All My Sons
Milwaukee Repertory Theater - Quadracci Powerhouse Theater

Although playwright Arthur Miller is known for his masterpiece, Death of a Salesman, it is curious to note why his earlier work, All My Sons, isn't revived more often. To this reviewer's mind, it has all the elements that elevate Salesman to a higher artistic level. In its own way, it seems like a more difficult play to do well. However, one needn't have worried about the production that recently opened at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. From start to finish, the show is mesmerizing. That's to the credit of the talented cast and director Paul Barnes.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Children's Hour, The
Poway Performing Arts Company

Life is not always fair. The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman, is placed in the mid-30s. Her taboo subject is lesbianism, in the days when it was an unholy scandal. The Children's Hour exposes exactly how easily a rumor destroys.

At stake is an all-girls school two women have put their lives' money into. One, also, has a forthcoming marriage at stake. The play, 70 years old, is as topical as today's news.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Comet of St. Loomis, The
OnStage Playhouse

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Echoes
6th at Penn Theater

Playwright N. Richard Nash, who brought us The Rainmaker in the 1950s, here creates a strange world inside a strange monochromatic room within an asylum -- the world of Echoes. Residents Tilda (Shannon Diana) and Sam (John De Carlo) are in their own special rooms of make-believe.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Dirty Story
Harold Clurman Theater

S & M is becoming an alluring metaphor for plays dealing with Terror, Chaos and International Crisis. American Magic uses it - plus B & D - to evoke US interrogation of Muslim Terrorist suspects. Shanley deploys it to present the confrontations of Palestinian Arabs with Israelis, in the persons of an Israeli with a video camera and an Arab with no defenses. A briefly-seen chess-player represents the departing British Mandate over Palestine. A wild American cowboy-type represents guess what? Shanley directed.

Glenn Loney
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Dirty Story
Harold Clurman Theater

Dirty Story, written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, is brilliant, funny, scintillating, engrossing, enchanting. Shanley's a unique dramatist who pours out ideas of real intellectual import, with a touch (almost) of Thomas Harris and a bit of Hellzapoppin thrown in. It's a study of narcissism in a writer, partly Absurd Theater, full of theatrical surprises, with a superb cast, each with a vividly unforgettable character: David Deblinger, Florenzia Lozand, Chris McGarry, Michael Puzzo, all playing archetypes: Artist, Worker, Cowboy, Bartender.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Faculty Room, The
Actors Theater of Louisville

It's unlikely any role model teachers with even a slight resemblance to Mr. Chips, Miss Dove or Miss Brooks could stay the course at Madison-Feurey High School, the setting for Bridget Carpenter's The Faculty Room, the third entrant in this year's Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theater of Louisville.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Far From The Madding Crowd
Lifeline Theater

Her name is our first hint that Bathsheba Everdene is a woman of passions, a trait attracting her three suitors -- one seeking to exploit them, another, to protect her from them, and a third, to wait patiently for her to discover for herself the folly of allowing one's actions to be governed by romantic impulse.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Filumena
Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts - Mertz Theater

Of three Filumena translations I've seen, Timberlake Wertenbaker's gets quickest to the heart of the matter and stays there. It's a struggle between ex-prostitute Filumena Marturano and her arrogant, straying lover Domenico Soriano for the acknowledgment of their relationship. It's a Big Fat Italian Family thing. For a family, there needs be husband, wife, children -- all with one name and preferably under one roof (that is, entitled to the property).

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Belasco Theater

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune treads some fairly well-worn terrain as it takes us to the precarious beginnings of a romantic interlude. We see instantly that the couple is sexually compatible; Frankie and Johnny are introduced to us while they are resting after a bout of vigorous sex. They are casual about their nudity -- writer Terrence McNally makes the point that it is not their bodies but their souls they tend to hide. Fearful of getting hurt, Frankie (Rosie Perez) is particularly suspicious of the overly communicative Johnny (Joe Pantoliano).

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Hairspray
Neil Simon Theater

Your scribe was not permitted to see this amazing show for weeks and months. It had opened while I was still in Europe, before what used to be the Opening of the Broadway Season. By the time I returned, it was already so smothered with raves n' honors that - or so I was repeatedly told - the producers didn't need a website rave. Fortunately, I am (as non-recording Secretary of the Outer Critics Circle) an Awards Nominator and a Voter. Not to overlook also being a Voter for the Drama Desk Awards.

