By AARON KRAUSE FT. LAUDERDALE — Awww, isn’t it cute how the little monkey with sad, puppy-dog eyes is sucking on a pacifier? It’s just precious! Surely, you can’t miss the image on the cover of Thinking Cap Theatre’s program for its current, impressive production of the odd, yet intriguing and relevant play, Precious Little. But…
By AARON KRAUSE CORAL GABLES, FL. — “They say America is free? What do you know here is free?” The above line is from Paula Vogel’s popular biogaphy play with music, Indecent, now running in a mostly strong, creative production at GableStage on the grounds of the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. The work is about a…
By AARON KRAUSE BOCA RATON, FL. — A director mounting an evergreen such as Annie doesn’t have to dig deep to unearth modern relevance. After all, the beloved musical theater classic contains practically every ingredient necessary to keep an audience emotionally invested. And in The Wick Theatre’s current funny, sunny and touching production, director Norb Joerder and…
By AARON KRAUSE LAUDERHILL, FL. — “…So hold this moment fast…and make this moment last.” Surely, these lyrics from La Cage Aux Folles are apropos for Stage Door Theatre’s great production of the beloved Harvey Fierstein-Jerry Herman musical, based on a French play. Unquestionably, we want to hold each moment fast and make each moment…
By AARON KRAUSE EAST HADDAM, Conn. — Goodspeed Musicals’ impressive production of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! isn’t shrouded in darkness and dismay. But, make no mistake: This mounting is unlike the buoyant, multi-award-winning 1968 film adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel, Oliver Twist. Rather, Goodspeed’s version, like David Lean’s 1948 noirish, severe, non-musical film version, more vividly communicates the…
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 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 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…
By AARON KRAUSE BOCA RATON — On the Playbill’s cover, gold, upper case letters spell out the title of the enchanting musical playing at The Wick Theatre and Costume Museum through April 8. If the gold coloring and capitalization are coincidence, they’re appropriately symbolic. That’s because we need a “Brigadoon” these days. It’s difficult not…
By AARON KRAUSE MIAMI — People attend live theater because they “feel other people’s emotions, see the world like they do,” opines a character in Dancing Lessons. The character, Senga Quinn, could easily be talking about the play in which she appears. The taut, yet meaty piece by Mark St. Germain is running through March…
By AARON KRAUSE CINCINNATI — Theater and history buffs have a rare chance in Cincinnati to witness Shakespeare like they’ve never experienced in school. Chances are, you never studied Othello in the modern, painfully-timely manner Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (CSC) is presenting the Bard’s tragedy. Folks also might not have learned about the first African American…
