Theater Reviews

Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman seems hardwired never to limit his imagination.  His drive to test the elasticity of dance’s boundaries may have been awakened in his mid-teens while dancing professionally with the Royal Swedish Ballet.  By his early twenties, he was creating his own dances and freelancing as a professional choreographer.  Although the types of …

Joffrey’s Midsummer Night’s Dream Turns Matchless Dance into Phenomenal Theater Read More »

Few musicals can claim as convoluted a backstory as Guys and Dolls.   It’s songs were created before its story.  Its plot grew out of a chance suggestion.  And the person who ended up scripting its storyline had never written for Broadway before.  Despite that, the acclaim the musical received in 1950 when it debuted on …

Drury Lane’s Guys and Dolls a Royal Flush Read More »

Wonder, surprise, incredulity, excitement, joy.  Maybe a rush of adrenaline.  They’re all the things you’d hope to find in a magician worth his or her salt.  And in Look Closer with Joshua Jay at Rhapsody Theater, they’re not only all present, each shine like newly minted gold.  But in this magic show, you’re also enthralled …

Look Closer at Rhapsody Gives New Luster to Magic’s Glow Read More »

Unless you’re English, just the term “choir of man” may sound a little perplexing. More than likely, your mind will race to spiritual or religious connotations rather than beer.  But in the land of monarchs and cricket, there’s a tradition of men coming together to sing in choirs at their local pubs.  That history became …

The Choir of Man Takes Theater to New Heights Read More »

What does it mean to be extraordinary?  After meeting Bill Wilson, a New York stockbroker in the late 1920s, neither he nor the life he leads rings as remarkable.  That’s also true for Dr. Bob Smith, a career surgeon in Akron, Ohio during the same period.  They’re both men pushing through life with a particularly …

Bill W. and Dr. Bob Chronicles the Birth of a Pivotal Movement Read More »

In 2006, right after seeing John Kolvenbach’s Love Song in London, Marti Lyons immediately bought the script in the theater’s lobby.   Monday, after experiencing Remy Bumppo’s production of Mr. Kolvenbach’s beautifully expansive take on love at Theater Wit, we can understand why.  This time around though, as Love Song’s Artistic Director, Lyons used the opportunity …

Remy Bumppo’s Love Song Takes a Fresh Look at What Makes the World Go ‘Round Read More »

We’re probably not the only country where aging is seen as an ominous specter, something to be dreaded and even feared because of its proximity to consummate demise.  Such perceptions may not be naïve, but they certainly are narrow and overlook our capacity to experience life’s fullness and wonder throughout all of its stages.  Playwright …

WIPEOUT Proves the Compatibility of Fierceness and Aging Read More »

The act of living means that the present takes up most of our mental space.  Pursuing careers, raising families and keeping up with the day to day doesn’t leave a lot of opportunity to look back and give adequate measure to what was.  Black Ensemble Theater’s (BE) 2024 season opener, The Time Machine:  A Tribute …

BE’s Time Machine Delivers Musical Rapture Read More »

Some say that in any family with two or more children, each child has a different set of parents.  The relationship one child has with either of them is never exactly the same as it is for another brother or sister.  The ramifications of those relationships and the way they’re entangled with history, race, legacy …

Exceptional Play at American Blues Theater Shifts the Focus of History to Honor the Forgotten Read More »

Stories that crouch down and sniff out the human element behind some of our most contentious issues always seem to bring the most satisfaction.  That’s certainly true of The Smuggler, Jackalope Theatre Company’s tiny new powerhouse of a play about what it takes to corner the American Dream.  As we learn while listening to Tim …

Small But Mighty, The Smuggler Showcases Theater at its Best Read More »