Glenn Loney
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Far And Wide
Mint Theater

The award-winning Mint Theater Company has another first class show, Far And Wide, Jonathan Bank's adaptation and direction of Arthur Schnitzler's Das Weite Land. While the entire cast is quite good, leads Hans Tester and Lisa Bostnar are Broadway- level performers, and the show, which is about fidelity, infidelity, and moofky-foofky among the married and unmarried eighty years ago, sparkles with energy and life during all of their encounters. Ms. Bostnar is an actress capable of leads in Ibsen, Shakespeare, Miller, Williams and Albee.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Golda's Balcony
Manhattan Ensemble Theater

The dynamic Tovah Feldshuh - who certainly can do glamour - avoids it in her recreation of an aging Golda Meier. But she wonderfully evokes the courage and revolutionary career of this powerful and earthy woman who fought for the creation of the State of Israel and, as Prime Minister, guided it through very dark times.

Glenn Loney
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
La Boheme
Broadway Theater

Well, it's better than Rent. That's about the best thing this reviewer can say about the current Broadway version of Puccini's La Boheme, which in this production is set in 1950s Paris. Director Baz Luhrmann is largely successful in achieving his mission, which is to make a great opera more accessible to the masses. He is especially canny in selecting very handsome and beautiful young actors for the leads. He also gives them some freedom in substituting American slang for parts of the libretto (although all the singing is in Italian, with subtitles).

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Royale Theater

Twenty years ago, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom announced the arrival of a major new playwright on Broadway. It showed his command of language, humor and tone already at full throttle, while also showing his indulgence for meandering conversation and climactic moments that, however well constructed, feel a little stagey and forced. The playability of Wilson's dialogue has in no way diminished over the years, however; and when you have a force of nature like Charles S.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Royale Theater

Unfortunately, even the star power of Academy Award-winner Whoopi Goldberg wasn't enough to draw crowds to August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. The show had a relatively brief run on Broadway, despite the fact that, in addition to Goldberg, well-known actor Charles Dutton returned to recreate the role of Levee (which he played in the successful Broadway original 18 years ago). Ma Rainey is also notable as the first of many Wilson plays to be seen on Broadway. This reviewer was able to see the original version and this slightly altered revival.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Producers, The
St. James Theater

I went to see the current cast of Mel Brooks' The Producers. Boy! What a show! It's still a brilliant comedy, full of laughs, with super performances by Brad Oscar, Roger Bart, John Treacy Egan, Brad Musgrove, Gary Beach and, as Ulla the night I saw it, Charley Iazabella King. Robin Wagner's set, which goes beyond ordinary bounds in its extravagance, Susan Stroman's absurd choreography, hilarious costumes by Wiliam Ivey Long, all make this show The King of Broadway -- and "It's good to be the king.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Take Me Out
Walter Kerr Theater

I can't recall this much cheering and all-around continuous excitement about a Broadway play since Angels in America. I'm not talking about pre-show hype or media attention, I'm talking about in the theater itself, as a truly enthusiastic audience watches Richard Greenberg's utterly captivating comedy-drama keep trotting the bases.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Vincent in Brixton
Golden Theater

Mired between soap-opera twaddle and pretentious historical drama, Vincent in Brixton speculates - to little profit and much tedium - about the life of youngish Vincent van Gogh for the brief time he lived in England. In his bumbling, hypersensitive way, he livens up a grieving widow (think Rose Tattoo without the laughs), until his nosy sister moves in and ruins things. Jochum ten Haaf is convincingly confused as young Vinny, while Clare Higgins has strong moments as the landlady who rediscovers her physical self.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
A...My Name is Alice
Producers Club II

If a musical revue is first rate, it can last and be fully entertaining years later, assuming it's done well by a top-notch cast of Broadway-level singers. The current revival of A...My Name is Alice, as directed by Adam M. Muller, is as entertaining today as it ever was. It has energy, verve, lively sparkle and real voices, most of them directly from Broadway. Soara-Joye Ross is outstanding, but the rest -- Ellie Dvorkin, the comic lead, who did the zippy choreography, Jennifer Allen, Avery Sommers and Donna Vivino are all up there with the best on Broadway.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
Abigail's Party
New Ambassadors Theatre

