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 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 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, Desert Local News The Desert Ensemble Theatre Company (DETC) of Palm Springs launched its 2021-2022 season in its new home at Theatre # 3, inside the Palm Springs Cultural Center with the poignant drama The Beebo Brinker Chronicles on Friday, December 10, 2021. The award-winning theatrical company founded by playwright and director […]
By JACK LYONS, Desert Local News Live theaters all over the country are mounting their various holiday versions of Christmas-themed plays and musicals. The Palm Canyon Theatre, the city’s oldest live theatre, is no exception when it comes to presenting classical Christmas entertainment to its audiences. The Sound of Music is a show that the whole […]
By JACK LYONS, The world of theatre can become a transformative experience for many in the audience as each person views the production through different lenses at the same time. What is funny to one audience member may be off-putting to another. CV REP, one of the leading Equity theatre companies in the Coachella Valley, re-opened […]
By ANNE SIEGEL MILWAUKEE, WI – It may seem unusual for the state’s largest performing arts organization to open its doors after the pandemic with a comedy from the genteel South. Yet, a closer look at this production of Steel Magnolias offers something that the audience has been missing for almost two years. That’s the […]
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 […]