While holiday classics have their place, it’s refreshing to see a new option on the season once in a while. “The Last Night of Ballyhoo” doesn’t contain a single Christmas carol or Santa sighting, but it’s an insightful look at the prejudices a community can hold against even its own members.
Leah Stacy
Leah Stacy is CITY's editor-in-chief.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Theater review: ‘The Legend of Georgia McBride’
Theatrical productions aren’t generally written about Florida. The Sunshine State, with its gators and gulf coast, doesn’t set the stage for a production in quite the same way a cosmopolitan city or the Midwest does. But for Matthew Lopez’s 2015 play “The Legend of Georgia McBride,” a small town Florida setting somehow works perfectly.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Theater review: ‘Les Misérables’
Fresh off a two-and-a-half year Broadway revival, RBTL’s current season special, the national tour of “Les Misérables,” features an inimitable cast. Every lead performer is precise, nailing the well-known characters they are portraying.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Theater review: ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’
Wallbyrd Theatre Co. departs from its usual Shakespearean-themed offerings with Edward Albee’s play about a frustrated middle-aged couple.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Theater review: ‘Thurgood’ at Geva
Lester Purry is a theatrical force, bringing Thurgood Marshall to life through expert physicality, an impressively dense amount of memorized material, and a true commitment to the portrayal of an icon of American history.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Theater review: ‘A Bronx Tale’
“A Bronx Tale,” from leads to ensemble, is one of the highest caliber shows from the last few seasons at the Auditorium. From vocals and dancing to acting and character chemistry, this is a show that truly feels like Broadway on tour.
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Review: ‘Becoming Dr. Ruth’
Everyone loves a good origin story — a true rags-to-riches, underdog-beats-the-odds-tale can be almost as satisfying as good sex. Through October 21 JCC CenterStage and Bristol Valley Theatre present a retelling of the journey of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, from her childhood as a German Jew pre-Holocaust to respected American sex therapist.
Posted inSpecial Sections
Leah reviews ‘Poetry in Motion’
In addition to performing three company shows at School of the Arts (the last show happens Saturday at 7 p.m.), several members of PUSH Physical Theatre produced solo works for Fringe. Jonathan Lowery, a longstanding member of Fringe who also performs in community theater productions around town, tapped further into his multidisciplinary roots with “Poetry […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Leah reviews ‘The Girl in the Band’ and ‘Home is a Four-Letter Word’
When Megan Loomis walks out on stage for her one-woman show, “The Girl in the Band,” she doesn’t appear to be, well, a girl. Dressed in coveralls and a flat brim cap and affecting a “boy voice,” Loomis begins the show by quoting many of the misogynistic things her bandmates have said to her over […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Leah reviews ‘Good Catch’ and ‘Other Peoples’ Shows’
All it takes is a single word for one of New York City’s longest-running musical improv groups, “Good Catch,” to create an (almost) full-length musical theater production, complete with piano instrumentation, lyrics, and (fairly terrible but hilarious) choreography. On Friday, that word was “milk.” For the next 50 minutes, the four-person ensemble (along with pianist […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Leah reviews ‘Love and Information’
The first thing to understand about playwright Caryl Churchill’s 2012 work “Love and Information” is that there is no linear plotline. Instead, the short play is comprised of more than 60 mini-plots, some as short as one word, sound or sentence. Local St. John Fisher College professor and Theater Apparatus company founder Jeremy Sarachan produces […]
