Theatre
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Understudy by Theresa Rebeck
At Coyote StageWorks
By: - Nov 29th, 2018Chuck Yates is one of the finest actors in the Coachella Valley winning many Desert Theatre League (DTL) Award trophies for excellence in theatre. In Rebeck's masterful The Understudy we have two male actor-candidates and one avenging female stage manager from Hell named Roxanne. She puts two male actors Harry and Jake auditioning for the role of the ‘understudy’ through their paces before giving them the okay to join the performing cast.
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Brian Dennehy at LA's Geffen Playhouse
Masterful One Acts by O'Neill and Beckett
By: - Nov 29th, 2018Actor Brian Dennehy is currently presenting a Master Class in acting with his one-man presentation of two One Acts: Eugene O’Neill’s “Hughie” and Samuel Beckett’s obtuse “Krapp’s Last Tape”.
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Il Trittico at the Metropolitan Opera
Placido Domingo Celebrates 50 years at the Met
By: - Nov 28th, 2018No work by Puccini has suffered more neglect and critical ignorance than Il Trittico, his "triptych" of three single act operas that premiered at the Metropolitan Opera one hundred years ago. Part of what has hurt the reputation of this work- comprised of three operas designed to be performed together and in a certain sequence- is the unfortunate habit producers have of playing these works individually, or pairing them "Cav-Pag" style with operas by other composers.
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Chelsea Opera's Josephine Baker, Gertrude Stein and Picasso
Tom Cipullo's Opera Featured
By: - Nov 27th, 2018Chelsea Opera is a vibrant company committed to presenting new opera as well as the classics. On 1 December they will mount two one act New York premiers by the gifted composer, Tom Cipullo. Cipullo is rightly known as a composer for the voice, as well as a dramatist who creates a sound world of apt harmonies and melodies which reveal deep character and emotion. Opportunities to hear his work in New York are eagerly anticipated.
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Eve's Song at Public Theater
Patricia Ione Lloyd Is Playwright in Residence
By: - Nov 26th, 2018The invulnerability of middle-class achievement is haunted. Spooked by the present staccato-like news flashes from the television tell of black men shot, killed, dead . “We” don't discuss that sort of thing at dinner. Dark phantoms, shadows of women slide along the corridor where fear is a weakness which is not part of who 'we' are.
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Hello, Dolly!
National Equity Tour of Iconic Musical
By: - Nov 26th, 2018An equity national touring production the recent Tony-winning revival of Hello, Dolly! is splendid. A superb Betty Buckley stars in the tour, which recently played in Miami and is marching its way north. Buckley's Dolly is modest, patient, friendly, joyful and vulnerable. .
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American Son by Christopher Demos-Brown
Kerry Washington and Steve Pasquale Star
By: - Nov 25th, 2018American Son by Christopher Demos-Brown won Berkies for its premiere at Barrington Stage Company. It has transferred to Broadway starring Kerry Washington and Steve Pasquale. Kenny Leon, credited with many August Wilson plays, has done a fine job directing this.
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Disney's Frozen
Magical Winter Wonderland
By: - Nov 24th, 2018Despite some critical pans, Frozen has a strong enough pre-sale to guarantee many weeks on Broadway’s turf. Thanks are due to all the little girls who can’t get enough of the tale of Elsa and Anna, two Scandinavian sisters who yearn to be close despite mysterious magic separating them.
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Mother of the Maid by Jane Anderson
Compelling Performance by Glenn Close
By: - Nov 23rd, 2018Mother of the Maid by Jane Anderson had its world premiere at Shakespeare & Company in 2015. Since then there have been revisions . Tina Packer as Mother was recast with the star power of Glenn Close. This transfer of a burn baby burn slice of medieval barbarity continues to be an incongruous tear jerker.
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A Broadway Holiday
Thumbnails of Six Shows
By: - Nov 22nd, 2018Holiday season is prime time for Broadway. Here is a tip sheet of six shows we saw during a recent week on the Great White Way.
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It’s a Wonderful Life
At San Francisco Opera
By: - Nov 22nd, 2018It’s a Wonderful Life is a quintessential American opera in its language, content, and social perspective. Composer Jake Heggie has never been intimidated by cutting-edge contemporary opera standards and has created work that unapologetically draws on past musical forms with warmth, emotion, and melody.
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Rightlynd at Victory Gardens by Ike Holter
All Politics Are Local
By: - Nov 21st, 2018Rightlynd by Ike Holter begins with Nina’s awakening as a neighborhood activist and concludes two years later, as she learns what it takes to succeed in Chicago. The story line is blended with musical set pieces, dance numbers, Nina and Pac’s first date and its romantic consequences.
