By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick, the two brothers who conceived Something Rotten! and more recently wrote the music and lyrics for the musical Mrs. Doubtfire (Karey also wrote that book), probably have a tinge of pride that Something Rotten! – a sendup of Broadway musicals improbably set in…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) When most people consider the macabre work of Stephen Sondheim and his delicious sense of dark humor, they typically point to Sweeney Todd as his greatest achievement. While that may well be for most of his fans, the fact is the tale of the “demon barber of…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) When MGM was giving itself a hearty pat on the back back in 1974 with the release of their tribute movie “That’s Entertainment,” the 1952 film “Singin’ in the Rain” was given the nod as the greatest film musical in its catalog. That may have been self-serving,…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) Despite its having won a Tony Award for scenic design, The SpongeBob Musical appeared to be a lightweight entry on the season for Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts. It was, after all, based on a rather inane Nickelodeon Cable TV show that gravitated to mostly puerile interests….
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) For the second time in less than six months, The Play That Goes Wrong, the hit West End and Broadway award-winning comedy is on the boards in the Greater New Orleans area. Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, the comedy is the only one…
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, 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“) Meredith Wilson’s immortal The Music Man has been playing for the past two weeks at the Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts in Kenner, but unlike the signature song from Act One (“Ya Got Trouble”), this specific production has run without much of a hitch. It didn’t…
By ALAN SMASON, THEATRE CRITIC, WYES-TV (“Steppin’ Out“) One of the funniest comedic sketches on Saturday Night Live entailed the reading of the secret Nixon Watergate tapes in which the serious Nixon is seen to be fully cognizant that there are people listening in and he is playing to the audience. “A million? We could…
