Author Archives: Bill Hirschman

Talkin’ In The Green Room With…. Ron Hutchins

Lithe and graceful, Ron Hutchins stands out in any theater lobby on opening night, often noticeable for a quiet laugh that sounds like it’s coming up out of a coal chute in the basement. But he’s obviously most comfortable sculpting a dance routine out of human raw materials whether they are highly accomplished professionals or, as often happens, raw young students.

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Shorts Gone Wild 2: More About Relationships Than Risque

So the Cowardly Lion walks into a gay bar…. That premise pretty reliably lets you know that you must be watching the new edition of Shorts Gone Wild 2, the mildly risqué festival of short plays with a LGBT underpinning.

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Thinking Cap’s Off-Beat Immersive Theater Piece “Church” Is Pure Hallelujah

Sitting under a tent, sweating through the swelter, watching a faithful facsimile of a revival might not seem appealing to your everyday theatergoer. But bring an open mind to Thinking Cap Theatre’s play Church and savor a thought-provoking, exuberant even entertaining evening.

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Broward Stage Door’s Dramedy Butterflies Are Free Is Diverting Enough But Doesn’t Soar

The script for 1969’s Butterflies Are Free, holds up much better than you’d expect at its revival at Broward Stage Door. But while Stage Door’s edition under director Michael Leeds is a pleasant enough afternoon’s diversion of humor and emotion, it’s never terribly compelling and the whole thing could use more pizzazz to make it feel satisfying.

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Civic Leaders Evolving Alternate More Ambitious $45 Mil Plan For Coconut Grove Playhouse

A proposal resurrecting the Coconut Grove Playhouse as a $45 million theater complex likely run by the Arsht Center is being solidified by civic leaders headed by Mike Eidson, chairman of the Arsht’s trust. The previously undisclosed strategy eclipsesthe current county commission agreement to build a smaller facility on the site of the renowned 50-year-old theater.

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Theater Shelf: Sheldon Harnick, Melissa Errico, Jekyll & Hyde & Jekeyll & Hyde & Jekyll &….

Theater Shelf, a recurring feature, reviews recently-released books, CDs and DVDs of interest to theater lovers. Some are popular titles like a new Original Cast Recording, others are works you’ll be intrigued by, but didn’t even know about

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Talkin’ In The Green Room With…. Michael Leeds

Michael Leeds is a director, teacher, actor, dancer and songwriter, but this interview shows he is a raconteur with a storehouse of stories ranging from the woman who did an I Love Lucy bit for her audition, to the time he may have upstaged Elizabeth Taylor while wearing a panda suit.

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Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy Comes Home To Broward

Jungle Fantasy is one of a dozen Cirque Dreams’ productions that surround pretty impressive circus acts in otherworldly music, fluid lighting and spectacular costumes filled out by ultra-buff bodies. This edition has played all over the world since 2008 but it’s the first time that Neil Goldberg’s Pompano Beach-based company has brought it home to Broward.

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Arsht’s Sensory H2OMBRE Brings Moister Meaning To The Phrase Immersive Theater

Worldless, disconnected, as neutral and interpretable as a Rorschach ink blot, H2OMBRE is a Cirque du Soleil-like show designed by and aimed at people raised on comic books and fantasy flicks. Anyone seeking a conventional definition of theater will be appalled. But this creation will close in on sheer nirvana for those seeking an immersive experience akin to a South Beach club erected at Comic-Con.

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Actors’ Playhouse Mid-Life 2: The Crisis Continues — Second Verse Same As The First

These fluffy summer fripperies at Actors’ Playhouse must be successful because here’s a sequel Mid-Life 2: the Crisis Continues, the off-spring of 2008’s Mid-Life! The Crisis Musical. Once again, the same folks have achieved precisely what they sought: a fun, light-hearted divertissement, but the varied quality of the material is not worthy of the skill, talent, polish and unflagging commitment of the cast and crew.

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