Now that the COVID 19 pandemic is in the rearview mirror – we hope – South Florida’s theaters are looking ahead to their first full season of productions in several years. So below is a look at what is scheduled, taken in geographic order from north to south, from Jupiter to Coral Gables. Last season, the Maltz Jupiter Theatre was hit with a double whammy of COVID and … [Read more...]
It’s all about family: ‘4000 Miles’ opens Dramaworks season
Talk about an odd couple. Consider 21-year-old Leo, nearing the end of a cross-country bicycle trip, concluding in New York’s Greenwich Village, where his 91-year-old grandmother, Vera, lives. Arriving unannounced and unexpected at her apartment in the middle of the night, Leo embarks on a journey of discovery with a relative he hardly knows, an emotional trek at least … [Read more...]
‘Fun Home’: LW Playhouse gives breakthrough musical a fine reading
By Dale King Lake Worth Playhouse has officially opened its 70th season with a probing, thought-provoking production of Fun Home, a true-to-life musical theater adaptation of cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic novel memoir of her passionate search to find a connection between her and her deceased father – both of them gay. With music by Jeanine Tesori and a book … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2022-23: The season in theater
Now that the COVID 19 pandemic is in the rearview mirror --- we hope --- South Florida’s theaters are looking ahead to their first full season of productions in several years. So below is a look at what is scheduled, taken in geographic order from north to south, from Jupiter to Coral Gables. Last season, the Maltz Jupiter Theatre was hit with a double whammy of COVID … [Read more...]
FAU Theatre Lab’s retake on Red Riding Hood delights in wonder of theater
Vital to the vocal interaction between the performers in Allison Gregory’s Red Riding Hood and the preschool and elementary aged audience members at Florida Atlantic University’s Theatre Lab is the tots’ familiarity with the classic fairy tale. Granted that they have never seen it presented in such an offbeat and playful manner, but --- at the opening matinee, at least --- they … [Read more...]
Guest troupe’s ‘La Cage’ a crowd-pleaser at Delray Playhouse
By Dale King A theatrical production long delayed by the COVID pandemic has finally opened for a two-weekend run at the Delray Beach Playhouse. Three months before DBP officially begins its 75th season, the venerable venue on Lake Ida turns its stage over to the Barclay Performing Arts Theater for a run of Jerry Herman's gender-bending musical, La Cage aux Folles. A … [Read more...]
Top-notch ‘Rent’ concludes FAU Summer Rep season
By Dale King Student actors at Florida Atlantic University have tapped a Broadway blockbuster --– the breakthrough musical Rent --- to wrap up their Summer Repertory Theatre season. Playing through July 31 at Studio One on FAU’s Boca Raton campus, Jonathan Larson's Rent is based loosely on Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera, La Bohème. The Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, which … [Read more...]
LW Playhouse’s ‘Heathers’ brings offbeat story vividly to life
By Dale King Lake Worth Playhouse continues to exercise its theatrical muscle by bringing unorthodox plays to its main stage in downtown Lake Worth Beach. Since the COVID pandemic eased, show planners have presented such quirky entries as Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a gender-bending two-person performance, and We Will Rock You, an idiosyncratic collection of tunes by the … [Read more...]
PB Shakespeare Fest’s ‘Richard II’ persuades with strong lead performances
As my high school history teacher once drummed into my head, the only reason to study history is if it has something to say about contemporary times. The rule applies well to Shakespeare’s Richard II --- the first history play that Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival has tackled in its 32 years of existence --- a tale of malevolence. power and the uneasy transition of power. So … [Read more...]
Letter from New York: Grateful for ‘Company’ revival, sorry about production choices
NEW YORK -- The late Stephen Sondheim is arguably the greatest composer-lyricist that Broadway has ever produced, and certainly the most meticulous and exacting. Yet whenever called upon by others to revise his work, he seemed more than willing to do so. Think of the London production of Follies that Cameron Mackintosh wanted to be less downbeat. Or his new lyrics for his … [Read more...]