Theatre Reviews

The show opens to a darkened stage as two people talk and move about as if the lights were functioning. Then when the women turns on the record player—boom!—the lights go out—and in a clever twist, the stage lights come on—so we see when the character’s can’t.

Forced to ‘plead’ his case with his cellmates, Man of La Mancha turns into a play-within-a-play where he tells on Quixote’s story as his defense. The result is a journey from the realm of reality into fantasy. Is he mad or just the purest idealist?

It is an off-beat show filled with sharp dialogue as it blends big themes (the end of the world and biological mutations, etc.) with dating rituals and “intensely significant coupling.”

Porchlight Music Theatre opens its 15th season with The Fantasticks–the 1960 Off-Broadway hit that ran for 42 years and 17,000 performances. This chestnut contains a great score featuring the haunting “Try To Remember

This easy to digest musical is full of charm that oozes from every movement and utterance from Tim Gregory who plays every character in Gospel. Gregory is a master storyteller at home with his material. He comes off as sincere, truthful and charming.

Shannon plays legendary Theatrical producer Felix Artifex. We see Felix in his shabby office (terrific set design by Tom Burch) as the fast-talking producer tries to cajole, persuade, trick, intimidate, motivate, maneuver, seduce and suggest…

You’ll enjoy the quirky Irish family and you’ll empathize with their search of love in this refreshingly new and surprisingly smart play. Rebecca Lenkiewicz is a talented playwright with a knack for characterization and a fine ear for language. The Night Season is a delight!

The show does have fine wordplay, many zany characters and loads of humor that propels Hampstead into a quirky delight. Led by Ned Record as Punch and the show’s narrator, we find parodies of King Arthur (Sam Wootten)…