Golden Boy
Long Wharf Theater

Golden Boy began life as a drama, written by Clifford Odets for the Group Theater in the 1930s. It espoused a sense of gritty realism, which matched the philosophy of this new dynamic group. Made into a film with William Holden (making his debut) and Barbara Stanwyck in 1939, Golden Boy was rewritten as a musical in the 1960s, with a book by Odets, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, as a specific vehicle for Sammy Davis, Jr., who was already a star. Just before the first rehearsal, Odets died.

Rosalind Friedman
Date Reviewed:
November 2000
Gumboots
Wilshire Theater

History begins as tragedy, ends as farce - or, in the case of Gumboots, showbiz. The origin of Gumboots goes back to colonialist days in South Africa, when blacks were thrust down into the bowels of the earth to dig out gold for their white masters, a typically brutal bunch of capitalists who treated them like slaves, condemning them to work in darkness while shackled to each other. On top of that, the workers were forbidden to speak to each other; forcing them to communicate by rattling their chains, whacking their boots and grunting musically.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
November 2000
Guys On Ice
Milwaukee Rep - Stiemke Theater

Oh, if only Wisconsin winters were as quick and enjoyable as Guys on Ice, a send-up of ice fishing currently playing at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. A favorite of the past two seasons, Guys on Ice returns with the same endearing cornpone humor that audiences have grown to love. There's Marvin (Doug Mancheski) and Lloyd (Scott Wakefield), losers in life (perhaps represented by the fact they never seem to get a nibble during the entire show). But they are kings of their fish shanty domain, telling tales, sharing secrets and dreams.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
November 2000
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
Florida Studio Theater Mainstage

Reportedly, this pleasant but innocuous compilation of skits and musical numbers is tops among nonprofit shows nationwide this season. A company of four portray twosomes, with the unifying theme being heterosexual(!) relationships from dating through marriage to geriatric widowhood.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
November 2000
Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Downtown Cabaret Theater

Having kept its dreams alive through hard work and amazing persistence, Downtown Cabaret is rightly celebrating its 25th anniversary at its present location (it began at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield several years before). The festivities get underway with a spectacular production of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, whose theme is interpreting and believing in dreams.

Rosalind Friedman
Date Reviewed:
November 2000
Game Show
45 Bleecker

Back in my wilder days, I remember going to a now-defunct Greenwich Village bar that featured a live game show once a week, every week. For the cost of a few cocktails, you could see half-drunk people answer trivia questions about old TV personalities, sing karaoke-style ditties and perform scavenger hunts, all in an attempt to win prizes such as stuffed cows, magnets, videos and the all-important grand prize: a $50 bar tab. It was loose and fun, and nobody ever seemed to care that the prizes could be bought at any 99 cent store half the time.

November 2000
Beginning of August, The
Atlantic Theater

The Atlantic Theater Company's new season opens (miraculously) without a play by David Mamet; quite the opposite actually, it happens to be the new work by Tom Donaghy (Minutes From The Blue Route, Northeast Local). There are still ties (director Neil Pepe helmed the Atlantic's successful revival of American Buffalo last spring), so while it's nice to see new work being produced with craftsmanship, one wishes this new play had some of the kick Buffalo still has.

Steve Cohen
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Arsenic and Old Lace
Derby Dinner Playhouse

One of the funniest and most beloved American comedies of all time,Arsenic And Old Lace is getting a splendid production at Derby Dinner Playhouse.  In lesser hands the 1941 play -- about two dear old ladies who with the best of intentions murder elderly single men -- could come off as creaky, dated, and somewhat offensive.  But Derby's fabulous cast breezes through the evening with a sure-fire knack for mining comic gold.  Sisters Abby (Rita Thomas) and Martha Brewster (Debra Babich) reside in a big old Brooklyn house where their grandfather once concocted patent med

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Best Man, The
Virginia Theater

The real question is not why "Gore Vidal's The Best Man" has a pretentious new moniker (it used to be simply The Best Man), but whether it is as topical, timely, and titillating as it likely appeared on Broadway forty years ago.  The answer is not quite.  But it is still a good show.  What had been proclaimed politically provocative in its time is now a little old-hat.  What was considered substantial and revelatory is now indelibly lightweight.  Vidal's plot, pitting an ethical and erudite senator William Russell against a no-holds-barred, down-and-dirty Senat

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Polly Bergen: Sing One, Act Two
Feintein's at the Regency

I know what you're thinking. You thought I was dead, says Polly Bergen, the 70-year-old, still-quite-beautiful-and-svelte singer who greeted the audience that was packed in like sardines at Feinstein's at the Regency. Bergen, who, for whatever reason, chose to leave the professional stage thirty five years ago at the peak of her popularity, has retained the smoky sensual and strong voice that made her the undisputed queen of smoke-filled (the good-old days) cabarets.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Blue Room, The
Second Stage at the Adrienne

Here we go again: Another go-round at the La Ronde cycle. (Also see my recent Delaware regional review of Hello Again.) This is David Hare's contemporary adaptation of the old play by Arthur Schnitzler that was set in 19th century Vienna. Five men and five women of different social position, class and education have sexual encounters that form a daisy chain. In each scene, two characters meet, seduce or are seduced by each other, and leave with a sense of disappointment.

