Costa Mesa Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations

Review: Jason Alexander Leads Outstanding FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at La Mirada Theatre
by Michael Quintos - November 15, 2024

Led by a brilliant performance by Jason Alexander, this lively, emotionally-grounded, classic-leaning staging still somehow manages to feel fresh, reinvigorated, and much more searing than prior iterations.This latest SoCal-area revival of the landmark 1964 musical—here directed by Lonny Price—is, a...

Review: South Coast Repertory Presents World Premiere Play JOAN
by Michael Quintos - November 11, 2024

Featuring a remarkable, gutsy performance by Tessa Auberjonois as the legendary comedienne, JOAN is an absorbing and hilarious new work that also feels like an on-going work-in-progress. The world premiere production continues performances at South Coast Repertory through November 24, 2024....

Review: Eric McCormack and Laura Bell Bundy Reunite for OC Cabaret at Segerstrom Arts
by Michael Quintos - October 24, 2024

Eric McCormick and Laura Bell Bundy recently stopped by Segerstrom Center of the Arts to present the OC debut of their cabaret show “A Blonde, A Brunette, and Some Duets: From Primetime to Sondheim,” a fun and cheeky night of silly songs and even sillier stories for a limited three-night engagement ...

Review: Musical Theatre West Presents Spirited AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'
by Michael Quintos - October 23, 2024

Structured as a non-stop song-and-dance revue without any dialogue, the Fats Waller tribute musical relies on its spunky live band and its crazy-good, five-person cast to sing a songbook filled with (mostly) joyful and (some) sorrowful jazz tunes. The show continues through Nov. 3, 2024 at the Carpe...

Review: Chance Theater Presents OC Premiere of Dark Comedy GLORIA
by Michael Quintos - October 11, 2024

Offering a sharp and multi-layered commentary on modern workplace culture, unchecked ambition, and the public-stoked commodification of trauma, playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' intriguing play GLORIA—a riveting new dark comedy that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize—is currently having its OC p...

Review: South Coast Repertory Presents LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
by Michael Quintos - October 04, 2024

For SCR's impressive, must-see local revival, the show gets a hyper-hybrid treatment that combines nostalgic elements inspired by the original but infused with 21st-century sass and sensibilities. Alongside its visual splendor, the show also features a superb ensemble cast, resulting in a blissfully...

Review: OC's Segerstrom Center Welcomes MRS. DOUBTFIRE Musical
by Michael Quintos - October 02, 2024

As silly and nostalgic as one might expect, the stage musical adaptation of MRS. DOUBTFIRE—based on the beloved 1993 hit film—has finally arrived to say 'hellooooo' to audiences at OC's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, where its national tour stop featuring Tony nominee Rob McClure cont...

Review: La Mirada Theatre Serves Up A Satisfying Slice with WAITRESS
by Michael Quintos - September 26, 2024

Now having its So. California Regional premiere production at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts thru Oct. 13, 2024, this funny, endearing, and ultimately empowering show is easily, hands-down, this critic's favorite iteration of this musical—in no small part thanks to Desi Oakley's return to...

Review: Tony Award Winner Joaquina Kalukango Makes Segerstrom Center Cabaret Debut
by Michael Quintos - September 24, 2024

Blessed with jawdroppingly gorgeous vocals, Tony Award winner Joaquina Kalukango—accompanied by music director Michael Orland—wows in her West Coast solo concert debut at OC's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa to kick off their 2024-2025 Cabaret Series....

Review: A Delightful, Reimagined PETER PAN Musical Flies Into OC's Segerstrom Center
by Michael Quintos - August 14, 2024

Aimed at offering a more progressive framework that tweaks the infamous story, this admirable revised version reflects a purposefully modern approach to the classic story, attempting to balance the original's charm and whimsy with contemporary sensibilities. This brand new national tour continues at...

Review: Hollywood Bowl Celebrates Boublil and Schonberg Musicals
by Michael Quintos - August 06, 2024

Filled with incredible showstoppers, many familiar theatrical staples, and some exquisite singing from an all-star cast of theater vets, this well-curated “greatest hits” concert honoring Boublil and Schonberg was a fitting, glorious celebration of the creative partnership responsible for two of the...

Review: South Coast Repertory Presents THE OLD MAN AND THE OLD MOON
by Michael Quintos - August 02, 2024

Originally created by PigPen Theatre Co., this engaging, creatively quirky play with music requires audiences to concentrate intently to follow the outrageous tale that involves expansive world-building and a seemingly endless cavalcade of eccentric characters. The family-friendly fantasy continues ...

Review: Musical Theatre West Stages Exuberant Production of Disney's NEWSIES
by Michael Quintos - July 25, 2024

Filled with high-energy singing and dancing that explodes out of an inspirational story based on real events, MTW's new production of this Disney stage musical is a guaranteed fun time, thanks to a terrific ensemble, and memorable music from Alan Menken and Jack Feldman. The show continues at the Ca...

