UPDATE 5/10/13: The JCC has announced that, due to popular demand, an additional performance has been added to the run on Sunday, May 19, at 7 p.m. You can understand why a community theater would want to revive a fondly remembered musical like “Funny Girl.” It ran for more than 1300 performances when it first […]
Theater Review
Posted inArts & Entertainment
THEATER REVIEW: “33 Variations”
Intricate, delicate, and lovely are possibly the three words that best describe “33 Variations,” the drama currently on stage at Blackfriars. The play, written by Moises Kaufman (“The Laramie Project,” “I Am My Own Wife”) and directed by John Haldoupis, is a nuanced look at the way people relate to one another, refuse to relate […]
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“The Whipping Man”
“The Whipping Man” by Matthew Lopez begins in desolation and ends with not much more than a speck of hope — a meager sense of opportunity if the characters can somehow overcome years (even centuries) of experience (and history).
Posted inArts & Entertainment
“Wicked”
Since opening on Broadway in 2003, “Wicked” has had smashing success, breaking box-office records and becoming one of the most beloved modern musicals. It has a large, devoted fanbase and inspires the sort of passion in people so that they are eager to see it time and time again. That at least partially explains why […]
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THEATER REVIEW: “August: Osage County”
After it debuted in 2007, Tracy Letts’ drama “August: Osage County” won just about every theater award that matters — Tony, Drama Desk, Pulitzer, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, etc. The play itself is extraordinary, even though the subject matter is about as ordinary as you can get. A far-flung extended family is brought back […]
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Theater Review: “The Book of Mormon”
It was a huge coup for the Rochester Broadway Theatre League to book a run of the Broadway smash “The Book of Mormon” during its first national tour. Local audiences have taken advantage of the opportunity, with the six-night stand of the Tony-, Grammy-, and Drama Desk-winning musical completely selling out the Auditorium Theatre, save […]
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THEATER REVIEW: “The Book Club Play”
UPDATED 3/4/13: Edited to reflect that Geva Theatre has extended the run of “The Book Club Play” to March 23. Karen Zacarías’ “The Book Club Play” began life in 2008 and has continued to be workshopped, allowing the writer to polish and refine her script. It’s now five years later, but the current production, currently […]
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THEATER: “44 Plays for 44 Presidents”
I am a bad American. This is true for many reasons, but for the purpose of this review we’ll focus on the fact that I am woefully ignorant about our country’s presidential history. I got a 90-something on my American history Regents exam, but I’ll be damned if I can remember any of our former […]
Posted inCulture
Rochester Fringe Festival, Day 1: “The Event,” “Hide the Moon” reviews
UPDATED 9/20/12 to correct the name of the actor playing Jokannan on “Hide the Moon.” The theme for the first night of the inaugural First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival was the lifting of veils, both literal and figurative. My first stop for the evening was the Geva Theatre Center Nextstage for the first performance of […]
Posted inCulture
Rochester Fringe Festival, Day 1: “The Bicycle Men” review
Good old-fashioned vulgarity is taking a terrible beating these days at the hands of young playwrights who never learned that four-letter words and exaggerated descriptions of sex aren’t especially funny in and of themselves. It’s not the profanity I object, to but the witlessness that accompanies it. Without wit or cleverness, vulgarity flying around a […]
