I missed parts one and two of Peter Hinton’s The Swanne and just now caught the finale of this ambitious new Canadian trilogy, The Swanne: Queen Victoria (The Seduction of Nemesis). The title may suggest some of its problems. The play is a too-elaborate historical fantasy in which the young Queen Victoria writes a work […]
Herbert M. Simpson
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Rediscovering great comedy and one whatsit
Three more knockout productions at Stratford present a gentle comedy, a laugh riot, and a Shakespeare whatsit. Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens partly seems to be written by someone else, is both tragic and garishly comical, and brilliantly and really badly written. Yet, this is the third Stratford production of Timon that has made it look […]
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Bringing out the stars of musical comedy
If there is a musical comedy masterpiece, it is Frank Loesser, Abe Burrows, and Jo Swerling’s Guys and Dolls. Swerling and Burrows’book adapts Damon Runyon’s stories offunny, flavorful lowlifes with wit and zest. Loesser’s tasty lyrics and wonderful music are even better in the plot-oriented songs that have no life outside this show than the […]
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Great theater: bad ideas, miscastings, and all
Several hundred amazingly respectful school kids attended the matinee I saw of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and seemed to really enjoy it, despite the wrongheaded production. Stratford’s eye-popping, elaborate stagings, performed by some of the world’s best-trained, most gifted classical actors in these state-of-the-art theaters are likely to be the best you will see, […]
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Two finds and a superplay, please
The Shaw Festival has achieved international fame with its superb revivals of relatively unknown plays of significant worth. The latest two are fascinating period pieces. Githa Sowerby’sRutherford and Son played in London and on Broadway in 1912, then virtually disappeared. In the last decade it was revived because of renewed interest in plays about […]
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Sweetmeats on the stage
Gregg Coffin’s previous, much-admired musical developed at Geva was Convenience, a funny, touching drama with some memorable truths to tell. His new musical, Five-Course Love — again a compositional tour-de-force of clever writing and appealing music entirely created by Coffin — is much lighter fare but even more entertaining — and showy. Coffin creates book, […]
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A visit to Eugene O’Neill’s ideal childhood
Another two delightful openings show the Shaw Festival on a roll with five winners out of five thus far. The musical may be imperfect, but it’s a treasure. And the festival’s first production by Eugene O’Neill is a pleasure indeed. Alisa Palmer’s direction of the musical Pal Joey is perhaps a tad too wholesome, […]
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Women out of time
Hugh Leonard’s Love in the Title, now playing at Shipping Dock Theatre, is certainly a women’s play, but not the kind anyone is familiar with. Three female actors play three generations of an Irish family’s women. But in Leonard’s fantastical plot, the women aren’t exactly reunited, because they didn’t know each other at these ages. […]
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For one brief, shining moment
Geva Theatre Center has a hit on its hands with Camelot. It’s a beloved story. Despite the show’s basic drawbacks, the large cast sings and performs well. And the King Arthur is worth the price of admission by himself. Four years after their incomparable My Fair Lady, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe came […]
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Rock out with a transsexual dynamo and her band
Water Street Music Hall is presenting its first fully staged rock musical, a sensational production of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch. But you can bet this won’t be its last. Produced here in Rochester — mostly by Syracuse theater artists and Rochester musicians — this exciting production is […]
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Shaw starts sparkling
Shaw Festival’s 2004 season got off to an early and rollicking start with three effervescent comedies. Two more plays conclude the opening “week” at the end of May. Seven more productions will follow and play into December. These first three set the bar high. First, Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell directs G. B. Shaw’s classic […]
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City Ballet surviving strong
Forget those disgusting “reality” shows: our impressive Survivor, Rochester City Ballet, completed its spring season continuing to dance splendidly. Artistic Director Jamey Leverett choreographed two new works: Gershwin in the Park and Pedestal: For Tim, both danced beautifully. Pedestal, a tribute to RCB founder Tim Draper, proved that Leverett has maintained Draper’s high standards. In […]
