By EDWARD RUBIN Despite countless closings, postponements, cancellations, empty seats, COVID interventions, and the annoying requirements of having to wear a mask, present proof of a vaccination with a valid government-issued photo ID, and go through a security check, even before you enter the theatre, New York City’s theater scene appears to be chugging along, […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) One of the most unanticipated closures on Broadway due to the COVID pandemic was the announcement from the Disney Theatrical Group that Frozen: The Musical would not be reopening once it was safe to return. While the cost for the musical to be mounted at the St. […]
By ROY BERKO Vickie Bussert, the director of Lizzie: The Musical, an exploration of the Lizzie Borden story, now on stage as a joint production between Baldwin Wallace’s nationally respected Musical Theater Program and Beck Center of the Arts, is no stranger to the show. Bussert staged the show at the 14th Street Theatre, in Playhouse […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Times have been very busy both together and separately for the composing team of composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Michael Korie. The team had worked previously on the opera The Grapes of Wrath, which premiered in 2007 and was later revised and expanded in 2010. In […]
By AARON KRAUSE It is frigid these days at Palm Beach Dramaworks (PBD). Therefore, frostbite is a distinct possibility in a part of South Florida. But a warmth also emanates from PBD’s stage. It is rejuvenating, wholesome, hopeful, and healing. Could that warmth, in fact, counter the effects of frostbite? In the play, Almost, Maine, anything […]
By ANNE SIEGEL MILWAUKEE, WI – Life hasn’t been all unicorns and rainbows for the national tour of Mean Girls, which is playing in Milwaukee January 25-30. Some of its performances in other cities have been knocked out by COVID infections, including Tulsa, OK. Due to the disrupted schedule, the show has postponed its appearances […]
By JACK LYONS, Desert Local News Agatha Christie was the queen of the murder mystery genre hands down. The transfer of her novels to the stage and for viewers of the film medium only increased her fans and followers. She was the most popular author in history, second only to the Bible. However, after seven decades […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) With its current production of Cabaret finally on the boards, the Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts has achieved some major firsts for this perennial crowd pleaser by John Kander and Fred Ebb. It is their first production of 2022, albeit a delayed holdover from a hurricane-plagued […]
By JACK LYONS It is said that with age comes wisdom. It is also said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The eyes of today’s beholders are currently in love with “West Side Story”, master filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s brilliant revival and updating of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” from 16th century Italy to […]
By EDWARD RUBIN Kimberly Akimbo, the newly penned musical with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Shrek the Musical) and music by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Caroline, or Change) is the most loving, loveliest, and poignant theatrical experience of the year. Starring the invincible Victoria Clark, whose every performance is pure gold (she […]