Tootsie, the musical adaptation of the 1982 movie comedy about a difficult actor who becomes a beloved actress, begins bravely with an opening number in which bubbly ensemble members sing their enthusiasm for New York. This is brave because the number is overly bright and deliberately trite – less a parody than a spot-on reproduction […]
Archives for April 23, 2019
Review: Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven. Show runners take note.
There’s a notion these days in theatrical circles that the hallmark of a great play is that it can only be a play; that the story being told wouldn’t work in any other medium. As I was watching Rorschach Theatre’s production of Reina Hardy’s Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven, I was struck by […]
Review: Black Pearl Sings!
Like my mama used to say, just because somebody asks for something doesn’t mean you have to give it. In the case of the Alliance for New Music-Theatre’s exemplary Black Pearl Sings!, it’s a song–a song from Africa that was sung long before slavery times and held like a sacred trust then handed down to […]