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
Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Grey Gardens, based on the 1975 cult classic documentary, is a gem of a one-act musical. Unfortunately, there are two acts. In wanting to flesh out the characters who were captured in the film, book author Doug Wright, composer Scott Frankel, and lyricist Michael Korie focus the entire first act on … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Each year Ensemble Studio Theatre stages a festival of one-act plays written by participants in their writing workshop. Program B is one of three collections of plays available to view. Read more… Now running through July 31
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw Lear is one of those roles used to chart an actor’s path in life: the young actor is Romeo, a bit later is Hamlet, and the older actor essays Prospero and Lear. Read more… Now running through August 14
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Church & State, Jason Odell Williams’ timely and aptly titled political drama, tells the story of a fictional Republican Senator from North Carolina, Charles Whitmore (Rob Nagle, at his splendid best) who suddenly begins to question much that he’s always believed in — namely, God and the Second … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw It’s easy to love site specific theater —particularly one in which the setting essentially adds a character to the show itself. I’m thinking of recent shows like Flagship Theater’s SecondSkin, which was a ghost story staged on the beach outside the Annenberg Beach House, with ghostly figures emerging from the cascading … Read more