There’s a certain pleasure to watching death-defying stunts, seeing frankly insane people take huge risks that put their physical well-being in danger. I often think of improv in the same way, substituting fear of heights and death for the even more crippling fear of public speaking.
Archives for December 2014
A Very Pointless Holiday Spectacular
There’s something about raunchy elves and an over the top Mrs. Claus as a potty-mouthed, grind-worthy, well-endowed and knows how to flaunt it M.C. that tickles even if the actual jokes aren’t that funny. Mrs. Claus and her cheerful cadre of talented elves brighten the holidays working with what they’ve got, which from a very […]
The Elephant Man, now at the Booth Theatre
Bernard Pomerance’s play from 1977 has been revived on Broadway for a fourteen week run, starring Bradley Cooper in the title role, which is the only big news connected with the production.
Three new movie musicals coming soon. View the trailers.
For too much of my life Hollywood executives were gun-shy about making new movies based upon Broadway musicals. Despite the occasional hit like Grease (1978), the prevailing sentiment was that such films were too narrow a niche to attract broad audiences and too old-fashioned to attract the coveted young moviegoers.
A spectacular Tempest at Shakespeare Theatre
By Act IV’s wedding masque celebrating the betrothal of Ferdinand and Miranda, I fully capitulated to the spell of enchantment director Ethan McSweeny has conjured for The Tempest, his latest work at the Shakespeare Theatre Company.
In new musical Diner, Derek Klena plays Boogie. He has one question for Mickey Rourke
Looking at the names associated with Signature’s World Premiere of Diner, it’s easy to see why many expect the show to be heading to Broadway in the not-too-distant future. There’s a score by nine-time Grammy winner Sheryl Crow, a book by Academy Award winning screenwriter Barry Levinson and it’s being directed by Tony-award winning choreographer […]
Dickens’ Christmas Carol: Paul Morella does it solo
“My goal is that they [the audience] will never look at the story the same way again. This is not your Mama’s Christmas Carol.”
Lumina stages Twelfth Night, or what they will
The moment you lay eyes on the magnificent set, you know: This is no ordinary youth production. A far, and far more professional, cry from what most of us recall of elementary school recitals, Lumina Studio Theatre brings us a delightful romp through one of Shakespeare’s cherished comedies.
A Christmas Carol, Baltimore-style
Inside the gorgeous brick edifice of the new Chesapeake Shakespeare Company home in Baltimore rises another brick edifice, this one made out of flat, painted wood but no less impressive. The handsome facades of both the real and the stage-set buildings suggest a bygone Baltimore: stately, hospitable, civilized. CSC’s new digs are an ideal home […]
Look who’s delivering a ‘how-to’ on bringing the funny
Ok theater-goers, here’s a question: What type of theater do you think is the toughest for actors and directors to get right? Ask anyone and I’m betting, dollars to doughnuts, they’ll name the weighty, thought-provoking, tear-jerking dramas. “The Miracle Worker, Death of a Salesman, or any of the Shakespearean tragedies will likely be at the […]
Madeline’s Christmas sprinkles a dash of holiday magic
Madeline—the iconic character from a series of children’s book written in the 1950s and 1960s—takes center stage at Creative Cauldron and rings in the holidays with magic and charm in Madeline’s Christmas.
Mary Poppins at Toby’s Dinner Theatre
Certainly there are elements of the much-beloved Mary Poppins tale that could, in the retelling, seem sinister. She flies in on the wind with an umbrella—not much of a departure from the black-clad ladies in pointy hats who take to the sky on brooms. She’s not overly affectionate with the children—indeed, she’s critical, demanding, and […]