You have to hand it to Disney. The Mouse House certainly has its formula down cold. They start by co-opting a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen, say, sprinkle it with songs, toss in a comic sidekick character or two, inject the storyline with a few Hallmark-esque messages, then open up the box office and stand back to make room for the … [Read more...]
For director and cast, stage version of ‘Frozen’ at Maltz has all of movie’s magic
Back in 2013, long before every red-blooded preteen was singing “Let It Go,” Disney released its animated adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Snow Queen” about a pair of sister princesses, Elsa and Anna, dubbing it Frozen. The feature film proved so popular — grossing a record-breaking box office total of $1.28 billion worldwide — that a stage version was … [Read more...]
Leads, production make ‘Music Man’ at Wick a winner for holiday
The flim-flam man who gets himself bamboozled is a staple character of the musical theater. Think of Max Bialystock of The Producers, Lawrence Jameson of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and especially Harold Hill of The Music Man. That last one, the creation of composer-lyricist-book writer Meredith Willson, is an enduring conning icon who arrives in River City, Iowa, intent on … [Read more...]
For cast, ‘Music Man’ is a feel-good show with heart
By Hap Erstein Frequent Wick Theatre director Norb Joerder has forgotten how many times he has staged Meredith Willson’s The Music Man. But he can recall a lot of the prominent performers who have played the traveling salesman who cons town after town into buying instruments and band uniforms for their music-challenged youngsters. “This is probably my eighth or … [Read more...]
Puppets add new dimension to classic ‘Beauty’ at the Maltz
With the Broadway successes of Avenue Q, War Horse and King Kong, puppetry is having an extended moment. For an art form dating back to 3000 B.C., it’s now getting its due as puppets take center stage at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s current production of Beauty and the Beast, the fairy tale of a young maiden who falls in love with a prince-turned-beast who can be freed only … [Read more...]