By ANNE SIEGEL (Ashland, OREGON) – Water by the Spoonful is perhaps even more relevant today than when it was staged at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2014. The play initially appeared at the complex’s intimate Thomas Theatre, under the smart direction of Shishir Kurup. It was filmed in front of a live audience. Written […]
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By AARON KRAUSE A story that is ripe with rich, raw, and real emotion is often a tale worth musicalizing. Certainly, Frank McCourt’s award-winning memoir, “Angela’s Ashes,” is a work that fits into that category. Fortunately, composer/lyricist Adam Howell, and librettist Paul Hurt saw the musical possibilities in McCourt’s self-described “epic of woe,” a best-seller […]
By ANNE SIEGEL SPRING GREEN, WI. – This summer, while audiences were flocking to the large, outdoor theater to view Shakespeare under the stars, another small miracle was taking place inside the intimate (200-seat) Touchstone Theatre. American Players Theatre (APT), which operates these two venues, welcomed far smaller crowds to see An Iliad. The APT […]
By AARON KRAUSE “Hello Broadway. Gee, you’re good to see. You look good to me,” theatrical legend George M. Cohan sings. Well, George, you sure do look and sound spry yourself, considering that you’ve been dead almost 80 years. And it’s great to see you, too…especially now, as we anticipate a return to live, in-person […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) When the notices first went out proclaiming an upcoming production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard at Slidell’s Cutting Edge Theater, there might well have been some doubt as to whether the upstart company could properly carry it off. Based on the classic Oscar-winning Billy Wilder film, the […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Rob Ulin must be a very happy man. He obviously has been saying his prayers and living a proper and pious life. That must be the case because his play Judgment Day recently enjoyed a filmed reading as a benefit for the Barrington Stage Company recently and three […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Watch out, Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs, there are two dudes named Antipholus who are being confused for one another in the South Beach area of Ephesus. Adding to this gnarly situation are two Dromios, each of whom resemble a certain surfer and legendary stoner named Spiccoli. […]
By ANNE SIEGEL Under a towering grove of old growth trees, on an exceptionally balmy evening, the Summit Players were hurriedly making preparations for their production of free Shakespeare in Wisconsin parks. This year they are presenting one of the Bard’s lesser-known plays, The Winter’s Tale. Including 2020, when the pandemic forced them to cancel […]
By AARON KRAUSE Wolf and Badger, a taut, intense drama receiving a mostly strong world premiere production at the professional Main Street Players in Miami Lakes, presents a sobering reminder of the potentially grave consequences of drug use. The riveting, realistic production runs through Aug. 29 in Main Street Players’ intimate playing space. Folks also […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Jill Conner Browne has transformed herself into the head of a giant cottage industry of self-aware and loudly proud plus-sized and older aged women, all of whom want what she is selling. In short, it’s the ability to live out their lives without having to answer to […]