Author Archives: Bill Hirschman
Like the Jersey Boys Sang, ‘Oh, What A Night’ at the Maltz
Much of the audience at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s opening night of Jersey Boys was its traditional well-heeled well-coiffed crowd. But their increasingly unfettered applause, then cheers, then standing ovation while clapping to their music reflected a specific message. “Our time, our music, our youth mattered.”
Blow, Winds: Florida Theaters Return After Hurricane Ian
Hurricane Ian inflicted severe multi-million-dollar damage to the Florida Repertory Theatre in Fort Myers and the Venice Theatre as well a some damage to Gulfshore Playhouse in Naples. But all of them are soldiering on.
Butterflies Are Free Once Again at Riverside In Vero Beach
Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach opened its 50th season with Butterflies Are Free, a charming romantic comedy harkening back to the years of the theater’s beginning. While it may not be the big-name musical with which Riverside usually launches a season, it’s a frothy of-its-time favorite with appealing characters and plenty of laughs.
A Musical Beauty ‘Pageant’ Like None You’ve Seen – Probably
The musical comedy Pageant at Island City Stage delivers a lush array of talented contestants in carefully coifed wigs and gowns — except they’re all men.
Attend the Tale Once Again of Sweeney Todd at PPTOPA
The complexity of Sweeney Todd with tongue-twisting lyrics and a breakneck score is, far more difficult to master than most civilians appreciate. So render props to Pembroke Pines Theatre of the Performing Arts’ respectable production, which features some engaging performances, some quite fine voices and an earnestness of artists clearly filling items on their bucket list.
Director Explores Reinventing Jersey Boys for the Maltz
When director-choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge agreed to lead the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s edition of the much-seen Jersey Boys, the challenge was to invest the familiar production with a fresh approach and unearth facets that the show’s fans haven’t seen before.
Sensory-Rich, Physicalized Production of Mlima’s Tale
Zoetic Stage’s Mlima’s Tale is a theatrically-lush indictment of illegal ivory trafficking and shared responsibility for the slaughter of animals, not so much for the artistic trinkets that result, but for human greed. Imagine a Discovery Channel documentary dramatically told as a fever dream awash in lights, sound, music and movement.
Milk and Honey Is Charming Musical, But Very Much the ’60s
Unabashed charm is not a quality one associates with modern musicals, but it is the predominant and reasonably satisfying virtue if you take the Wick Theatre’s time machine back 61 years to the opening of Milk and Honey, the first full-length musical by promising newcomer Jerry Herman.
Slow Burn and Seymour Feed Audrey II One More Time
Don’t feed the plants! Once again, nebbishy Seymour just won’t listen, so we get another evening of wackiness in Slow Burn Theatre’s edition of Little Shop of Horrors.
A PaperStreet Web Design
