User Reviews

This web series was a pleasant surprise. It is billed as a dramedy and it certainly is that. I found it touching and funny, yet grounded in realism.

The Lowry Theater Company has hired a group of theater professionals to put on a new play.

This new work is called A Wonderful World and is written by Tim Haggard. Tim is a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist. In fact, he won the Pulitzer for his novel A Wonderful World. He has adapted this novel into a play and will now get an Off-Broadway run at the Lowry Theater Company. Tim Haggard is played with great comical effect by Steve Budd. He plays Tim Haggard as a letch who is constantly hitting on everything that moves. He also plays him as a man who believes the theater is fortunate to have him in its presence, yet it's his first time writing a play.

The director for A Wonderful World is Ronny Simons. Ronny is a veteran of Broadway. The back story, which is revealed at the end of the season, is that Ronny is returning to New York after having failed in Los Angeles and needs a hit play. Michael Navarro, who plays Ronny Simons, is able to make these desires palpable throughout the series. His challenge to make this show work while keeping all the personalities in check is fun to watch. This actor is subtle, yet strong and his character is the glue that ties the show together.

Enter Terry Nichols, played with alacrity by Annamarie Macleod. Terry is a star. She also has a history with Ronny. This history is revealed throughout the season. She is enamored with him and takes every opportunity to make something happen between them. Unfortunately, for Terry, Ronny doesn't return the affection. Instead, he tries to avoid her passes while keeping their professional relationship thriving. This aspect of the show is very funny. Also, Annamarie plays Teri as the diva of the theater and she expects to be treated as a star. Annamarie nails this aspect of her character.

There are several other cast members as well. Teri J. Freedman plays Jill Baynor the daughter of the theater owner. This role increases in importance throughout the season. Giovannie Espiritu plays Courtney Nguyen, an employee at the theater. The relationship between Jill and Courtney creates some moments of strong dramatic tension, well played by both actresses.

The acting ensemble for A Wonderful World is played by Rheem Abuhamdeh as Ava Wagner, Matthew Bridges as Charlie Aparcio, Deborah Joves as Sheila Monroe. Nicholas Locicero as Roger Whitaker, and Ilea Matthews as Violet Parker. These convincing actors play very specific and unique characters that give a lively color to the show.

Rounding out the cast is Katie Kimball as an honest and straightforward Pam William. Pam is a student filmmaker documenting the rehearsal process for A Wonderful World. This character puts the audience in her shoes as she gets a first hand look at all the ins and outs of a theater company. It's a nice touch to the show.

The success of EXIT Stage Left is owed to its writer/director Sinohui Hinojosa. He has created a fleshed out world with characters that come to life and pull the audience in. Kudos goes to Joel Hinojosa for the tight editing and the appropriate and catchy soundtrack, and to Thomas A. Koch for the exquisite cinematography.

I feel fortunate to have found this web series and want to spread the word. See it if you can!

The word "amateur" originally meant "one who loves." It meant someone who did something out of love rather than for financial gain. It has since come to mean a shoddy effort, or something that falls short of accepted professional standards.

"Exit Stage Left" has both elements of this word. Clearly a labor of love created by someone with a theatre background, they explore some of the more esoteric aspects of the medium, such as each actor's particular rehearsal method and how it may conflict with other actors or the director's method. Also explored is the tension between the playwright and the director.

But this willingness to explore does not make this series anything close to a piercing examination of the medium like Woody Allen's "Bullets Over Broadway," or approach the genial goofiness of "Noises Off." The writer (who also directs) has a few short film credits on IMDb, but no professional writing and directing credits that I could find. And it shows. The pace of "Exit Stage Left" is very slow and belabored, with occasional bursts of energy.

The mostly capable cast is badly misguided and not given very many funny moments to play. The lead actor, Michael Navarro, gamely tries to forge ahead with the material, but his low key, slightly self-conscious acting style cannot lift his character above the plodding script. It seems as though the only direction he was given was "smile a lot." He does a lot of smiling, but it seems mechanical, like a politician or a beauty queen. The final effect is a little creepy, making me think this guy would make a great villain someday. Steve Budd, playing the difficult writer, always seems to be trying to muster up enough confidence to make his character's ego large enough to create conflict. But his confidence is hollow and uncertain, completely undercutting one of the main story lines. And the other lead, Annamarie Macleod, lacks the creative insane spark to sustain interest in her crazy actress character. She comes off as only shrill and annoying, without the fascination that real-life actresses with that extra luminescent craziness can provide. (Where's Sean Young dressing up as Catwoman when you need her?) Oddly, Ms. Macleod shines in a fantasy sequence of a romantic dinner, becoming vulnerable and charming.

There are a few standouts in the supporting cast, Ilea Mattews, Giovannie Espiritu, and Teri J. Freedman have that innate gifted actor's sense of reality that doesn't draw attention to itself. They are never seen "trying to act," unlike the poor leads who are trying to pull the dead weight of a poor script along. And Matthew A. Bridges' unfettered gay stereotypical character is so un-self consciously played that it's a joy to behold. Plus he adds some intriguing twists to it, making him the most watchable member of the cast. And unlike the lead actors, he possesses comedic timing. This is a guy who's going places.

And the script...I had high hopes when I saw the charming tagline: "A Web Series of Theatrical Proportions." But alas, that tagline is the best piece of writing associated with this series. Again, I can feel the love of theatre in the script, but the jokes all seem to be placeholders for actual jokes yet to be written. In writing for network TV shows, it's not uncommon for a first draft to have some bits of dialogue listed as "JTC," which means "Joke To Come," to be added by the rest of the writing staff later. It seems as though "Exit Stage Left" should be retitled "JTC," since at this point it all seems like a work in progress awaiting a rewrite.

In other areas, the cinematography is clean but unimaginative. Oddly, there are no establishing shots to give us a sense of location. I mean zero. There is little to no movement for the actors - mostly they're planted in place to say their lines. The editing is awkward, although it improves with each episode. The annoying omnipresent music is bland and Muzak-like, although there's less of it in later episodes. And the directing is heavy handed and inelegant, just like the writing.

Massive Irony Alert: a series about a show beset by writing troubles and being badly directed...is actually badly written and badly directed. And, getting back to the original definition of the word "amateur," all the love in the world from this show's creators cannot save it from being a mildly tedious disaster.

P.S. I've now watched all the episodes up to 13 (the Finale). The show improves somewhat, with more movement in the blocking, and the stakes are ramped up, and I even saw limited use of an actual prop. But it still falls flat. Plus, the cast members who were the best either do not appear in later episodes at all, or have tiny parts, further diminishing the charisma quotient of the series.

I can only conclude that this was a vanity project on the part of the creator, since there appears to have been no outside quality control along the way. Say what you will about network TV, but at least they have minimum standards for acting, directing, and writing.