By ALAN SMASON The last time The NOLA Project elected to mount a musical rather than tackle a comedy or drama, the award-winning production company was just three years old. That they chose Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins on the eve of the historic 2008 election which would send Barack Obama to the White House was, no […]
By AARON KRAUSE CORAL GABLES, Fla. — “If anything, the theatre is no longer a place of novelty,” says a character in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon. “The fact is, we can more or less experience anything nowadays.” The above quote could easily refer to the play itself. More accurately, this play within a play within […]
By AARON KRAUSE BOCA RATON — Depending on your point of view, and how it’s directed and acted, David Mamet’s scorcher of a play, Oleanna, is either: A work about political correctness on steroids and the fall of an Arthur Miller-like “Common Man,” or a tale about a vulnerable, seemingly-depressed female student battered and bruised […]
By AARON KRAUSE WILTON MANORS, Fla. — “I will obliterate those who oppress and repress people they do not understand,” the ambitious, young, wide-eyed, if a bit naïve, man proclaims confidently. “And I will seek justice for those who’ve been marginalized by society.” If you think such a person sounds like someone sorely needed in […]
By AARON KRAUSE MARGATE, Fla. — As you hear his one-liners zing from the mouth of one character to the ear of another, a sense of serenity and amusement envelops your body. Suddenly, fears of nuclear attacks and terrorist plots escape your body like tension from tight shoulders following a refreshing, deep-tissue massage. A sense of […]
FT. LAUDERDALE — In the wake of last Saturday’s white supremacist rally and destruction in Virginia, New City Players’ production of Sam Shepherd’s True West serves as a striking example of art reflecting a terrifying reality that seems surreal. One scene bears a frightening similarity to the kind of force and violence a shocked nation witnessed […]
By ALAN SMASON, Theatre Critic, WYES-TV (“Steppin’ Out“) Tennessee Williams was in many ways a man before his time and a man deeply concerned about his place in American theatre history. Following the successes of The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Rose Tattoo, Williams turned his attention to a project that dealt […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) With the final production of its 50th anniversary year, Summer Lyric Theatre (SLT) at Tulane has pulled off an amazing series under the helm of artistic director Michael McKelvey and “Gypsy” is the cherry on top of its sweet confectionary of Broadway classics old and new. But […]
By HARRY DUKE Musicals are the bread and butter of community theatre. They’re usually crowd pleasers and, with their large casts, can bank on a crowd of family and friends to fill a good portion of the house. They require a certain amount of space and a certain level of talent. Directors often cast for […]
By AARON KRAUSE PALO ALTO, Calif. — Award-winning Bay Area playwright and composer Min Kahng thought his discovery several years ago was “fascinating” and “unique.” It would be “fun and interesting” to adapt for the stage, he further believed. Kahng has done that. His adaptation of one of the first-ever graphic novels has opened for […]