Author Archives: Bill Hirschman

Today’s Isolation Echoes In Local Co-Pro Of The Belle Of Amherst

In this time of quarantine, subtle resonances echo the underlying thread of Emily Dickinson’s isolation in Palm Beach Dramaworks and Actors Playhouse’s co-produced filming of the live play, The Belle of Amherst. The one-woman play slated for an early April cyber-release focuses on a multi-faceted depiction of the legendary poet

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Book Review: Stoppard Bio Is As Complex As The Man Himself

Most biographies factually mirror the life and times of their subject in a chronological narrative. But few mirror the complexity and structure of the subject’s own work with the stunning faithfulness of Hermione Lee’s exhaustive and exhausting epic examination of one of the greatest playwrights in English or any other language, Tom Stoppard: A Life.

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Kravis Sets 2021-22 Broadway Tours With “Summer” & Hansen

The Kravis Center’s Broadway tour series, resuming in November, will have the much-anticipated Come From Away and Dear Evan Hansen, but also titles that won’t be seen at the other two presenting houses in the region such as An Officer and a Gentleman and Summer, The Donna Summer Musical.

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‘Long Distance Affair’ Is Back For A Fresh Virtual Journey

With most venues shut down for nearly a year, pandemic-era theater has taken many forms:
But few digital productions have achieved what Miami’s Juggerknot Theatre Co. and New York’s PopUP Theatrics pulled off in May with Long Distance Affair. Now there’s a second edition.

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Island City’s “Compensation” Pregnant With Potential

Every emotion associated with pregnancy and pending parenthood is present in the 95 minutes of Hannah Manikowski’s smart and promising play Compensation. In fact, most of them appear on the playbill cover photo for Island City Stage’s world-premiere production, an image that encapsulates the disconnected expectations that propel the drama.

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Arsht Center Plans Return With Broadway Tours In September

Yet another stirring that theater will return to… well, maybe normal isn’t the word… was reaffirmed this week as the Arsht Center announced that the Miami presenting house will resume its Broadway national tours in late September including Hadestown, and is hosting an on-site theater production outdoors this month from Zoetic Stage.

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Show Biz Legend Jan McArt Dies, Leaving Lasting Legacy

Larger-than-life, effusive, generous and driven Jan McArt, a show business legend who helped push South Florida theater out of its infancy and through its adolescence with flair and verve, died Sunday morning at her Boca Raton home, her daughter confirmed.

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Broadway Tours Set ’21-’22 Schedules For Broward & Nation

In a carefully calculated but hopeful sign of the recovering world of theater, Broadway Across America has scheduled the resumption this fall of its tours in 47 cities with full auditoriums and no social distancing, but with every other preventative measure. The announcement came with the new list of shows slated for the Broward Center beginning Nov. 3.

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Collegial Beloved Stage Actor Peter Librach Dies of Cancer

Peter Librach, the actor-director-producer-theatrical agent who worked at almost every South Florida theater and remembered by many as the epitome of a nurturing colleague, died Wednesday afternoon at age 64 after battling cancer.

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Area Stage Brings Imaginative Shrek Revival Out Of Doors

Area Stage revives its imaginative 2018 production of Shrek the Musical as conceived, directed and designed by Giancarlo Rodaz, but with mostly new cast members, on an outdoor stage near its new home at a shopping center.

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