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...]
Maltz’s ‘West Side Story’ will reflect current anti-immigrant climate
Puerto Rico-born Marcos Santana has long admired the musical West Side Story, yet he finds it unbalanced. “The Jets definitely have more presence through the entire play than the Sharks,” he says, referring to the American street gang versus those who grew up in his native island. “I still love this show, but there was always something inside of me saying, ‘This … [Read more...]
Exemplary Maltz cast brings Ibsen up to date
Sequels are the all-too-frequent domain of the movies, but relatively rare in the theater except for Shakespeare and his history plays. Still, Henrik Ibsen seemed to be expecting a follow-up to A Doll’s House, with its famous final door-slamming ending, one of modern drama’s most renowned cliffhangers. What did happen to Nora Helmer after she walked out on her husband … [Read more...]
Nora’s back: Ibsen revisited, at the Maltz
In 1879, when feminist Nora Helmer – the main character in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House – slammed the front door and walked out on her husband and family, it is generally agreed that she opened another door, to the start of modern drama. Ibsen’s play ended there, but what happened to Nora afterwards, as she tried to forge a life as a single woman in a Norwegian society … [Read more...]
Maltz’s ‘Mamma Mia!’ exuberant and delightful
There’s a party going on at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, a high-energy, high-stepping blast grafted onto a score of pre-existing hit songs by the Swedish pop rock group ABBA. And it goes by the name of Mamma Mia! As long as you do not mind that this show’s musical numbers only occasionally seem specific to the story line, you can have a giddy, good time at Mamma Mia’s … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Jan. 18-20
Film: You would be understandably wary of the latest John C. Reilly movie if you made the mistake of seeing Holmes & Watson recently, but his latest buddy picture, Stan & Ollie, is really quite entertaining. No, really. Reilly plays Oliver Hardy to Steve Coogan’s Stan Laurel in a biography that focuses on the latter years of their performance partnership as they toured Great … [Read more...]
It’s not ‘Hamlet,’ Fernando, but ‘Mamma Mia!’ will delight you, Maltz cast says
Will the Maltz Jupiter Theatre have to replace its carpeting after its four-week run of the ABBA jukebox musical Mamma Mia!, a show known for inciting audiences to dance in the aisles? “You can see them wanting to get out of their seats,” says performer Mary Mossberg, veteran of a national tour of Mamma Mia! and two other productions. “There’s an undeniable chemistry to … [Read more...]
Stellar cast, good puppetry bring intriguing angle to Maltz’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’
Twenty-four years ago, the Disney organization made its first foray onto Broadway with a stage version of its Oscar-winning animated feature, Beauty and the Beast. Reviews were lackluster, often noting how literally the material was transferred to the theater, not unlike a theme park attraction. Still, the show became an extraordinary commercial success, running for more than … [Read more...]
Puppets add new dimension to classic ‘Beauty’ at the Maltz
With the Broadway successes of Avenue Q, War Horse and King Kong, puppetry is having an extended moment. For an art form dating back to 3000 B.C., it’s now getting its due as puppets take center stage at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s current production of Beauty and the Beast, the fairy tale of a young maiden who falls in love with a prince-turned-beast who can be freed only … [Read more...]
Boca’s own Rachel Bay Jones enjoying a career on the rise
Boca Raton-raised Rachel Bay Jones, a 2017 Tony and Grammy Award winner for her featured role as Heidi Hansen, mother of a teenage son whose social media lie goes viral, in the smash hit musical Dear Evan Hansen, had long been ambivalent about forging a theater career in New York. “I’m a Florida girl. I love nature, I love being out in the sunshine. Living in a gray city … [Read more...]