By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic It’s not going to reshape your concept of the Founding Fathers through inventive use of choreography and hip hop music. It’s not going to give you insight into how a fictional visitor from Kansas to a strange and distant land might be reset from her antagonist’s view. Neither will […]
By ANNE SIEGEL MILWAUKEE, WI. – Race-based violence – especially against young Black men – is not unknown in this Midwest city, although most of the conflicts seen on the local TV news seem confined to certain parts of the inner city. When George Floyd died in 2020, Milwaukee was at the forefront of social […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) It wasn’t that long ago when theaters were shuttered and charges were leveled at many theatrical institutions for a perceived lack of equity, diversity and inclusivity. While much work still remains to be done in that area, Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts has taken a bold […]
By ALAN SMASON Tennessee Williams’ last play on Broadway was the terribly titled Clothes for a Summer Hotel, which lasted for 14 performances before it shut down. The play bears the explanatory subtitle “A Ghost Play” and that should have given critics and audiences alike an explanation that the historic characters being portrayed – specifically […]
By ANNE SIEGEL CHICAGO – It’s no secret that the recent opening of The Devil Wears Prada is a mere precursor to its 2023 Broadway run. Although no dates, theater or cast has been announced for the New York run, it’s a given that this new musical version of the hit 2006 film that starred […]
By ROY BERKO In the fall of 1957, I had a mind-blowing experience. I saw the newly opened Broadway production of West Side Story. At the time, all I knew about the show was that it was based on Romeo and Juliet and it had opened to positive reviews two days before. I left the show with […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) One of British playwright Pam Gems’ early stage successes was Dead Fish, which has since been renamed Dusa, Fish, Stas & Vi. First seen as a part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1976, Dusa, Fish, Stas & Vi was a unique feminist play dealing with real-world issues […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Since its founding, the mission of the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company (TWTC) has been to tell the stories of New Orleans’ best known playwright in bold and expressive ways. In addition to presenting well known pieces from his repertoire, the company’s two artistic directors, Augustin J. Correro […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) When the musical Mrs. Doubtfire was preparing to open in 2020, the show became a victim of the forced lockdown of all theaters in New York. When COVID restrictions were relaxed and it finally opened in December of 2021 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, producers had hoped the […]
By EDWARD RUBIN I seem to remember reading, in all of the hoopla surrounding the Baryshnikov Art Center’s Production of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, somebody saying “Unlike anything that you ever saw before.” This talking head could also have said, as audiences were soon to find out, that this production, adapted, created, reimagined and directed […]