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• The Happy Time
• Story & Book by N. Richard Nash, based on the play by Samuel Taylor
• Music by John Kander .  Lyrics by Fred Ebb
• Produced by Signature Theatre
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

Signature Theatre’s The Happy Time is a splendidly cast and well-crafted production of a fair-to-middling musical. This show was my introduction to Signature’s Ark performance space, a superb environment for intimate works, both new and forgotten, much like Signature’s former digs on Four Mile Run Road. (more…)

• Kiss of the Spider Woman
• Music by John Kander . Lyrics by Fred Ebb
• Book by Terrence McNally based on the novel by Manuel Puig
• Directed by Eric Schaeffer
• Produced by Signature Theatre
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

Seductive. Intense. Breathtaking. Kiss of the Spider Woman, Signature’s opening salvo in its Kander and Ebb Celebration, is a triumph from the opening note to the touchingly bittersweet end. The stars must have been aligned just so when director Eric Shaeffer assembled this cast and creative team - there is not a weak element here.

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• Disney High School Musical on Tour!
• Book by David Simpatico (based on the Disney Channel movie by Peter Barsocchini)
• Directed by Jeff Calhoun
• Choreographed by Lisa Stevens
• Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions at the National Theatre
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

Ah, high school … illicit drug use … teenage pregnancy … functional illiteracy, and a culture of brutish violence running the gamut from bullying to mass murder.

Not on your life! at East High in Disney’s High School Musical, (more…)

• Romeo and Juliet
• By William Shakespeare . Adapted by Nathan Weinberger and Paata Tsikurishvili
• Directed by Paata Tsikurishvili . Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili
• Produced by Synetic Theater
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili once again render Shakespeare speechless, this time in a mesmerizing retelling of Romeo and Juliet, the archetypal tale of star-crossed lovers. (more…)

• Glory Days
• Music and Lyrics by Nick Blaemire
• Book by James Gardiner
• Directed by Eric Schaeffer
• Produced by Signature Theatre
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

Glory Days, the latest gemstone on Signature’s string of world premiere musicals, is a diamond in the rough. It is 85 high-energy minutes of song with some of the smartest dialog and lyrics you’re likely to hear in any musical, let alone a pop-rock musical. (more…)

• Shlemiel the First
• Based on the story by Isaac Bashevis Singer
• Conceived & adapted by Robert Brustein
• Music by Hankus Netsky & Zalman Mlotek
• Lyrics by Arnold Weinstein
• Directed by Nick Olcott & Michael Russotto
• Produced by Theater J
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

Shlemiel the First is a triple threat: a “ho hum” score, a ham-handed book treatment, and a single set apparently last seen on the Hee Haw soundstage. The directorial baton was passed from Nick Olcott to Michael Russotto during the rehearsal period, so some of the unevenness may stem from lack of continuity.

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• Book by Joseph Stein
• Music by Jerry Bock, Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
• Directed by John Vreeke
• Produced by Olney Theatre Center
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

For those who have not seen a stage or the screen production of Fiddler or read the writings of Sholem Aleichem (which served as source material), Fiddler on the Roof is set in czarist Russia. It is a time of rapid and turbulent change, both political and social. In lofty terms, it’s about the transition from tradition society to modernity, and about forms of oppression (political, patriarchal, religious, and ethnic). In everyday terms, it’s about people struggling with family obligations, personal desires, and interpersonal conflicts while the world is going to hell in a hand-basket.   (more…)

• A Christmas Carol
• By Charles Dickens, adapted by Nathan Weinberger
• Directed by Paata Tsikurishvili and Dan Istrate
• Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili
• Produced by Synetic Theater
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

Dashing through the snow in a one horse open sleigh with the hounds of hell nipping at your heels. Synetic Theater has taken on the Dicken’s holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, and put its distinctive, ethereal stamp on the tale of the haunting and redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge. With its four ghostly visitations on Christmas Eve, the play is a natural for Synetic’s blend of minimalist dialog and visually stunning, creative illusion. It also marks Synetic’s venture into more family-friendly fright, with a smattering of lighthearted humor here and there. (more…)

• Bat Boy: The Musical
• Story and book by Keythe Farley and Brian Fleming
• Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe
• Directed by Melissa Baughman
• Produced by Landless Theatre Company
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

Bat Boy is ripped from the pages of Weekly World News.  Landless whips it up with a frothy, fun-filled production which milks every laugh by playing the story straight. Well, as straight as you can play a show with a homicidal veterinarian, a hoedown about dead cows, an inter-species animal puppet orgy, and a half-chiroptera, feral adolescent with a proper English accent and moves like Fred Astaire. (more…)

Titanic: The Musical

• Story & Book by Peter Stone
• Music & Lyrics by Maury Yeston
• Produced by Toby’s: The Dinner Theatre of Columbia
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

Occasionally, the American Theatre Wing has awarded a Tony “for adding luster to the Broadway season” (for example, Liza Minnelli in 1974). Occasionally, in a season of lackluster new musicals, an award is given pretty much for just showing up. That more or less sums up the prizes bestowed on Titanic: The Musical in 1997, which was eerily reminiscent of the kudos to Big River in 1985. Had Titanic opened one season later (in company with The Lion King, Ragtime, and Side Show among others) would it have warranted even a nomination? (more…)