Steve Cohen
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Bride Of Frankenstein, The
TheatrX

Stephen Storc has written 37 musicals in the last few years, among them revues and very serious works. is an enjoyable satire. The show not only pays homage to the classic works of 1930s film director James Whale but also includes Brad and Janet from the 1975 cult classic, The Rocky Horror Show. Bride opens with Igor (Julie Schwaben) in the cemetery collect body parts for Dr. Frankenstein's (Ron Lipps) latest creation. Ms. Schwaben is brilliant as the overworked, underpaid, and constantly complaining hunchbacked lab assistant.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Cabaret
Studio 54

I have to admit, the Sam Mendes/Rob Marshall revival of Cabaret is one of those shows I just wasn't on the same page as others about. When I first saw it (well after Natasha Richardson and Alan Cumming, both Tony winners, had left), I found it too cynical and more than a little smutty. The glorious music created by John Kander and Fred Ebb seemed like a backdrop to a lot of inventively conceived but ultimately trivial business, and Bob Fosse's extraordinary 1972 film seemed like the final word in terms of its potent statements about WWII Berlin.

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Barbara Cook: Stephen Sondheim and his Favorite Songwriters
Feintein's at the Regency

Musical theater legend Barbara Cook is taking her cue from a recent New York Times Magazine article written by Frank Rich about Stephen Sondheim, in which the composer talked about songs he wished he had written. She has made his list the theme of her month-long engagement at Feinstein's at the Regency.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Copacabana
Merriam Theater

Barry Manilow's Copacabana is based on Manilow's song "Copacabana" from his early album, Even Now. He expanded the 3 1/2-minute song into a TV musical, then an Atlantic City staging. Early in 2000 this full-length musical comedy premiered in Pittsburgh. It has been revised extensively since then. Surely you remember the story as told in the song lyric: "Her name was Lola, she was a show girl...."

Steve Cohen
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Dracula
Manatee Players' Riverfront Theater

The theater is webbed. Lights flicker from ledged candles or stab through shades of veiled dark or flash ruby and scarlet. Sounds clop, pound, shriek, clank, peal -- not excluding eerie real music. Three be-Witching women in filmy white whirl. As if from an eddy they create comes a tall figure in a black velvet tunic, his head hooded in black sequins. Before we can acknowledge Dracula and his brides, they're putting the bite on Renfield to help them all get down and Transyvania-dirty in England. Soon, Dr.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Hellcab
Ivanhoe Theater Studio

Each of the thirteen actors who have piloted the Hellcab since the premiere of Will Kern's play in 1992 has brought his own interpretation to the role. But Scott Cummins also brings directorial savvy to his stint in the driver's seat, reflected in the current production's fresh topicality ù with references to escalating varieties of occupational hazards, racial discrimination on the part of both drivers and customers, and the social and geographical distinction between the South and Southeast sections of this balkanized city.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Keely and Du
Poway Performing Arts Company

Jane Martin is believed to be a pseudonym for a team of writers. Others believe that the real identity is former artistic director of the Actors Theater in Louisville, Kentucky, Jon Jory. Other plays attributed to Martin are Vital Signs and Talking With. Keely And Du, the most controversial, explores the ongoing battle over the rights of a woman and the rights of the unborn. Keely, excellently interpreted by Christine Bain, has been raped by her violent, alcoholic ex-husband.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Four Guys Named Jose - And Una Mujer Named Maria
Blue Angel Theater

There was a time around the mid-20th century when one could truthfully say that the entertainer most visibly personifying the Latino temperament and artistry was Carmen Miranda, a.k.a. the Brazilian bombshell. Of course, the image of the short, fiery, motor-mouthed senorita with the tall, banana-topped headdress as the representative of so many diverse cultures was as limiting, and misleading, as it was grievously short-sighted.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Game Show
45 Bleecker

So you haven't had your fill of TV game shows and often wished you could either attend one or be a player. Well the opportunity is at hand, maybe not to win a million bucks, but some nifty prizes (airline tickets, digital camera, a DVD Player, or a TV) that is, if you are one of the four lucky members of the audience that gets called on stage to be a contestant. Otherwise, the chances are good, if you have an aisle seat in the 300 seat theater, that you will walk out with either a T-shirt or an autographed photo of the show's revved up host Troy Richard (Michael McGrath).

