More than most other South Florida theater companies, Miami’s Mad Cat has been able to attract a young audience, pulling them away from pop culture and electronic media for a couple of hours. How? With plays like artistic director Paul Tei’s So My Grandmother Died, Blah Blah Blah, a messy grab bag of pop culture and Internet references with only tangential interest in a … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: From Afghanistan war to Victorian sex
Whether or not the pen is truly mightier than the sword, playwright Carter W. Lewis is out to prove in his enigmatically titled The Cha-Cha of a Camel Spider that slam poetry can trump a mercenary private army. If that sounds like an unlikely match-up, then you are grasping the surreal quality of this darkly comic tale, which seems headed towards a rant against the Blackwaters … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: April 22-24
Theater: In only two seasons, Boca Raton’s Slow Burn Theatre Company has forged a reputation for producing edgy musicals outside the mainstream. The show that got its co-founders, Matthew Korinko and Patrick Fitzwater, interested in creating and running their own troupe is Blood Brothers, the cult hit that opened in London in 1988 and is still running there. OK, so maybe “cult” … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: Two by Tracy Letts
In order to maximize the chances of being produced in these precarious economic times, most writers now limit themselves in their plays’ cast size and physical requirements. But every now and again comes an Angels in America or a Coast of Utopia, from playwrights who dare to think on a grand scale, resulting in works resulting in peak experiences for their audiences. Just … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: Romance and its aftermath, on three stages
A former musician turned playwright, Michael Hollinger is clearly fascinated with the music of words. Such an interest was evident in his earlier play, Opus, about the search for harmony among the members of a string quartet. A similar verbal playfulness is present in his latest work, Ghost-Writer, a look at the creative process of a fastidious novelist, who dictates his prose … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: A one-woman star turn, and five guys with a small problem
Some of us measure time by the careers of stage stars. It has been 50 years since Donna McKechnie’s Broadway debut, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, where she appeared as an office worker dancing Bob Fosse’s quirky steps. It has been 35 years since A Chorus Line opened on Broadway, winning her a Tony Award as the quintessential musical theater dancer. And 10 … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: A quality ‘Spider Woman’; ‘Frankenstein’ well-cast but weak
West Boca’s Slow Burn Theatre Co. has carved out a niche for itself that no other area stage troupe seems interested in filling. Its stated mission is to tackle “daring, contemporary and intelligent” musicals, which certainly describes its current production of Kiss of the Spider Woman. This odd-couple tale of Molina, a gay window dresser, and Valentin, a macho freedom … [Read more...]
Theater roundup 2: Provocative ‘Clybourne’; a star turn for Gless
African-Americans have federally sanctioned civil rights and the nation voted a black man into the White House. So we must have made substantial advances towards racial equality and co-existence since Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 stage drama, A Raisin in the Sun, haven’t we? Not necessarily, suggests playwright-provocateur Bruce Norris in his cynical satire Clybourne Park, which … [Read more...]
Theater roundup 1: ‘Sound of Music’ without syrup; a rethought ‘Les Miz’
There must be some theatergoers who have never seen Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, but not many. Performed perpetually by high schools and community troupes, it would be hard to miss, and then there’s that syrupy, Oscar-winning move version that keeps showing up on cable TV. Director-choreographer Marc Robin gave himself quite a challenge when he approached the … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Dec. 24-26
Film: With meticulous attention to period details and an engrossing history-based story that humanizes the struggle of a British king like no movie before it, The King’s Speech is great, albeit old-fashioned, filmmaking. Colin Firth stars as Bertie, a/k/a Prince Albert (Colin Firth), who unexpectedly becomes King George VI as World War II looms, due to his older brother’s … [Read more...]