Author Archives: Bill Hirschman

Area Stage’s Inventive Rethink Of Annie Is Fresh and Engaging

Young, visionary director Giancarlo Rodaz’s winning approach in Area Stage Company’s current unorthodox, yet triumphant production of the classic musical Annie features eight adult actors playing all roles in a stripped down environment in the round.

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Story of a Life Traces Harrowing Journey of Alzheimer Caregivers

It’s an obvious truism that most theater art – from dialogue to the lighting design – is partly a product of the artists’ past experience. But playwright-director Amy London’s Story of a Life, a harrowing examination of generations caring for loved ones suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, is ripped directly from the marrow of her own painful past.

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Slavery & Mythos of the West Haunt M Ensemble’s Cowboy

M Ensemble’s production of Layon Gray’s Cowboy is everything audiences expect of a rousing western, but it’s also an inherent indictment. It is not of little significance that the play is presented with entirely Black actors in a genre that has only recently begun to welcome melanin in its ensembles.

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Bright Colors Is Manic Tour de Force for Island City Stage

Drew Droege’s Bright Colors and Bold Patterns deftly avoids common tropes of the solo show in its compulsively watchable regional premiere at Island City Stage, a fringe festival-style tour de force for actor Thomas Mark.

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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.

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8 Actors, No Kids: Area Stage To Bow ‘Annie’ Like None Other

For its next professional production, South Miami’s Area Stage Company promises the musical Annie “like you’ve never seen before” later this month. It’s set in a speakeasy, has eight adult actors doubling and tripling parts, Miss Hannigan is a man in drag — and there are no children.

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M Ensemble’s Hosts A Cowboy John Wayne Never Knew

In Cowboy, the new dramatic play opening in June at M Ensemble in Miami, the gun-totin’ U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, traditionally garbed down to the required Stetson, strides through the double doors of the saloon, secretly on the trail of two wanted criminals. But there’s a slight difference from the oaters in which Sheriff John Wayne restored justice to a sleepy town.

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Miami New Drama’s 7 Deadly Sins Wins National Award

Miami New Drama’s innovative 7 Deadly Sins production, which has garnered attention around the country, has won a new category from the annual Drama League Awards.

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Island City To Deliver Williams’ Summer, Ludlam, Premiere

Island City Stage celebrates its tenth season with the anticipated Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly, Last Summer sidelined by the pandemic, plus a world premiere, a Charles Ludlam classic, a return of an earlier success and a contemporary play described as “an unflinching portrait of being Black and gay in America today.”

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News: Dramaworks Talks With Stars, Silver Palms Returns, Theatre Lab Writing Program

As the local theater scene ramps up, more and more news including the announcement every few days of a traditional season – which we will roll out one at a time over the next few weeks. But in the meantime…..

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