Sometimes raw, sometimes gritty, and sometimes humourous, ‘Towards Youth’ reminds all of us that our youth can create a world of hope amid a world of crisis.
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After a successful and extended run at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Tarell Alvin McCraney’s important and engaging “Choir Boy” closes on Sunday March 10, 2019. With only six opportunities remaining, theatregoers are urged to see one of the remaining performances.
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The one woman show ‘Home’ written and performed by Nancy Ma at LATC is a real, raw and vulnerable story of a woman’s journey to attain the American dream. Directed by Geoffrey Rivas, he is quite the multitasker. Not only is on the board of the Latino Theater Company, but he is also acting in the show Canyon in the upstairs theatre.
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Better Than This: The Evolution of Women in Musicals is an informative journey of the history of women's roles in musical theatre. Anyone who is a musical theatre buff will enjoy their favourite songs and commentary performed by four distinct personalities bringing emotion, humour, and pure womanly talent to the stage.
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While I appreciated the local angle, it’s the six actors that provide the heart of this show. They bring fierce energy and fantastic voices to this production. The songs sound fresh and alive, thanks to music direction by Dan Pardo.
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I was so excited to take my teenage daughter to see CATS at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. CATS was a Broadway sensation for over 18 years and the fourth-longest running show in Broadway history.
The first time I saw the musical was in the 1980s. Based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and music by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, I shared some of my favorite “memories” of the show with my daughter while driving to the theater. Director Trevor Nunn and lighting designer Natasha Katz excitedly open the show with a multitude of large green cat eyes prowling up and down the aisle before they prance upon the dimly lit stage.
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Factory Theatre has billed ‘Bears’ as a multi-disciplinary adventure. I’ll go one step further and say that it became a thrilling theatrical experience of movement and voice for me thanks to playwright and director Matthew MacKenzie’s creative direction.
Floyd (Sheldon Elter) is the prime suspect in a workplace accident who flees through the Rockies to escape and evade the RCMP. On his journey west towards the Pacific, Floyd looks back on his childhood, meets some unlikely companions and is transformed by his experiences through nature and through the industrial expansion in his journey.
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It was apparent from the sea of “Pink Ladies” shirts, scarves, poodle skirts, leather jackets and throwback hairdos that the sold-out crowd at Fort Worth’s Casa Manana arrived ready to pay homage to the much-cherish, iconic musical, “Grease.”
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Telling the classic story of Henry V’s clash with France and the bloody war that followed, director, Mary Lou Rosato brings us the story once again with an effective minimal set and a large and engaging cast. Henry V was brought to life by Laris Macario, who balanced the commanding presence of the battlefield with the warm compassion towards his fellow men very well. At first it felt as though Macario was simply screaming through his lines but this improved as the play went on.
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Cahoots has billed this world premiere of ‘Good Morning, Viet Mom’ as authentic and irreverent. Franco Nguyen travels to Vietnam to look for inspiration for his first feature film and he finds an unexpected subject, his mother. Mr Nguyen then delves into the personal and shares stories about visiting Vietnam for the first time and being re-introduced to the mother he thought he knew.
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Firehouse Theatre’s production of “The Boy Friend” ignites the stage with a vibrant, high-tempo, well-rounded performance. Backed by exceptional vocal talent and dynamic choreography, this cast crafts a superb, must-see show for theatre enthusiasts across the DFW area.
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I would bet that Coal Mine’s production will probably be nominated for some Dora awards this year. The social justice issues of examining dignity confronting a debilitating and ultimately life destroying disease has been handled with great respect in ‘The Father’. Beg, borrow or plead to get a ticket and to see true ensemble perfection.
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Fresh Ink Theatre Company, an organization known in Boston for producing new works by New England playwrights, recently closed their contemporary play “Girlish,” by Alexa Derman. This show, which ran from February 1st through the 16th at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Blackbox Theatre, tells the story of Windy (Atlee Jensen), a teenage girl who, despite her age, finds herself deep in the American Girl Doll fandom. The story follows Windy as she navigates how to balance her love of her dolls with the natural trials of growing up, including dating, makeup, and meeting the expectations of her trendy longtime best friend, Marti (Willa Eigo.) When Windy eventually strikes up a new and exciting relationship with a fellow American Girl Doll fanatic online, AGBOI97 (Dylan C. Wack), she begins to pull away from Marti and, in doing so, discovers a new array of truths about herself and her passion that cause her to step away from playing pretend and face her reality head on.
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If there’s ever a such thing as a cliché, overdone type of fringe show, it would have to be this: A show that’s heavy on humor that relies too much of both innuendo and raunchy humor, as well as recycled stories and characters from within the public domain. If you’re a fan of both drag queens and The Wizard of Oz, then maybe you might enjoy spending an hour of your day watching one of this show’s last performances. Otherwise, you’re probably better off looking into one of the FRIGID Festival’s other offerings this year.
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Move over “Mean Girls,” there’s a new queen bee in town. Nine to be precise, currently gracing the stage at Theater 80 St Marks in the new musical We Are The Tigers.
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Provocative, whimsical, and ethereal, the Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company defies expectations of postmodern dance and soars, unafraid to take risks and dazzle with unflinching honesty.
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‘The Last Ship’ sailed triumphantly into the Princess of Wales Theatre on its opening night, and what a tumultuous welcoming reception it received with a standing ovation at the curtain call. This entire company is stellar. Beg, borrow, ask, demand and try to get a ticket if you can.
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Rarely have I ever had a chance to see a Harold Pinter play because one hasn’t been done so far. So, when I heard Soulpepper would be doing a series of Pinter one acts, I was intrigued and ventured forth to the Distillery District.
I don’t remember reading Pinter plays during my undergraduate years at Western in studying English Language and Literature. For shame, for shame, I know but I learned more about the term ‘Pinteresque’ from conversations with others in my involvement in community theatre or in discussions with other actors there.
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Wandernook Theatre brought Oscar Wilde’s, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” to life with well-crafted dialogue, authentic costuming and grace which paid homage to this beloved tale highlighting the absurdities of courtship, class--and earnestness--in Victorian-era high society.
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In this humble guy’s opinion, ‘good theatre’ should entertain an audience while ‘great theatre’ should entertain and teach us something extremely important about the human condition.
For me, playwright J. T. Rogers has created great theatre with ‘Oslo’, but it is a text richly laden with dialogue so the audience will have to pay close and careful attention. Under Joel Greenberg’s astutely-handled direction, thirteen actors channel emotional and passionate driven performances highlighting the first-ever peace deal between the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. (PLO).
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