Review: "The Neverending Story" at Stratford Festival
Director Jillian Kelley creates an enchanting production, with an energized pace appropriate for a quest story—and one that will keep the young people in the audience riveted.
Review: The (r)Evolution of Eddie Izzard
Perhaps all the people of the world should just go ahead and create the greatly feared New World Order everyone’s always talking about and declare Eddie Izzard its de facto leader. Now that would be wunderbar indeed.
Review: "The Lion King" - North American Tour (Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre)
Dear Touring Musicals:
My wish for all of you is to provide what Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ gave me and my 16-year-old godson on opening night at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre. Let me kindly explain why.
Review: “Three Musketeers 1941” at A.R.T/New York Theaters
“Three Musketeers 1941” was an exhilarating theatrical experience that brought classic characters into a more relevant time period without making them feel too modernized. It unflinchingly portrays the World War II era and gives us characters we can no doubt relate to as well as hope for.
Review: "The Normal Heart" at Little Theatre of Manchester
Little Theatre of Manchester has assembled together a production of Larry Kramer’s “The Naked Heart” that is exceptional community theater, giving a solid production that reminds us of the dangers of ignoring people groups that are in severe and dangerous situations.
Review: "Private Lives" at Stratford Festival
What worked extremely well at this matinee performance was the four actors’ adroit handling of the sweetly, delicious banter and repartee combined with just the right amount of silence to heighten interest in what is about to happen next.
Review: MC Theatrical Productions presents “Midnight Street”
MIDNIGHT STREET, a dramatic, perplexing new musical written and directed by Arnold L. Cohen, with music direction by Matt Castle, is currently slogging its way through a run at Theatre Row through June 22.
Off-Broadway Review: “Nomad Hotel”
With a nod (intentional/unintentional) to the genre of disillusioned youth represented by Kenneth Lonergan’s 1996 “This Is Our Youth,” Carla Ching’s “Nomad Hotel” currently running at Atlantic Theater Company Stage 2 dives headlong into the lives of a triangle of vagabond California youth yearning to belatedly separate and individuate from adults who have been less than successful in providing safe and secure environments and unconditional-nonjudgmental love.
Review: “The Armor Plays: Cinched & Strapped” at Theatre Three
Theatre Three once again showed that they have their finger on the pulse of the performing arts in DFW with a dynamic production of the relevant, poignant and thought-provoking work, “The Armor Plays: Cinched & Strapped.”
Review: “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” at Richardson Theatre Centre
Lunatic Theatre Company combined forces with Richardson Theatre Centre to bring “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” to life in an exciting Texas stage debut. The talented cast and crew they assembled delivered a highly-entertaining, dynamic performance exploring the role of racial bias in America and its ability to prematurely extinguish the blossom of young love.
Review: "Mammia Mia" at Connecticut Repertory Theatre
An exceptional leading cast of women and confident direction by Terrence Mann has made Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s production of “Mamma Mia!” a delightful show.
Review: "Little Shop of Horrors" at Stratford Festival
We need The Stratford Festival’s production of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s musical sci-fi spoof right now. A little wacky, escapist fun is good for the soul and, under the supreme direction and choreography of Donna Feore and sublime music direction of Laura Burton, this ‘Little Shop’ takes us away for two- and a-bit hours to be thoroughly entertained from the score’s first note.
Review: "The Housewives of Secaucus" at the Avenel Performing Arts Center
Meet the HOS: Housewives of Secaucus flip the script on traditional reality TV drama
Martini-fueled hair-pulling! Snarky and passive aggressive side comments! Sex scandals! Hats! What more could you possibly ask from an evening of indulging in a live version of the shows you love to hate?
Much more, it seems. And Housewives of Secaucus delivers.
Off-Broadway Review: “Dying City”
Under the playwright’s direction, the cumbersome play raises more questions than it answers and leaves the inquiring audience member desperately flipping through The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to sort out the dysfunction displayed on stage.
Review: "Invisible Tango" at the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater
Go see the one man show “Invisible Tango” starring Portuguese storyteller and master card illusionist Helder Guimarães premiers at the Geffen Playhouse. Under the direction of Frank Marshall, the performer shares his personal perspective of experiencing serendipity through telling a story about the occurrence and development of events.
Review: "Twelfth Night" at the Will Geer
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.
Review: "The Scale of Dreams: The Music of Claude Debussy"
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.
Review: "Rabbit Hole" at The NuBox
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.
Review: Vanguard Theater Company presents “Broadway Buddy Mentorship Cabaret”
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.
Review: "The Merry Wives of Windsor" at Stratford Festival
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.