Theater: The Wick Theatre in Boca Raton does not go in for fresh directorial concepts in its musicals like the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, but it has recently taken to injecting Broadway veterans into its productions, like Walter Charles and Lee Roy Reams as nightclub owner Georges and his gay partner and drag queen headliner Albin in La Cage aux Folles. That is reason enough to see … [Read more...]
Community theater: Joyous energy from ‘Five Guys Named Moe’ at Broward Stage Door
By Dale King The Broward Stage Door Theatre celebrates the holiday season and New Year with Five Guys Named Moe, a high-octane, high-stepping, song-and-dance-filled tribute to song master Louis Jordan, whose talent for diversity in music drove the golden spike in the track connecting swing and jazz with early rock ’n’ roll. The production that literally shakes the stage … [Read more...]
Looking back: 2014’s best in theater
On balance, 2014 was not a bad year at the theater in South Florida, with a couple of blockbuster touring shows, two startling takes on classic musicals at the Maltz Jupiter and a few worthy productions from many of the area’s other resident companies. Here is my undeniably subjective list of the 10 shows I enjoyed the most during the year. Fiddler on the Roof (Maltz … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: ‘My Old Lady,’ ‘Book of Mormon,’ and ‘When You’re in Love…’
Write a play with a prominent role for actresses of an advanced age and watch it attract major award-laden performers. Certainly that is the case with My Old Lady, Israel Horovitz’s tribute to the French and their cultural differences with Americans. In the film version released earlier this year, two-time Oscar winner Maggie Smith took on the title role of wily nonagenarian … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: ‘Fiddler’ at the Maltz, ‘Chorus Line’ at the Crest, ‘Mame’ at the Wick
Director-choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge does not settle for reproducing the work of her Broadway predecessors, as she previously demonstrated with her fresh takes on Hello, Dolly! and The King and I at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. Now, as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of Fiddler on the Roof, she received special permission to not be tethered to the — admittedly … [Read more...]
Community theater: Strong performers lift comfort-food ‘Over the River’
By Dale King There is practically nothing original in the theme of Joe DiPietro’s 1998 play, Over the River and Through the Woods. That’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s kind of refreshing. The show being staged through Sunday at the Delray Beach Playhouse is as comfortable as a broken-in pair of shoes; as fulfilling as a spaghetti dinner just like Mamma used to make. An … [Read more...]
Community theater: At LW Playhouse, a reunion with Felix and Oscar
By Dale King A half-century ago, playwright Neil Simon concocted slovenly Oscar Madison and paired him with neat-freak Felix Ungar to create The Odd Couple, a comic powerhouse that has endured across stage, film and television (where Felix’s last name was spelled Unger). Perhaps the oddest thing about The Odd Couple franchise is that the original Simon play, which premiered … [Read more...]
At FAU: An absurdist 90 minutes with Martin’s ‘Picasso at the Lapin Agile’
By Dale King To describe Steve Martin’s absurdist play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, as thought-provoking is an understatement. It’s like saying Hamlet is about a mixed-up kid. Perhaps the best barometer of the show being staged through Sunday at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton is the audience. On opening night last Friday, the 90-minute, no-intermission production … [Read more...]
Theater reviews: ‘Cinderella,’ ‘Old Jews Telling Jokes’
By 1957, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were the reigning kings of musical theater, but had never written a show for television. That changed when they were commissioned to adapt the enduring fairy tale Cinderella for the small screen, as a star vehicle for Julie Andrews, everyone’s fair lady since a year earlier. With other casts and some tinkering with the score, … [Read more...]
Community theater: Delray Playhouse’s ‘Wait Until Dark’ provides good suspense
By Dale King Delray Beach Playhouse draws deeply from the well of suspense for its opening production of the 2014-2015 season, Frederick Knott’s thriller, Wait Until Dark. The play that saves the best spine tingles for last will conclude its three-weekend run Sunday. The drama kicks off the 68th season for the playhouse located on the shores of Lake Ida. Wait Until Dark … [Read more...]