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...]
Boca Stage ends season with charming ‘America’s Sexiest Couple’
Unlike its recent seasons, Boca Stage has no Neil Simon plays in its current line-up. But with America’s Sexiest Couple, boy, does it come close. Its playwright, Ken Levine, is no stranger to sitcoms, having spent much of his career writing episodes of M*A*S*H, Cheers and Frasier. Still, this Levine stage comedy will bring to mind a couple of Simon classics --– Plaza Suite … [Read more...]
Boca Stage’s take on 1960s sex farce charms at Delray Playhouse
Moving further away from its original mission of producing edgy, offbeat theatrical fare, Boca Stage — now in residence at the Delray Beach Playhouse — serves up a popular commercial sex farce from the 1960s, Boeing, Boeing. If that title sounds familiar, perhaps you recall a 1965 movie version that starred Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis, or a 2008 Broadway revival in which … [Read more...]
‘Wait Until Dark’ comes up short at Boca Stage
Murder mysteries and suspense plays, like Frederick Knott’s 1966 Broadway hit Wait Until Dark, are by definition gimmicky contrivances. But if they are tightly written and carefully staged, they can be quite entertaining. As revived by Boca Stage, which has moved its operations to the Delray Beach Playhouse, this saga of blind housewife Susan Hendricks --- menaced by … [Read more...]
2023-24 Season in Theater: A post-COVID lineup full of promise
With COVID safely in the rear mirror and audiences back attending theater, the 2023-2024 South Florida season looks quite promising, with full schedules, numerous world premieres and several companies celebrating significant anniversaries. Here’s how the theater scene is shaping up, moving geographically from north to south. With its playhouse expanded, the Maltz … [Read more...]
Arts buzz: Boca Stage relocates, Cultural Council seeks ‘ambassadors’
Palm Beach ArtsPaper staff DELRAY BEACH — Boca Stage, the independent theater company founded by Keith Garsson, will relocate to the black box theater at the Delray Beach Playhouse in October. Boca Stage, formerly known as Primal Forces, has been notable for bringing offbeat, little-known plays to South Florida. Its past four seasons have been presented at the Sol … [Read more...]
Female ‘Odd Couple’ falls flat at Boca Stage
In his heyday, Neil Simon would write a new play each season. In 1985, however, when he didn’t have a good idea for a play, he rewrote one of his finest, funniest comedies, The Odd Couple, changing the gender of the characters and tinkering with many of his previously well-crafted laugh lines. While he never asked me for my opinion, I would have advised him with that … [Read more...]
At Boca Stage, ‘Grand Horizons’ goes for the laughs
In the prologue to Bess Wohl’s Grand Horizons, before we learn that Nancy and Bill French have passed their 50th anniversary, we watch as they wordlessly ready their breakfast as a team, the familiar exercise of a much-married couple. So it is more than a little surprising when the first words out of her mouth are “I think I would like a divorce.” Responding without … [Read more...]
Powerful ‘Time Alone’ at Boca Stage charts two kinds of imprisonment
Anger and pain are the shared emotions that link widow Anna Jackson and convicted killer Gabriel Wayland. They also share the stage — but never the same space — in Alessandro Camon’s powerful play of dueling monologues, Time Alone. Beyond their well-earned rage, these two lost souls have another unexpected connection, revealed only in the final moments of the 90-minute … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2022-23: The season in theater
Now that the COVID 19 pandemic is in the rearview mirror – we hope – South Florida’s theaters are looking ahead to their first full season of productions in several years. So below is a look at what is scheduled, taken in geographic order from north to south, from Jupiter to Coral Gables. Last season, the Maltz Jupiter Theatre was hit with a double whammy of COVID and … [Read more...]