Rob Stevens – Haines His Way.
For my first theatre review of 2023, I ventured out to Theatre West in Hollywood and joined the lively audience for Storybook Theatre’s opening performance of Hansel and Gretel.
Lloyd J. Schwartz wrote the book (he also directed) and the music and lyrics for eight songs were provided by Hope and Laurence Juber. They are very aware of the age of their audience but don’t write down to them, instead they provide easy to understand dialogue and lyrics. When the titular hungry brother (Oscar Nava) and sister (Elise Walters) decide to run away from home so their out-of-work woodcutter father (David Mingrino) will hopefully stop worrying about feeding them, they make sure to tell the tiny tots in the audience not to follow their lead. They tell them they are in a story, and they are sure to get into trouble for what they are about to do. Read more…