Theatre
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Measure for Measure
Theatre for a New Audience
By: - Jul 07th, 2017Measure for Measure is a romantic comedy, ending with the lusty union of a Duke and a prospective nun with other nuptials pending. Yet it is an odd romantic comedy, propelled by the Sermon on the Mount. Director Simon Corwin and his team make the message contemporary. Man's darker side often conflicts with society's laws. The play comes as close to being timeless as any of the Bard’s works.
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Guys and Dolls at Stratford Festival
Actors Sing and Dance Up a Storm
By: - Jul 07th, 2017It seems that almost everyone has a show-stopping song. And the action constantly moves to a change of place and tone and feeling. When, after we’ve been variously entertained by several couples, at least five major contenders for the star role, and much clowning, one of the big, oafish, slangy gangsters, stands up in church and sings a confessional song that brings the house down.
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The Model American in WTF World Premiere
Pursuing the American Dream Ruthlessly
By: - Jul 05th, 2017Last summer at Williamstown Theatre Festival the director, Danny Sharron, collaborated with playwright, Jason Kim (HBOs' Girls) to develop a new play. The Model American is being given a hip and sleek world premiere at Nikos Stage. There is, however, nothing to like about its amoral anti hero and arguably the play itself. It is performing to sold out audiences with mostly positive reviews.
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Much Ado About Nothing in Frisco
Enticing at Marin Shakespeare Company
By: - Jul 05th, 2017The play is originally set in Messina, Sicily. Except for retaining the Italian character names, director Robert Currier's delightful "Much Ado" is transported to the bare clapboard, hardscrabble world of the Hatfields and McCoys - the border lands of Kentucky and West Virginia. The set is crude, the costumes are peasant-style, and the language an admixture of Shakespearian eloquence with down home Southern earthiness.
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Twelth Night Launches Stratford Festival
Now 150 Canada Celebrates the Bard
By: - Jul 05th, 2017Canada’s great Stratford Festival’s 63rd season also celebrates Canada’s 150th birthday. Its dazzling opening week of stunning productions this year consisted of seven major classic works; the later openings this season will feature new and experimental theater.
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Critical Condition
ATCA Conference in San Francisco
By: - Jul 04th, 2017In the age of social media everyone is a critic., Some enthusiasts post their "reviews" and images to Twitter and Facebook before curtain calls.That was he elephant in the room as some 80 of the 250 members of American Theatre Critics Association gathered for an annual conference this time in San Francisco. In addition to several days of seeing theatre there were meetings and panel discussions focused on issues and ideas in the profession.
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Constellations by Brit Nick Payne
Geffen Playhouse in LA
By: - Jul 04th, 2017“Constellations”, a poignant drama written by British playwright Nick Payne, is deftly staged by award-winning director Giovanna Sardelli that validates the acting gifts of its two stars: pixie-like Ginnifer Goodwin and handsome leading man Allen Leech (best known for his six year run in the TV blockbuster series “Downton Abbey”, as the family chauffeur).
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Play About Climate Change in Miami Shores
World Premiere by Mad Cat Theatre Company
By: - Jul 03rd, 2017A new dark comedy, Firemen Are Rarely Necessary shines harsh light on global warming, censorship and corruption in government. Short, pithy scenes and snappy dialogue keep us riveted. A new play by Theo Reyna has biting comedy that awakens us to realities.
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The Roommate at WTF
Full House for Jen Silverman's Quirky Two Hander
By: - Jul 02nd, 2017Since its debut at the Humana Festival in 2015 The Roommate by Jen Silverman has been widely produced. It has the advantage of being an intimate two-hander. But it is being given a lavish production and marquee players at Williamstown Theatre Festival. With Jane Kaczmarek (Robyn), S. Epatha Merkerson (Sharon) selling tickets in the Berkshires is this a production that may be headed to New York? Significantly Silverman was in town tweaking the script.
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Ragtime at Barrington Stage Company
Timely Revival of Issues Based Musical
By: - Jun 30th, 2017Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield has a reputation for mounting an annual blockbuster revival of a vintage musical. It also has an an agenda to present message plays that inspire and inform audiences. In the era of Trump Barrington is presenting Ragtime which seemingly conflates the mandates for entertainment and education. It results in a long evening top heavy with big ideas, multiple characters and confusing subplots.
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Children of a Lesser God at BTG
A Story of Love, Communication and Connection
By: - Jun 30th, 2017With the rise of so many platforms of communication in today's world, are we really hearing one another? Children of a Lesser God focuses on truly listening and communicating in the world of the deaf. It portrays a love story between a hearing man and a woman who neither hears nor speaks. Their communication and connection are powerful to see in stellar performances by the lead actors, Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff. The play runs to July 22 at Berkshire Theatre Group in Stockbridge, Mass.
