Tom Williams

Iscariot is a passion play wherein Guirgis has done his research as he tackles Catholic religious doctrine about the conflict between divine mercy and the personal choices due to human free will. Guirgis wonders why Judas Iscariot was condemned to hell for eternity when other apostles were give forgiveness by Jesus? Judas is on trial to determine if he is eligible for redemption.

The musical plays out as a series of sketches with over-blown incomprehensible production numbers sung badly in that irritating Broadway pop-rock style to a collection of the worse choreography danced by a cast that can neither sing, act or dance. The labor dispute at the heart of the piece is trivialized to the point that both the players and the owners come off as idiots being traumatized by a directorial commissioner.

It isn’t clear what Annie is looking for. Act one sets up an interesting agenda but unfortunately the play fizzles in act two. Anne Bosh is Missing wonders adrift and ends up with a series of melodramatic resolutions. While it is fine not to tie up all lose ends in a play. a playwright must not leave major items unresolved or resolved in a preposterous or cliched manner.

Without giving away too much, let me state that Edith Freni’s plotting and her rich characters expertly play by the cast are engaging and real. From Vaccaro’s bittersweet mother to Tom’s stoic father to Monica’s hot-cold emotional swings to Noah’s character contradictions, Buena Vista tackles the diluted family dynamic into a bizarre nightmare played out in a snow storm.

I sure do applaud the efforts of a new ensemble, Underscore Theatre Company, as the have mounted a promising new musical -PrOne -The Casting Couch Musical Comedy. Unfortunately, their collective efforts were more ambitious than their theatrical skills. By far the best element of PrOne is the music. It contains a pastiche of styles ranging from classic Broadway to patter songs to gospel to Broadway pop-rock. There are ballads, comic tunes and strong anthems

Done with loads of pizzazz and loads of heart, Sergio Trujillo’s smart and sift dance musical faithfully depicts the hit film. Filled with several nicely stage and beautifully light dance numbers including “Flashdance-What a Feeling. ” “Maniac,” “Gloria,” “Manhunt,” and “I Love Rock & Roll,” this Equity national tour of Flashdance – The Musical contains enough fabulous dances to be worth seeing.

silkroadrising

Khemiri uses wordplay about the term Abulkasem. It means a beloved quirky Lebanese uncle to a term used as an adverb, noun, verb that has multiple meanings including a term for an Arab terrorist. The clever wordplay here demonstrates how the semantics of Middle Eastern -Muslim types can lead to us Westerners , particularly Americans to fear them.