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Gloria
Theater For The New City

Glory be to "Gloria" (Carrie Brewer), a beautiful sword-wielding princess who, thanks to her now deceased father, is well schooled in the art of dueling and sundry martial arts. It's lucky for Gloria that she has maintained her form and technique in daily workouts with Carmella (Judi Lewis), her close friend since childhood and soon to become a nun. Also keeping close watch over Gloria is her trusted nurse (Barbara J. Spence), who promised the dying king that she would keep the secret of Gloria's birth and the true identity of her mother.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Gorey Details, The
Century Theater

The fantastical illustrator and writer Edward Gorey's love of the macabre is so satisfyingly conceptualized and immortalized in print, it doesn't surprise me that most of the drolly dramatized skits compiled from the Gorey canon that make up the show The Gorey Details, left me cold rather than chilled. Peppered with songs by Peter Matz that curdle more than they creep, the "musicale," as it is billed, will, nevertheless be enjoyed by those who appreciate whimsy at its most capricious.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Wishes And Dreams
Shar Theater - Chaharsoo Hall

In this slice-of-life play, a documentary filmmaker offers the inhabitants of an apartment building a chance to tell their personal stories. Director Mehdi Hashemi developed the script for Wishes And Dreams via improvisation with the large cast. Each one hopes for a better life, and they are not afraid to share their dreams, even if they are big ones. (In this, Hashemi seemed to have them speak for many Iranians.)

David Lipfert
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
And Neither Have I Wings to Fly
Victory Gardens Theater

The 1995 premiere production of And Neither Have I Wings To Fly by the then-debuting Seanachai Theater Company was the sort of serendipitous treasure one happens on unawares. But Ann Noble's poignant tale of two Irish sisters in 1950 seeking their individual freedom and happiness after the loss of their mother is now just another script, relying for its fulfillment on the expertise of its interpreters.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
September 2000
Best Man, The
Virginia Theater

Seemingly designed only to coincide with this year's presidential race, this untouched revival of Gore Vidal's ahead-of-its time 1960 ode to political backbiting and scandal hasn't dated necessarily but still has the feel of being warmed-over. To be fair, the play has its share of acute exchanges and some very sharp performances. However, watching it, you get the feeling that even if you existed in 1960 (I didn't), the play would still feel stilted and vaguely forgettable. Vidal's structure holds up, but this production has a serious lack of actual urgency.

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
September 2000
Boxing 2000
Present Company Theatorium

Leave it to the skewed sensibilities of downtown darling Richard Maxwell to fashion a play around amateur boxing—a sport that is equated with agility and speed and still bless it with his trademark deadpan dialogue. In his latest effort, Maxwell turns his attentions to two brothers, seemingly products of the street, Jo-Jo (Gary Wilmes) and Freddie (Robert Torres), who are prepping for a small-time fight.

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
September 2000
Blast!
Marcus Center for the Performing Arts

For those of us who could not attend the opening and closing ceremonies at the recent Olympics in Sydney, Blast! is a satisfying substitute. Its nonstop energy and innovative rhythms capture the exhilaration one would have expected to share as part of the festivities in Australia.

For no good reason other than to celebrate music and the full spectrum of the human spirit, the talents of Blast! put forth an electrifying spectacle.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
September 2000
Blue Room, The
Broadway Studio Theater

Oh, how the sexual landscape has changed in the past 100 years, when Arthur Schnitzler penned the original La Ronde. What shocked 19th-century audiences barely causes a murmur in today's updated version, even with nudity thrown in for good measure. Although this production of The Blue Room lacks the star power that attracted Broadway audiences (to see Nicole Kidman in the nude), it is witty, powerful and completely entertaining. Renaissance Theaterworks is an up-and-coming Milwaukee theater company that excels in presenting plays from a woman's point of view.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
September 2000
Death Of A Salesman
Ahmanson Theater

After successful runs in Chicago and New York, this production of the Arthur Miller classic comes to L.A. in taut, polished shape. The actors have invested themselves deeply in their roles and work with assurance, backed up by elaborate production values -- revolving stages, tricky lighting, cubistic set -- and a director working at full strength. Strength is probably the operative word in this contemporary interpretation of the play, with Brian Dennehy delivering a big, loud Willy and Elizabeth Franz a vigorous, angry Linda.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
September 2000
Evening Of Tennessee Williams, An
Rudyard Kipling

Of the four one-act plays of Tennessee Williams that Coffee Cup Theater Company is presenting at the Rudyard Kipling, only The Dark Room has enough substance to be compelling. Natalie Reece is Mrs. Pocciotti, a care-laden Italian woman who, under persistent questioning by a social worker (Tracy Jones), gradually reveals the shocking truth about her teen-age daughter's six-month seclusion in a darkened room. Reece's accent and delivery go straight to the heart of her character.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
September 2000
Floyd Collins
Cabot Theater - Broadway Theater Center

