By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Author Mark Haddon created a best-selling novel 20 years ago in Great Britain with “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” a book whose narrator is a 15-year-old savant boy with autism. The simple premise of the work is to transport the reader into the […]
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By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) There is an adage well known to pharmacists and those familiar with shampoo. The directions “repeat when necessary” come to mind for a great many things, but with the current joint production of the NOLA Project and the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) of Shakespeare’s “A […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Despite its having won a Tony Award for scenic design, The SpongeBob Musical appeared to be a lightweight entry on the season for Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts. It was, after all, based on a rather inane Nickelodeon Cable TV show that gravitated to mostly puerile interests. […]
By ROY BERKO The setting in which a musical production takes place, often affects the pleasure one gets from the experience. A perfect case in point is Ain’t Misbehavin’ presently being staged by Great Lakes Theater (GLT) in its intimate Hanna Theatre home. Ain’t Misbehavin’ is a musical tribute which celebrates Fats Waller and his music. […]
(NEW YORK) – Tony Awards nominations were announced this morning by Lea Michele and 2022 Tony Award winner Myles Frost. The full list of nominations follows. A total of 38 shows were eligible for Tony Awards, having opened between April 29, 2022 and April 27, 2023. Some Like It Hot, based on the 1959 Billy Wilder […]
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 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 […]
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By EDWARD RUBIN Pictures from Home currently running thru April 30 is the most delightful and thought-provoking play currently gracing the Broadway stages at this very moment. Featuring the tried-and-true Danny Burstein, Nathan Lane, and Zoë Wanamaker – three stellar actors at their very best – the play is wowing audiences with loads of laughter, […]