I feel it’s necessary to point this out, because after all, there are clowns. So one might expect some pie-throwing with a show title like that. Or some mathematical musings on the nature of pi. But, there are neither. [Read more...]
Patrick & Me
July 20, 2011 By 1 Comment
Avenue Q asked the question, “What Do You Do With A B.A. In English?”
Historian Anthony Cohen asks the audience a similar question, “What do you do with a history degree?” In his one-man Fringe show, Patrick and Me, he attempts to answer the question. Lost and unsure of what he should do after college, Cohen went on a cross-country journey to not only uncover a hidden part of history, but to perhaps uncover his own identity in the process. [Read more...]
Ever So Humble
July 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A weekend motor trip through Western New York state and Connecticut brought me to Ithaca where a new comedy by Tim Pinckney was having a world premiere at the newly refurbished Hangar Theatre, a highly regarded regional theatre, now under the artistic direction of Peter Flynn. [Read more...]
Master Class
July 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Yes, Tyne Daly as “Maria Callas” is the primary reason to see this smashing revival of Terrence McNally’s play Master Class at the Manhattan Theatre Club’s Friedman Theatre on Broadway.
But I think McNally’s play has been unfairly dismissed as a star vehicle without much power of its own and, in this, I disagree. It’s filled with humor and insight and it gives a good director (and in Stephen Wadsworth he’s got one) ample room to theatricalize what is basically a fine lecture on the workings of a diva mind. [Read more...]
Kiss Me, Kate – DVD
July 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Of all the television versions of Broadway shows that seem to be appearing on DVD these days, the one that more accurately reflects the experience of seeing the show as it was on stage as any I have seen is the 1958 Hallmark Hall of Fame production of Cole Porter’s masterpiece, Kiss Me, Kate. [Read more...]
Oklahoma!
July 19, 2011 By 1 Comment
[Editor's note: Much has been written about the extraordinary production of Oklahoma!, now enjoying a return engagement at Arena Stage. We've asked our dance reviewer to look at it from her perspective.]
When choreographer Parker Esse joined the creative team of Arena Stage’s Oklahoma!, he was entering sacred territory: previous choreographers of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical include Agnes de Mille (1943 production and 1955 film) and Susan Stroman (1998 London revival and 1999 film). What impressed me the most about seeing Esse’s version last Thursday was how he retains and updates trademarks of these acclaimed artists. I left the theater thinking about how Arena Stage has created a production that is classic and at the same time contemporary. [Read more...]
Zayed and the Dream
July 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The people of the United Arab Emirates are proud of their heritage and diversity, both of which are richly celebrated in Zayed and the Dream. Presented by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage and Lebanon’s Caracalla Dance Theatre, Zayed and the Dream celebrates the life and accomplishments of the UAE’s founding father, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, through a series of scenes integrating video, dance and narrative. [Read more...]
A Wild Play
July 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
If you’re looking for an evening of escapism and suspension of belief, A Wild Play is not the show for you. If you’re looking for an evening of contemplation and art that challenges you to do more than sit sponge-like in your Fringe chair, welcome. Welcome to the jungle. [Read more...]
Table 8
July 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Table 8 is the place no one would want to sit in the fictional restaurant dramatized in Haley Brown’s play at the Redrum theater at Fort Fringe. [Read more...]
Patience
July 18, 2011 By 2 Comments
Those unfamiliar with the premise of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience can imagine a smaller scale “High School Musical” production that takes place in England during the Victorian age. Complete with a fickle gang of boy-crazy mean girls, young love, love triangles and comically impressive young men in uniform who spend all their time strutting to impress their wayward girlfriends, it would remind anyone of their own melodramatic high school. [Read more...]
