Regret can be a powerful emotion, but usually one that has little positive value. That is among the lessons learned by Jasmine Starr-Kidd, a 12-year-old computer whiz who deeply regrets her parents’ divorce and believes she can employ her scientific savvy to bring them together again. So it goes in The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd, a whimsical and somewhat … [Read more...]
At Delray Playhouse, ‘Grease’ is still the one that you want
By Dale King For a rock ‘n’ roll good time, Grease is still the word. Delray Beach Playhouse has thrown open the doors of Rydell High School, circa 1959, for a mid-summer theatrical stint powered with teen-generated energy that shakes the rafters of the venerable playhouse on the east shore of Lake Ida. With book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, Grease … [Read more...]
Dramaworks takes ‘natural’ step, hires in-house playwright
At a time when many regional theaters are decreasing their staffs because of COVID, the economy and shrinking attendance, Palm Beach Dramaworks has a new hire. Producing artistic director William Hayes has announced the addition of the company’s first resident playwright, Jenny Connell Davis, whose Holocaust-themed drama The Messenger will have its world premiere at the … [Read more...]
FAU student thespians give ‘A Chorus Line’ their all
By Dale King The musical A Chorus Line doesn’t have dazzling sets, pricey costumes or high-tech special effects. The production — conceived and originally directed and choreographed by esteemed New York show creator Michael Bennett — is driven by the strength of its story — an audition for dancers desperate for jobs on Broadway — along with music and movement that truly … [Read more...]
Lake Worth Playhouse offers strong, compelling ‘West Side Story’
By Dale King A community theater needs considerable fortitude to shoulder the task of preparing, casting, designing backgrounds and costumes for and assembling a cast of actors, dancers and singers to present an enduring theatrical production known and appreciated for its classic story and generational appeal. The folks at Lake Worth Playhouse decided early on to bite the … [Read more...]
PB Shakespeare Festival makes good case for ‘Measure for Measure’
Now in its 33rd year, Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival — the oldest professional theater company in continuous operation in Palm Beach County — is getting around to some of its namesake playwright’s less popular works. Plays like Measure for Measure, a dark comedy of judicial and sexual politics, categorized as a comedy chiefly because it concludes with couples sorted … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival mines dark comedy for current truth in ‘Measure for Measure’
Now in its 33rd season, The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival reaches deep into the Bard’s folios for a less frequently performed dark comedy, Measure for Measure, a particular favorite of the company’s artistic director, Trent Stephens. “I might have a bias. I might seek these less frequently produced plays out,” he explains. “There are many works of Shakespeare’s that … [Read more...]
Two Boca high school thespians up for national Jimmy Awards
Two Boca Raton students will be representing Palm Beach County today in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (the Jimmy Awards) in New York City. Maya Sharma from Saint Andrew’s School and Lucas Brown from West Boca Raton Community High School were the top winners in the fourth annual Kravis Center Dream Awards, competing with 135 other students from 15 Palm Beach … [Read more...]
Appreciation: Sheldon Harnick, exacting lyricist of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Broadway’s golden era of the 1960s just lost one of its greats. Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist of Fiddler on the Roof – the final survivor of that classic musical’s creative team – has died at the age of 99. If he only wrote Fiddler, Harnick’s place among the top tier of musical wordsmiths would be secure. (Has there ever been a Jewish wedding in the past half a century … [Read more...]
FAU Summer Rep opens with delightful ‘Musical Comedy Murders of 1940’
By Dale King The heat is on --- meteorologically, that is. And Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Theatre and Dance has kicked off its 2023 Summer Festival Repertory Theatre season with an over-the-top sampling of frenetic comedy, one of the most fast-paced and hectic murder mystery parodies to cross the stage of the Marleen Forkas Studio One Theater on FAU’s Boca … [Read more...]