By EDWARD RUBIN The night I attended a live production of Jacob Storms’ one man show, Tennessee Rising: The Dawn of Tennessee Williams, held at the Cell Theater in New City, it was raining lightly. Though the playwright-actor was protected by a small overhang which covered the staging area, the umbrella holding, stage-facing audience, seated […]
By JACK LYONS North Coast Repertory Theatre (NCRT) of Solana Beach, CA., brings gifted, multiple award-winning actor Tovah Feldshuh to their stage to star in playwright Mark St. Germain’s breezy and delightful one-woman stage play Becoming Dr. Ruth in the platform streaming movie format. Ruth Westheimer, Ph.D., the diminutive (4’ 7”) munchkin-like, giggling, “grandma” image and […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) At the start of this pandemic-impacted season, New Jersey’s George Street Playhouse unveiled bold plans to present four productions. The first two were one-person shows (Bad Dates and Fully Committed) filmed at a safe home provided by executive producer Sharon Karmazin. This made sense during what was […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) It’s been a year of firsts for Summer Lyric Theatre at Tulane’s (SLT) artistic director Michael McKelvey. After a year of shutdowns and failed attempts to mount summer shows in 2020, the always inventive and superb theatrical forces he marshals (which have come together for 53 previous […]
By AARON KRAUSE Young, visionary director Giancarlo Rodaz’s winning approach in Area Stage Company’s (ASC) current unorthodox, yet triumphant production of the classic musical Annie features eight actors playing all roles. That compares to a 25-person cast in the original Broadway production. Also, the ASC production, set in an early 1930’s New York City speakeasy […]
By AARON KRAUSE While watching Drew Droege’s delightfully comic, single-character play, Bright Colors and Bold Patterns, one might wonder: Is the horizontally big fellow at the piece’s center always so boisterous? Further, how much are alcohol and drugs responsible for Gerry’s tirade? And when it comes to the dress code at a gay wedding he plans […]
By EDWARD RUBIN Tiny Beautiful Things, George Street Playhouse’s filmed play, based on Cheryl Strayed’s book, “Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar,” a 2012 collection of Strayed’s columns is beautifully brought to life by actress Laiona Michelle, who as Sugar, plays a down-to-earth, expletive-spouting advice-giving columnist. While the play’s three accompanying […]
By ALAN SMASON, Theatre Critic, WYES-TV (“Steppin’ Out”) When Heather Massie arrived on the stage of BB’s Stage Door Canteen after 14 months of postponed performances from COVID safety protocols, she did so in silhouette against a brilliant bright white background. With her back to the audience, one could only perceive a shadowy figure speaking […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) If there were any indication that the worst of the pandemic is now behind us and that a return to what we formerly considered “normal” is around the corner, then look no further than the filled seats, boisterous laughter and deafening applause emanating from the Rivertown Theaters […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Cheryl Strayed published her book “Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar” in 2012, based on several of the actual letters she had received and responded to as an advice columnist for The Rumpus, an online literary magazine. Using the street-smart sense of […]