Paul Birchall – Stage Raw The stage at the Zombie Joe’s Underground Theater is really extremely small. While at times it feels like the size of a large conference table or a front counter at Starbucks, the electrifying power that erupts from this tiny postage stamp is really quite amazing. Read more… Now running through September … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw The distinguishing theatrical device in Archway Theatre’s is that all the performers appear in their undergarments — or rather, they appear costumed (by Sara Davenport) in undergarments suitable to the Victorian era roles they are assuming. Read more…
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw This Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical tackles a subject that many regarded as inimical to the musical format: mental illness and its effect on a family. Read more… Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze Next to Normal is a contemporary musical in many ways. First produced in 2008, its … Read more
Lovell Estell III – Stage Raw So what do an ostentatious transsexual, a sassy Blaxploitation film star and a bitter washed up TV actress all have in common? Norma Desmond! Read more… Now running through September 25
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw What is to be done with the prodigals and the fuckups, those we love in spite of logic, those who will likely never change but instead haunt us for the rest of our lives? Everybody knows someone like this, and it’s heartbreaking not knowing what to do. Wendy Graf’s Please Don’t … Read more
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