By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) It’s been a year of firsts for Summer Lyric Theatre at Tulane’s (SLT) artistic director Michael McKelvey. After a year of shutdowns and failed attempts to mount summer shows in 2020, the always inventive and superb theatrical forces he marshals (which have come together for 53 previous […]
By JACK LYONS If this COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, then it’s forced the American viewing public to think outside the traditional creative arts box when it comes to entertainment. “Streaming” was not a familiar term a couple of years or so ago, unless one was speaking of water or possibly flags streaming in […]
By AARON KRAUSE While watching Drew Droege’s delightfully comic, single-character play, Bright Colors and Bold Patterns, one might wonder: Is the horizontally big fellow at the piece’s center always so boisterous? Further, how much are alcohol and drugs responsible for Gerry’s tirade? And when it comes to the dress code at a gay wedding he plans […]
By EDWARD RUBIN Tiny Beautiful Things, George Street Playhouse’s filmed play, based on Cheryl Strayed’s book, “Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar,” a 2012 collection of Strayed’s columns is beautifully brought to life by actress Laiona Michelle, who as Sugar, plays a down-to-earth, expletive-spouting advice-giving columnist. While the play’s three accompanying […]
By ALAN SMASON, Theatre Critic, WYES-TV (“Steppin’ Out”) When Heather Massie arrived on the stage of BB’s Stage Door Canteen after 14 months of postponed performances from COVID safety protocols, she did so in silhouette against a brilliant bright white background. With her back to the audience, one could only perceive a shadowy figure speaking […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) If there were any indication that the worst of the pandemic is now behind us and that a return to what we formerly considered “normal” is around the corner, then look no further than the filled seats, boisterous laughter and deafening applause emanating from the Rivertown Theaters […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Cheryl Strayed published her book “Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar” in 2012, based on several of the actual letters she had received and responded to as an advice columnist for The Rumpus, an online literary magazine. Using the street-smart sense of […]
By AARON KRAUSE When it comes to musicals, A Bronx Tale is not one of the great ones. Still, it’s a crowd-pleasing, familiar tale populated by characters we care about. Surely, you don’t have to be Italian or African-American to feel a kinship with folks such as Calogero, Sonny, Lorenzo, Jane, and a host of other colorful […]
By JACK LYONS Ernest Hemingway, the American novelist and author, became a giant of American 20th century literature. His style was new in the early 1920s. It was fresh and it was largely embraced by readers. In his later years he loved being called “Papa” by his friends and admirers, which were legion. But his admirers never […]
By AARON KRAUSE “What are you doing to promote equality?” a black college student demands of her white professor in Eleanor Burgess’s taut, intense, timely drama The Niceties. The professional, non-profit Island City Stage (ICS) is giving the piece a mostly commendable production now through April 25. Those who wish to see the play live and […]