Author Archives: Bill Hirschman

Dancing Lessons Teaches More About Life Than Fancy Steps

Dancing Lessons is punctuated with interpersonal strife, frustration, heartache and some very funny moments. But mostly Zoetic Stage’s production is a warm quiet sustained smile for a warm quiet early spring night.

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Unabashedly Romantic South Pacific Sets Sail At The Maltz

The Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s nearly flawless production with a gloriously delivered score and nuanced script is a reminder that South Pacific is a contender as one of the most affecting and best constructed examples of the genre.

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‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’ Is… Well, You Can Get It If You Try

Often critics start their reviews with some analysis of the life lessons that a theatrical work contains. Not this time. The deep inner meaning of Broward Stage Door’s peppy perky production of Nice Work If You Can Get It is unabashedly “let’s have fun.”

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Raucous ‘Women In Assembly’ Reflects An Unique Vision

Thinking Cap’s world premiere, Women In Assembly, is a satirical comedy credited to Aristophanes but transmuted into a bawdy irreverent satire about Greek women taking over government and reshaping it to their saner philosophies. It’s awash in inventive staging and the cast’s energy, but the riffs go on long after the underlying point is made.

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Curtain Call’s Kindertransport Is A Journey To Buried Secrets

Kindertransport from Curtain Call Playhouse only uses the 1939 exodus of Jewish children from Germany as a starting point as it focuses on much more sophisticated questions about assimilation versus heritage, survivors’ guilt, mother-daughter relationships and what constitutes identity.

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A Voyage To The South Pacific Once Again At The Maltz

It’s likely that people involved with the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s upcoming production of South Pacific know that cynics will question why mount yet one more production of this classic. But director Gordon Greenberg and star Erin Davie know the answer. Actually, several answers.

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Kidnapper And Quarry Dance In Infinite Abyss’ The Collector

Poking around dark mentalities syncs with Infinite Abyss Productions’ gleeful affection for works about people on the edges of society. But its run of The Collector, while among its strongest work, is a mixed bag artistically.

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Nilsson The Obscure: The Anti-Theater of Mad Cat Theatre’s “Varry Harry”

Watching Mad Cat productions often feels less like consuming theater and more like eavesdropping on inside jokes. The arcane references,obscure titles, the inexplicable musical interludes and Brechtian distancing are never amateurish, but they are cultishly insular. To that end, Varry Harry, Mad Cat’s world-premiere tribute to a similarly idiosyncratic voice, is doggedly on-brand.

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Once Again, Once Soars And Lands As Paean to Love

What the musical Once illustrates on the stage of Actors Playhouse is the unparalleled power of song to capture and then share the pure pain and pleasure of love.

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Color Purple’s Short Local Run At Arsht Is Uplifting Affirmation

As overwhelming as The Color Purple is to the eyes and ears, it’s the heart that is most affected in this Broadway Across America tour production at the Arsht Center. Powerful voices trumpet then caress a gorgeous score as actors expertly deliver all the possible emotions laden in a well-crafted but challenging script.

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