There’s a moment in Shrek the Musical when the featured green ogre tells his faithful sidekick Donkey that ogres, like onions, have many layers. That’s also true of Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s staging of the musical itself, which delivers plenty of comedy, heart…and farts? Yes, the story is not afraid to get a little juvenile in […]
Monty Python’s Spamalot at Toby’s Dinner Theatre
We Americans have no creation myth (although sometimes we mythologize our creation) but Britain, having staggered forth fifteen hundred years before we did, does, and it is the legend of Arthur. In the legends of Arthur, this fifth-century King, having united the Britons in their battles against the Saxons, is thereafter charged with recovering the […]
Miracle on 34th Street
Turning a beloved film into a musical isn’t easy – certain themes are hard to translate into song, and people notice when lines and entire scenes are cut to make room for these songs.
An exceptional Les Misérables at Toby’s Dinner Theatre
Does it strike you as somehow – well, decadent – to have a sumptuous meal of shrimp, Caesar salad, chicken, pork and roast beef, topped with a generous ice cream sundae preparatory to watching a musical – a musical! – about starving people in 19th century France? If not, you ought to go see Toby […]
Toby’s gives In the Heights a fresh and sassy area debut
What did you do Mother’s Day? Just think, you could’ve seen popping, locking, breaking and tutting by some of the area’s best dancers in the first regional production of the hot Broadway musical In the Heights. You’d be hard pressed to match this Toby’s ensemble for sheer energy and verve. And they pulled that off after […]
The Wiz
It’s hard to explain America’s fascination with The Wizard of Oz other than to say it’s an enduring one. L. Frank Baum’s classic book The Wonderful World of Oz inspired a Hollywood movie and numerous stage adaptations, including some that put a unique spin on the material.
Fiddler on the Roof
A sprightly new production of the classic Broadway musical Fiddler On The Roof is now on tap at Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Columbia. While lacking the expanse of a Broadway stage, Toby’s Fiddler makes up for it with a richness in characterization and a tight sense of family that can often get lost in a larger production. […]
The Color Purple – a new musical
There’s a reason why Toby’s Dinner Theater is packing them in for Color Purple—excellent casting, beautiful vocals, and spirited direction tell a poignant story of human fortitude and redemption.
Legally Blonde the Musical
I have a confession. I love Legally Blonde the Musical. Not a vague kind of love, reserved for cute animals and free parking, and not a brooding kind of love, the way many English majors feel about Shakespeare or James Joyce.
The King and I
Now on stage at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia, the company’s production of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s classic 1951 musical The King and I is a remarkably effective revival of this exotic, tune-filled musical. Even in the limited space of a dinner theater, the production’s strong cast, decent choreography, and colorful, surprisingly elaborate costuming combine into […]
White Christmas
Politically and economically speaking, 2011 has been a pretty depressing year. That’s making it pretty tough for many folks to really get into the holiday spirit this Christmas season. But not to worry. Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia has the perfect antidote for those holiday blues with their sprightly, toe-tapping new production of White Christmas.
Annie
When I was six years old, tragedy struck. Tantrum-throwing, heart-wailing, tragedy. My beloved VHS copy of Annie had been “accidentally destroyed,” (the circumstances of which are still suspect) and I was instructed to move on to greener pastures and less obsessive pastimes. So when the opening notes of “Someday” floated through Toby’s Dinner Theatre Sunday […]