Reviews

Pinter’s Old Times Challenges Audiences At Dramaworks

Anyone who tells you they understood every beat of Old Times at Palm Beach Dramaworks is probably lying. But investing close attention to Harold Pinter’s play will be rewarded with a theatrical experience to roll around the mind and debate over dinner for days to come.

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Sondheim’s Dark Musical Assassins Is A Triumphant Bullseye From Zoetic

Zoetic Stage director Stuart Meltzer and a superb collection of actors and designers have scored, forgive me, a bull’s eye with this production of Assassins. . Any Stephen Sondheim fan understands that his work is not everyone’s cup of saltpeter. But for those who seek intelligent, thought-provoking musical theater, there are few pieces as superb as this.

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Pippin May Feel A Bit Threadbare, But BRTG Delivers Vibrant Performances

Those big budget companies make productions with much smaller budgets such as Boca Raton Theatre Guild seem to be missing something – when, in fact, their Pippin this season has outstanding elements that are just as fine as those found in better heeled-companies.

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FGO’s Nabucco Features Two Of The Few Sopranos Willing To Perform The Voice-Killing Role

On opening night at Florida Grand Opera’s production of Nabucco, the audience joined the chorus singing “Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate.” The sing along was the highlight of an otherwise entertaining if not especially thrilling rendition of Verdi’s first major success notable because two of the three or four singers willing to do the role of Abigaille had been hired by FGO.

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Slow Burn Holds Courageous, Dark And Difficult Parade

Even if Slow Burn’s moving production of the dark and dangerous musical Parade wasn’t the success that it indeed is, the troupe would deserve honor for the fearlessness in choosing a pre-ordained tragedy about anti-Semitism that mixes soaring melodies with discomforting dissonance. But this company has again delivered an enviable piece of theater that challenges the audience as well as its artists.

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Hollywood Maven Renée Taylor Dishes In Solo Show At Plaza

Renee Taylor’s one-woman autobiographical show, My Life on a Diet, now at The Plaza Theatre is filled with humorous and self-deprecating stories of her life in image-conscious Hollywood. The main drawback is that Taylor sits behind a desk for 90 minutes reading from the script.

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Stage Door’s Crimes Of The Heart Suffused With Quirky Humor, Endearing Warmth

The past is too much with us, to misquote Wordsworth. Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart urges us to get past our pasts if we are to have some hope for the future. That homespun homily is delivered with endearing warmth in Broward Stage Door’s production of this 1979-80 comedy performed by a competent cast under Michael Leeds’ sure direction.

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Tovah Feldshuh Delivers Stunning Tour De Force In Revival Of Golda’s Balcony

Tour-de-force is frequently overused to describe any one-actor show in which the performer dons a few personas and feigns a few emotional pyrotechnics. To see an example of a true tour de force, witness the opening salvo of Tovah Feldshuh’s 10th anniversary tour of Golda’s Balcony that kicked off Wednesday at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale.

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End Of The Rainbow Focuses On Judy Garland’s Disintegration

End Of The Rainbow is not a Judy Garland tribute concert – it’s a dramatic play with music about her death spiral entering its final turn. Actors Playhouse’s production is shot through with witty gallows humor and compassion for a wounded soul.

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Kutumba’s Julie Johnson Is Enchanting Synergistic Theater

Taking a play that could easily be average and creating an inspired work is a thing of theater beauty. It comes from a director’s ability to envision what they want and go full in and, then it’s having actors who can help to further that vision. When there’s that synergy, it’s like watching magic unfold onstage. Such is Kutumba’s Julie Johnson.

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