By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Lance E. Nichols has played many roles in his stellar movie and TV career, but the opportunity to emulate playwright August Wilson in the autobiographical work How I Learned What I Learned may be his most rewarding and meaningful stage effort to date. Wilson co-conceived and developed […]
By ROY BERKO It’s always exciting and challenging to see a “new” play script come alive in a staged production, especially by a creditable performance company. What We Look Like, now being presented at Dobama, Cleveland’s self-proclaimed off-Broadway company, is a case in point. Written by B. J. Tindal (they/them) a Black queer playwright, the script […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) In 1851, in an article written for DeBow’s Review that was published in New Orleans, Dr. Samuel Cartwright, a physician, created a pseudoscientific term he called “drapetomania.” He crafted drapetomania, from two Greek words drapetes (“runaway slaves”) and mania (madness) to explain the reason why Southern slaves […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Brian Egland wears many hats in the theatrical world – stage and film actor, singer, songwriter, photographer and director among them. But when it comes to writing, he may have established himself in very rarefied air with his most recent play Where the Suga Still Sweet, part […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) If Jersey Boys and Mamma Mia! are examples of “jukebox musicals,” then the national tour of Moulin Rouge! might be more accurately termed a “mashup musical” with snippets of songs stitched together to advance characters and plot. Where an entire song might do nicely for a jukebox musical, Moulin […]