By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (‘Steppin’ Out“) When A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical opened on Broadway nearly eight weeks ago, there was some bellyaching from first night critics that book writer Anthony McCarten’s conceit of a former rock star and multi-Platinum selling songwriter in an ongoing therapy session was hardly worthy of a […]
By ROY BERKO As the run of the awe-inspiring Hamilton draws to a close at the Playhouse Square’s State Theatre, Beetlejuice, the cult-followed farcical ghostly show appears next door at the Connor Palace. The opening is ironic since the curtain-up Cleveland production of the Eddie Perfect (music and lyrics)/Scott Brown and Anthony King (book) parallels […]
By ANNE SIEGEL MILWAUKEE, WI. – January temperatures rarely rise above 30 degrees here, so indoor activities are welcomed. Local theatergoers can watch a foot-stompin,’ whooping and hollering Texas hoedown in the 1970s musical, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, courtesy of Bombshell Theatre Co. This theater company is devoted to bringing little-seen musicals to […]
By ALAN SMASON There are a plethora of plays that have become the basis of successful Broadway musicals. A classic example is Lynn Riggs’ Green Grow the Lilacs, which became Oklahoma. Thronton Wilder’s A Yonker’s Tale was rewritten to become The Matchmaker which, in turn, was made into Hello, Dolly! Despite George Bernard Shaw’s intransigence while he was alive that Pygmalion must never become […]