In short, if you desire thoroughly gripping readings of these great warhorses, you might not find it here; but for anyone open to an unusually “sweetened” take on a composer with a reputation for being a bit dour, or to simply hearing a great orchestra in two thoroughly wonderful pieces, this program has undeniable merit.
Kinky Boots comes off as a cliche-ridden story that reminds one of La Cage Aux Folles and Hairspray with hints of British sociopolitical elements, like Billy Elliot. The story revolves around Charlie Price ( the golden boy empathetic Stark Sands) who is forced to save his family’s shoe manufacturing business in Northern England following the death of his father
“Iceman” and “Follies” take top honors
at the 44th Annual Jeff Awards
“The Pitmen Painters” and “Doyle & Debbie”
also win production awards
Why is Sylvia Gellburg (Jacqueline Grandt) paralyzed from the waste down when medically she seems fine? Why does Phillip Gellburg (Neal Grofman) come off as attacking, argumentative and self-loathing? What does the horrible news of Kristallnacht in Berlin in November of 1938 so upset Sylvia that she seems obsessed with fear that the attacks on Jews could come to her Brooklyn neighborhood?
Can a fabulously rich woman find happiness with a relative pauper? Can a woman with a father fixation come to terms with an oedipal mate? What happens when parents influence their children (and their choice of partners) from beyond the grave? Come and find out.
…Billy Pacholski has mounted a workable production of Stephen Sondheim’s strange musical. The video (by Ryan Fukuda) underscored the events presented nicely and the general tone of the work went for presented the assassins as ‘real people- just like us according to producer/director Billy Pacholski’s production notes. But since these dysfunctional folks were a mixture of insane and demented losers, any attempt to show them as ‘regular’ folks failed from the outset.
A stunning piece of stagecraft that melds big ideas with personal stories in this revisit of the National Theatre of Scotland’s landmark production.
The combination of having all the players and musicians performing (and looking like clowns) utilizing the physical gesture and practices of European Clowning techniques together with ample use of Quezada-Perez’s invention of “la mise en clown” style of theatre makes for a special theatrical experience.
This show uses silly humor, parody, and loads of music to re-write history while also containing a subtext about how and why we select our leaders. The 100 minutes are fun, often exhilarating. While I’m not a fan of punk rock music, I found those numbers cute and appropriate to the material and style of the show.
The energy and talent of these woman was quite apparent. Echoles uses the standard BE playbook that utilizes the music of favorite entertainers, here: Aretha Gladys, Tina, Patti with a special tribute to Whitney within the framework of a contest reality show to exhibit the fresh young talent. The result is a story based musical that has us engaged in the process of helping select one winner for the “One Name Only” reality TV show framework.