Tag Archives: Michael Leeds
Shorts Gone Wild 5 Is Usual Mixed Bag — But With A Twist
Shorts Gone Wild 5, co-produced by City Theatre with Island City Stage, follows the same entertaining pattern eliciting guffaws, chuckles and a few choked back sniffles with risque and luight blue material. The acting and direction keeps improving year after year and those elements rescue scripts less deftly written. But this edition feels different for an intriguing reason.
Son At Island City Stage Deserves To Be Embraced
Just about two years after Island City Stage premiered Michael McKeever’s Daniel’s Husband and it currently playing off Broadway, Island City Stage takes on another world premiere play that has the makings of what could be a successful regional theater offering.
The First Step: Diary Of A Sex Addict Is Hilarious, Insightful And *Really* Unflinching
The First Step (Diary of a Sex Addict), which makes the rounds of video porn parlors, urinals, gay baths and sessions of a self-help group, sounds like the premise for a Saturday Night Live skit. And Michael Leeds’ play at Island City Stage is, indeed, very funny. But woven into the outrageous humor is a compassionate in-depth examination of the emotional spiral wreaked by the tyranny of this specific disease/illness.
Sweet Charity’s Optimistic Hope Is A Strange Fit For This Week
Sweet Charity is a fundamentally flawed showcase that virtually no one has ever pulled off satisfyingly, but Broward Stage Door director Michael Leeds makes a solid enough stab at it that a receptive undemanding audiences won’t mind having spent a few hours in its pleasant company.
Presidential Politics Make Shorts Gone Wild Even Wilder
Political satire is like the finest champagne – delectable at the time but going flat with age. But in the meantime, as Shorts Gone Wild 4 (subtitled Decision 2016: It’s Gonna Be Yuuuuuge!) underscores, what a terrific way to blow off angst over today’s polarized landscape.
The Pursuit Of Dreams At Stage Door’s Broadway Bound
Broward Stage Door’s Broadway Bound may not land perfectly all the time, but these theater pros deliver a no-excuses-needed effort that works often and effectively and ultimately satisfies.
Feeding The Bear Has Promise, But It Needs More Feeding
Feeding The Bear, a serio-comedy focused on caring for a father succumbing to Alzheimer’s (featuring a drag queen with a cooking TV show), has all the necessary ingredients for a tasty confection, but this work in progress hasn’t yet found the culinary magic to be a fully satisfying dish.
Island City’s Latest Beats Prejudice Into ‘Submission’
Jeff Talbott’s The Submission, enjoying its regional premiere from Island City Stage, is predicated on the realization that “Everyone’s a little bit racist.” It charts the ignition of a racial flashpoint in the theater world over the span of a year, as liberal creative types are forced to confront long-dormant prejudices.