Putting quality aside for the moment, you have to concede that Broadway musicals have been distressingly unoriginal of late, being largely uninspired rehashes of movies and biographies of music icons. So it was eye-opening to encounter Maybe Happy Ending, a truly novel tale of romance between a pair of robots that originated in South Korea, of all places. Part rom-com and … [Read more...]
Postcard from Broadway No. 1: Hello, Louis: An exceptional Armstrong from Iglehart
I'm up in New York this week to attend the bat mitzvah of a cousin, Emma. So while I'm here, I'll see six shows in seven days. I began last night with A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical, a biographical show about the trumpet-playing "king of jazz." The best thing about it is James Monroe Iglehart, an enormously appealing performer who is probably damaging … [Read more...]
Powerful ‘Last Yiddish Speaker’ mixes Jewish identity, American dystopia
In 1989, Florida Stage introduced us to fledgling playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer and her humorous yet thought-provoking saga of assimilation, The Last Schwartz. Since then, she has produced two handfuls of scripts in South Florida, as well as theaters across the country and around the globe. With her latest effort, The Last Yiddish Speaker, she returns to the theme of Jewish … [Read more...]
‘Pillowman’ launches Zoetic Stage season with acting brilliance
At the root of all good theater is simple oral storytelling. So it goes in The Pillowman, a series of short stories from the fertile, feral brain of Ireland’s Martin McDonagh, directed by Miami’s Zoetic Stage artistic honcho Stuart Maltzer with a cast of four worthy accomplices. Unlike his usual darkly comic folk yarns set in remote rural villages of his native land … [Read more...]
First-class ‘Lost in Yonkers’ at Dramaworks sees star turn for actress’s Bella
As word association goes, if I said “Neil Simon,” chances are you would respond “comedy.” After all, there has been no more commercially successful purveyor of comedies in American history. Yet some of his best plays came in the latter half of his career when Simon learned to hold back on punch lines and wade into deeper, more heartfelt, dramatic waters. … [Read more...]
‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ adaptation unconvincing, despite strong Kravis cast
These days, if a family-friendly film gains popularity, chances are good that it will make the leap to the musical stage. And whether or not that transfer was deemed worthy, there are so many performing arts centers around the nation in need of product, the show will probably be sent on tour. That explains the arrival at the Kravis Center this week of Mrs. Doubtfire, a so-so … [Read more...]
Standout performances can’t lift ‘Gaslight’ rewrite at Maltz
Theatrical tastes and gender sensibilities can change drastically in 86 years. So while a play like Gaslight thrilled audiences in 1938 – as did its more famous movie version six years later – it would be unlikely to captivate theatergoers today. Enter Patty Jamieson and Johnna Wright, a pair of Canadian actresses-turned-writers who were on the right track with their rewrite … [Read more...]
A strong ‘Last Night of Ballyhoo’ at Boca Stage
Avid theatergoers are probably familiar with Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach trilogy and also Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy. But how about Alfred Uhry’s Atlanta Trilogy? During the late ‘80s and ‘90s, Uhry wrote three distinctly different plays, all centering on his colorful Georgian family, each Jewish in their own way. The most acclaimed on them is 1989’s Pulitzer … [Read more...]
At the Wick, ‘Groucho’ tribute falls a little short of the Marx
When the incomparable Groucho Marx passed away in 1977 at the age of 86, he left behind a dozen classic movie comedies, kinescopes of 11 seasons of his TV game show, You Bet Your Life, and countless well-crafted or ad-libbed one-liners. In addition, there is An Evening with Groucho, Frank Ferrante’s one-man celebration of his comedy idol, which draws on each of the above … [Read more...]
‘Witches of Eastwick’ sees Slow Burn back in quirky form
Slow Burn Theatre, now celebrating the beginning of its 15th season, came into the world committed to producing musicals that for one reason or another were underappreciated initially. Its shows were anything but mainstream, yet the company developed an enthusiastic and loyal following. When the risk-oriented troupe moved to the Broward Center nine years ago, however, its … [Read more...]