By AARON KRAUSE BOCA RATON — There isn’t necessarily an art to dealing with difficult life situations. Rather, different people have their own way of coping with, for instance, a void in their existence. Some individuals might pretend everything is just fine. Admitting that something valuable or someone dear to them is missing might prove too…
By AARON KRAUSE BOCA RATON — Before Lin-Manuel Miranda there was Meredith Willson. Sure, Miranda’s bold use of non-traditional musical genres in Hamilton may have changed the way writers create musicals. But in the late 1950’s, theater audiences and professionals probably thought that the late, multi-talented Willson’s creative use of song in The Music Man was just as revolutionary….
By AARON KRAUSE NEW YORK, N.Y. — Dorothy Michaels is unstoppable. We learned that much in the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical adaptation of Tootsie. It is based on the popular Academy Award-nominated 1982 movie with the same title. So it comes as no surprise that, even though the musical will close on Jan. 5 after 293 performances…
By AARON KRAUSE NEW YORK, N.Y. — If you want to hear current members of the famed musical group The Temptations perform live this year, you’re out of luck. According to https://www.songkick.com/artists/499703-temptations, they aren’t touring. Moreover, organizers have not planned concerts for what is left of 2019. But you can travel back in time to the…
By AARON KRAUSE WEST PALM BEACH — Brutal reality shatters sensitivity, fragility and illusion with the force of a monster hurricane in the professional, non-profit Palm Beach Dramaworks’ highly intense, heartfelt and heartbreaking production of A Streetcar Named Desire. To be sure, in this first-rate mounting of Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, Stanley Kowalski (an…
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 AARON KRAUSE MIAMI — Do yourself a favor: Do not think about Come From Away as just another show “about 9/11.” To be sure, this remarkable true story would not exist had the terrorist attacks on one of the world’s darkest days not occurred. But Come From Away, which is hardly depressing, is about so much more…
By AARON KRAUSE WILTON MANORS, FL. — The senator proclaims his vision for America in a sunny, hopeful voice. However, the audience’s reaction is shades darker. In fact, the groans sound like die-hard fans of a beloved home team reacting with pavlovian jeers as soon as they see the arch-nemesis’ uniforms. Of course, the senator…
By AARON KRAUSE WEST PALM BEACH — As anyone familiar with John Guare’s The House of Blue Leaves knows, Hollywood songwriter wannabe Artie Shaughnessy poses a question in one of his songs. Specifically, he wonders, “Where is the devil in Evelyn?” Well, here’s another question – where is the darkness in Palm Beach Dramaworks’ production…
By AARON KRAUSE He is entering his 50th and final season as TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Artistic Director and has garnered many awards for his work with the Bay Area company. And to top off Robert Kelley’s five decades at its helm, one of the longest of any professional regional theater, the founding artistic director recently…
By AARON KRAUSE FT. LAUDERDALE — Dramamine is not one of the products for sale in the theater lobbies where the Broadway musical adaptation of Anastasia plays. But if you are prone to motion sickness or equilibrium disturbances, you may want to consider asking your doctor or pharmacist about taking medication before attending. To be sure, nothing…
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…
