Paul Birchall – Stage Raw The Victorian Era operettas of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan are almost unique in the theatrical canon in that sometimes talent is not as important to a production’s success as gusto and enthusiasm. Read more… Now running through August 28
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw In the last few years, musician Hershey Felder has used his multiple talents — as writer, actor, singer, virtuoso pianist and general raconteur — to create a memorable series of portraits of major figures in the music world, including George Gershwin, Fredric Chopin, Ludwig Beethoven, Franz Liszt and Irving Berlin. Read … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw This cheery, lightweight musical — conceived by Rebecca Feldman, with a book by Rachel Scheinkin, and music and lyrics by William Finn (Falsettos, Falsettoland) — has a proven track-record as a crowd pleaser. Read more… Now running through August 21
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw As a film, Baby Doll was a little too racy for segments of America when it premiered in 1956. Its poster featured a scantily clad (by that era’s standards) young woman in a slip, curled up in a crib, sucking her thumb. Directed by Elia Kazan from a screenplay by Tennessee Williams … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Lorraine Hansberry is securely enshrined as an important black playwright, but what few people remember nowadays is that she was also a lovely young woman, with gamin charm and an impish sense of humor. Read more… Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze “What happens to a dream deferred?” asked Langston Hughes … Read more
Lovell Estell III – Stage Raw There was a time when gas was eleven cents a gallon, a new car might run you a thousand dollars, average wages were under two thousand dollars a year, and thousands of unsuspecting American citizens deemed unfit and undesirable were forcibly sterilized by the government, with the full aid … Read more
Lovell Estell III – Stage Raw With book and lyrics by Ryan Cunningham and music by Joshua Saltzman, this schmaltzy romantic musical treads familiar predictable terrain in a pleasantly unfamiliar manner. Loosely based on Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, it’s an opposites-attract tale of four young New Yorkers who find true love after tripping over a … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Capital & Main Obama-ology, written by Aurin Squire, takes place in 2008 and revolves around a youthful volunteer for the Obama campaign and the life education he receives from his senior colleagues and the folks in the community where he’s working. Read more… Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Despite the title, Aurin Squire’s … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Not all sociopaths reach for a gun. Some people appear normal until one day an event triggers their rage and they go off the deep end. A few of these individuals turn violent, but others, like Tracy (Rebecca Gray), the loose-lipped but (deceptively) harmless-looking woman at the core of Erik … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw One of the definitions of “meta-theatrical” is a theatre piece that constantly reminds the audience that they’re watching a play — one which comments on theatre in general. One famous example of this technique is Our Town, where the Stage Manager — not the narrator, mind you, but explicitly the Stage … Read more