Tag archives: Out of the Box

Spin on Superstar
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 9, 2024

What’s the buzz? A revolutionary rock musical presented in a revolutionary reinvention in the latest production from Out of the Box Theatre Company; which normally focuses on alternative/contemporary musicals.  Jesus Christ Superstar, the sung-through rock opus musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice that stunned Broadway in 1971, juggles the gender in the tale […]

Out of the Box and Down the Rabbit Hole
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 14, 2023

Out of the Box Theatre (OOB) has specialized in selecting off-beat, often off-Broadway contemporary musicals to mount in town in the intimate space of Center Stage Theater ever since its founding by Samantha Eve. The latest example in the universe of alternative conversation-inspiring shows is OOB’s first production of the new season, Alice by Heart, […]

Also on Local Stages This Week
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 25, 2023

Ensemble Theatre Company’s area premiere of Lucy Kirkwood’s 2016 drama The Children winds up its three-week run at the New Vic on April 23. ETC favorite helmer Jenny Sullivan directs the trio of well-traveled actors Michael Butler, Linda Purl, and Nancy Travis – all of whom are familiar to recent ETC audiences – in the […]

Out of the Box’s ‘Once’ Falling Quickly into Place 
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 18, 2023

Like every musical Out of the Box produces, Once is near and dear to company founder Samantha Eve’s heart. But its plot – the charming tale of an Irish busker musician ready to give up on his dream, the Czech immigrant in adoration of his songs, and their being drawn together by their shared love […]

Out of the Box Gets Us Out of Our Heads
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 8, 2022

Out of the Box founder Samantha Eve has always exhibited an enduring fondness for contemporary or offbeat musicals, as indicated by the nonprofit community theater company’s past productions over the last dozen years of everything from Bare to Bonnie & Clyde, and Carrie to Heathers. But in the wake of the turmoil of the last […]

An Adventure Made Up in Real Time
By Steven Libowitz   |   July 12, 2022

In recent years, Santa Barbara Improv (SBI) has added long-form format opportunities, in both workshops and performance, to its longstanding tradition of hosting weekly short-form classes and a monthly performance of the format most folks might be more familiar with via Whose Line Is It Anyway?  Now, SBI is trying something brand new for the […]

OOB’s ‘Tick….’ 
By Steven Libowitz   |   May 3, 2022

Also emerging from the pandemic for its first live theatrical production in 30 months, Out of the Box (OOB) is reviving a three-decade-old work as well, in this case tick, tick…Boom! (TTB), originally a semi-autobiographical one-man show that Jonathan Larson created in the early 1990s before his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Rent. Coincidentally, TTB […]

Kansas’ ‘Driving’ Force Ronnie Platt: From Big Rigs to Big Gigs
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 4, 2019

Rock singer Ronnie Platt had been making most of his money as a truck driver in Chicago for the better part of 25 years – singing along to Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind” and “Carry On Wayward Son” on classic rock radio in the cab – when someone forwarded him the press release indicating that […]

Commending Quaid
By Richard Mineards   |   November 29, 2018

Actor Dennis Quaid, who was in our Eden by the Beach for the FestForums annual conference at the Hilton, took time out after receiving his Lifetime Achievement Award to tour the ShelterBox tent and talk at length with chief honcho, Kerri Murray. “He is very passionate about helping kids and vulnerable children around the world,” […]

Out of the Box: Hair Today, Amélie Tomorrow
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 8, 2018

Turning Amélie into a stage musical might appear to be a fool’s mission, given that the indie French film was a surprising hit in 2001 largely because of the movie’s tone and the charms of its breakout star, Audrey Tautou. But Out of the Box (OOB) Theatre Company founder Samantha Eve thinks the recent translation […]