Palm Beach Dramaworks is closing out its 18th season uncharacteristically with a comedy – John Guare’s 1971 dark farce, The House of Blue Leaves. But director J. Barry Lewis insists it is not a departure for the company. “I believe that drama is comedy and comedy is drama. I think that they are one and the same,” he says prior to a recent rehearsal. “Comedy is an … [Read more...]
Theater: The 2019 Summer Season
Summer used to be a time when local theaters went on vacation and area performers, directors and designers recharged their batteries. Nowadays, many South Florida theaters run year-round or at least have one hot weather show and/or showcases for its student training programs. So consider avoiding the summer superhero movies in favor of live theater, like the following … [Read more...]
‘Patsy Cline’ sparkles as Wick’s season-ender
Long before show business personalities had to worry about stalkers, fledgling country music star-to-be Patsy Cline forged a friendship with an emotionally needy Texas divorcee. The latter, a bubbly redhead named Louise Seger, became enamored of Cline’s twangy song stylings, heard on the radio and seen on television, never guessing where her musical obsession might lead. … [Read more...]
Tony nominations led by ‘Hadestown’; some snubs surprising
It was a busy year on Broadway this season, which means that many Tony Award categories were expanded, but also that several prominent shows and performances were snubbed when the nominations were announced this morning. Hadestown, a jazzy contemporary retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice legend, led the field with 14 nominations – nearly every category for which it was … [Read more...]
‘Lion King’ brings Kravis into circle of joy
By Dale King Big city residents often lament: “It’s a jungle out there.” Through May 5, audiences in Dreyfoos Hall at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts can shout: “It’s a jungle in here” as Disney’s The Lion King leaps onto the stage. A mix of fantastic and fantasy, this awe-inspiring performance set amid the greenery and savagery of an African grassland … [Read more...]
Standout performances lift FAU’s ‘Next to Normal’
By Dale King Leave it to students in the master of fine arts program at Florida Atlantic University to wrap up their first season — one that featured some shockingly emotional, nerve-twisting, heart-wrenching productions — with a shockingly emotional, mentally twisted finale. The show, Next to Normal, is a frank portrayal of a family in psychological crisis. The tale of … [Read more...]
Financial woes force Broward Stage Door Theatre to shut down
By Dale King About a year ago, the Broward Stage Door Theatre celebrated the fact that it was moving from its run-down, two-stage, bunker-style cement building at the rear of a shopping plaza on West Sample Road in Margate to a new, more modern, state-of-the-art theater, the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center a dozen or so miles south of the old site. The nearly … [Read more...]
Soggy, sluggish ‘Harlowe’ disappoints at FAU Theatre Lab
“Yes, it really rains onstage!” That was the promotional tagline for the stage adaptation of Singin’ in the Rain and the most interesting thing about Jennifer Lane’s Harlowe, a listless little play about healing, currently receiving a watery world premiere production at Florida Atlantic University’s Theatre Lab. As the audience enters the intimate Lab space, a … [Read more...]
At GableStage, a somber, powerful ‘The Children’
Lucy Kirkwood has life-and-death issues on her mind in her clever, thought-provoking drama The Children, but she is wily enough to wrap her themes inside a very human character study. And at GableStage, which is giving the work its area premiere, director Michael Leeds brings this somber little play to life with Laura Turnbull, Angie Radosh and David Kwiat – three of the … [Read more...]
Community theater: Jerry Herman revue delights at DB Playhouse
By Dale King Showtune, a marvelous collection of melodies crafted by Broadway composer and lyricist Jerry Herman, is entertaining near-full houses at the Delray Beach Playhouse. A half-dozen vocalists — some DBP veterans, others newer to the stage at the east end of Lake Ida Park — are assigned the task of bringing Herman’s works to life. The quick-moving program is … [Read more...]