Love Potion #1
October 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
If you need relief from the news and the economy, here’s an aspirin on an elegant platter. Staged in the elegant mini-opera house of the GALA Tivoli Theatre, the In Series’ Love Potion #1 is a heady hit to ease all headaches. It’s pure escapism, a charming satire of the glorious, well-known comic opera, The Elixir of Love (L’Elisir d’amore). [Read more...]
A Bright New Boise
October 17, 2011 By 2 Comments
Giddy-up Armageddon! could be the rallying cry for evangelical misfit Will (Michael Russotto), the sad-sack hero of Samuel D. Hunter’s A Bright New Boise, a divinely inspired heartland comedy directed by John Vreeke. [Read more...]
It Shoulda Been You
October 17, 2011 By 1 Comment
It’s nowhere near June yet love and marriage seem to be in the theatrical air as Hallowe’en approaches. On October 14th. the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey opened a new musical comedy called It Shoulda Been You with all the attendant hoopla of a Hollywood preem. Klieg lights searched the sky, a (slightly tattered) red carpet welcomed first nighters, who numbered among them Victor Garber, Michael Feinstein, John Kander, Kathleen Marshall, Producer Daryl Roth, a packet of reviewers and a bevy of regional theatre artistic directors. [Read more...]
The Book Club Play
October 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
These days, asking how someone takes their books will yield more answers than asking how they take their coffee. Hardback? Paperback? Nook? Kindle? Barnes and Noble? Amazon? iPad? Google? Walmart? Library? The used book store around the corner that has what you need more often than what you want? The avenues for reading are endless, but no matter how we now take our books, what they give us is the same. The Book Club Play reminds us why we cherish books as much as why we go to the theatre. [Read more...]
Hellspawn
October 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Plays the devil made them write
There was once a kid who lived in Cottage City, Maryland. In 1949, in fact. Research says the boy—Ronnie Hunkeler—was very “off.” A loner with classic anti-social traits, by all witnesses, he was a miscreant who enjoyed causing pain and anguish, going so far as occasionally torturing small animals, but his Swedish immigrant family was convinced the boy was demonically possessed. [Read more...]
Quien lo probo, lo sabe/Those Who Taste It, Know
October 14, 2011 By 1 Comment
Love! How do you define it? An insane passion kept Lope de Vega (1562-1635) churning out plays, sometimes a play a day. Nothing could stop this 17th century genius, once called “a monster of Nature,” from writing so truthfully about what he observed. [Read more...]
fallFRINGE opens November 1st; we talk about Good Girls, Ellery Hollow and Hugo Ball
October 14, 2011 By 1 Comment
Pretty soon, every season will be Fringe Season. What once was solely a summer phenomenon has blossomed into an all-year producing organization. This November, FallFRINGE is back! [Read more...]
Karen Zacarias on her Book Club Play
October 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
“when opening night comes … it’s like the play’s going out the door to go to college, and I’m giving it one more apple and one more kiss.”
When I finally reached DC playwright Karen Zacarías, this mother of three was in the final stages of tweaking The Book Club Play, which was on the verge of opening at Arena Stage. Previews had begun on October 7th, but the press opening — on October 13th – still loomed. [Read more...]
Breast In Show
October 13, 2011 By 1 Comment
Thanks for the mammaries. Breast wishes. Tits a Wonderful Life.
You can cry over breast cancer—or you can laugh. Composer, lyricist and playwright Joan Cushing does both—as well as pens some new tunes—in the first original musical about saving the ta-tas, Breast In Show. [Read more...]
Les Misérables cast performs Broadway Cares benefit Oct 24th in DC
October 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Members of the cast of Les Miserables
The National Tour cast of Les Misérables, currently onstage at the Kennedy Center, will step out on October 24 to present a concert to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, an organization which supports individuals afflicted by critical health issues, including but not limited to AIDS. Tickets are $15, or $10 for students. [Read more...]
