Jacqueline Laggy and Matthew Korinko star in Same Time, Next Year. (Photo by George Wentzler) By Dale King Same Time, Next Year is an engaging play with a fairly basic plot. Still, it is filled with intrigue that runs the gamut from humor to tragedy and guilt to glorious lessons learned. And while a number of people are mentioned in this play, Same Time, Next Year is still … [Read more...]
Marvelous lead performances stand out in powerful ‘Room’
There’s something inherently limiting about the movie screen that makes cinema a more claustrophobic medium than theatre. In theatrical sets, doors suggest a world beyond the confined drama, providing an escape from the demons, the embarrassments, the high jinks. Even if the characters don’t use them, it’s comforting to know they’re there. Movie screens, on the other hand are … [Read more...]
Strong lead performance helps improved ‘Flashdance’
Likely to be familiar from the movies is the tale of Pittsburgh steel mill welder Alexandra “Alex” Owens, wearer of the iconic one-shoulder sweaters in 1983’s Flashdance. Despite the box office underperformance of its kindred spirits — Footloose, Fame and Saturday Night Fever — here comes another music-based flick trying to make the transition to a stage show, and perhaps to … [Read more...]
Unforgettable lead performance marks ‘German Doctor’
A family of five travels down a single dirt road, endless desert on either side, toward a destination they must reach before dark. They don’t quite make it, a torrential storm batters their car, and they’re being followed by a mysterious stranger whose intentions are unknown to them. Both cars stop for a shelter at a remote shack, where raw meat hangs on hooks. If that doesn’t … [Read more...]
Lead performance clunky, but ‘Magic Mike’ has artistry, too
I recently rewatched Gray’s Anatomy, Steven Soderbergh’s film adaptation of Spalding Gray’s extraordinary monologue about his experiences with an obscure ocular condition. Released in a delicious Blu-ray transfer from Criterion, the film looks better than ever, with Soderbergh’s colorful aural and visual additions enhancing Gray’s already gripping narrative. As I watched … [Read more...]
‘Source Code’ almost a masterpiece, save for flawed ending
‘Tis the season for romantic science-fiction parables about attractive young men prohibited, through their stories’ elaborate conceits, from accessing the brunette beauties who are ready and willing to jump their bones. In Source Code, which opens wide Friday, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan are a lot like Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in The Adjustment Bureau, their … [Read more...]
Maltz, Actors’ Playhouse lead Carbonell nods with 18 apiece
That helicopter musical, Miss Saigon, at Actors’ Playhouse, received 11 Carbonell Award nominations, the most of any professional production in South Florida, according to an announcement made today. Sarah Kane’s sordid drama Blasted pulled in seven nominations for GableStage, the most for any play. The Carbonells, now in their 35th year, celebrate excellence in production … [Read more...]