By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) One of the most misquoted of Shakespeare’s lines is “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.” The actual line from Henry IV, Part Two is “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown,” but in the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival’s latest production of the Scottish play, […]
By AARON KRAUSE CORAL GABLES, FL. — Our desire for affirmation that others value us is sometimes as strong as our hydration needs on a sweltering day. Playwright Halley Feiffer illustrates this with penetrating insight in I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard. But praying may not be enough when others reject us. Such rejection […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) The current production of My Fair Lady at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center garnered both plaudits and boos from those familiar with the original work because of several changes made to embolden the downtrodden character of Eliza Doolittle. The producers got special permission from the […]
By AARON KRAUSE FT. LAUDERDALE — It’s funny how someone buying a white painting can nearly destroy long-lasting friendships. If you want to experience how funny, then New City Players’ intense, engrossing production of Yasmina Reza’s Tony Award winning dark comedy, Art,is required viewing. That’s partly because director Jessica Schulte skillfully finds a balance between […]
By AARON KRAUSE WILTON MANORS, Fla. — You don’t have to be gay to find resonance in Mr. Parker, a funny, touching play receiving its world premiere at Island City Stage in an all-around strong production. Mr. Renaissance Man has penned and stars in the piece. More seriously, the prolific, versatile and immensely talented South […]
By AARON KRAUSE CORAL GABLES, Fla. — So…what do Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis have in store for an encore in Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre’s much-anticipated return engagement of Million Dollar Quartet? The foursome has re-created sounds that seem more crisp and controlled, without losing the vibrancy and electricity […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Three years ago, Jim Parsons donned the heavenly robes of the Almighty and made comedy history at Studio 54 when he starred in the Broadway premiere of An Act of God, the irreverent David Javerbaum-penned vehicle. A year later in 2016, Sean Hayes, revived the show at […]
By AARON KRAUSE WILTON MANORS, FL. — A current South Florida co-production of the Pulitzer-Prize-winning musical Next to Normal is nearly next to perfection. The performers earn every tear, sniffle, gasp and laugh. That became clear during the opening night performance Thursday of this heart-shattering, drily humorous, touching production. This co-mounting between Infinite Abyss Productions and Measure […]
By LOU HARRY After operating from a converted church for decades, Indiana’s most prominent professional producer of contemporary work, the Phoenix Theatre, opened its new two-stage space with Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. While the choice doesn’t exactly fit the Phoenix’s rep for presenting new work (the musical first saw […]
By AARON KRAUSE MIAMI BEACH — Is it possible to write and stage an August Strindberg play adaptation that’s #MeToo friendly? Playwright Hilary Bettis and Miami New Drama have succeeded admirably in doing so. Patrons who enter the Colony Theatre on Miami Beach through May 6 will encounter a vastly re-imagined version of Strindberg’s naturalistic […]