Stage Life
About the show
Creative Arts Lab presents a tapestry of contemporary and classic short stories, letters, comic and dramatic pieces, and reminiscences – imaginatively adapted for the stage.
... Read more'Stage Life' features the Actor, the Director, the Producer, the Critic, the Teacher, the Press Agent - even the Audience. All are revealed before the footlights and are deliciously fair game.
“An ode not only to the actor, but anyone who has ever been inspired by the theater to make it their life's work...Theater in its truest, diverse and most appreciated form...A classy, humble and entertaining piece of theater that outlines moments in time that portray the theater as something wonderful but daunting, comical yet serious all the while...The cast really does a great job with this production, as their talent, versatility and enthusiasm is all clearly palpable.” Full Review
"'Stage Life' is an ambitious and intelligent gambit...While often insightfully razor-sharp to the angsts and misgivings that congeal into a theatrical performance, it was oftentimes clotted by its own cleverness...The one act, 90-minute play packed a lot of punch in what felt like a sparring match with multiple rounds. Some of the jabs connected with more impact than others...I choose to praise the outweighed fragmented scenes that succeed rather than knock the play with its flaws." Full Review
"As conceived and adapted by Martin Tackel, 'Stage Life' is too ambitious by half. While it attempts to demonstrate its title by quoting from playwrights, actors, directors, producers, teachers, critics, et al.--and all in 90 minutes--it just keeps jumping around all over the place, without finding any focus nor rhyme or reason to the sequence of the quotes. Though some of the quoted practitioners are familiar--such as Sanford Meisner, David Belasco, and Konstantin Stanislavski--many are not." Full Review
See it if you like entertaining musicals
Don't see it if you don t like jail scenes
See it if you like a show about the theater and many aspects of actors' lives in the theater. A couple of story plots interwoven between famous quotes
Don't see it if you like a play with a plot.
Also This was a very witty show with good dialogue. Nicely acted and a very... Read more Read less
See it if Skits, anecdotes, quotations, bon mots, and vignettes attributed to writers, actors, directors, producers, and critics interest you.
Don't see it if You want a show with a single plot instead of a series of loosely connected stories.
See it if You like theater stories...Some good insights, mostly boring.
Don't see it if You want to see a play
See it if You want to try something different
Don't see it if You want to it to be memorable
See it if You absolutely love theater and want a backseat look at the theater from the perspective of the various players.
Don't see it if You want to see an actual play with a story. This is more of an omadge to the theater using quotes from famous people.
See it if You love the subject so much that a series of theatre vignette/sketch pieces by hard-working cast would delight, even if the script is weak.
Don't see it if You don't like 90-mins, no intermission, or you expect much of a plot. This work is cliched, painful at times- only a few scenes work well.
Also Saw this in EARLY previews in the Lion Theatre at Theatre Row, end of ... Read more Read less
See it if Vignettes about life in the theater. Actors their best with the script .If you are interested in stories about the theater give it a try.
Don't see it if If you expect a cohesive and well-developed script.
See it if You want to a survey of works referencing the experiences of actors and writers for the stage.
Don't see it if You want a clear story line on which to hang your point of reference. If you like clever bon mots about theater that are quotable.
Also I found that the 90 minutes were dragging on. Some scenes were borderi... Read more Read less
See it if you are very interested in the craft of acting and you want to learn more about that.
Don't see it if you are interested in a story with a plot and if you are not really interested in inside information about the craft of acting.
See it if You take a heavy sweater, The a/c is over the top and the performances are good but the vehicle the doent reallywork
Don't see it if You can find something else to do.
See it if ... you're interested in hearing theater-related quotes repeated and seeing brief vignettes ... with no purpose or reason.
Don't see it if 90 mins of drivel. If there had been an intermission, I would have left.
See it if You like to see actors working way too hard. If you want a master class in how it should be done, go just to see the scenes with Judy McLane
Don't see it if It’s only 90 minutes. Suffer through to get to some really good stuff.
Cast & Creatives (13)
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