Two solid productions have arrived for the holidays, each prominently featuring the Christmas season in its plot. The Lion in Winter is salted with plenty of humor and (spoiler alert!) none of the dysfunctional Plantagenets assembled for a Christmas reunion to decide who will inherit the crown from aging King Henry II gives his life during the cutthroat war of words. So James … [Read more...]
Community theater: Fine actors make poignant case for ‘Daisy’
By Dale King Driving Miss Daisy is not a holiday play. Not even close. But this light comedy about a black chauffeur hired to transport an elderly Jewish widow who is no longer capable of operating her car safely is a beautiful show – written with the smoothness of a heartwarming holiday production. It doesn’t jump headlong into matters of race or religion, of whether public … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: ‘Book of Mormon,’ ‘Radio City Christmas Spectacular’
They call them musical comedies, but you can count on a couple of hands the stage shows that are truly, laugh-out-loud funny. Certainly on that short list is The Book of Mormon, fueled by humor that is irreverent and profane, sprung directly from the fertile brains of South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone. These two wags are rookies when it comes to writing stage musicals, … [Read more...]
Community theater: ‘Game’s Afoot’ at LW Playhouse a gift for the season
By Dale King It’s no secret that playwright Ken Ludwig has a fancy for farce. It shows up big time in such slapstick comedies as Lend Me a Tenor and Moon over Buffalo. Two years ago, he wrote The Game’s Afoot, a comedy-mystery set in 1936 that mixes elements of Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with the run-and-door-slam humor of the film, Clue. It’s also a … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: ‘Fear Up Harsh,’ ‘The Timekeepers,’ ‘White Christmas’
Zoetic Stage is justifiably proud of its resident actors, the only true repertory company in South Florida. But even more important to the group’s success are its resident playwrights, notably Christopher Demos-Brown, whose works range from political drama (When the Sun Shone Brighter) to family comedy (Captiva) to his latest, Fear Up Harsh, a mournful tale of the aftermath of … [Read more...]
Theater roundup, Part 2: ‘Much Ado About Nothing,’ ‘The ‘D’ Word’
As classical acting training programs know, if you learn to speak the lines of Shakespeare, you can then perform the words of contemporary playwrights. Alas, it does not work in reverse, as Outré Theatre Company, a relatively new troupe that has had success with modern scripts and edgy musicals, learns with its clumsy attempt at mounting Will S.’s Much Ado About Nothing. For … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: ‘The Longing and Short of It,’ ‘Next to Normal,’ ‘Dial ‘M’ for Murder’
For more than 25 years, Lou Tyrrell has been discovering and showcasing new, young playwrights, developing their work for productions in South Florida and perhaps beyond. While the industry already knows Daniel Maté — the recipient of this year's Kleban Prize for most promising new lyricist and other awards — it is Tyrrell who has given Maté his first fully staged … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Oct. 26-27
Film: British director Steve McQueen is known for making films of brutality and excess, but now he has chosen a subject that matches his style. It is 12 Years a Slave, the fact-based saga of Solomon Northup, an African-American free man who lives with his family in upstate New York until he is lured to the nation’s capital, tricked into bondage and sold as a slave. The … [Read more...]
Community theater: Lake Worth Playhouse does fine by Elvis jukebox musical
By Dale King Lake Worth Playhouse has opened its season with All Shook Up, an energetic musical featuring Elvis Presley’s greatest hits, tucked very neatly into a dramatic frame based on William Shakespeare’s comedy, Twelfth Night. It rolls out so smoothly, you’d think the songs were written specifically for this show. Before long, nearly every cast member is sporting blue … [Read more...]
Community theater: Strong acting helps ‘Lovers’ at Delray Playhouse
By Dale King If you need a lightly comic play with a whimsical plot and likeable characters, you can usually find one among the dozens of shows crafted by Neil Simon. Delray Beach Playhouse has plucked Last of the Red Hot Lovers to open its 67th season. The play, which premiered in 1969 and was made into a movie three years later, hearkens back to the sexual revolution of the … [Read more...]