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Ah, Wilderness! at Chicago's Goodman
Eugene O'Neill's Only Comedy
By: - Jun 30th, 2017Truly, Ah, Wilderness! and Long Day’s Journey Into Night are companion pieces in many ways, including being set (most likely) in the same house in New London, Connecticut—now known as Monte Cristo Cottage. It's where the O’Neill family spent its summers when actor father James O’Neill took time off from nationwide tours with his production of The Count of Monte Cristo.
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One Act Play Marathon
36th Marathon at Ensemble Studio Theatre
By: - Jun 30th, 2017What a pleasure it is to see good new plays well-produced. The EnsembleTheatre has done this year after year for 36 seasons and they don't go stale.
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Hitler on the Roof by Akvavit Theatre
Two Hander by Rhea Leman Has American Premiere in Chicago
By: - Jun 28th, 2017Playwright Rhea Leman, a native New Yorker, has lived and worked in Denmark since 1981. Her work concentrates on serious subjects treated in humorous or satiric ways. Her opera, The Rosenbergs, was chosen as best opera of 2015 and her play Gorilla, about the global financial crisis, gained her a nomination for best playwright of 2013.
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brownsville song (b-side for tray)
Kimber Lee Play by Shotgun Players in Berkeley
By: - Jun 27th, 2017Victor Cordell is a new contributor who will cover theatre and opera in the San Francisco and Bay area. We met at he conference of American Theatre Critics Association in San Francisco. He reviews playwright Kimber Lee's brownsville song (b-side for tray) by Shotgun Players at Ashby Stage in Berkeley, through July 9.
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The Goldberg Variations
World Premiere of Play Near Ft. Lauderdale
By: - Jun 26th, 2017Island City Stage hits practically all the right notes in world premiere production of The Goldberg Variations. The South Florida-based playwright and theater artist Stuart Meltzer's structure uses musical masterworks to illustrate variations in life situations. Humor, pathos and unpredictability are a potent combination in this comic-drama/
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Theater in San Francisco
ATCA Takes in Bay Area Theater Scene
By: - Jun 22nd, 2017ATCA held its annual conference in San Francisco. Shakespeare is alive in well among Bay Area theater companies. The "City By the Bay" and environs offers an array of theatrical productions, from new works to the classics
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Million Dollar Quartet at BTG
A Fantastic Night of Epic Rock 'n' Roll
By: - Jun 21st, 2017Million Dollar Quartet is based on a true story of a rare event - the coming together in one studio of four rock 'n' roll legends: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. Set on December 4, 1956, at Sun Records in Memphis, It was a night to remember for all rock n' roll fans!
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Birds by Conor McPherson
Aviary Mayhem at Barrington Stage
By: - Jun 21st, 2017The Irish playwright, Conor McPherson, challenges us to think about how we would react if the world turned upside down, and no longer functioned. How would we survive?
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Hanging With ATCA in Sausalito
The Legend of Georgia McBride
By: - Jun 20th, 2017There was a long day of meetings at Marin Theatre Company. The executives of American Theatre Critics Association were hosted for dinner on a houseboat in Sausalito. Then it was back to the theatre for an evening performance of the Matthew Lopez dark comedy The Legend of Georgia McBride.
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Shakespeare on the Hot Seat
Cal Shakes Presents As You Like It
By: - Jun 19th, 2017Now dead for centuries amazingly a lot of people are pissed off about Shakespeare. The actor uttering "Et tu Brute" in a controversial NY production strongly evokes our American Caesar, The Donald. This was a context for a meeting of American Theatre Critics Association for a panel and performance at Cal Shakes.
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The Roommate by Jen Silverman
Frisco Preview of Williamstown Play
By: - Jun 18th, 2017The tight and compelling two-hander The Roommate by Jen Silverman premiered at the Humana Festival a couple of years ago. While attending an ATCA theatre conference we enjoyed a superb production at the San Francisco Playhouse. It is also scheduled for the Main Stage of the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
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The Barrow Group's Expecting Isabel
Lisa Loomer Creates Theater Magic
By: - Jun 11th, 2017What's it like to create a child when sex doesn't do the job? Stripped of privacy, subjected to injection of semen into a hamster, and fending off an alcoholic parent are just part of the challenge. A hilarious treatment by talented playwright Lisa Loomer leaves us laughing and crying at once.
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Proof in Ft. Lauderdale
Pulitzer Prize-Winner at New City Players
By: - Jun 11th, 2017No math knowledge is needed to relate to Proof's many relevant themes. Actors are at the top of their game in South Florida theater company's production. The Pulitzer prize-winning play opens New City Players 2017 season.
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Woody Sez at Irish Repertory Theatre
Actor, Singer, Writer David Lutken Stars
By: - Jun 10th, 2017Woody Sez was mounted at the American Repertory Theatre in 2012. Now the brilliant actor/singer/writer David Lutken has expanded the show by an action-packed thirty-five minutes,and deepened his take on this iconic folk singer, who speaks clearly to our times. The Irish Repertory production is spot on throughout.
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