George S. Kaufman once observed that “satire is what closes on Saturday night.” But then he never met Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the two wags behind the comic boundary-pushing cable television show, South Park, and the musical, The Book of Mormon. In 2011, they brought their satirical and scatological sensibilities to Broadway with the latter, a brash send-up of the loopy … [Read more...]
Hap’s fearless Oscar picks: Wins for ‘Conclave,’ ‘Brutalist,’ Brody, Moore
Predicting the Academy Awards last year was easy, because of the evident dominance of Oppenheimer. But this year's field for Best Picture, and several other categories, is wide open. But that does not stop me from jumping into the fray with my insightful, though probably erratic, picks. With these answers, you have just enough time to hop a plane to London and place a bet … [Read more...]
With stellar ‘Lehman Trilogy,’ Maltz tops itself
The day I saw the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s extraordinary production of The Lehman Trilogy, the stock market plummeted nearly 750 points. The rags-to-riches-to-bankruptcy history of three ambitious Jewish immigrant brothers looked like it was threatening to repeat itself. Still, as we fasten our seatbelts in preparation for what might be another sustained economic crisis, we … [Read more...]
Maltz banks on absorbing drama with ‘Lehman Trilogy’
Where were you in 2008? Do you remember those rocky days when the stock market imploded, led by the collapse of the powerful Lehman Brothers investment firm? As painful as that might have been for you, it is a story worth hearing again, as told in the epic Tony Award-winning play, The Lehman Trilogy. It traces the emigration of a trio of German brothers — Henry, Emanuel and … [Read more...]
‘The Humans’ compels with fine ensemble work at Dramaworks
What could be more human than a family gathering at Thanksgiving, sharing a meal together, giving thanks, expressing hopes and the inevitable disappointments. So it goes at Palm Beach Dramaworks in Stephen Karam’s Tony Award-winning comic drama, The Humans, a jaundice-eyed look at the Irish-Catholic Blakes, Erik and Deirdre (Andy Prosky and Anne-Marie Cusson), of Scranton, … [Read more...]
Remade ‘Peter Pan’ at Kravis still manages to enchant
In 1904, J.M. Barrie gave the world one of its most endearing, timeless characters, Peter Pan, “the boy who wouldn’t grow old.” Fifty years later, composer Moose Charlap and lyricist Carolyn Leigh (with additional music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) adapted the story into a stage musical, which has captivated theatergoers, young and old, ever … [Read more...]
Slow Burn’s dark ‘Parade’ revival gripping, and more topical
Since moving to the Broward Center 10 years ago, Slow Burn Theatre has been featuring more family-friendly mainstream fare, in contrast to the edgier, more offbeat menu that first earned the company its devoted following. So it was heartening to see the troupe return to form with its current production of Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry’s Parade, as darkly dramatic and … [Read more...]
The music is King, in Wick’s fine ‘Beautiful’
In the late 1950s and early ’60s, breaking into the music business meant writing pop songs and pitching them to a producer, who would then select an established singer or group to record them. So it went for a 16-year-old Brooklynite named Carole King (nee Klein), as depicted in the jukebox musical biography Beautiful, now receiving a very worthy production at the Wick Theatre … [Read more...]
Actresses appeal in FAU Theatre Lab’s ‘two of us,’ but play lacks bite
Those who became adults during World War I have been dubbed The Lost Generation, but as playwright Steve McMahon depicts today’s teens — the so-called Gen Z — in his new play two of us on the run, they are every bit as lost and rudderless. Certainly that is the case with Catherine and Jennifer, a pair of 16-year-olds, best friends by default, restless at home and eager to … [Read more...]
‘Funny Girl’ at Kravis uneven, but offers star power from actress Shankman
Created in 1964, at the tail end of the musical theater’s so-called golden age, it took the Fanny Brice biographical show Funny Girl almost 60 years to be revived on Broadway. In large part, that is because it has been under the shadow of its original star, Barbra Streisand. Simply put, she is the textbook hard act to follow. But it was revived — and revised — three years … [Read more...]