Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, under James Bohnen light touch, have mounted a heart warming comedy filled with three of the most lovable characters. This is both a ‘buddy’ play and a comedy of manners involving three seniors confined to a soldiers’ retirement home.
Days To Come is a harbinger of the film noir genre of a murder mystery. In this dark play, we witness illicit love, power struggles for the family business and for the establishment of worker’s rights as they strike for better wages.
Leave it to Jackie Taylor to come up with a quasi-religious theme to show case terrific gospel, R & B, blues, and smooth ballads tunes from the likes of The Temptations, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, The Isley Brothers, Paul Simon and Curtis Mayfield.
The gusty Promethean Theatre Ensemble shows why they are a young theatre troupe worthy of note with Ed Rutherford’s ambitious and finely imagined stage adaptation of Beagle’s 1968 novel, The Last Unicorn. Director Rutherford’s staging has hints of Mary Zimmerman’s style as story theatre containing use of masks, puppets and highly theatrical movements including songs, physical comedy and narration.
The New Colony theatre company has a marvelous world premiere drama now running at the upstairs at the Royal George theatre. This show is not your run-of-the-mill relationship drama. Not by yards! Calls to Blood is as 80 minute, tightly drawn and well directed (by Andrew Hobgood), relationship drama that starts out with a typical situation. Jacob (Gary Tiedemann) and Alison (Sara Gitenstein) are a perforct married couple of six years. The indeed do love each other, they get along terribly well and life is perfect for them.
The House on Mango Street provides an exploration of neighborhood and community, and the play brackets this with opening and closing songs (sung by the full cast) which trace a Mexican-American family’s journey from renting in familiar Chicago residential areas – from Loomis Ave. to Keeler and Paulina – before they actually buy a house on Mango.
This uneven production tries too hard to be a farce, to be a keystone cops comedy while also trying to be a espionage thriller and a comedy of manners. The show is much too long and it gets slowed down by long wordy speeches and involved plot explanations.
Cats is sharp, tightly produced featuring exceptional voices from the deft dancers. It has a vibrant energy that wins us. Cats is a terrific show to take children to experience the wonders of the Broadway musical.
My first visit to Piven Theatre (shame on me) was a pleasant one due to Joyce Piven’s smart production of two of Harold Pinter’s fine one-acts–The Lover and The Collection. Together, Piven and Pinter have produced a fine theatrical event of note!
Hey! Mr. Spaceman! Deconstructs the 1950’s horror flick by juxtaposing teens at a drive-in movie watching a film, and the characters from the film eventually invading their lives.