Theatre Reviews

REVIEWSTheatre Reviews

Three Hotels 2016

Celebrating its third season, Bluebird Arts begins its six-week run this weekend of Jon Robin Baitz’s 1993 off-Broadway hit Three Hotels. With its focus on stories exploring the human condition through the “genuine problems of real people,” Bluebird Arts certainly fulfills its mission with Baitz’s study of a well-meaning, modern American family of liberal idealists turned cynical by the compromising ambiguities of the high-power, executive world. Unfortunately, despite what seems to be a strong script, the two performances, though engaging and energetic, left me emotionally ambivalent toward the production and wanting for more grounded, emotional truth.

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The Jackie Wilson Story

Black Ensemble’s fortieth anniversary season continues with a remount of its wildly popular musical revue The Jackie Wilson Story. First produced in 2000 and originally running for two years, this creation of Black Ensemble’s founding artistic director Jackie Taylor can be thought of as an quintessential Black Ensemble show, as it depicts the tumultuous life of a mid-twentieth century titan of African-American music, contrasted with the energy of his songs and a redeeming message.

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Mother (and me)

Buckley is a lithe and energetic performer, doubtlessly due to her years as a Broadway dancer, but still begins the show by saying that getting married for the first time at forty-five was like finishing a marathon: everyone goes home early and there are smashed Dixie cups everywhere. That she reached this milestone in life at such a late age was in large part due to her co-dependent relationship with her mother, and over the course of a ninety minute show in which she embodies dozens of characters, Buckley guides us through a journey millions of other Americans have been through or fearfully anticipate.

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REVIEWSTheatre ReviewsTom Williams

TORUK — The First Flight

To me the story was secondary to the energetic scenes played out by a large cast of acrobats, gymnasts and tumblers. This show features loud techno music vivid lighting and mind-blowing sets and extreme puppets. The emphasis on how the story is told trumps (sorry) the story. At just under two hours, it works Especially for those into Avatar the film. The audience seemed to enjoy the spectacle more than I did. All the running, tumbling and climbing together the ear-splitting music wore thin with me. But this show is “critic-proof” since the large following of Avatar will love this show.

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Troll

The new theatre group Fraud & Phony defines themselves as a collective instead of a company, they say, because they are more concerned about producing their own works when they feel it is of particular benefit to the community than in sticking to a regular schedule. Their first work, Troll, by Elizabeth Archer, demonstrates strong potential, and for the incredibly low price of the tickets, has excellent production values.

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MUST SEEREVIEWSTheatre ReviewsTom Williams

Newsies 2016 National Tour

Newsies delivers enough sheer energy with an adventurous story that depicts a worthy moral. This exciting show is filled with heart, empathetic characters as the boys win a round in quest of their place in the scheme of life in turn-of-the-Century New York. Newsies is a fine show filled with enough joy and energy to light up our holidays. It is much better than the film. Hurry, you have only until August 7th to see this fun show.

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REVIEWSTheatre ReviewsTom Williams

C. S. Lewis onstage The Most Reluctant Convert

Concepts such as the above are effectively explained by McLean during this 80 minute one-act solo show. This show is for fans of C. S. Lewis, for those who enjoy a “thinking-person’s” play, and for anyone who enjoys a tour de force performance. Actors need to see Max McLean to learn how to make subtle and complex material by an academic sizzle on stage. McLean delivers in C. S. Lewis onstage The Most Reluctant Convert without being ‘preachy.’

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