It's all right up front: Yuppiedom, 1977, suburban English-style. Her Clairol-blonde hair in long pageboy and bangs, a silver collar on her neck, Elizabeth Berrington's just-right as smug Beverly.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
February 2003
Berzerkergang
Sledgehammer Theater at Cecilia's Playhouse

Sledgehammer artistic director Kirsten Brandt takes pen in hand again, this time to create Berzerkergang. Known for her directorial accomplishments, Brandt turned the direction of her latest work over to Michael Severance and Jessa Watson.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
February 2003
Cabaret
North Coast Repertory Theater

Dennis J. Scott, as Ernst Ludwig/Max, is a study in a slick character with a terrible goal -- the forming of the Third Reich. Linda Libby gives us a Fraulein Schneider we could love, feel sorry for, and enjoy her travails with her tenants. Jim Chovick as her love, Herr Schultz, gives a new meaning to naivety, as Schultz insists that the Nazi will think of him as a German, not a Jew. We watch their love grow and be destroyed.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
February 2003
Cotton Patch Gospel, The
Bunbury Theater

Some knowledge of the history behind The Cotton Patch Gospel, Bunbury Theatre's earthy bluegrass gospel musical that switches the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to rural Georgia, is instructive and deepens enjoyment of that old, old story. Tom Key and Russell Treyz adapted "the greatest story ever retold" from a book called "The Cotton Patch Version of Matthew and John" by Dr.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
February 2003
Dining Room, The
Patio Playhouse

Director Jay Mower's minimalist set features one elegant dinning table with eight chairs and a lighted landscape painting as the only decoration -- all in a black box. It's a perfect setting to platform A. R. Gurney's The Dining Room. Nothing distracts the audience from the talents of the six players performing 57 different characters.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
February 2003
Dirty Blonde
Florida Studio Theater - Keating Mainstage

Two stories intertwine: one a biography of Mae West, the other of two major, faithful fans who meet at her tomb and fall in love. Behind a rear proscenium arch, as if on a movie screen, Mae West's projected eyes beckon. Fronting the stage, old fashioned footlights suggest the period bioplay to be performed: Jo, a struggling actress who's patterned her professional self after her idol, and Charlie, a dweeby public library film archivist who when a youngster met Mae, act out their impressions of and facts about the star.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
February 2003
Debbie Does Dallas
Jane Street Theater

Although the stage version of Debbie Does Dallas is in no way pornographic (and has only one brief moment of -- alas, male -- nudity), we know from the get-go this will be no sanitized satire. One cheerleader palms her crotch as automatically as the others chew gum, while the others end up mimicking pretty much every sexual combination ever conceived.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
February 2003
Fatal Attraction
Scripps Ranch - Legler Benbough Theater

Do not think "Fatal Attraction" -- the movie. Do think of a potentially fatal femme fatale, that very special woman that can twist both man and woman to do her will.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
February 2003
Fridays With Maureen
Actor's Asylum

Pam Benjamin and Beacon Theater should be commended for bringing a new work to the San Diego Theater scene. Very few theaters are willing to take the risk. That said, the playwright should have done a vast number of rewrites and have the play presented in a couple of reader's theaters. Even with extensive pre-production work, the stage action usually calls for additional rewriting.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
February 2003
Flower Drum Song
Virginia Theater

It's no wonder this version of Flower Drum Song had a short life on Broadway. When someone first suggested that all these great Asian actors around town (from Miss Saigon) could easily populate a production of Flower Drum Song, it must have seemed like an inspired idea. In fact, some moments in the show are inspired. First off, it's nice to see an Asian musical composed of 90 percent Asian actors.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
February 2003
Guest in the House
Lamplighters Community Theater

Steve Corbett's elegant set, heavy in dark woods, makes for the perfect living room in an upper- class Connecticut home. Guest In The House, by Hagar Wilde and Dale Eunson, at just over two hours running time, is not quite as distinguished. The language sounds stilted by contemporary standards and the pace is often ponderous. In the predictable story, even minor complexities are easily seen.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
February 2003
Jackie Wilson Story, The
New Regal Theater