One of Milwaukee's most respected theater companies has aimed high with a knock-out production of Floyd Collins. This extraordinarily challenging musical is based on the true story of Floyd Collins, a 38-year-old cave explorer who became trapped underground while searching for "gold" -- a cavern that could be turned into a popular tourist attraction. Ironically, little did Floyd realize that he would become the attraction, as the entire nation turned its attention to his rescue. Newspaper and radio reports detailed the successive attempts to free Floyd.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
September 2000
Forever Plaid
Golden Apple Dinner Theater

Enjoy the show or your money back, Golden Apple is offering. The confidence is not misplaced. With its mostly heavenly reenactment of the corny but cute singing guy groups of the 1950s-early 1960s, Forever Plaid is almost a guaranteed hit wherever it goes. It appeals naturally to nostalgic audiences and pleasantly shows younger ones a glimpse of kinder, gentler, if sillier pop entertainments. A bit of astro mumbo jumbo explains why the "held up" Plaids, who died in an accident en route to their first pro show in 1964, will finally give that performance.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
September 2000
Fully Committed
Coronet Theater

Here is a true slice-of-life play -- and not only because it's set in the basement of a trendy, up-market New York restaurant. What Fully Committed (trade euphemism for "all tables booked") does is encapsulate, through the vehicle of a one-man show, a big chunk of American life, the portion that is obsessed with money, power, ego and celebrity.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
September 2000
King Hedley II
Mark Taper Forum

Can a three-hour drama with no story be successful? Unfortunately not, not even if the playwright is August Wilson, a master of the black vernacular. King Hedley II abounds in inspired speeches (some of which will be used by actors in monologue auditions for decades to come) and bursts of pungent, heady dialogue, but they don't add up to anything like a narrative which will keep you at the edge of your seat, breathless to know what happens next.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
September 2000
When We Were Singing
Buddies In Bad Times Theater

This four-character operetta bears immediate and constant reminders of Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim's work, with a few strains of Gilbert & Sullivan. The roles are right out of TV's "Friends." Unfortunately, most of the "arias" leave us singing the blues. More uptempi and additional humorous lyrics would have taken Dorothy Dittrich's labor of (and about) love to loftier heights.

Alan Raeburn
Date Reviewed:
September 2000
Artaud Le Momo
Collective Unconscious

This was the world premiere for Alexander Panas's look at seminal theater theorist Antonin Artaud (1896-1948). Committed to an insane asylum in Rodez, France, Artaud spent dearly a decade there undergoing regular shock treatments that completely destroyed his health. Panas shows a man with violent mood swings and uncontrolled libido but one who is also a victim of overzealous therapy and nonstop predatory sexual taunting.

David Lipfert
Date Reviewed:
August 2000
Bacchae, The
La Plaza Cultural

In The Bacchae, Euripides shows the disastrous consequences of challenging a superior power.  Young Pentheus (Kenneth Garson), governor of Thebes, is alarmed by the appearance of a new religion, which promotes orgiastic revelries in the woods and especially corrupts his city's women.  His entire family, including grandfather Cadmus (Glenn B.

David Lipfert
Date Reviewed:
August 2000
Cuban Operator Please
Teatro 309, Charas/El Bohio

Adrian Rodriguez paints a very personal picture of the Cuban exile community, a very different one from what filled our TV screens earlier this year. Father (Jose Antonio) has lived in Union City, Cuba's "northernmost province" since leaving his country. Now married with two sons, he has worked long hours in an embroidery factory to support his family. The transition to life in the U.S. has left him taciturn and unable to show emotion except when playing baseball, his passion.

David Lipfert
Date Reviewed:
August 2000
Darker Face Of The Earth, The
American Renegade Theater

Rita Dove, who won a Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1987, is a gutsy writer who is unafraid to tackle the Oedipus myth, slavery, miscegenation and folk song all in one fell swoop. Working on a big canvas -- an 1820s plantation replete with swamps, cotton fields and nineteen characters -- Dove struggles to bring her impassioned but flawed text under control.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
August 2000
Expecting Isabel
Mark Taper Forum

There's good news and bad news about Expecting Isabel. The good news is that Lisa Loomer, an ex-standup comic and sitcom writer, is a funny writer, someone who can find much humor in the trials and tribulations of a 40-something couple trying desperately for its first child. The bad news is she will stoop at nothing to get laughs: cartoon characters, cliche ethnic types, dubious one- liners. Loomer also stretches out her thin story to such inordinate length that it ends up wearing out its welcome.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
August 2000

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