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Leanne Jewett

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  • Intimate Apparel at Dorset Theatre Festival Front Page

    Vermont's Dorset Makes a Bold Choice for Season Opener

    By: Leanne Jewett - Jun 27th, 2015

    This is superb production of a beautifully written play that looks at the lives of African-American women in New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. It is a bold opener for Vermont’s Dorset Theatre Festival season. An uptown white socialite, a downtown black prostitute, and a self-deprecating Jewish cloth salesman are just three of the disparate characters who populate the world of Esther, a hard-working and humble black woman who makes her living fashioning ladies’ intimate apparel.

  • Uncle Vanya in Weston, Vermont Theatre

    New Adaptation Tuned to American Audiences

    By: Leanne Jewett - Aug 30th, 2014

    Chekhov strove to make his works "just as complicated and just as simple as ... in real life," He wrote, "People are sitting at a table having dinner, that's all, but at the same time their happiness is being created, or their lives are being torn apart." This production of Uncle Vanya shares Chekhov’s intentions and brings his work to life much as he must have envisioned.

  • The Mousetrap in Dorset, Vermont Theatre

    Still Surprising Audiences After 62 Years

    By: Leanne Jewett - Aug 17th, 2014

    The murders in Agatha Christie’s mysteries are almost incidental. Though there is suspense and intrigue, there is no pandering to mayhem and horror. A puzzle is introduced, enhanced with complications, and finally solved through clever reasoning. The well-acted production at The Dorset Theatre Festival is classic Christie at its best.

  • The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns Theatre

    Fun and Frolics at Weston Theatre’s Second Stage

    By: Leanne Jewett - Aug 16th, 2014

    For pure, unadulterated entertainment the juke box musical The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns can’t be beat. It’s polished and professional while retaining the freshness of youth and good-natured fun. It is basically a family-friendly burlesque, a humorous exaggeration of the teen years and loves of four young women.

  • A Chorus Line at The Weston Playhouse Theatre

    Vermont Production Highlights Turmoil of Broadway's Gypsys

    By: Leanne Jewett - Aug 15th, 2014

    Innovative when it was developed in 1975, time has stolen some of the sizzle from this intimate dance-centered musical. The dance and music are still entertaining and the heart and passion of the young characters carry the show. Weston’s production is solid and professional with a talented cast.

  • Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike in Vermont Theatre

    Finding Comedy in the Overwhelming Futility of Life.

    By: Leanne Jewett - Jul 19th, 2014

    A modern comedy mirroring the structure and themes of the master playwright Anton Chekov, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike finds humor in the regrets and disappointments of life as they are confronted during two days in the family home by three siblings in their middle age. This play wll run through July 26 at Vermont's Weston Playhouse.

  • Out of the City Premieres at Dorset Theater Festival Theatre

    Turning 60 and Still Discovering Themselves

    By: Leanne Jewett - Jul 13th, 2014

    Two couples, celebrating a 60th birthday "out of the city" are still finding themselves in this new light comedy by Leslie Ayvazian set in the Poconos.

  • Analog & Vinyl at the Weston Playhouse Theatre

    A World Premier

    By: Leanne Jewett - Jun 28th, 2014

    Weston Playhouse presents the World Premier of Paul Gordon's Analog and Vinyl. This quirky and charming modern musical comedy has been in development for three years.

  • The Dorset Theatre Festival Presents RED Theatre

    An Exploration of the Value and Meaning of Art

    By: Leanne Jewett - Jun 22nd, 2014

    Red is a play imbued with tensions between the past and the future, art and commerce, light and dark, the intellectual and the emotional. Does art matter?

  • To Kill a Mockingbird at Weston Playhouse Theatre

    Vermont Season Ends with Riveting Drama

    By: Leanne Jewett - Aug 31st, 2013

    Fifty years after Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream Speech this production reminds us of our not-so-distant past and leaves us wondering how best to continue towards a just future. It continues at Vermont's Weston Playhouse through September 7.

  • Clybourne Park at Dorset Theatre Festival Theatre

    A Co-Production with Barrington Stage Company

    By: Leanne Jewett - Aug 19th, 2013

    The Pulitzer prize-winning play, Clybourne Park is a response to A Raisin in the Sun, the 1959 play of hope and change toward a better future for African Americans. Clybourne Park depicts a different perspective of the events of that play and a version of reality 50 years after those fictional events.

  • This Blessed Plot at Weston Theatre Theatre

    Vermont Theatre's New Works Program

    By: Leanne Jewett - Aug 17th, 2013

    The workshop production of This Blessed Plot will evolve throughout its two-week run which ends on September 1. Not yet in its final form, this play is not being reviewed, but offered as an opportunity to participate in the development of this dynamic one-man work-in-progress. The project is a part of the New Works Program of The Weston Theatre in Vermont.

  • 42nd Street at Vermont's Weston Playhouse Theatre

    A Classic Big Musical Produced at Human Scale

    By: Leanne Jewett - Aug 03rd, 2013

    Music, dance, and acting combine to give the audience of the Weston's 42nd Street a rousing evening. A terrific cast, remarkable sets, costumes, and lighting make this exhilarating production a must-see summer musical.

  • Barefoot In the Park at Dorset Theatre Festival Theatre

    Neil Simon's Classic Romantic Comedy in Vermont

    By: Leanne Jewett - Jul 27th, 2013

    Simon's witty dialogue still works 50 years after Barefoot in the Park was first a smash hit on Broadway. The Dorset Theatre's production, though pleasant and paced for laughs, lacks the sweet romance that would make this romantic comedy warm and memorable.

  • The Whipping Man at Vermont's Dorset Theatre

    Infuses History with Humanity

    By: Leanne Jewett - Jul 15th, 2013

    The Whipping Man, playing at the Dorset Theatre Festival, is a profound and moving theatrical experience that lingers long after the final curtain.

  • When a Play Expands a Theater Theatre

    The Weston Theatre's Bold Production of Next to Normal

    By: Leanne Jewett - Jul 13th, 2013

    With more than two dozen scene changes and a huge challenging score, Next to Normal would be a challenging production in any theater, but the Weston takes it on and succeeds. We are all the fortunate beneficiaries of its courage.

  • Weston's New Works Theatre

    Weston Playhouse Supports the Development of Two New Plays

    By: Leanne Jewett - Jul 06th, 2013

    As part of its New Works Programs, Vermont's Weston Playhouse is offering its audiences a dynamic new experience—the opportunity to witness and be part of a step in the development of two new plays.

  • Educating Rita at Vermont's Weston Playhouse Theatre

    Laughter Accompanying Learning

    By: Leanne Jewett - Jun 29th, 2013

    Updated in 2003, Educating Rita continues to be relevant and delightfully entertaining. What a pleasure it is to see a world-class production of this play in the intimate Weston Playhouse, a gem of a theater in the small, bucolic town of Weston, Vermont.

  • Vermont's Weston Playhouse Theatre Company Theatre

    Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

    By: Leanne Jewett - Jun 23rd, 2013

    Vermont's Weston Theatre's season kicks off with a "Terribly" charming children's "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." This winsome musical was adapted by Judith Viorst in 1998 from her award-winning book by the same name that was first published in 1972 with illustrations by Ray Cruz.