Every time I visit the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, I feel as if I am on vacation. Set among ancient oak trees in the bucolic Topanga Canyon, this is by far the most picturesque outdoor amphitheater in Southern California.
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Hershey Felder has brought to life everyone from Beethoven to Irving Berlin in his biographical musicals. Currently at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, he takes audiences on his own personal journey, while exploring the life and music of Impressionist composer Claude Debussy.
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This “close-up theater” version of the play, a term coined by it’s director John DeSotelle, allows the audience to feel as if they are sitting in the Corbett’s living room with them while they navigate a life in which their son is painfully absent.
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Vanguard Theater Company's Broadway Buddy Mentorship Program offers emerging musical theater artists, ages 12 - 25, a unique opportunity for on-on-one mentorship with some of Broadway's most accomplished and rising performers, that culminated in a once in a lifetime cabaret performance on June 3, 2019, at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space.
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A rollicking new version of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor swept through the Festival theatre Saturday night as patrons were treated to an evening of bellicose laughter. Many academics agree that this is not Shakespeare’s best work – perhaps rushed writing. But on this night a colleague correctly reminded me that, still, it is Shakespeare.
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It could be argued that everyone has an addiction. It can be as common as drugs or alcohol; it could be more culturally acceptable, like television or video games. Even science and religion can become a person’s addiction.
In Dave Malloy’s new musical, “Octet,” recently extended to June 30 at the Pershing Square Signature Center, he addresses one of the more recent growing addictions, personal technology.
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Kate Hamill’s retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” plays at Primary Stages at an auspicious time. Amid unprecedented national and political division, issues of gender identity, gender equality, and gender protection continue to be critically important.
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Every theater-goer knows that they’re in for a treat when they get to see Avenue Q, and that’s exactly what the CT Arts Player’s production of the show was: a treat! It’s truly a show that never gets old. I have seen a few productions of Avenue Q throughout my life, but now that I’m a young adult, I definitely connected to the show in ways I hadn’t before.
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While not their best of the season, perhaps, it was nonetheless a fun finale to their 2019 series of show, and bound to be something that Millennials and Boomers alike would certainly enjoy seeing.
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A poignant exploration of life, love, and loss, Emanuele Aldrovandi’s “Butterflies,” making its United States premiere currently at The Tank through June 8, unfolds over the next ninety minutes as a rollercoaster of blunt dialogue mashed with symbolic theatricality, a masterclass in heartbreaking coming of age vignettes.
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In Casa Manana’s capable hands, under the direction of Courtney Young, the talented cast and crew of “The Producers” crafted a show steeped in Mel Brooks’ signature style and backed it with turbocharged choreography and precision comedic timing.
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Consent and truth. What do these words mean to two people who recently met, went to a party, have sex afterward, and then one of them accuses the other of rape?
In her play, “Actually,” playing through June 23 as part of TheaterWorks Hartford’s residency at The Wadsworth Atheneum, Anna Ziegler attempts to challenge our assumptions of consent by making us look at the social, racial, and gender politics that arise when a night of irresponsible behavior ends with two young Princeton students in bed. The next morning, something has happened that will change both their lives forever.
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New Line Theatre closes its 28th season with a bit of history. Known for producing edgy shows with loyal followings ‘Be More Chill’ was a perfect fit. They secured the rights, and then the show exploded in popularity after a sold-out Off-Broadway run and Broadway transfer. This does not usually happen, but a local theatre is legally doing a show that is also currently running on Broadway.
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Cold Blooded Witch: The Sex Musical is a one-woman show that’s earned its place in the biggest Fringe Festival in the world. It’s a fantastic opportunity to watch an actor and up-and-coming comedian tell a story that you, quite literally, will not hear anywhere else. It is superbly expounded, thoughtfully presented, and damn funny to boot.
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Under Arin Arbus’s exquisite direction (Broadway debut), Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon play to perfection the EveryMan, EveryWoman, EveryOne seeking to overcome their finitude and fallibility to connect with another person in a meaningful way and establish a non-judgmental relationship against all odds.
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Just as Toronto Raptors fans were tearing up Yonge Street on the way to the NBA final this weekend, Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County was burning up the distillery district as it opens its run at Soulpepper Theatre. The searing portrait of a Dysfunctional American family (and the capital D is purposeful) makes Macbeth look like just another episode of Full House.
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For me, the reward of having an expectation of the truth captured on stage for nearly two hours and forty minutes is exhilarating to say the least. It doesn’t matter if the production is either professional or non-professional. The actor must continually strive to play the truth at all costs.
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Margot Bordelon directs “Something Clean” with the briskness of a broom that sweeps across Reid Thompson’s relatively expansive set in the Black Box Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. He cleverly divides the spaces between the Center and the Walker homestead with carpet tiles of differing subdued colors and provides three exits for the actors to accommodate the play’s rapid-firing short scenes.
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Rumour buzzed about Stratford that Sir Elton John was to have been in town for the opening of ‘Billy Elliott’. He wasn’t present, but what an exhilarating feeling instead in seeing a young performer’s talent soar past the roof of the Festival Theatre. Look out, world, there is Nolen Dubuc who is on his way in becoming a Canadian performer to hit the stages of North America and the world.
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Yes, “Godspell” is an enjoyable and silly showcase, but under all the merriment Hubbard’s production is smart and thoughtful in the ways it makes the show feel like a piece that belongs in 2019. The show opens to news reports about global warming, North Korea and immigration. One parable includes mention of equal pay for equal work, and there are a few prerequisite Trump jabs. But the most politically-minded thing isn’t the new soundbites and jokes, it’s the seamlessly diverse group Hubbard has assembled to retell these timeless biblical messages of inclusion and peace.
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