Of the many musicals by the late, great Stephen Sondheim, some are more grisly (Sweeney Todd), more esoteric (Pacific Overtures) and more personal (Merrily We Roll Along), but few are as audience-friendly and ultimately profound than Into the Woods. Collaborating with James Lapine, the master composer-lyricist mashes up several familiar fairy tales – Cinderella, Red … [Read more...]
Intense central performances give Zoetic’s ‘Next to Normal’ profound impact
Lyricist-book writer Brian Yorkey and his composer partner Tom Kitt researched well bipolar disorder to write the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical Next to Normal, about one woman’s battle with the mental affliction and its effect on her family. And in his program note, Zoetic Stage artistic director Stuart Meltzer is very candid about his own history with … [Read more...]
FAU Theatre Lab handles promising ‘Super Great’ deftly
The first thing you need to know about Stephen Brown’s new play, Everything is Super Great, is that the title is facetious. In fact, nearly everything is pretty awful for the four disconnected characters that populate this “comedy about what’s missing.” For each of them has a void in his life, a missing person or a stunted relationship that keeps his or her existence … [Read more...]
Reduced-forces ‘Sweeney’ still packs fierce punch at Zoetic Stage
Ever since Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s bloody brilliant, massive, large-cast Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street arrived on Broadway in 1979, subsequent takes on the show have grappled with how to deliver its oversized emotions and exquisite score on a reduced scale. That presents an enticing challenge for a director, as Patrick Fitzwater of Slow Burn … [Read more...]
Zoetic Stage’s ‘Fun Home’ a powerful journey
Alison Bechdel is deeply conflicted about her relationship with her father. As she puts it early in the remarkable musical Fun Home, “My dad and I were exactly alike. My dad and I were nothing alike.” That seeming contradiction defines the crux of the show, Alison’s struggle with her sexual identity and anguish over coming out as a lesbian to her parents. … [Read more...]
McKeever’s ‘After’ a taut, powerful look at bullying
Extremely prolific South Florida playwright Michael McKeever has now written two plays ripped from the headlines, yet humanized for increased impact. His earlier Daniel’s Husband, which concerns itself with gay marriage and the legal complexities of that institution, is off-Broadway-bound this spring. His latest, called simply After, is about bullying and school violence. It … [Read more...]