Several theater companies went out of business in 2015, while others moved to more comfortable digs, hoping their audiences would follow. Of those that stayed put, many pushed themselves by producing challenging works, particularly mega-musicals and powerful new dramas. There was too much quality happening to contain the year in 10 productions, so here instead (in my … [Read more...]
At FAU: An absurdist 90 minutes with Martin’s ‘Picasso at the Lapin Agile’
By Dale King To describe Steve Martin’s absurdist play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, as thought-provoking is an understatement. It’s like saying Hamlet is about a mixed-up kid. Perhaps the best barometer of the show being staged through Sunday at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton is the audience. On opening night last Friday, the 90-minute, no-intermission production … [Read more...]
2014-15 arts preview: The season in theater
This will be another season of theater companies on the move, as a couple of Palm Beach County troupes invade Broward. Slow Burn expands to the Broward Center with a separate slate of shows from its productions in West Boca. Also helping to fill the Broward theater vacuum is Outré Theatre Co., which moves permanently in mid-season from Boca Raton to various black box spaces at … [Read more...]
‘The Trouble With Doug’: Musical reimagines Kafka, with whimsy
Nearly eight years ago, a couple of NYU musical theater students began working on a show that was loosely inspired by Franz Kafka’s nihilist social satire, Metamorphosis. In development at theaters from New York to Palo Alto to London ever since, The Trouble With Doug begins performances this evening at the Theatre at Arts Garage in Delray Beach. It has been a long road for … [Read more...]
2013-14 arts preview: The season in theater
This season, all eyes are on what used to be the Caldwell Theatre in Boca. You see, a determined woman named Marilynn Wick, founder and CEO of the wildly successful rental firm Costume World, bought the vacant playhouse of the belly-up Caldwell, chiefly to warehouse and display her vast stock of theatrical wardrobe. And since the building also happens to have an auditorium, … [Read more...]
The View From Home 39: New releases and notable screenings, June 11 to July 8
Today’s boring, mass-produced, digitized, one-size-fits-all uniformity of cinematic projection would leave no room for an iconoclast like William Castle. The late director of more than 50 B-movies – bearing titles like Zotz! and Let’s Kill Uncle – was a veritable industry of site-specific theater innovation. At least 11 of his movies from 1958 to 1975 were accompanied by … [Read more...]
The Hapsters, 2011 edition: A look back at theater’s highs and lows
As year-end traditions go, the awarding of the “dubious achievement” Hapsters for theatrical highs and lows can be traced back to 1994. So take a stroll down this year’s memory lane with us and remember, the decision of the judges -- OK, me -- is final. Best Pulitzer Prognostication: Anyone can produce a play that has already won the Pulitzer Prize. Palm Beach Dramaworks does … [Read more...]
The 2011-12 season in theater: A trove of premieres, new ventures
Looking at the upcoming theater season in South Florida, you would never know that we were in the midst of a sluggish economy. Palm Beach Dramaworks is pouring millions into the renovation and purchase of its new performance space which will nearly triple the group’s seating capacity, and recently received a $2 million donation for the project. A completely new company, … [Read more...]
ArtsPreview 2010-11: The season in theater
After a successful summer debut at the Kravis Center, Florida Stage unveils its first subscription season in the Rinker Playhouse, including several world premieres. Meanwhile, there is a new Miami company with its own troupe of actors, the Caldwell continues to dig out of its money woes with a second look at a Carbonell-winning show it is developing, the Maltz Jupiter cracks … [Read more...]
ArtsPreview 2009-10: The season in theater
Despite the still rocky economy, the region’s professional theaters appear to remain bullish on programming, with few signs of caution or budget-pinching in the season ahead. All eyes remain on Caldwell Theatre Company, which is coming off of a critically acclaimed summer under new artistic director Clive Cholerton, who continues to shake the cobwebs off the Boca Raton … [Read more...]