By Dale King Tradition has it that actors love to see their name in lights. A Boca Raton arts aficionado and longtime philanthropist has just solidified her own presence in dramaturgical nomenclature. Florida Atlantic University’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters announced earlier this month that it had received a $1.125 million gift from benefactor Marleen … [Read more...]
‘Merry Wives,’ done reality TV-style, delights at FAU
By Dale King Among the dusty, shopworn show biz mottos kicking around the darkened back rooms of theatrical venues is the phrase, “Always leave them laughing.” That’s undoubtedly how we’ll remember this year’s class of fine arts students from Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Theatre and Dance, who conclude their 2017-2018 season this weekend with a raucously … [Read more...]
FAU’s student troupe tosses off a breezy ‘Rivals’
By Dale King Those sometimes antic, but always creative student actors at Florida Atlantic University have come up with some truly entertaining shows the past couple of years. Many, including the current production, take audiences back to the days of late 18th-century England, when manners really mattered and gentlemen wooed ladies with charm, grace and occasional … [Read more...]
Gogol it: FAU’s ‘Government Inspector’ shows good satire never really dates
By Dale King Student actors in Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Theatre and Dance have finally been loosed from a hurricane-prompted delay that postponed the opening of their 2017-2018 season from October to the period just before Thanksgiving. As a result, the political satire, The Government Inspector, written by Nikolai Gogol in the mid-1830s and adapted … [Read more...]
FAU Festival Rep’s ‘Sense’ and ‘Woods’ entertain and nourish
The best theater pieces involve characters who want something very badly. Perhaps that is what links Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and the Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical, Into the Woods, which are the cornerstones of this year’s Festival Rep on Florida Atlantic University’s Boca Raton campus. In the former, two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, yearn for … [Read more...]
FAU’s ‘Spitfire Grill’ finds winning balm in Gilead
By Dale King The Spitfire Grill, the lively contemporary musical that completes its two-weekend run at the Studio One Theatre on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton on Sunday, is not a humorous show, despite the up-tempo, often knee-slapping rhythm of its score and an aw-shucks ending that drops on the audience like the plummeting temperature of a … [Read more...]
Fine performances make for gripping ‘Anne Frank’ at FAU
By Dale King The Diary of Anne Frank – the powerfully told memoir of a young Jewish girl, her family and associates forced to hide for nearly two years to escape Nazi persecution during World War II – is one of the most famous and haunting stories to emerge from the horrific Holocaust years. Performed with great passion and depth by students from the Department of Theatre … [Read more...]
‘Omnium Gatherum’ gripping at FAU’s Studio One
By Dale King At its core, the intense drama Omnium Gatherum is a contemporary mix of tragedy and travesty. The tale of seven guests and a hostess feasting on a gourmet meal at a luxurious Manhattan dinner party while the recollections of a hellish day in American history hang like a dark pall and gush from a dungeon-like lower hallway, tests the audience’s ability to absorb … [Read more...]