The last three plays of Stratford’s opening week were less spectacular but more unusual than the opening three. Two are seldom seen onstage, and I wish I could say that about the third. Although the smaller musical’s title might evoke a show as lovable as The King and I, its French belle époque amorality comes […]
Herbert M. Simpson
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Mixed Bill Shakespeare festival
This 51st season of Canada’s Stratford Festival is dedicated to the recently deceased great international designer Tanya Moiseiwitsch. She set the Festival’s incomparable design standards for many years, and invented Stratford’s much-imitated combination Elizabethan/ancient Greek/modern thrust stage. I don’t know what the outspoken Ms. Moiseiwitsch would say about the peculiar mishmash of spectacles in Stratford’s […]
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These shoes are made for nailing
The Nextstage at Geva Theatre Center is offering the fully staged, world premiere production of September Shoes,by Jose Cruz González — a work Geva helped develop as part of its 2002 Hibernatus Interruptus Festival. A very accomplished Hispanic director and cast give this mysterious, passionate play a vibrant, affecting performance. But though it ends in […]
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The Shaw Fest turns 42
Under new artistic director Jackie Maxwell, the Shaw Festival opened its 42nd season with what looked like a typical line-up of five plays — typical, that is, of recent seasons, but hardly traditional. Their world-class ensemble again brings dazzling aplomb to a Broadway musical of questionable value. Once more, a resident director re-interprets a […]
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Geva celebrates Independence Day
Geva’s 30th season ends with the perfect show for the 4th of July. But though the plot of 1776 ends on July 4, Geva’s extended run finishes on June 29. The production is dedicated to author Peter Stone, Oscar winner, Emmy winner, and Tony winner, who died only a few weeks ago. His book and […]
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“Rags” becomes riches at Blackfriars
Ragswas a legendary Broadway flop. Starring opera diva Teresa Stratas, it had alot going for it. It was based on a bookabout Jewish immigrants by Joseph Stein, who wrote Fiddler on the Roof.It had music by Eastman School alumnus Charles Strouse, who composed operas and shows like Annie and Bye, Bye Birdie.It had lyrics by […]
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RCB inspired by memory of Draper
There probably wasn’t a dry eye at the final performance of Rochester City Ballet’s spring season, but the overall feeling was upbeat. The company’s April 26 concert, at Canandaigua Academy, began with a video tribute to Timothy M. Draper. Beautifully composed by videographer Timothy Leverett (for example, an inspiring photo of Draper at work appeared […]
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Wilder’s less-than-wild Theophilus North
A well-known, old graybeard is newborn here, thanks to the distinguished work of the folks at Geva Theatre Center, led by artistic director Mark Cuddy. Matthew Burnett’s Theophilus North — based on novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder’s final novel — has made it to the stage for the first time. The world premiere production […]
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Lobbyists for theatergoing
by Herbert M. Simpson Kenneth Lonergan’s involving, small-scale play at Geva’s Nextstage is called Lobby Hero. It’s set in the lobby of a New York City apartment building, where three men and a woman struggle with their conflicting efforts to behave like a hero. So, heroism, or at least each character’s concept of what constitutes […]
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Remote views
As its title suggests, Naomi Iizuka’s 36 Views, currently playing at Geva Theatre Center, is a complex, richly layered drama.Actually, Iizuka’s title comes from the name of the early 19th-century wood-block prints of Mt. Fuji by the Japanese artist Hokusai. And Iizuka segments her play into 36 varying scenes, separated by the sound of striking […]
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Low level for Shipping Dock
Maybe it’s me. Clare McIntyre’s Low Level Panic has won respectful attention from English and Polish theater mavens as a potent drama. It also makes some lively and amusing comments on women’s sensibilities as they resist male-dominated society’s efforts to define them in pornographic terms. But I find the play incoherent, annoying, and sometimes tedious. […]
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Big voice, inspiring play
The Big Voice: God Or Merman?,by Steve Schalchlin and Jim Brochu, is completely original and utterly rewarding. A musical about two totally opposite, deeply religious, gay men falling in love, surviving AIDS, and finding success in showbiz could be camp or cliché. But we are truly indebted to Downstairs Cabaret Theatre for producing the East […]
