The cast of August: Osage County, at Actors’ Playhouse. By Hap ErsteinIn order to maximize the chances of being produced in these precarious economic times, most writers now limit themselves in their plays’ cast size and physical requirements.But every now and again comes an Angels in America or a Coast of Utopia, from playwrights who dare to think on a grand … [Read more...]
Theater briefs: ‘The Quarrel’ and ‘Raised in Captivity’
Chaz Mena and Avi Hoffman in The Quarrel.By Hap ErsteinSome theater reaches for spectacle, but what the theater does best is traffic in dialogue and ideas.Words and the emotions behind them are in the spotlight in a brief, intermissionless play at GableStage, The Quarrel, by David Brandes and Joseph Telushkin, which chronicles a chance reunion of two men who were … [Read more...]
ArtsPaper Interview: Playwright Seth Rozin explores faith, humor
Seth Rozin. (Illustration by Pat Crowley)By Hap ErsteinPlaywright Seth Rozin is the founder and producing artistic director of Philadelphia’s InterAct Theatre Company. But when it came to premiering his latest script, Two Jews Walk Into a War . . ., he thought that Florida Stage was a better fit.So continuing in Manalapan through Nov. 29 is the seriocomic tale of a Middle … [Read more...]
Theater review: ‘Two Jews’ a standout at Florida Stage
Gordon McConnell and Avi Hoffman in Two Jews Walk Into a War...By Hap ErsteinWait, stop me if you’ve heard this one: There are these two old Jewish guys in Kabul, Afghanistan, see, and not only are they the last two surviving members of their much-persecuted religion, but they hate each other’s guts almost as much as they despise the Taliban.Their days are surely numbered, so … [Read more...]
ArtsBuzz: Hoffman makes last-ditch appeal to save New Vista Theatre
Avi Hoffman.By Hap ErsteinThe ghoulish among us -- yeah, you know who you are -- insist that deaths come in threes. So there was Farah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and, while it’s not exactly parallel, maybe the third is New Vista Theatre Company.That is the impression left by an gang e-mail sent out late yesterday afternoon by artistic director Avi Hoffman, who announced “with … [Read more...]
Theater feature: New Vista company struggling to stay alive
Avi Hoffman, founder of the New Vista Theatre Company.By Hap ErsteinIt is 10:30 a.m. in the beleagured Boca Raton offices of New Vista Theatre Company, and artistic director Avi Hoffman is there alone, on the phone, trying to cajole a disgruntled subscriber.A day earlier, he sent out an e-mail blast announcing the cancellation of his much anticipated world premiere musical, The … [Read more...]
Theater review: ‘Still Jewish After All These Years’ is a real Tales of Hoffman
Avi Hoffman scores inStill Jewish After All These Years!A Life in the Theatre.By Hap Erstein Avi Hoffman does not literally drag a trunk onstage, but for almost two hours the producing artistic director of The New Vista Theatre Company dips into a metaphorical trunk, sifting nostalgically through the milestones of his five decades in show business.Because such an exercise … [Read more...]