For lovers of the American musical, this summer offers ample opportunity to break out in song and dance. It’s the spirit of sunlight after a long winter: Just needing to sing. This summer, revisit some cherished classics, or catch a new hit, or discover something lesser known and up-and-coming. Most productions kick off in July, […]
Kevin Carr
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Chekhov’s fun
Before contemporary playwright Christopher Durang penned “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” farcical comedy and Anton Chekhov rarely occupied the same sentence. But “Vanya” — the 2013 Tony Award winner for Best Play — succeeds in comically commandeering names, imagery, and themes from the much anthologized work of the Russian playwright and short-story author, […]
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Theater Review: “Violet” at Blackfriars Theatre
It is hard to argue with the success of “Violet.” Despite a weak script and a tiring group of songs, this hit-the-road-and-discover-yourself musical has managed to resonate with both audiences and critics ever since its original Off-Broadway premiere in 1997. The 2014 Broadway revival gained four Tony Award nominations — most notably for its lead […]
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Character in the 21st century
Rising local playwright Kate Royal captures the voice of the millennial generation
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Theater Review: “The Mountaintop” at Geva
“I’m just a man, just a man,” says a trembling Martin Luther King Jr. in Katori Hall’s award-winning play, “The Mountaintop.” It’s a powerful piece of historical fiction, playing through April 26 at Geva Theatre’s Wilson Mainstage. Martin Luther King Jr. (Royce Johnson) returns to room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis after reciting […]
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Theater Review: “The Field” at MuCCC
Anti-heroes are all the rage. But before Tony Soprano, Walter White, and Frank Underwood, there was Bull McCabe. He is the definitive 20th-century anti-hero: a rugged farmer, a loving father, a brutish bully who stops at nothing to establish his empire of acreage. McCabe is the force behind John B. Keane’s 1965 rural Irish drama, […]
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Theater Review: “Our Suburb” at JCC CenterStage
In “Our Suburb,” a new play on stage through March 29 at JCC CenterStage, Thornton Wilder’s 1938 Pulitzer Prize winner, “Our Town,” is repurposed for a new generation. Originally set in a fictional New Hampshire town in the early 1900’s, Wilder’s classic dissected family cyclicality and the fragility of life: teenagers growing up, getting married, […]
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Theater Review: “Mammoth” at MuCCC
With “Mammoth,” a new play at the Multi-use Cultural Community Center, writer-director Kate Royal provides further evidence that western New York has an emerging ecosystem for young, intrepid playwrights. The 2013 SUNY Geneseo graduate has already gained some recognition for her play, “The Nameless Days of Gumdrop Smith,” which debuted at the 2014 Rochester Fringe […]
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Theater Review: “Women in Jeopardy!” at Geva
On the Saturday night performance of “Women in Jeopardy!” at Geva Theatre Center’s Mainstage, cast member Scott Rad Brown (Trenner) led a small Q&A before the show. “Comedy depends upon its audience,” he said. “Let us know how we’re doing,” adding after a beat, “So laugh.” In live productions, especially, laughter isn’t easy to come […]
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Theater Review: “Shakespeare’s R&J” at Blackfriars Theatre
Juliet and his Romeo
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Theater Review: “Katherine’s Colored Lieutenant” at Geva’s NextStage
Actress and playwright Nora Cole has returned to Geva Theatre for “Katherine’s Colored Lieutenant” at Geva’s Fielding NextStage. Cole previously appeared before Geva audiences with “Fences” (2009) and “You Can’t Take It With You” (2012). In “Lieutenant,” Cole weaves a narrative from the fabric of her own family: the true story of her Aunt Katherine, […]
