by Scott C. Morgan read review on DailyHerald.com How does a theater succeed at producing a period piece like “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” when so much of it is deemed to be politically incorrect today? The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire’s exceedingly polished and purely entertaining answer is to get a comedy […]
by Hendy Weiss read review on Chicago.SunTimes.com The rapid-fire clatter of fast-fingered secretaries pounding away on manual typewriters fills the air. Pastel shirtwaist dresses are all the rage. And both men and women wear hats. More to the point, observing all this from his window-washing perch outside a high-rise Manhattan office building is a young […]
by Alan Bresloff read review on AroundTheTownChicago.com Highly Recommended ***** I am often asked why they don’t create musicals like the good old days? The answer is fairly easy- the people who wrote the music , lyrics and stories are no longer here to create the lovely musicals that have an audience humming and dancing […]
by Colin Douglas read review on ChicagoTheatreReview.com As the overture winds down, a young man in coveralls descends from above. J. Pierrepont Finch, an ambitious young window washer, is discovered reading Shepherd Mead’s instruction book, of the same name, while dangling from scaffolding above Madison Avenue. Narrated by Emily Loesser, the book progresses chapter-by-chapter, charting […]
“It feels like the universe is trying to tell me something.” -STRUCK The World Premiere of STRUCK by Sandy Rustin is now onstage at New Jersey Repertory Company (NJ Rep) through July 31st. With meticulous direction by Don Stephenson and featuring a stellar cast, this show is both entertaining and thought provoking. STRUCK strikes the […]
by Sylviane Gold view review on NYTimes.com What’s playing at the Goodspeed? I’ll tell you what’s playing at the Goodspeed. Story of a high-rolling gambler who wins way more than he bargained for when a mission doll upsets his game. Yes, Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown are back, along with their pals Nathan Detroit, Miss […]
by Brooks Appelbaum view review on ShorelineTimes.com Most of us envision (or remember, if we’re lucky) a perfect production of Guys and Dolls, the exuberant musical based on Damon Runyan’s tales of 1930s New York and New York characters (as in “What a character”). With a book by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling, and music […]
by Frank Rizzo view article on Courant.com Don Stephenson knows “Guys and Dolls” inside and out. After all, his father-in-law — Frank Loesser — wrote the score. But he hasn’t performed in the musical based on Damon Runyon’s stories of colorful saints and sinners of long-ago Times Square since he played Angie the Ox when […]
by Michael Sommers view review on NYTimes.com It is not essential to know the Russian plays of Anton Chekhov to like the all-American charms of “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” Christopher Durang’s amiable comedy about a wacky weekend spent in Bucks County with three middle-aged siblings and a boy toy. Such knowledge lends […]
by David Rooney view article on HollywoodReporter.com Brian Stokes Mitchell and Laura Osnes lead this stage remake of the 1953 MGM classic, with Tracey Ullman and Michael McKean channeling Betty Comden and Adolph Green On the busy assembly line of screen-to-stage remakes, few properties might seem like more natural fits than the great MGM movie […]
