Hats off to Evening Star Productions for an energetic, comedic ‘Gutenberg The Musical’

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Each seat for Evening Star Productions’ hilarious, tour-de-force staging of “Gutenberg! The Musical!” is reserved for producers. Audience members can sit in them anyway. Why? Well, they’re producers – at least for the afternoon or evening they’re attending. Audience members play a pivotal role in any...

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‘Fortune’s Ire’ is gripping theater at North Miami’s Storycrafter Studio

NORTH MIAMI — Watching Miami playwright Guillermo Ramon’s riveting, challenging new play “Fortune’s Ire” brings to mind a similarly mysterious work featuring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as the title character. Both plays begin seemingly harmless: In Katori Hall’s shocker, King spends his last night alive in a Memphis motel...

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Invasion of privacy vs. freedom of expression in small theater company’s well production of play

WILTON MANORS, Fla. — Where does the right to free expression guaranteed under the First Amendment end and where does the right to one’s privacy begin? Is the meaning of privacy and what constitutes its “invasion” as black and white as, say, the definition of libel or the First Amendment’s...

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Stage Door Theater staging compelling production of musical by ‘Fiddler’ team

MARGATE — A recording of “The Impossible Dream” played before the start of a recent performance of the musical “The Rothschilds,” which is receiving a mostly commendable production through Oct. 16 at Stage Door Theater to open its new season. Perhaps it’s no accident that production director Peter J. Loewy...

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‘Love! Valour! Compassion!’ thrives at Ft. Lauderdale theater

 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Real tears stream down the pained face of actor Jason Fazio during a top-notch production of the heartbreaking and hilarious Terrence McNally play “Love! Valour! Compassion!” In the tiny Ft. Lauderdale theater Andrews Living Arts Studio, where McNally’s Tony-Award-winning play about eight gay men is on-stage...

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‘Midsummer’s’ mischief, relationship drama make school setting a wise choice

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Even if your best beauty sleep occurred during Shakespeare study in class, you probably know that “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” involves mischief and romance. During your waking hours, you also were likely aware that misbehavior, “cliques” and plenty of drama involving relationships were all part of...

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Riveting, cautionary true tale presented with skill by GableStage

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Time doesn’t necessarily heal wounds. We’ve learned that repeatedly as molestation victim after molestation victim of the Roman Catholic priest sex abuse scandal came forward many years after the incidents. Silence doesn’t always have healing powers either. In fact, it can lead to devastating consequences, as...

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Visit with Barbra Streisand is fully worth the price of admission

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Have you ever awoken from a dream that seemed too good to be true and contained unusual developments? You woke up, shook your head slowly and wondered “How did that ever sneak its way into my subconscious? Jonathan Tolins hit comedy “Buyer & Cellar” seems like...

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‘Broadway Bound’ illustrates necessity of humor, family ties in today’s world

MARGATE, Fla. — What state of mind would we find ourselves in today’s world without the comforts of humor and family? To be blunt: We’d buckle under the weight of all the uncertainty and danger that has just added to the fragility of life. If Neil Simon were working on a...

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Palm Beach Dramaworks offers a faithful, fresh ‘1776’

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Setting the musical “1776” in present-day England is probably not a good idea. Fortunately, no such piece-destroying choice is made by Clive Cholerton, director of Palm Beach Dramaworks’ brilliant current production.  The well-known historical musical about our founding fathers’ mission to make America independent from...

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