Author Archives: Bill Hirschman
Billy Elliot Mines Imaginative Staging, Superb Choreography
With its flights of imagination – literally, since the hero imagines himself soaring — Billy Elliot, The Musical is a triumph of theatrical staging. If this road tour at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts is not overwhelmingly moving, it remains one of the most thoroughly entertaining musicals to pass through here in some time.
GableStage’s A Steady Rain is a Deluge of Great Acting
The bond between two friends is tested by their own morality and betrayal in A Steady Rain by Keith Huff, now making in southeastern premiere at GableStage in Coral Gables. Together,actors Gregg Weiner and Todd Allen Durkin create a riveting pas de deux that is not to be missed.
Promethean Takes Final Bow “Because It’s Time” — And Lack of Donor Support
In the sense that economics are the root cause, observers might group The Promethean Theatre’s imminent closing with the high profile problems plaguing other South Florida theaters during the past year.
But co-founder Deborah L. Sherman makes a distinction. The eight-year-old theater in Davie is closing in the black, before it owes a dime, and, most important to her, while the quality of its productions allows her colleagues to hold up their heads with pride.
Color Blind Casting Poses No Obstacle To Filipino-American Dancing As British Billy Elliot
Initially, it’s impossible to ignore that 15-year-old actor J.P. Viernes leaping and soaring through the musical Billy Elliot is not a typical youngster in a downtrodden unsophisticated mining village in northeast England in the 1980s. John Peter Viernes, with a broad grin and flashing eyes, is inescapably a Filipino-American with caramel-colored skin and half-moon eyes. But by all accounts, his infectious charisma, joyous dancing and sheer acting skills successfully banish most audience members’ resistance to the color-blind casting within a few minutes.
Miami Made Features Off-Beat Works By Mad Cat, The Project Theatre and Mark Della Ventura
Mad Cat Theatre Company’s Paul Tei, Alliance Theatre Lab’s Mark Della Ventura and The Project [theatre], all known for their edgy approach and Gen X/Y/Z-oriented material, are featured in free offerings this weekend at the crockpot of regional performance arts festival, Miami Made.
Broward Stage Door’s Disappointing My Fair Lady Lacks Magic and Charm
This edition of My Fair Lady at Broward Stage Door is a disappointing muddle other than a few adequate performances under the direction of the usually reliable Michael Leeds. The first two thirds of this evening is mostly a listless, lackluster effort. Surprisingly, the quality improves so significantly in the final third of the show that you wonder if they switched out the casts. But by that time, it’s too late. Even at its best moments, and it has some, there’s no magic, no charm.
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