and ‘Brothers’. The missing mean in ‘Home Front’. Theater community rallies ’round CA arts funding and massacre survivors. The word “mean” means so many different things. It’s a verb, as in the above sentence, but it also can be an adjective and a … Read more
Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld. Directed and choreographed by Tony winner Casey Nicholaw, the musical is colorful and energetic and snarky and heartfelt all at once. He gets fantastic performances from his actors and the flow from rocking to reflective in the musical sequences is smoothly done. His choreography is jaw dropping at times, especially when … Read more
Dana Martin – Stage Raw Prom night is a big theme at the Ahmanson this season, what with the January’s production of Everybody’s Talking about Jamie, and now The Prom (book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin, music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Chad Beguelin), which is the very model of a clichéd musical. The show aims to … Read more