Island City Stage closes out its third season with a flourish, presenting the world premiere of Daniel’s Husband by multi-award-winning South Florida playwright Michael McKeever. The play, work-shopped at ‘Jan McArt’s New Play Reading Series’ at Boca Raton’s Lynn University last winter, delves into the lives of a gay couple. Mitchell, who does not believe in gay marriage and Daniel who desperately wants to be married. After a life-altering event, both men learn that, even in an enlightened society, …more…
Archives for April 2015
Arts America Blog
Oklahoma!
April 29, 2015 by
The Wick Theatre presents the musical Oklahoma! based on the 1931 play Green Grow the Lilacs, by author Lynn Riggs. In 1943 Oklahoma! was the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. It marked a revolution in musical drama by introducing a number of new storytelling elements and techniques. Most important are its use of song and dance to further the plot, and define the …more…
BENGAL TIGER–a mental and emotional challenge at Ensemble
April 29, 2015 by
Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)
In BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO, Cleveland Heights native Rajiv Joseph’s, surreal dark play, ghosts roam the streets of Baghdad in 2003. Ghosts of soldiers, citizens, zoo animals, a son of the former ruler of the country. These ghosts are part of the vivid display of the madness of war, and what it means to be caught in the wrong place …more…
Betrayal
April 29, 2015 by
Zoetic Stage and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County are proud to present the Miami premiere of Harold Pinter’s BETRAYAL, a shattering dissection of marriage and infidelity inspired by the author’s real-life, clandestine extramarital affair in the 1960s.
Originally premiered at London’s National Theatre in 1978, BETRAYAL was immediately hailed as one of Pinter’s masterworks, winning the 1979 Olivier Award for Best New Play and becoming …more…
13th Annual Cappies Awards
April 28, 2015 by
The Critics’ Awards Program, or Cappies for short, will celebrate outstanding achievement in high school theater when students from 23 public and private schools throughout Broward and Palm Beach County vie for top honors in the 13th Annual Cappies Awards Gala on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at 7 p.m. in the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Modeled after Broadway’s Tony Awards, the Cappies Awards will …more…
Dobama’s SUPERIOR DONUTS, dessert for both the laugher and the thinker
April 26, 2015 by
Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)
Tracy Letts, the author of SUPERIOR DONUTS, now on stage at Dobama, is an accomplished playwright, actor, and screenwriter. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for his play AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. He won a Tony Award for his portrayal of George in the recent Broadway revival of WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?. He wrote screen adaptations for his plays: BUG and …more…
Brilliant IN A WORD @ Cleveland Public Theatre
April 26, 2015 by
Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association & Cleveland Critics Circle)
What are the feelings of a husband and wife when they want to conceive a child, but can’t? What are the ramifications for that childless family when they are given the opportunity to adopt the “perfect” child? What is it like when that family becomes aware that their child is autistic? How do parents cope with a child who screams when …more…
Waist Watchers The Musical!
April 24, 2015 by
The Broward Stage Door Theatre presents the musical comedy Waist Watchers The Musical!. Written by producer Alan Jacobson, the show originally premiered in October of 2007 at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre under the name Food Fight! A Musical Comedy for Waist Watchers. Set in Cook’s Women’s Gym, the show takes a lighthearted look at four adult women dealing with assorted body image issues by using some 25 popular songs with …more…
Demerits, Detentions and Dismissals
April 23, 2015 by
Underdog Productions will present Demerits, Detentions and Dismissals as part of the inaugural Fort Lauderdale Fringe Festival, Saturday, May 2, at 1:20pm and 6:50 pm in the White Box space on the downtown campus of Broward College. Utilizing the works of former teacher, slam poet champion and teaching advocate, Taylor Mali, teacher and actor Jerry Seeger conducts “class” under the tutelage of director Elena Maria Garcia, herself a teacher of acting …more…
Dames at Sea
April 22, 2015 by
The Wick Theatre presents the musical Dames at Sea as the last show of their current season. (stay tuned for their upcoming Summer productions of George M and Peter Pan!) Dames at Sea has been described as a tap-happy, navy-crazy celebration of the golden era of movie musicals with a heart as big as the ocean. This quintessential American musical was written by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller with music by …more…
The Wedding Warrior
April 21, 2015 by
Fresh off its world premiere at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, the one-woman show The Wedding Warrior will be playing the first ever Fort Lauderdale Fringe Festival, Saturday May, 2nd, 2015! Loosely based on playwright/Performer, Casey Dressler’s time working as a wedding coordinator in Islamorada, FL, The Wedding Warrior, is the tale of an unwed, 30-something, wedding coordinator in small town Key Largo who proves love truly is …more…
BAD JEWS, bad title, bad script at Actors’ Summit
April 18, 2015 by
BAD JEWS, bad title, bad script at Actors’ Summit
Roy Berko
Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle
Shortly into Actors’ Summit’s production of BAD JEWS, several things become obvious. The off-setting title was not only a turn-off for many, but was misleading. Secondly, author Joshua Harmon, self-admitted stumbler into the world of playwriting, may need a re-thinking about his career.
