I enjoyed myself at Ivoryton’s colorful and spritely production, mostly due to a terrific cast and some very smart decisions by director/choreographer JR Bruno.

Walking into the theater the richly colored set, designed by Cristina Todesco, instantly brought the audience into a more modern Illyria than one they may have seen before.

“Drinking Bird” is full of very relevant and well thought out ideas but the execution of those ideas never really gets out of lecture territory and I found myself longing for questions but only being given the one answer.

Beyond some of the stilted dialogue, this is an emotional evening demanding our attention reflecting on the issues of life and the inevitability of death.

John Kander and Fred Ebb’s musical “The Scottsboro Boys” was not one of the duo’s more successful shows. The show opened on Broadway on Oct. 31, 2010 closed within six weeks amidst protests from people who were offended by the musical’s minstrel show themes.

Now, Playhouse on Park has chosen to take on this very timely, if possibly problematic musical, running through Aug. 4.

The (possible?) conclusion of Kate Hennig’s final installment of her Queenmaker series was one to which I was most looking forward to seeing. I had seen the first ‘The Last Wife’ at Soulpepper and the second ‘The Virgin Trial’ at Soulpepper and Montreal’s Centaur Theatre. 

“BenDeLaCreme has returned to the New York City club and cabaret scene with her latest show and like all her others it’s a doozie. Ready to be Committed is the wacky chronicle of her journey to finally tie the knot like all the greats before her.”

As Francesca says, “I want to believe we are the first to know this feeling,” and I certainly felt like I was experiencing everything right there with her.

The riveting one-man show, “Kennedy: Bobby’s Last Crusade”, written and performed by David Arrow is the current offering at The Penguin Theatre.  A perfect venue for this intimate portrait of the young politician driven by conscience and compassion.

The Q Collective is a new theatre company in St Louis. Their second production of the season is ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch.’ A perfect fit for the company focusing on the queer voice and lens in local theatre. In this time, when trans people are facing more hatred and threats, it is vital to hear and support these stories.

Written by Amina Henry, this new version of “Sleeping Beauty” updates the fairy tale with a fun and silly production that is full of heart and carries an important message.

Lovers of theatre, food, friendship and the joy one can find by fusing the three, should head over to The Rose Table and see first-hand how they can craft a space to bring more magic into their daily lives.

The one act opera in three parts celebrates the lives of ten disparate and, in a variety of ways, desperate characters who, having each reached their tipping points, decide to visit the mob-owned Stonewall Inn which is about to reach its own tipping point during the pre-ordained and politically motivated raid on the only “safe haven” for the members of the LGBTQ+ communities.

What’s most important though is bringing Irving Berlin to life and not have him feel too much like a caricature, but someone with a degree of depth. Felder achieves that depth with a delicate grace and degree of legerdemain.

Something sinister is afoot, and the line “Desperate people walk through the darkness of imagination for a glimmer of hope,” sums up the story.

Mr. Ackerman and Ms. Rebeck have built a play that thrives on vacillating between tension and comedy, living somewhere in between the audience’s conscious of comfortable backstage drama and biting political commentary on existing power structures, perfectly suited for the multi-tasking, conscious-raising audiences of America 2019.

The final offering of The Schoolhouse Theater’s 34th season is Gladstone Hollow, a mesmerizing, haunting play, written by and starring two-time Emmy award winner, Dorothy Lyman.

The bright, sunny and hot Texas summer afternoon suddenly grew chilly, dark and gloomy as the cast of Wandernook Theatre’s production of “The Addams Family” took the stage. Together, cast and crew, under the direction of Amanda Durbin, resurrected one of our favorite, ghoulishly-macabre families from the grave.

I attended The Young Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto’s Distillery District for the world premiere of the first production in the history of Canadian theatre, specifically musical theatre, of Adam Pottle’s ‘The Black Drum’, produced by The Deaf Culture Centre. After viewing a vibrant opening night production, I predict the deaf culture voice is one which will continue to make its mark within Canadian culture and particularly in the arts community.

“13 Fruitcakes” dazzles and destroys in one-two punches expertly strung along thirteen original musical vignettes depicting the queer experience across history. These thirteen scenes transport us from ancient to modern times, highlighting obscure and noteworthy LGBTQ+ figures and the prices they paid throughout their historical impact, ranging from AD 780 Korean King Hyegon.