From front to back: Chevi Marquise Hill, Jessica Farr and David Nail in The Flick. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama used to go to the giants of the American theater – the Eugene O’Neills, the Arthur Millers, the Edward Albees – for their towering masterworks – the Long Day’s Journey into Nights, the Death of a Salesmans, the Delicate Balances. These days – 2014, to be specific – … [Read more...]
It’s a Sondheim summer at Delray Center, Kravis
South Florida can go for years without a production of songs by Stephen Sondheim, but this summer will see two back-to-back. First there was Palm Beach Dramaworks’ superb concert version of A Little Night Music and now MNM Productions gives us a reconceived Side by Side by Sondheim, the musical revue from 1977, directed by Bruce Linser with musical direction by the ubiquitous … [Read more...]
Stunning ‘Ragtime’ at Playhouse already show to beat for 2015
Having already tackled and triumphed with such mega-musicals as Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, Coral Gables Actors’ Playhouse could hardly be accused of avoiding a challenge. Still, you would be excused if you had doubts that the Miracle Mile company could pull off the towering, demanding Ragtime, arguably the finest stage musical of the past 20 years. But succeed director … [Read more...]
New ‘Phantom’ looks great, but it’s still soulless
After 11,159 performances on Broadway, and billions of dollars of ticket sales worldwide, it is probably time to halt the critical carping and accept that theatergoers love the kitsch-heavy, empty spectacle that is The Phantom of the Opera. The producer of the theatrical blockbuster, Cameron Mackintosh, has such faith in the drawing power of this beauty-and-the-beast tale that … [Read more...]
With ‘Old Times,’ Dramaworks takes on the puzzle of Pinter
Seven years ago, director J. Barry Lewis introduced Palm Beach Dramaworks’ up-for-any-challenge audience to the enigmatic work of Harold Pinter with a production of Betrayal. While some theatergoers were taken aback by its reverse chronology, that play was relatively straightforward compared to the next Pinter shoe to drop. Opening this Friday and continuing through March 2, … [Read more...]
Handsome, beautifully staged ‘Romeo’ ends FGO season in style
The ultimate success of an opera or of a production finally comes down to the music – whether it’s good enough, in the first place, and in the second, whether it’s been sung well. But something needs to be said now and again about a good staging. Although Florida Grand Opera has had many fine directorial hands at work over the years, its current production of Charles Gounod’s … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Oct. 14-18
Art: Starting Tuesday, two important shows at local art museums open, shows that will be running into the early weeks of January. The Flagler Museum on Palm Beach offers the story of how Henry Flagler’s railroad made it all the way to Key West a century ago. Over a seven-year period beginning in 1905, construction workers braved five hurricanes and mosquito-borne disease to … [Read more...]
Inventive production, fresh singers make most of PB Opera’s ‘Orfeo’
You have to give Palm Beach Opera credit for knowing how to fall back on basic theatrical precepts when faced with having to present fewer mainstage productions than it wants to. Actually, it’s hard to tell that this is a company that has cut one full production, so varied and diverse have been the shows offered in its stead. This month, instead of a mainstage presentation, … [Read more...]
Stage Door’s ‘Chaperone’ delivers the daffy goods
Broward Stage Door Theatre has a tendency to overreach with its musicals, biting off a beloved, not-quite elaborate show and not quite delivering on the pleasures we once enjoyed with it. Now, however, it is presenting a modest little show, the intermission-less The Drowsy Chaperone, a multiple Tony Award winner from 2006 that is bound to be new to most of its audience, and … [Read more...]
Bulletin from Broadway No. 5: ‘Sondheim’ and ‘A Behanding’
It is the rare New York season that does not see a production of an existing Stephen Sondheim musical, but the brilliant composer-lyricist has not had a new show on Broadway since 1994’s Passion. So those of us who remain in awe of his abilities to push the boundaries of the musical theater have had to content ourselves with revivals, such as the current A Little Night Music … [Read more...]