Although written 68 years ago, Reginald Rose’s jury room melodrama Twelve Angry Men is surprisingly apt to our current social and political Zeitgeist. So says Palm Beach Dramaworks’ producing artistic director William Hayes, who had been planning to revive the play two years from now during the stage company’s 25th anniversary season. “With all that’s going on, the gender … [Read more...]
‘Christmas Story’ a family-friendly, charming departure for edgy Slow Burn
The songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul will probably long be associated with the angst-riddled Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen. But five years before it arrived on Broadway, they wrote a whimsical adaptation of Jean Shepherd’s look back on his youth at holiday time, A Christmas Story. True, little Ralphie Parker obsesses over getting a Red Ryder … [Read more...]
Slow Burn’s ‘Titanic’ stuns with beautiful singing
By a curious coincidence, 20 years ago — in 1997 — movie theaters saw the arrival of the epic film Titanic and Broadway’s big hit musical was also about the flagship of the White Star Line, the “largest moving object in the world.” Spoiler alert: In both works, the mammoth ocean liner hits an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sinks. (What, you knew that already?) But that … [Read more...]
Slow Burn makes a success out of ‘Hunchback’
Now in its second season at the Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater, Slow Burn Theatre Company has grown assured enough to tackle four large-scale musicals, including Titanic, Big River and Aida. All three of those were long-running Broadway hits, the opposite of what the adventuresome company used to consider its mission to be, apparently a bow to more mainstream commercial … [Read more...]
Fine lead performances lift ‘Same Time, Next Year’ at Broward Stage Door
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 … [Read more...]