By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out”) It seems children’s writer Roald Dahl and his dark prose will never go out of fashion. More than 30 years after his death, the genius behind tales about an improbable flying car, a wondrous chocolate factory and a giant traveling peach continues to score success with children […]
By ALAN SMASON Most lovers of literature will consider Ira Levin for his best-selling novels “Rosemary’s Baby” “The Stepford Wives,” “A Kiss Before Dying,” and “The Boys from Brazil,” all of which were transformed into successful films. But theatre lovers will almost always think of his well-crafted stage works and paramount among them is Deathtrap, which […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) When Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II set out to write Cinderella, their only musical to be aired over the nascent medium of live television, they could not have envisioned it would eventually be transformed into a full-fledged Broadway stage production nor that it would eventually be […]
By AARON KRAUSE Accurately depicting Damon Runyon’s fantasy world of colorful characters can prove a tough task. In particular, a director and his or her cast must aim for broad comedy without coming across as cartoonish. To their credit, a talented cast succeeds in several respects with MNM Theatre Company’s production of the classic 1950 […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) The debate over mainstreaming children of special needs has raged in this country for many years with advocates on both sides making their cases. Is it advantageous to make special needs children feel inclusive and not at all different by having them work side by side with […]
By ALAN SMASON If, as the adage says, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then satire must be the epitome of adoration. Two one-act plays by famed playwright Christopher Durang and another by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa have served to turn the tables for longtime fans of Tennessee Williams, accustomed as they are to themes of […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) When Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts announced two years they were mounting The Drowsy Chaperone, there were smiles on many musical theatre lovers’ faces. The reason was their previous 2011 endeavor: a joint production with Rivertown’s own artistic producers Theatre 13 – Kelly Fouchi and Gary […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) There are times when resetting a classic work in an updated time or alternative setting makes sense to breathe new life into staid works or to give them a new perspective. Take, for instance, Jonathan Miller’s 1982 production of the English National Opera’s Rigoletto. He famously moved the 16th […]
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 […]