Author Archives: Bill Hirschman

Beliefs and Responsibility Grapple In Miami New Drama’s World Premiere Birthright

How do deeply held beliefs – religious, social, moral — guide us, persist, deteriorate or see us mutate as time and events challenge their truth and erode the bond among those raised on them. Birthright at Miami New Drama is an overwhelming, dense, heroically ambitious study of young people defining their identity and grappling how it copes with the modern world.

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Dealing With Crippling Grief Is At Center of Theatre Lab’s The Impossible Task of Today

For some, grief is a long haul, the raw pangs never subsiding, but thriving, almost dictating a person’s daily actions even years later. At least that’s the way it is for Jack Jordan, the center of the emotionally gripping The Impossible Task of Today, a world premiere making its debut as part of Theatre Lab’s annual Owl New Play Festival.

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Summer, 1976 Investigates Levels In The Bonds of Friendship

By Bill Hirschman One benefit of aging is the ability to see where we came from, where we have travelled, contemplate our past decisions, but most significantly to wisely re-evaluate the meaning, standing and worth of that journey’s elements. Summer, …

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A Sweet Slice of Theater: “Waitress” at Actors’ Playhouse

By Mariah Reed Waitress follows the story of Jenna, a talented pie maker working in a small-town diner who is trapped in an unhappy marriage. Haunted by her mother’s legacy of hardship, she finds refuge in baking, pouring her emotions into imaginative, …

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Feature: Theatre Lab New Play Festival Explores ‘The Happiness Gym’

Over a decade, Theatre Lab has built a reputation for exploring some of the newest scripts, visions and techniques in the field. But this month’s The Happiness Gym as part of its annual festival breaks down the wall between traditional styles with a mode you don’t expect.

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‘Something Rotten’ Isn’t; It’s Hilarious For Musical Fans

In one of the most hilarious production numbers in recent musical comedy written specifically for musical fans, imagine: alternating lyrics among Shakespearean quotes, ribald puns and a chorus line holding up A Chorus Line’s resume photos.Slow Burn’s Something Rotten careens at Mach speed with the exuberant energy.

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Respect: A Musical Journey of Women at Pompano Beach Cultural Center

  By Jan Sjostrom   Respect: A Musical Journey of Women mixes potholes with well-maintained pavement. A checklist from a recent road test of the Pompano Players’ production at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center might read like this: A truck-load …

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Wick’s No, No, Nanette Will “Make You Happy Too”

No, No, Nanette is a blast from the past. It’s a comedy of errors, set in the Roaring 1920’s jazz-age flapper era, full of farcical moments with plenty of tap-dancing, and oodles of heart.

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“Follow the Fold” to Guys and Dolls at the Maltz Jupiter

The Guys and Dolls at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre has an embarrassment of riches including actors, orchestra technical display and dance number after dance number each more toe-tapping than the next.

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Poignant and Powerful, All the Natalie Portmans Addresses Resilience in the Face of Tragedy

How do you deal with a deeply troubled family? You retreat into a rich fantasy life where famous white actresses befriend you and dreams lull you into something approaching hope. All the Natalie Portmans from Thinking Cap Theatre, depicts a poor, black family trying to survive a crushing lack of resources, opportunities, and advantages.

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