On the surface, the play has been described as a black comedy …more…
Anything Goes
April 17, 2015 by
The national tour of ANYTHING GOES, the new Broadway revival of Cole Porter’s timeless classic musical theatre masterpiece, will make its Fort Lauderdale premiere Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at The Broward Center for the Performing Arts for a limited two week run. Winner of the 2011 Tony Award® for Best Revival of a Musical, ANYTHING GOES sails to The Broward Center for the Performing Arts under the direction of Sean …more…
Fifty Plus – No Fear of Flying!
April 14, 2015 by
Pigs Do Fly Productions will present No Fear of Flying! – seven brand new humorous short plays – to kick off its second season. The production will run from May 7th through May 24th at Andrews Living Arts in Ft. Lauderdale. Chosen to highlight ‘vibrant, healthy people over the age of 50 doing interesting things with their lives’, the plays were selected with all audiences in mind – their first two …more…
Rock Odyssey
April 14, 2015 by
The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County closes its 2014-2015 Free Family Fest signature series with the return of ROCK ODYSSEY, a family-friendly original rock ‘n’ roll musical produced by the Arsht Center based on Homer’s Odyssey. The epic production will bring its thrilling score to the John S. and James L. Knight Concert stage on May 16 at 1:30 p.m. for one free performance.
Originally created …more…
Dial M for Murder
April 13, 2015 by
Curtain Call Playhouse, South Florida’s most active touring company, will present Dial M for Murder at various venues throughout the region through May and June. Now in their 18th year, Curtain Call Playhouse’ unique touring situation has allowed them to reach a much wider and more diverse audience than a traditional ‘one space’ theatrical company. They currently partner with the City of Boca Raton, Pompano Beach, Miramar, Sunrise, and The Township …more…
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
April 13, 2015 by
The Outre Theatre Company, with Managing Director Sabrina Lynn Gore and Artistic Director Skye Whitcomb, announces the final show of their third season, the raucous Tony nominated musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson , by Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman. This rock-musical /political satire reimagines America’s first populist president, casting him as a rock star. It creatively blends historical fact and fiction to satirize our own contemporary political landscape. An unapologetic …more…
THE TEMPEST brews up a storm at GLT
April 12, 2015 by
Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association and Cleveland Critics Circle)
William Shakespeare is considered by most experts on English language theatre as being the greatest of all writers. His vast folio of plays, consisting of tragedies, comedies, histories and dramas have lasted for over four hundred years. He is one of the few writers who has theatres, let alone festivals, dedicated exclusively to his works.
One of his last solo-written plays was …more…
CPH’s VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE entertains, but….
April 12, 2015 by
Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)
As the lights came up at the start of Cleveland Play House’s VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, the audience is exposed to a comfortable large morning room, backed up by a piano area, and stairs to an upstairs. On stage left is a patio, on stage right the house’s entrance. Were in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in a home situated on …more…
KINKY BOOTS will “Raise You Up” at the Conner Palace Theatre
April 10, 2015 by
Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)
To resounding applause, Gina Vernaci, the Executive Producer of Playhouse Square, the woman responsible for cobbling together each year’s Key Bank Broadway Series, announced at the local KINKY BOOTS’ press opening, that Cleveland’s 32,000 subscribers constituted the largest body of audience for any of the toured Broadway cities. What she didn’t share was that almost all the tickets for the local run …more…
Love Letters Starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal
April 8, 2015 by
Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal will star in the upcoming national tour of LOVE LETTERS, celebrated playwright A.R. Gurney’s enduring romance about first loves and second chances. Following a critically acclaimed Broadway run, Gregory Mosher’s production will play an exclusive Florida engagement Tuesday July 21 through Sunday, July 26, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts..
LOVE LETTERS is the story of Andrew Makepeace Ladd III (O’Neal) and Melissa Gardner …more…
Redwood Curtain
April 8, 2015 by
Primal Forces Productions will present Landford Wilson’s Redwood Curtain. This powerful commentary on the effects of war and remembrance from April 17th through May 3rd at Andrews Living Arts in Fort Lauderdale. And in keeping with the play’s theme, a percentage of the production’s revenue will be donated to Broward County’s VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Post 8195. Landford Wilson’s Redwood Curtain is a thought-provoking exploration of memories – of …more…
Anything Goes
April 5, 2015 by
The national tour of the new Broadway revival of Cole Porter’s 1934 classic musical, Anything Goes, will make its Fort Lauderdale premiere Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at The Broward Center for the Performing Arts for a limited two week run. Anything Goes features music and lyrics by Cole Porter; original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse; and new book by Timothy Crouse and …more…
Sister Act
April 2, 2015 by
Direct from Broadway, SISTER ACT, the hilarious, five-time Tony-nominated musical smash, is coming to Miami. Called “In a word, DIVINE!” by the Associated Press, SISTER ACT opens at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on April 14 for a limited engagement!
SISTER ACT closes the 2014-2015 Broadway in Miami subscription season presented by Bank of America. Produced by Whoopi Goldberg, TROIKA Entertainment and Sister Act On …more…
A Chorus Line
April 1, 2015 by
Stage Door Theatre will follow up their hit production of Cabaret with another classic musical. Their production of A Chorus Line will open April 8th and run through May 17th. One of the longest running shows of all time, A Chorus Line evolved from several workshop sessions with Broadway dancers (known as ‘gypsies’) taped by choreographer Tony Stevens. The dancers’ frank discussions, admissions, and often painful revelations about their experiences, hopes, …more…
