Tag Archives: Alan Mencken

MNM’s Witty Little Shop of Horrors Is Open For Business

When entering a theater playing a musical you’ve enjoyed numerous times, it’s comforting to open the playbill to find the names of proven talents that reassure that you and the material are in good hands. Names, for instance, like Mike Westrich, Bruce Linser, Mallory Newbrough, Paul Reekie and Jim Ballard – some of the dependable hands delivering a solid entertaining edition of the delightful Little Shop of Horrors from MNM Productions.

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Formulaic Newsies Still Enchants With Joyous Dancing

It’s fortunate that Newsies is a dance-centric musical because much of the lyrics and dialogue were nearly impossible to understand in the national tour visiting the Arsht Center from Broadway Across America. But that dancing is spectacular and well-worth seeing.

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Where’s Whoopi? Sister Act Is Button-Pushing Mediocrity

Sister Act is not a terrible musical; it even has amusing and mildly entertaining passages. But the national tour at the Arsht Center is also a head-shaking mediocrity that begs an answer to why talented theater veterans wasted their time – and ours – on it.

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Sister Act Rocks the House: Nun Musical is a Hard Habit to Break

We’re entering another period of as many as six productions opening in one week. As a result, reviews may not remain in the center featured position more than one day. Please check out recent reviews by clicking on entries listed …

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Florida Report From New York: Leap Of Faith & Raul Esparza

The terrific 1992 film that this musical Leap of Faith is based on contains a roof-raising gospel number with the lyric: “Are you ready for a miracle?” That’s exactly what’s needed with this tale of a con man (played by Raul Esparza) and his crew traveling the drought-stricken Midwest posing as evangelistic faith healers, ripping off indigent folks desperately looking for hope during tent revivals.

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