Stage Door Theatre: The Music Man (reviews)

The Stage Door Theatre opened its production of The Music Man on April 29, 2011.

A con man comes to a Midwestern town with a scam using a boy's marching band program, but things don't go according to plan when he falls in love with the town librarian. One of the most famous American Musicals ever written, the award winning score includes: “Trouble in River City”, “Seventy Six Trombones” and “Till There Was You”.

Dan Kelley directed a cast that included Jonathon Van Dyke, Colleen Amaya, Max Greenberg, Juliana Simone Carrasco, Kevin Reilly, Jason Whitfield, Adam Kee, Justin Lore and Jonathan Bauchman.

Roger Martin reviewed for Miami ArtZine:

Dan Kelley directed the adequate 26-member cast, and that's damning them with faint praise.  Jonathan Van Dyke as “Professor” Harold Hill has the con man's charm and a good voice, but lacks bombast and punch and so we get, as an example, “Ya Got Trouble” as a performance piece rather than a showstopper.  Colleen Amaya as Marian the Librarian has a gorgeous voice but, as so many in the cast do, treats us to some fine examples of musical comedy acting.  Indeed, one young woman in particular could make big bucks teaching mugging.  You'll spot her, don't worry.

Young Max Greenberg as the lisping Winthrop is a delight as is Juliana Simone Carrasco as Amaryllis, but these are two very young actors and there's a lot of cuteness there.

Chrissi Ardito's excellent choreography shines despite the awkwardly designed set that left the dancers with little stage space. The truly wonderful costumes are from Costume World.

The Music Man plays at The Stage Door Theatre through June 19, 2011.

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Infinite Abyss: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (reviews)

Infinite Abyss Productions opened Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Empire Stage on May 5th, 2011.

In its original 1998 New York staging, the ground-breaking musical about an "inter-nationally ignored" transgendered rock singer (written by John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask) won a Village Voice Obie Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. It went on to inspire a 2001 movie of the same name, which itself won the Best Director and Audience Awards at the }Sundance Film Festival that year and snagged star John Cameron Mitchell a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. Now, Infinite Abyss Productions brings the show to Empire Stage for a five week engagement. Don't miss this one- it's going to be tran-tastic!

Jeffery D. Holmes directed a cast that included Joe Harter and Blaze Powers.

Christine Dolen reviewed for The Miami Herald:

...there’s nothing quite like watching a “gal” in spandex and a winged Farrah Fawcett wig strut her stuff just inches from your seat.

Directed by Jeffrey D. Holmes, the production features Harter as both Hedwig and the rocker’s beloved, Tommy Gnosis; Blaze Powers as bass guitarist Yitzhak; Dominick Daniel and Jhovany Castillo on percussion; Roger Blankenship on keyboards, and Jonathan Bellino on guitar. The able musicians do right by Trask’s songs...

Harter starts out slowly vocally and in conjuring a memorable Hedwig but gains power on both fronts as the 90-minute show goes on... The slender Powers nails her assignment, contributing vocals that blend well with Harter’s. And when she walks out in the waning moments of the show done up in a slinky hot-pink dress, she shows the fictional Hedwig what glam rock is all about.

Infinite Abyss Productions presents Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Empire Stage through June 4, 2011.

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Palm Beach DramaWorks: The Beauty Queen of Leenane (reviews)

Palm Beach DramaWorks opened its production of Martin Mcdonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane on May 6, 2011.  It will be the final production in their intimate Banyan Street space before moving to their new home in the former Clematis Theater.

The darkly comic tale of a lonely woman and her manipulative mother, whose interference in her daughter's only chance at love sets the stage for deceptions, secrets and betrayal.

William Hayes directed a cast that featured Barbara Bradshaw, Kati Brazda, Blake DeLong, and Kevin Kelly.

Christine Dolen reviewed for The Miami Herald:

The new production at Palm Beach Dramaworks showcases the playwright's gift for planting secrets that detonate to wound the soul, as well as his keen ear for the back-and-forth of a toxic relationship. Director William Hayes and a killer cast (in one case, killer turns literal) deliver a potent version of the play, mixing unexpected tenderness, the possibility of hope and cruel tragedy.

Bradshaw and Brazda are equally matched combatants, aggrieved victims one minute, victimizers the next. Kelly's Pato is a simple, compassionate charmer, and the actor's delivery of a monologue offering a life to Maureen would tempt any woman to say yes.

So, too, should anyone who appreciates powerful theatrical storytelling say yes to Dramaworks' The Beauty Queen of Leenane.

Jan Sjostrom reviewed for The Palm Beach Daily News:

Palm Beach Dramaworks’ production of Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane blends the grubby truculence of David Mamet’s plays about American lowlife with the banked horror of an Alfred Hitchcock film.  The play is propelled by brilliant performances from Barbara Bradshaw and Kati Brazda and note-perfect direction by William Hayes. 

Bradshaw, a powerhouse in any role she plays, portrays Mag Folan, an old woman who schemes to blight her adult daughter Maureen’s chances of an independent life. Brazda flourishes as Maureen...

Hayes balances the script’s violence with humor and gives all the characters, if not a sympathetic spin, at least a rationale for their behavior. The play’s world is as immediate as though we’d stepped into the Folans’ kitchen. 

The Beauty Queen of Leenane plays at Palm Beach DramaWorks through June 19, 2011.

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