Tag Archives: Jodi Dellaventura

Summer Shorts Finally Gets to Celebrate 25th Anniversary

Like death and taxes, one of the few truly dependable things in life is that the venerable Summer Shorts from City Theatre is going to be a satisfying mix of light comedy with a few mildly serious moments. And its silver anniversary production remains a thoroughly entertaining source of 10-minute plays executed by a seasoned cadre of pros.

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There’s No Place Like Homeland, Not Even What Was Once

The concepts of home and homeland—especially when they are no longer the same place— have become even more complicated in the 21st Century for Cuban-Americans highlighted in Hannah Benitez’ world premiere GringoLandia commissioned by Zoetic Stage, a gentle comedy woven with the struggles of a past that no longer exists.

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Zoetic Stage’s Breathtaking Frankenstein Delivers A Different Brand of Horror

The “horror” in Zoetic Stage’s Frankenstein shares little kinship with the film monster with bolts in his neck terrorizing the countryside or even the 1818 novel of science gone wrong. But a different very contemporary terror is there all the same from the breath-taking wordless prologue of a stitched together embryo clawing out of a pod to the silent final image of two bodies crawling through Arctic waste.

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Classic Todd Tale Gets Fresh Approach From Zoetic Stage

One definition of classic theater is a piece that not only remains popular or relevant through time, but which can be endlessly reinterpreted or restaged without losing any of its brilliance, Shakespeare’s work being the most obvious example. Zoetic Stage’s latest entry working its way through the Stephen Sondheim canon underscores how Sweeney Todd qualifies.

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A Last Look Back At 2017, A Fine South Florida Theater Season

One pleasure of a theater critic’s job are these year-end retrospectives that require looking back at reviews and be reminded, “Oh, yeah, that was really great. And right, there was that. And how could I forget that one?”

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Island City’s Hir: How Do You Move Forward When You No Longer Know Where You Are

In this uncertain world, the ever-changing standards of what life is or even should be make it nearly impossible to chart a path forward when we have less idea what might be ahead than Columbus. That may be one of the takeaways – there are likely a half-dozen more — from the nightmarishly dark but hilarious 2014 comedy Hir bowing at Island City Stage.

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McKeever/Zoetic’s ‘After,’ GableStage’s ‘Royale’ Top Winners At 41st Carbonells

Michael McKeever, a beloved and prolific figure in local theater, set a record Monday when he won his eighth Best New Work at Monday’s Carbonell Awards for the scorching drama After, but he was unable to accept the honor personally because he was in New York City the night before the opening of his play Daniel’s Husband, which won the same prize last year.

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Timely ‘All The Way’ Exposes How Your Sausage Is Made

Although the Actors’ Playhouse folks are working very hard to master this Everest of a play, All The Way, about Lyndon Johnson’s campaign to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this time they have barely fought the work to a standstill.

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What Kind Of Year Was It? Our Critics’ “Best Of” 2016 Lists

Critics and award judges have been talking about it for weeks: The sheer amount of high quality work has made evaluating the last 12 months unusually challenging, but also an opportunity to remember one of the most rewarding calendar years in recent memory. So here’s a supremely subjective stab by all three critics here at Florida Theater On Stage at recognizing the shows and performances that stood out from a pack of productions.

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Silver Palm Theatre Awards Announces 28 Honorees

The South Florida Silver Palm Theatre Awards committee honoring theatrical excellence in South Florida will present the award to 28 individuals and organizations in its ninth season. Recipients range from veterans like Joseph Adler to newer names like Aygemang Clay.

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