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Once On This Island
Tony-Winning Revival Of Classic Musical
By: - Nov 19th, 2018Audiences will feel like they're not in a theater, but really an island in the Tony-Award-winning Broadway revival of Once on this Island. A hope-filled message of unity and community pervades this marvelous mounting. Caribbean-flavored music, energetic dancing, singing and authentic acting are hallmarks of this vivid staging.
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Buyer & Cellar
Jonathan Tolins' Delightful Comedy in Florida
By: - Nov 19th, 2018Playwright's fertile imagination is on full display with Buyer & Cellar near Ft. Lauderdale. Jonathan Tolins far-fetched comic-fantasy imagines a down-on-his-luck actor running a mega-star's basement shopping mall. Prolific performer Matthew Buffalo shines in several roles in play about fame, fortune, ambition. Buyer & Cellar examines complex relationship between gay men and divas.
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Kaija Saariaho Premiere at White Light Festival
Lincoln Center Produces Only the Sound Remains
By: - Nov 18th, 2018Kaija Saaariaho weaves live music, enhanced voices and electronically generated extensions of the orchestra through the Rose Theater in Only the Sound Remains. Her opera based on two Noh stories is having its US premiere at the White Light Festival of Lincoln Center. This is an intimate work which succeeds mysteriously in filling a large space.
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Everything is Illuminated Adapted by Simon Block
Produced by Aurora Theatre
By: - Nov 18th, 2018Everything is Illuminated merits its place on the stage. Not everyone will like it, but it should be respected for its poignant content, interesting structure, well-defined characters, and ability to embrace humor and grief without loss of credibility.
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India Pale Ale at Manhattan Theatre Club
By Punjabi-American Playwright Jaclyn Backhaus
By: - Nov 18th, 2018In a New York Times interview, the playwright, Jaclyn Backhaus, admits that the work is essentially an expanded autobiography. As it opens, an almost-30-year-old, single Punjabi-American woman is talking to herself while she’s digging into fistfuls of dirt in the backyard.
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ATCA Focuses on Diversity
Panel Discussions for NY Critic’s Conference
By: - Nov 16th, 2018In order to survive and remain vital American Theatre Critics Association must become younger and more diverse. Intersectionality and inclusion is an ever greater driving force for producers, theatre companies and their critics. The dynamics of that synergy were explored through panels and programming of what has evolved as an annual New York conference.
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The Gershwin's Crazy for You
At the Alcazar Theatre in San Francisco
By: - Nov 15th, 2018In addition to great music and dance, Crazy for You is full of some of the corniest imaginable humor and inside jokes that are compatible with the tone of the work. And they are delivered well.
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Church and State
A Timely Dark Comedy
By: - Nov 15th, 2018“Church & State”, now on stage at the Pearl McManus theatre, in downtown Palm Springs, explores the hot button topics and issues concerning the role of guns, the Second Amendment, the NRA, and the role that God and religion play in our politics, but not necessarily in that order.
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King Kong as Spectacle
But Is the Musical Spectacular Enough for Broadway
By: - Nov 15th, 2018Yes size is definitely on the theatrical table for purposes of this “review/essay” of King Kong along with other observations. Perhaps, I should label this review with a sub-headline called “In Defense of Spectacle”.
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Queens of the Gold Mask by Carole Lockwood
World Premiere at Ivoryton Playhouse
By: - Nov 14th, 2018Playwright Carole Lockwood’s play while set in the past resonates much too much in today’s world.
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Love, Linda
Cole and Linda Porter Bio-Musical Off-Broadway
By: - Nov 14th, 2018Love, Linda is a lavish show illustrating the love Linda Porter had for her husband, the late, great composer lyricist, Cole Porter. A stylish production Off-Broadway recently ended its run. Stevie Holland, a widely-acclaimed performer, shined in the role of Mrs. Porter in the one-woman show.
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New Federal Theatre Presents Fall Reading Series
The Best of Two Character Plays Honors Ntozake Shange
By: - Nov 13th, 2018Woodie King's New Federal Theatre has dedicated its November Readings Series to the memory of the late playwright Ntozake Shange, who died October 27. New Federal Theatre's close association with Ntozake Shange goes back to its 1976-76 season, when it presented the first production of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enough."
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3rd Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards
27 Critics Voted for Prized Berkies
By: - Nov 13th, 2018For the third annual Berkshire Theatre Awards, at the Zion Luteran Church in Pittsfield, it took two hours to present trophies in 21 categories. Some 27 critics voted on awards to companies in the Berkshires extending into New York, Connecticut and Vermont. The top honors went to Barrington Stage Company with nine awards and Williamstown Theatre Festival which took home five.
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