REVIEWS Archives - Page 11 of 264

The Wiz

Under the skilled theatrical craftsmanship of director Lil-Anne Brown and choreographer Breon Arzell, Kokandy production’s non-Equity production of The Wiz is a fun musical. It is filled with heart and soul as the African-American urbanized retelling of the Oz story is a funky, campy and heartfelt production. Led by the strong voiced and charming Dorothy (Sydney Charles), this adventure is a dance heavy trip to the Emerald City. Steeped in Black urban culture, this winning production is a humorously manic trip.

REVIEWS Theatre Reviews

Tom Williams

The Source

The principle problem with McKinley’s story is that his story is not a story: it’s a situation. The real story—that is, the drama—never manifests because nothing happens: no one actually acts. They wait and talk and debate and talk and fret but never do anything of consequence. What conflict there is—and a middling conflict at that—is entirely between the two journalists, their rather irritating personalities, and their ethical ideas. That’s the “story”—and it’s boring.

REVIEWS Theatre Reviews Tom Williams

Tom Williams

Skin for Skin

This drama, after several upsetting torture scenes, reverts into religious diatribes as the torture has unintended consequences. Ayyub becomes a religious zealot. Pvt. Michaels turns religious (possibly a Muslim?) The symbolism is playwright Pasulka’s feeble and unearned attempt to show that torture can be fought off in the name of God. Ha?

REVIEWS Theatre Reviews Tom Williams

Tom Williams

Flanagan’s Wake

Flanagan is dead, but don’t be sad because remembering his life is all about laughs! unfortunately, in this show the laughs are few. The problems with this improv are many. From the extremely bad accounts in the hall that makes much of the dialogue difficult to hear or understand (a real problem when punch-lines are spoken) to the combination of the actors speaking much too fast with their thick authentic Irish brogues – rendering much of the words spoken as inaudible. It is hard to laugh when you can either hear or understand what is being said.

Music Reviews MUST SEE Opera REVIEWS Tom Williams

Tom Williams

Eugene Onegin

Told in three acts and seven scenes and utilizing a stark empty set, Eugene Onegin is filled with Tchaikovsky’s most dramatic music rich in emotions that was effectively sung by this wonderful cast. Besides the wonderful turn by Mariusz Kwiecien, we enjoy fine work by Jill Grove as the nanny Filipyevna with Alisa Kolosova singing Olga beautifully. The Lyric Chorus sounded terrific and Tchaikovsky’s music was nicely conducted by Alejo Perez.

Beverly Friend Florida Reviews

Tom Williams

The Kid from Brooklyn: The Danny Kaye Story

The musical is a pastiche of Kaye on and off stage, with little in tone or
impact to differentiate between the two. The best parts include his most
famous performances of such songs as “Deenah,” “Stanislavsky, ” “Anatole
of Paris,” “Mad Dogs and Englishmen,” and “Minnie the Moocher.” His best
on-stage moment is an emotional one with wife Sylvia after discussing the
possibility of children, when they embrace and dance, tenderly and
suggestively, to “Ballin’ the Jack.”

MUST SEE Theatre Reviews

Tom Williams

Gentle

By today’s psychological and social standards the Pawnbroker is—a narcissist—a misogynist—a cruel and autocratic husband! To Dostoevsky—perhaps the same. But there is something more to him, Dostoevsky shows us, as he compassionately winds us through the inchoate abyss of his modern soul—a soul modern psychology and sociology has since imperialized like topographers with signs and calculations and categories

MUST SEE REVIEWS Theatre Reviews Tom Williams

Tom Williams

The Columnist

He was a powerful voice of the Washington Establishment and a close personal friend of president John F. Kennedy who frequently came to Alsop’s home for a drink and advise. He was both beloved and feared as he was a fierce Cold Warrior who coined the term “Domino Theory” to explain the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia. During the Vietnam War, Alsop advised Kennedy to fight the Viet Cong fiercely. But as the 60’s dawn and after Kennedy is assassinated, Alsop suffers as America undergoes dizzying change that catches Alsop becoming embroiled both politically and personally.

Classical Music Music Reviews MUST SEE Opera REVIEWS Tom Williams

Tom Williams

Carmen – 2017- Lyric Opera of Chicago

The story revolves around a Spanish gypsy (the wild free-loving Carmen, played seductively by mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova) and the man she takes as a lover, a Spanish corporal, Don José (The powerful tenor Joseph Calleja). He is an upright but flawed man, with a mother and would-be fiancée in his home village; quick to temper and impulsive, when he shirks the advances of the beautiful gypsy, she finds him irresistible and throws a rose at him, striking him between the eyes. Having bewitched him, Carmen convinces Don José to go to prison in her stead; upon his release, he finds her, and she wants to run away together.

REVIEWS Theatre Reviews

Tom Williams

Venus in Fur

So much can be thought about and delighted in in David Ives’ Venus in Fur, its richness so playful and complex, that one would have to have no liking for drama, no capacity for humor, and no mind for consideration to not enjoy this production. Circle Theatre’s production has some stellar, some faltering moments, but overall it is a success worthy of attendance.