Hamilton’s national tour in New Orleans
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) SCROLL DOWN SCROLL DOWN MORE KEEP SCROLLING This is what theatre criticism looks like when theatre critics are […]
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Exquisite touring ‘My Fair Lady’ captivates at Connor Palace
By ROY BERKO What do Rogers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Frank Loesser and Cole Porter all have in common? Yes, they are all composers of American musicals, but they are also just some of those who attempted, and failed, to make George Bernard Shaw’s classical Pygamlion into a musical. At one point, Shaw had given permission […]
Teen angst, revenge entertains in ‘Mean Girls’
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Tina Fey’s success as a screenwriter for the film “Mean Girls” was supported by her husband Jeff Richmond’s music. So, when the thought of turning it into a musical began to be discussed, there was little doubt he would provide the musical links that would advance his […]
Surprising ‘Pretty Woman’ entertains Cleveland on national tour
By ROY BERKO The film “Pretty Woman,” with its signature Roy Orbison song, was originally planned to be a tale about class and prostitution, but was re-conceived into a romantic comedy and opened to both critical and audience delight. Starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, it still gets a considerable audience when it is shown […]
F-F-F-F-Formula for fun, frivolity found in ‘Frozen’
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. […]
‘Mean Girls’ tour raises high school angst to a new level
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 […]
Joyous national tour of ‘Hadestown’ opens appropriately at Saenger Theater
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) If ever there was a city with which a spiritual kinship could be forged with the national tour of Hadestown, there is little doubt it would be New Orleans. There is much in “The City That Care Forgot” which mimics the actions of those who are “Living […]
Improbable ‘Tootsie’ opens Saenger Theatre back on national tour circuit
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) There is an obvious conversation addressed early in Tootsie, the David Yazbek musical that won Santino Fontana a Leading Actor in a Musical Tony Award in 2019. In the book by Robert Horn that won him the other Tony Award for that show, the question about a […]
‘The Prom’: Old fashioned musical with contemporary moral
By ROY BERKO In 2010 a gay Mississippi high school student was banned from coming to her senior prom by the school’s Board of Education because she wanted to bring her girlfriend as her date. She challenged the ruling, which resulted in the cancellation of the prom. The student and the ACLU sued the district. The federal […]
Streaming stars of yesteryear seen in filmed reading of ‘Middletown’
By ALAN SMASON No. It’s not a latter-day Our Town. Nor is it Love Letters for couples. It is, however, somewhere in between. Streaming sales for a filmed stage reading of Dan Clancy’s Middletown are ending today and with it the last chance to see Sandy Duncan (Peter Pan), Didi Conn (“Grease”), Donny Most (“Happy […]