This was supposed to be the first post-COVID theater season in South Florida, but the delta variant took care of that wishful thinking. Most stage companies are optimistic that they can produce something this season. Whether the audience will show up is another story. If all goes well, it could be an exciting year at the theater, with a new artistic director at … [Read more...]
Slow Burn’s ‘Songs for a New World’ makes the case for composer Brown
In 1995, audiences did not yet know composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brow. After all, he had not won his Tony Awards for best score (Parade and Bridges of Madison County). Nor had he written The Last Five Years, the two-character, backward-and-forward narrative musical that regional theaters all across the country have since embraced. But he had penned Songs for a New … [Read more...]
Slow Burn manages to sell second-rate, tuneless ‘Groundhog Day’
You have to admire the dedication of Slow Burn Theatre to revive musicals that got insufficient love on Broadway. (Yes, we’re looking at you Big Fish, Side Show and Parade.) Still, you have to also accept, no matter how well the company performs them, some of these shows are simply subpar. Which brings us to Groundhog Day, the stage adaptation of the 1993 Bill Murray … [Read more...]
‘Christmas Story’ a family-friendly, charming departure for edgy Slow Burn
The songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul will probably long be associated with the angst-riddled Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen. But five years before it arrived on Broadway, they wrote a whimsical adaptation of Jean Shepherd’s look back on his youth at holiday time, A Christmas Story. True, little Ralphie Parker obsesses over getting a Red Ryder … [Read more...]
Slow Burn’s production turns so-so ‘Shrek’ into a winner
How can you tell that the pot-bellied, antenna-eared green ogre named Shrek and assertive, yet incurably romantic Princess Fiona are meant for each other? They fart and burp with compatible pride. In the shorthand of musical comedy – well, in Shrek, the Musical at least – that means love. Chances are you know that already from the 2001 Oscar-winning Dreamworks … [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...]
The Hapsters 2017: The lowlights and bright spots
There are many ways to look back on the past year in local theater, and with The Hapster Awards, now in their 28th year, we have chosen the (mostly) snide route. The envelopes, please. Remember Blues in the Night? You know, that critically acclaimed musical revue starring Avery Sommers and Laura Hodos? Of course you don’t remember, because the management of Delray’s … [Read more...]
2017’s Top 10 in local theater
2017 was a strong year for theater in South Florida, particularly for musicals, though it wasn’t until I started to compile my 10 best list that I noticed how many musicals were among the standouts. Here is my highly subjective look back on the past 12 months from where I sat. 1. Arcadia, Palm Beach Dramaworks – Thermodynamics, mathematical algorithms, chaos theory and … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: May 6-7
Film: OK, it’s only early May, but in the world of movies it is already summer. The season officially begins this weekend with the arrival of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, and it comes recommended. Sure, it doesn’t have the surprise factor the first installment did in 2014, but writer/director James Gunn demonstrates that that earlier megahit was no fluke. A handful of … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Feb. 17-19
Music: Jazz vocalist Zoë Fromer has been making the rounds of South Florida for years along with her studies at the University of Miami, building a reputation as a fine stylist (here she is singing in chanson mode singing Charles Trenet’s “Menilmontant”). A native of Delray Beach, she’s making her last appearance in her hometown on Sunday night at Arts Garage before relocating … [Read more...]