Tag Archives: Michael McKeever

Dickens Nailed It: South Florida Theater Two Years In Review

If Dickens’ opening line in A Tale of Two Cities has become a trite cliché through overuse it has become a painfully accurate truism about theater over the past two years, especially South Florida theater. Crippling loss and inspiring resurrection. Surrender and perseverance. And , now, the Covid threat has reasserted. But looking back on those two years delivers a testament worth celebrating and learning from.

Posted on December 28, 2021 by Bill Hirschman

Posted in Features | Tagged Actors Playhouse, Adrienne Arsht Center, Bari Newport, Broward Center, Carbonell Awards, Cecilia Snow, Clay Cartland, Clive Cholerton, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Colin McPhillamy, Darius J. Manuel, Elijah Word, GableStage, Gabriell Salgado, Heather Jane Rolff, Island City Stage, Joe Adler, Karen Stephens, Kimmi Johnson, Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, M Ensemble Company, Main Street Players, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Margaret M. Ledford, Miami New Drama, Michael McKeever, MNM Theater Company, Nicole Stodard, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Peter Haig, Slow Burn Theatre Company, Stuart Meltzer, Theatre Lab, Timothy Michael Quinn, William Hayes | Leave a comment

Growing Fear In The People Downstairs Is All Too Familiar

Theater is often political: but sometimes, like The People Downstairs, Michael McKeever’s harrowing world premiere at Palm Beach Dramaworks, the relevancy of the Dutch people hiding the Anne Frank family only magnifies as current events overtake them.

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Bill Hirschman

Posted in Performances, Reviews | Tagged Amy Miller Brennan, Bruce Linser, John Campagnuolo, Matthew Korinko, Michael McKeever, The People Downstairs, Tom Wahl, William Hayes | Leave a comment

Courage Among Ordinary People Honors The People Downstairs

Secretly, we wonder if we could be heroic in real life, whether we could find the courage to risk our lives to protect or rescue someone else. The question is at the heart of Michael McKeever’s The People Downstairs premiering at Palm Beach Dramaworks, focused on the people who hid Anne Frank’s family for two years.

Posted on November 23, 2021 by Bill Hirschman

Posted in Performances, Reviews | Tagged Amy Miller Brennan, Michael McKeever, Palm Beach Dramaworks, The People Downstairs, William Hayes | Leave a comment

2021-22 SoFla Theater Will Be A Season Of Asterisks (Part 3 of 3)

The show will go on for SoFla theater, but 2021-2022 will be a season of asterisks, what ifs and when. In a three-part series, we talk to artistic and managing directors about why this season will be unlike any other: from COVID to diversity. While local theaters survived the past 17 months the coming season may determine whether every Florida company will still be here a year from now.

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Bill Hirschman

Posted in Features | Tagged Actors Playhouse, Andrew Kato, Andy Rogow, Barbara Stein, Boca Stage, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Island City Stage, Keith Garsson, Kelley Shanley, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Marilynn Wick, Martin Childers, Matt Stabile, Michael McKeever, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Patrick Fitzwater, Slow Burn Theatre Company, Sue Ellen Beryl, Theatre Lab, Wick Theatre, William Hayes, Zoetic Stage | 1 Comment

2021-22 SoFla Theater Will Be A Season Of Asterisks (Part 2 of 3)

The show will go on for SoFla theater, but 2021-2022 will be a season of asterisks, what ifs and when. In a 3-part series, we talk to artistic and managing directors about awhy this season will be unlike any other: from COVID to diversity. While local theaters survived the past 17 months the coming season may determine whether every Florida company will still be here a year from now.

Posted on September 11, 2021 by Bill Hirschman

2021-22 SoFla Theater Will Be A Season Of Asterisks (Part 1 of 3)

The show will go on for SoFla theater, but 2021-22 will be a season of asterisks, what ifs and when. In a three-part series, we talk to artistic and managing directors about why this season will be unlike any other: from COVID to diversity. While local theaters survived the past 17 months the coming season may determine whether every Florida company will still be here a year from now.

Posted on September 10, 2021 by Bill Hirschman

News From Juggerknot, Dramaworks, Thinking Cap, Zoetic, Renegade, Theatre Lab

South Florida theater was rarely dormant during the pandemic; but a torrent of honors, projects and prizes are surfacing quickly including Juggerknot Theatre Company, Zoetic Stage, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Theatre Lab, Thinking Cap Theatre, Renegade Theatre Company & Conservatory, and the Silver Knight Awards in drama. Much more in the next few days. Curtain up.

Posted on June 4, 2021 by Bill Hirschman

Posted in News | Tagged Andie Arthur, Charles Busch, France-Luce Benson, Juan C. Sanchez, Juggerknot Theatre Company, Michael McKeever, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Renegade Theatre Company & Conservatory, Silver Knight Awards, Tanya Bravo, Theatre Lab, Thinking Cap Theatre, Zoetic Stage | Leave a comment

McKeever, Nottage Headline Dramaworks’ Next Season

The world premiere of a Michael McKeever drama about the people who hid Anne Frank’s family and one of Lynn Nottage’s first mainstream successes about African Americans are among the five titles in Palm Beach Dramaworks’ 2021-2022 season – planned to be mounted inside its auditorium.

Posted on April 14, 2021 by Bill Hirschman

Posted in General | Tagged Lynn Nottage, Michael McKeever, Palm Beach Dramaworks | Leave a comment

Act Two For SoFla Theater: A 2-Part Portrait One Month In

PART TWO: One month into the nation-wide shutdown of live communal theater due to COVID-19, South Florida companies, like those in so many other regions, are trying to write Act Two with little clue how Act Three will play out. In this first of two parts, leaders from local companies and venues a limn this tale of confident hope and chilling fear, cold balance sheets with seven digits in the red, and blue sky imagining what theater will look like in two, three, 18 months.

Posted on April 19, 2020 by Bill Hirschman

Posted in Features | Tagged Actors Playhouse, Andrew Kato, Andy Rogow, Arsht Center, Barbara Stein, Bree-Anna Obst, Broward Center, Christopher Demos-Brown, COVID-19, David Arisco, Island City Stage, Judith Mitchell, Kelley Shanley, Kravis Center, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Marilynn Wick, Miami New Drama, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Michael McKeever, Michael Spring, Michel Hausmann, Nicole Stodard, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Patrick Fitzwater, The Wick Theatre, Theatre Lab, Thinking Cap Theatre, William Hayes, Zoetic Stage | Leave a comment

Act Two For SoFla Theater: A 2-Part Portrait One Month In

PART ONE: One month into the nation-wide shutdown of live communal theater due to COVID-19, South Florida companies, like those in so many other regions, are trying to write Act Two with little clue how Act Three will play out. In this first of two parts, leaders from local companies and venues a limn this tale of confident hope and chilling fear, cold balance sheets with seven digits in the red, and blue sky imagining what theater will look like in two, three, 18 months.

Posted on April 18, 2020 by Bill Hirschman

Posted in Features, General | Tagged Actors Playhouse, Andrew Kato, Andy Rogow, Arsht Center, Barbara Stein, Bree-Anna Obst, Broward Center, Christopher Demos-Brown, COVID-19, David Arisco, Island City Stage, Judith Mitchell, Kelley Shanley, Kravis Center, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Marilynn Wick, Miami New Drama, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Michael McKeever, Michael Spring, Michel Hausmann, Nicole Stodard, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Patrick Fitzwater, The Wick Theatre, Theatre Lab, Thinking Cap Theatre, William Hayes, Zoetic Stage | Leave a comment