Theatre Reviews

Where Wilde’s play is original, Lauren Wilson’s Chemical Imbalance is a clever, highly comic spoof of Robert Louis Stevenson’s quite serious work on the dual nature of man – the good vs. the evil. And if the story of one split personality is insufficient, playwright Wilson adds identical 10-year-old, twins (played by bouncy, blonde Tiffany-Leigh Moskow) – demonic Penelope vs. angelic Calliope. They not only parallel the Jekyll/Hyde situation, but are integral to the story because a drop of their blood is needed to provide an essential ingredient for the evil venom and its potential antidote.

Barker tries for complex, ambiguous and unstable responses by mixing comedy with tragedy and by blending time periods–here 18th Century melodrama with 1950’s intensity–as he blends satire of war and violence with sexual perversion from estranged lovers.

Felder, a terrific actor, expert musician (and composer) and playwright, reverently presents favorites like “Swanee,” “Someone To Watch Over Me,” “I Got Rhythm,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” and others until our ears are ringing with Gershwin’s melodies.

From the toe-tapping overture, you know you’re in for a comic operetta and Roger L. Bingaman’s 26 member orchestra delivers Arthur Sullivan’s score in a delightful turn. The Gilbert & Sullivan 1879 operetta The Pirates of Penzance still resonates with audiences in the 21st Century

My Fair Lady is a witty, stinging social commentary on Edwardian British morality wherein the upper-class speech Professor Higgins boasts he can turn an uneducated low-class flower girl into a princess at the embassy ball. With one of the smartest books with brilliant lyrics (by Alan Jay Lerner) on one of the finest, lush musical scores by Frederick Loewe, My Fair lady is one of the gems of the Broadway stage

I must state that that I detest rap and most rock music yet I enjoyed the 2008 Tony Award winning In The Heights more that I thought I would. The infectious, manic and deftly executed dances (by choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler) and the very likable characters gave me something to care about.

While the visual metaphors, the flying, and the movements were stunning, I quickly became lost as the story melted into too many unclear segments.

The Addams Family is a flat out hit show that finds a fresh way to re-introduce us to the bizarre world of our lovable finger-clicking Addams clan. Based on Charles Addams series of cartoons that ran in the New Yorker from 1938-88 and the hit TV series, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice have written a gag-filled hilarious book that aptly depicts their family values through a macabre lens.

Sara Tode is asked to play a variety of different women from various backgrounds, but she blows it by over acting the stereotypes of each woman and missed completely on the different accents.