Review: Hollywood Bowl Celebrates Henry Mancini with Cynthia Erivo, Michael Bublé, & More
by Michael Quintos - June 25, 2024

For its opening night of its 2024 season, the Hollywood Bowl presented a musical celebration of composer Henry Mancini’s 100th Birthday with a concert featuring the Hollywood Bowl orchestra—under the direction of principal conductor Thomas Wilkins and welcomed special guest artists Michael Bublé, Da...

Review: Disney's Enchanting THE LITTLE MERMAID Swims Back to the La Mirada Theatre
by Michael Quintos - June 10, 2024

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts' mesmerizing, visually-stunning 2016 production of Disney's stage adaptation of THE LITTLE MERMAID has returned for a limited engagement continuing through June 23, 2024. Filled with colorful costumes and sets and soaring mermaids, this spectacular show will...

Review: Katerina McCrimmon's Star Shines Bright in FUNNY GIRL Revival at Segerstrom Center
by Michael Quintos - June 04, 2024

This 2022 revival of the 1964 musical is quite enjoyable, not because of its new changes (via director Michael Mayer and Harvey Fierstein's new book) but thanks mostly to its lead star McCrimmon, who is reason enough to see this touring iteration. The show continues at Segerstrom Center for the Arts...

Review: Seth Rudetsky presents Tony Winner Lillias White at OC's Segerstrom Center
by Michael Quintos - May 31, 2024

To close out their 2023-2024 Series, Segerstrom Center welcomed theater aficionado Seth Rudetsky to serve as an interviewer/pianist for Tony Award winner Lillias White for three shows May 16-18, 2024 in one of the most incredibly wonderful, fan-favoring shows that the OC arts campus has ever hosted ...

Review: Chance Theater Stages OC Premiere of ALMA
by Michael Quintos - May 24, 2024

Having its OC Premiere at Chance Theater in Anaheim, CA through May 31, ALMA—the touching, poignant, and very timely play written by Benjamin Benne—delves dramatically into the complex, sometimes contentious, but achingly relatable relationship between a struggling single immigrant mother and her sm...

Review: Tony Award Winner Matt Doyle Makes Segerstrom Center Cabaret Debut
by Michael Quintos - May 20, 2024

Matt Doyle—the 2022 Tony Award winner for his gender-bent role of Jaime in the Broadway revival of COMPANY—made his Segerstrom Center for the Arts Cabaret Series debut over a three-night engagement that began on May 2, 2024 with an incredible set that showcased his amazing vocal talents and his char...

Review: South Coast Repertory Presents World Premiere Play GALILEE, 34
by Michael Quintos - May 05, 2024

Eleanor Burgess’ brilliant, thoughtful, and often bitingly funny GALILEE, 34—currently having its impressive world premiere production at South Coast Repertory through May 12, 2024—is a humorously insightful, beautifully-performed new play that offers an unreliably revisionist examination of suppose...

Review: A Triumphant JERSEY BOYS Debuts at the La Mirada Theatre
by Michael Quintos - April 26, 2024

A brand-new, reimagined regional iteration of the Tony-winning 2005 musical JERSEY BOYS now at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts is exceeding all expectations. Featuring a superb ensemble cast performing The Four Seasons' greatest hits, this spectacular, high-energy, crowd-pleasing produ...

Review: PRELUDE TO A KISS Returns to South Coast Repertory as a World Premiere Musical
by Michael Quintos - April 23, 2024

Based on Craig Lucas' 1988 play and 1992 film adaptation of the same name, PRELUDE TO A KISS - THE MUSICAL is an admirable first attempt of a new musical that is, clearly, still a work-in-progress. In its current state, this genuinely charming but disjointed musical could use a sharp refocus and som...

Review: Wildly Over-the-top BEETLEJUICE - THE MUSICAL Spooks Laughs at OC's Segerstrom Center
by Michael Quintos - April 22, 2024

Adapted from the 1988 Tim Burton cult classic, BEETLEJUICE - THE MUSICAL is an over-the-top, chaotic, and wildly unhinged reimagining that amps up the kooky-ness of its source material a thousand-fold. Mostly funny and entertaining despite its tonal shifts and forced outlandishness, the show elicits...

Review: Musical Theatre West Brings MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET Back to Life in Long Beach
by Michael Quintos - April 19, 2024

More like one elongated impromptu jam session than a typical musical, Musical Theatre West's new production of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET doesn't involve a complex storyline, but instead focuses on imagining what it must have been like to be in the room where music history happened. The resulting concer...

Review: All-Star Cast Shines in A BROADWAY BIRTHDAY Celebrating Sondheim and Lloyd Webber
by Michael Quintos - April 10, 2024

A talented collection of Broadway vets led by Tony winner Betty Buckley gathered together for a one-night-only concert 'A BROADWAY BIRTHDAY: SONDHEIM, LLOYD WEBBER, AND FRIENDS' at Segerstrom Concert Hall on March 28, 2024 to celebrate the legacy—and coincidental same birthdate—of musical theater ro...