Stratford made news with its last three openings, starting with one of its finest productions to date. Two, however, close at the end of September and should be seen. The superb production of Jean Anouilh’s The Lark marks many Stratford debuts: of theatrically and intellectually original French playwright Anouilh, of renowned actress Amanda Plummer as […]
Herbert M. Simpson
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Onstage 8.24.05
Happily resolving controversies Shaw Festival’s last 2005 additions are a lovable American modern classic and a downright weird new Canadian play, both of which bring controversial material to a happy ending. Starting with the tawdry material of either a sociological study or a sex fantasy, William Inge’s Bus Stop(1955) treats its troubled characters with such […]
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Onstage – 7.20.05
Despite quibbles, I’m feeling like a flack for Shaw Festival’s brilliant season. With eight productions open now, they’ve not got a weak offering. If R.C. Sherriff’s Journey’s End isn’t a masterpiece, it’s one of the great war plays. Its understated honesty is gripping and heartbreaking, with no heroic grandstanding, no anti-war preaching, just a frighteningly […]
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Find entertainment in singing and clowning
Yes, it’s our leading classical theater company, but the openings at Stratford Festival also include lighter fare: two major musicals, an updated Shakespeare comedy, and a silly sex farce. Michael Stewart & Jerry Herman’s Hello Dolly stars Lucy Peacock and Peter Donaldson, last year’s Lady Macbeth and Timon of Athens, in a brassy comic […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Find entertainment in singing and clowning
Yes, it’s our leading classical theater company, but the openings at Stratford Festival also include lighter fare: two major musicals, an updated Shakespeare comedy, and a silly sex farce. Michael Stewart & Jerry Herman’s Hello Dolly stars Lucy Peacock and Peter Donaldson, last year’s Lady Macbeth and Timon of Athens, in a brassy comic […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Find entertainment in singing and clowning
Yes, it’s our leading classical theater company, but the openings at Stratford Festival also include lighter fare: two major musicals, an updated Shakespeare comedy, and a silly sex farce. Michael Stewart & Jerry Herman’s Hello Dolly stars Lucy Peacock and Peter Donaldson, last year’s Lady Macbeth and Timon of Athens, in a brassy comic […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
On stage 6.15.05
Stratford’s opening week showed eight fine, greatly varied productions with seven to come. This season completes Artistic Director Richard Monette’s presentation of the entire Shakespeare canon and continues expanding the contemporary repertoire. Monette’s staging of Shakespeare’s The Tempest is dominated by its towering Prospero. Supposedly the final farewell performance by William Hutt — at 85 […]
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When it comes to musicals, Geva can do that
Artistic director Mark Cuddy switched Geva’s final show of the season to A Chorus Line before the professional performing rights get tied up for the 2006 Broadway revival. One of four nominees for a national poll on the best American musical ever, A Chorus Line next year might start on Broadway for another 15-year run. […]
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The queen won’t quit
A former editor said that we need to recognize that an arts community is made up of individuals. Shipping Dock’s performances are making it hard not to. Their current work is a beauty; but I’ll remember it as a harrowing example of an artist’s overdoing the idea that the show must go on. All this […]
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Hamlet holds up the mirror
From the beginning of Mark Cuddy’s Hamlet at Geva Theatre Center the production’s clear priority is theatrical artifice. The purpose of playing, Hamlet says, is to hold a mirror up to nature; this Hamlet holds the mirror up to the stage. We begin with the Players, who show up in Shakespeare’s text some seven scenes […]
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These songs are crammed with emotion
Take the elevator to the third floor of the Auditorium Center and see Portraits Friday or Saturday; there’s no more time left. This revival of a show bountiful in musical pleasures and local talents will surprise, please, and satisfy you. The surprise is that, with few production values and no storyline, a full-length musical of […]
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Expectations overturned in a triumph of the old
I’m interested in new, creative theater more than rehashed favorites, so a challenging new play by an unfamiliar, award-winning playwright sounded exciting. Geva’s production in a stop-and-stare setting stars an actor I’ve admired here before. But it’s all disappointing. Race of the Ark Tattoo by W. David Hancock pretends to be a flea market sale. […]
