By Dale King For most of us in the age-55-and-over bracket, a visit to “the merry old land of Oz” used to be a once-a-year excursion provided by one of the three sole TV networks that broadcast the classic 1939 film of author L. Frank Baum’s fanciful story, The Wizard of Oz, on our 12-channel, antenna-on-the-roof television sets. Today, folks can find the same video … [Read more...]
‘Atlantis’: A pitiless Ukrainian postwar dystopia — from 2019
Whether programmed by coincidence or intention, today’s opening of Atlantis at Lake Worth Playhouse offers, like most great science fiction, a harrowing and prescient reflection on our present moment. Director Valentyn Vasyanovych’s sophomore feature, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2019, is set in Eastern Ukraine in 2025, “one year after the war.” It’s … [Read more...]
LW Playhouse’s ‘Mousetrap’ delivers Christie’s goods, deftly
By Dale King If Agatha Christie murder mysteries are your cup of tea, grab a mug of Earl Grey – hot – and take a seat among the many audience members at the Lake Worth Playhouse for a run of Christie’s top-notch tale, The Mousetrap. A talented cast that delivers the playwright’s goods with aplomb keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. The old English drawing room set … [Read more...]
LW Playhouse’s ‘9 to 5’ a bright revival of workplace classic
By Dale King Lake Worth Playhouse flips the calendar page on its 2021-22 season, opening the new year with a lively and entertaining revival of the comic workplace improvement saga, 9 to 5. The 2008 stage production inspired by the 1980 film starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton (who wrote the tunes and lyrics for the show’s mainly up-tempo soundtrack) … [Read more...]
At LW Playhouse, ‘Earnest,’ with an LGBTQ Palm Beach twist
By Dale King Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest has been modified and repackaged in many different ways since it first hit the London stage on Valentine’s Day 1895. Lake Worth Playhouse has made its own modifications to the three-act production, pulling it into the 21st century, relocating it from England to Palm Beach County and toying with some of the gender … [Read more...]
Hyper ‘Starcatcher’ at LW Playhouse can’t outrun overlong material
By Dale King Lake Worth Playhouse has opened its 69th season with a frenetic production of Peter and the Starcatcher, a paean to Peter Pan that offers up a plausible prequel to J.M. Barrie’s 1904 children’s fable, elaborating on the tale of “The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” by focusing on friendship, leadership, fealty and a few other add-ons. The hectic performance combines … [Read more...]
‘We Will Rock You’ offers killer Queen tunes, sharp performances at LW Playhouse
By Dale King We Will Rock You, the jukebox musical that throws an aural spotlight on the poperatic music of the British rock group Queen and their flamboyant frontman Freddy Mercury, is shaking walls, vibrating scenery and winning over audiences at the Lake Worth Playhouse. The single summer entry at the Lake Avenue performance center spreads 20-plus powerful Queen tunes … [Read more...]
Powerhouse performances make for gripping ‘Hedwig’ at LW Playhouse
By Dale King Catharsis and storytelling mix musically and, in the end, triumphantly, in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a turbulent, gender-unspecific narrative being staged with passion and powerhouse music at the Lake Worth Playhouse through much of June – LGBTQ+ Pride Month. The show concludes the downtown venue’s successful effort to pull together an in-person season of … [Read more...]
LW Playhouse mounts powerful, compelling ‘Next to Normal’
By Dale King Next to Normal – the musical now being staged at the Lake Worth Playhouse – pulls no punches in its powerful portrayal of a woman haunted and dismayed by mental illness and the misery it inflicts on her loved ones. The show is frank and overt, focusing not only on the woman’s unpredictable behavior, but also on the plenitude of pills she consumes, the … [Read more...]
Sharp cast shines in ‘Deathtrap’ at LW Playhouse
By Dale King Deathtrap, the wryly comic mystery by author/playwright Ira Levin (Rosemary’s Baby, Stepford Wives), is at once easy and hard for a reviewer to critique. The 1978 production won a Tony for Best Play, and begat a 1982 movie about the selfsame playwriting duo from the stage production that longs to create a ragingly successful Broadway thriller, even if blood … [Read more...]