Anyone still undecided on whether to see this musical biodrama, whether in Memphis or when it winds up its tour at New York's Apollo Theater April 4-13, 2003 should know that:
1) the premiere production ran for nearly two years,
2) Melba Moore has joined the cast, and two new songs written just for her have been added to the score,
3) Chester Gregory II, who created the title role and has played it with nary a day off since, is the most exciting and charismatic new artist since Jackie Wilson himself,

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
February 2003
Burn This
Union Square Theater

All four roles in Lanford Wilson's taut chamber piece have fascinating contours. For me, there's a fine spontaneity elevating this drama above the playwright's other fare. But for Burn This to work overwhelmingly, the chemistry between Anna and Pale—radical opposites who attract—must convincingly combust. She's a dancer mourning the death of her gay roommate. He's the roommate's vulgar lookalike brother, repulsed by his brother's lifestyle—and wracked with guilt as a result.

Elisabeth Shue brought all her screen magic to Union Square Theatre intact as Anna.

Perry Tannenbaum
Date Reviewed:
January 2003
Beauty Queen Of Leenane, The
Actors Theater of Louisville

Vicious old Mag Folan is cagily and savagely brought to contemptible life by ATL veteran Adale O'Brien in The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Irish playwright Martin McDonagh's gripping tale of mother-daughter animosity and dependence. Emotionally fragile daughter Maureen, age 40, stuck in their isolated village with the demanding harridan, yearns for escape and comes close to achieving it but for Mag's spiteful scheming that brings doom crashing down on both of them.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
January 2003
Comedians
Samuel Beckett Theater / moved to Acorn Theater 2/5-2/23/03.

From The New Group comes a welcome revival of Trevor Griffiths' 1975 comedy-drama that uses acid to burn its way toward a surprisingly humanistic center. Eddie Waters (Jim Dale, playing kindly but with an edge) is a once- famous music-hall comic teaching a class of up-and-comers eager to get on the paying circuit.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
January 2003
Conservationist, The
Cook Theater at Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts

As the program claims, Mark Wheatley may be "one of London's leading playwrights," but the only thing I've ever seen of his was written for TV. For The Conservationist he seems to have a whole season of episodes in mind. There's so much STUFF about race relations, mixed- raced couples and offspring, academic vs. "real life" perceptions of the foregoing, and parent-child relationships, laced with traces of the results of feminist and sexual liberations!

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
January 2003
Copenhagen
Theater Three

It is difficult to believe the erudite and probing questions posited in Michael Frayn's Copenhagen flowed from the same pen as Noises Off, one of the wackiest backstage farces extant. First premiered in 1998 at London's Royal National Theatre with its first American production in 2000 at Broadway's Royale Theater, Copenhagen details a fictional account of an actual meeting between Danish physicist, Niels Bohr, and German physicist, Werner Heisenberg, who visited Bohr's home in Copenhagen in 1941.

Rita Faye Smith
Date Reviewed:
January 2003
Copenhagen
Milwaukee Repertory Theater - Quadracci Powerhouse Theater

Michael Frayn's Copenhagen is sure to strike a resonant chord with today's audiences. Daily headlines are filled with reports regarding foreign countries and their weapons of mass destruction. Does Iraq have the bomb? Does Iran? Does North Korea? Copenhagen takes us back to the origins of such discussions.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
January 2003
Corn Is Green, The
Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts - Mertz Theater

Emlyn Williams' 1941 semi-autobiographical play -- about a teacher who, against formidable odds, helps an unlikely young Welshman escape coal mining to develop his literary talents -- unabashedly calls for two stars. It has them in local favorite Carolyn Michel, bursting with Miss Moffat's pep and determination, and serious FSU/Asolo Conservatory student Bryan Barter as belligerent but brilliant Morgan Evans.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
January 2003
Damn Yankees
Golden Apple Dinner Theater

Helluva good show! Who wouldn't be tempted to fall for slick Faustian Gary Marachek, with his bewitching grin, and hope he wins a mid-1950s world series away from the Bronx Bombers? Certainly not the Washington Senators' biggest fan, middle-aged Joe Boyd (portly John F. Roberson, fitting his part like a well-worn glove)! A melodious "Six Months Out of Every Year" his lovely wife Meg (glorious soprano Melliss Kenworthy) can't pry him away from his rabbit-eared TV set.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
January 2003

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