By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) It seems hard to believe it’s been more than a decade since Tracy Letts won his Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Tony Award for Best Play and a similar Drama Desk Award for August: Osage County. Almost as incredulous is that this heartfelt tale of family dysfunction took […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (‘Steppin’ Out’) Given the interest in country music driven by Ken Burns’ current PBS series, it might surprise some diehard country music fans to learn mega-talented singer and songwriter Dolly Parton had actually penned an entire Broadway score of her own music. Bowing on Broadway in 2009 at the […]
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By ALAN SMASON It’s been more than 400 years since the bulk of the Bard of Stratford-on Avon’s works were written in what is referred by today’s scholars as early modern English. Some 200 years before Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in a prose described as Middle English, peppered with French idioms. The differences between what […]
By AARON KRAUSE INDIANAPOLIS — Hairspray might not offer the most in-depth examination of race and racial attitudes. Nevertheless, this big-hearted, tuneful and sweet, (yet not saccharine) Broadway favorite from 2002 remains a refreshing reminder. It’s one that we need especially today. Among other things, the multi-award-winning Hairspray reaffirms how a little activism, teamwork and solidarity can effect change […]
By ROY BERKO In its off-Broadway production, Shakespeare R&J (which is now on stage at convergence continuum) ran for a year, making it the longest running version of “Romeo and Juliet” in New York history. The piece was described as “Hot-blooded … Wrenching … pulsates with an adolescent abandon and electricity of which Romeo himself […]
By JACK LYONS, Desert Local News “Silly is as silly does,” could easily be the subtitle following the name of the current comedy/farce romp The Underpants, now on stage at the Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White stage. However, when the playwright in question is the wildly talented and brilliant Renaissance man of comedy who […]
By JACK LYONS, Desert Local News There have been many love stories written about the redemptive power of love in all its art forms: poems, songs, odes, sonnets, essays, novels, movies, and stage plays over the centuries. Be it the 2500-year-old Greek theatre with its ancient plays and their paean’s to love and war– or the […]
By ROY BERKO Kenneth Lonergan is noted for writing about decent people who are unexpectedly challenged by issues of ethics. In his Lobby Hero, now on stage at Blank Canvas, the 2016 Oscar winner for “Manchester by the Sea” specifically asks, “What happens when emotions come in conflict with principles.” The play premiered Off-Broadway in […]
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By AARON KRAUSE FT. LAUDERDALE — If you ask most people, they may tell you that they’ve always known their life can change– or end – in less time than it takes an assault riffle’s bullet to reach its target. Even so, before recent years, these folks were able to keep such knowledge out of […]
By ALAN SMASON For her first one-woman show in several years, Dorian Rush has opted to mount a most unusual presentation with producers Jonathan Mares Productions and the Jefferson Performing Arts Society. It’s all about the blues, but viewed strictly from the distaff side – 100 Years of Women in Blues. Supported by pianist and […]