At a time when many regional theaters are decreasing their staffs because of COVID, the economy and shrinking attendance, Palm Beach Dramaworks has a new hire. Producing artistic director William Hayes has announced the addition of the company’s first resident playwright, Jenny Connell Davis, whose Holocaust-themed drama The Messenger will have its world premiere at the … [Read more...]
FAU student thespians give ‘A Chorus Line’ their all
By Dale King The musical A Chorus Line doesn’t have dazzling sets, pricey costumes or high-tech special effects. The production — conceived and originally directed and choreographed by esteemed New York show creator Michael Bennett — is driven by the strength of its story — an audition for dancers desperate for jobs on Broadway — along with music and movement that truly … [Read more...]
Lake Worth Playhouse offers strong, compelling ‘West Side Story’
By Dale King A community theater needs considerable fortitude to shoulder the task of preparing, casting, designing backgrounds and costumes for and assembling a cast of actors, dancers and singers to present an enduring theatrical production known and appreciated for its classic story and generational appeal. The folks at Lake Worth Playhouse decided early on to bite the … [Read more...]
PB Shakespeare Festival makes good case for ‘Measure for Measure’
Now in its 33rd year, Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival — the oldest professional theater company in continuous operation in Palm Beach County — is getting around to some of its namesake playwright’s less popular works. Plays like Measure for Measure, a dark comedy of judicial and sexual politics, categorized as a comedy chiefly because it concludes with couples sorted … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival mines dark comedy for current truth in ‘Measure for Measure’
Now in its 33rd season, The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival reaches deep into the Bard’s folios for a less frequently performed dark comedy, Measure for Measure, a particular favorite of the company’s artistic director, Trent Stephens. “I might have a bias. I might seek these less frequently produced plays out,” he explains. “There are many works of Shakespeare’s that … [Read more...]
Two Boca high school thespians up for national Jimmy Awards
Two Boca Raton students will be representing Palm Beach County today in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (the Jimmy Awards) in New York City. Maya Sharma from Saint Andrew’s School and Lucas Brown from West Boca Raton Community High School were the top winners in the fourth annual Kravis Center Dream Awards, competing with 135 other students from 15 Palm Beach … [Read more...]
Appreciation: Sheldon Harnick, exacting lyricist of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Broadway’s golden era of the 1960s just lost one of its greats. Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist of Fiddler on the Roof – the final survivor of that classic musical’s creative team – has died at the age of 99. If he only wrote Fiddler, Harnick’s place among the top tier of musical wordsmiths would be secure. (Has there ever been a Jewish wedding in the past half a century … [Read more...]
FAU Summer Rep opens with delightful ‘Musical Comedy Murders of 1940’
By Dale King The heat is on --- meteorologically, that is. And Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Theatre and Dance has kicked off its 2023 Summer Festival Repertory Theatre season with an over-the-top sampling of frenetic comedy, one of the most fast-paced and hectic murder mystery parodies to cross the stage of the Marleen Forkas Studio One Theater on FAU’s Boca … [Read more...]
Comedian Glaser brings truth-talking to salty standup
Not afraid to storm the barricades, whether the topic is sex, men, dating, pop culture, being a single woman or suffering from anxiety and depression, Nikki Glaser says she wants to speak truth from her own perspective. “I don’t mind making people uncomfortable to talk about real issues,” she says. Admitting “it’s hard to make me embarrassed,” Glaser also admits to being … [Read more...]
Broadway veteran Langel launches new theater company
Broadway performer-author-acting coach Jodie Langel is about to add another role to her crowded résumé and life — executive director and founder of a new theater company. This June, she launches the Boca Raton-based Off-Glades Theater Company, whose mission is “to promote and produce musical theater in South Florida for the cultural development of young people in the … [Read more...]