By Dale King What’s New Pussycat? The Soundtrack of an Era is about to finish its second run in less than two years at the Broward Stage Door Theatre. Created by Broadway-trained director Michael Leeds and collaborator/choreographer Kevin Black in the manner of a jukebox musical, the show pulls together about 50 songs — full tunes and medley versions — and segments them into … [Read more...]
Creepy but intriguing: ‘Reborning’ opens Arts Garage’s black-box space
Go ahead, Google it. There really are reborning dolls, vinyl playthings that have been transformed to resemble human babies with as much realism as possible, often employed as substitutes for recently deceased children. Don’t feel bad if you were unaware of the real-world curiosity. Neither were the cast members of Reborning, a creepy little stage play by Zayd Dohrn opening at … [Read more...]
Broward Stage Door’s ‘Promises, Promises’ revives spirit of Swinging Sixties
By Dale King Promises, Promises, the musical now playing at the Broward Stage Door Theatre, brings together assorted material from seemingly disparate sources. Still, the show holds together very well, particularly in the second act when the comedy kicks into overdrive and the players truly find their vocal and acting muses. The show, which completes its five-week run with a … [Read more...]
Miami’s Naked Stage relocating to West Palm’s Clematis Street
It has been a rough year for theater companies in Palm Beach County, with the demise of Boca Raton Theatre Guild, Women’s Theatre Project, Delray Square Performing Arts and the Plaza Theatre, as well as the move away by Slow Burn Theatre from Boca to the Broward Center. Suddenly, though, there is some positive news with the announcement that Miami’s Naked Stage Theatre Co. is … [Read more...]
Broward Stage Door ‘gets it’ with snappy ‘Chorus Line’
By Dale King The musical, A Chorus Line, doesn’t have dazzling sets, pricey costumes or high-tech special effects. The production that turns 40 this year -- conceived and originally directed and choreographed by esteemed New York show creator Michael Bennett -- depends on the strength of its story, music and movement to deliver the goods. The version now playing at the Stage … [Read more...]
New season is start of something big for Delray String Quartet
It’s been 11 years since the Delray String Quartet was formed and made its first appearance, but only four since its current lineup took shape. And this one feels like a keeper. “Like any quartet, you go through lots of personnel changes. Some of the quartets I know have none of the original members,” said Richard Fleischman, the group’s violist. “We went through so many … [Read more...]
Classic ‘Our Town’ beautifully realized at Dramaworks
By Dale King True to its promise to provide “theater to think about,” Palm Beach Dramaworks opened its 2014-2015 season this past weekend with Thornton Wilder’s unadorned but hauntingly personal play, Our Town. The play, written in 1938, is a delight to the ears and eyes, even though Wilder decreed there be no sets or props. A fine 20-member cast of veteran players and … [Read more...]
FAU Summer Rep: A powerful, draining ‘August: Osage County’
By Dale King It took no small act of courage for Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Theatre and Dance to kick off Festival Rep 2014 with the attention-demanding black comedy, August: Osage County. It’s also courageous for university dramatists to present the Tracy Letts play so soon after the 2013 release of the film version that starred Meryl Streep and Julia … [Read more...]
‘The Life’ makes a gritty return at Delray Square
By Dale King The sad and sorry lives of Times Square’s sordid population of hookers, drug- and crime-dealers during the 1980s are brought to the stage with excellent grittiness and striking realism in the musical/drama, The Life, now playing at the Delray Square Performing Arts Center. It’s quite the occasion for Gary Waldman and Jamison Troutman of Florida Theater … [Read more...]
Community theater: Broward Stage Door’s ‘Hello, Muddah’ deserves more laughs
By Dale King For a fleeting couple of years in the early 1960s, Allan Sherman was at the top of his game in the field of creating song parodies. His 1962 album, My Son the Folk Singer, became the fastest-selling LP recording up to that time, and put Sherman on the fast track to fame. He would record seven more albums, each falling a little or a lot short of the previous. … [Read more...]