New ‘Our Town’ helps open our eyes to diversity

New ‘Our Town’ helps open our eyes to diversity

(Photo by Arnulfo Maldonado) Emily Webb (Thallis Santesteban) takes a moment for contemplation in Miami New Drama’s world premiere production of a new staging of Our Town MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Birth isn’t one of the major life cycle events at the center of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic Our...

Read more
Slow Burn’s less-is-more approach works with Tarzan

Slow Burn’s less-is-more approach works with Tarzan

Photo by Rodrigo Balfanz Tarzan (Natale Pirrotta) and Jane (Lindsey Corey) share a moment in Slow Burn Theatre Company’s production of Tarzan.   FT. LAUDERDALE — There are lighting effects galore (some overdone, some mood-enhancing by Thomas Shorrock) in Slow Burn Theatre Company’s mostly commendable, high-flying production of Tarzan: The Stage...

Read more
New staging of musical offers fresh take on a classic

New staging of musical offers fresh take on a classic

Maria (Jill-Christine Wiley) is at home amid the hills in Austria near the Nonnberg Abbey. FT. LAUDERDALE — Chances are, you’re familiar with The Sound of Music. But you’ll rediscover this classic musical anew once you’ve witnessed three-time Tony Award-winning director Jack O’Brien’s fresh, vital take on the beloved Rodgers...

Read more
GableStage’s The Humans shines with humanity

GableStage’s The Humans shines with humanity

Photo by George Schiavone Deidre Blake (Elizabeth Dimon) tries to get include “Momo” (Carol Caselle” in the family’s Thanksgiving gathering in GableStage’s production of Stephen Karam’s The Humans. Looking on, behind “Momo” is her son, Erik (Michael Gioia).   CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Creepy, foreboding music leaves a chill in the...

Read more
They’re ‘On Their Feet’ in Miami

They’re ‘On Their Feet’ in Miami

Photo by Matthew Murphy Christie Prades and Mauricio Martinez play Emilio and Gloria Estefan in a national touring production of On Your Feet!  MIAMI — Exactly two years after the bio-musical On Your Feet! The Emilio & Gloria Estefan Broadway Musical opened for previews on Broadway, the first national touring production...

Read more
Oleanna proves powerful, provocative in Boca Raton

Oleanna proves powerful, provocative in Boca Raton

Photo courtesy of www.eveningstarproductions.org. Carol (Sara Elizabeth Grant) presents which she feels is damning evidence against her professor, John (Todd Bruno), in Evening Star Production’s staging of David Mamet’s Oleanna.    BOCA RATON — Depending on your point of view, and how it’s directed and acted, David Mamet’s scorcher of a play,...

Read more
Get on the wild side with these Shorts

Get on the wild side with these Shorts

  (Photo by George Wentzler) Marquise Rogers and Lawrence Buzzeo appear in Give Me Space, one of the short plays in a South Florida co-production of Shorts Gone Wild 5   WILTON MANORS, Fla. — “I will obliterate those who oppress and repress people they do not understand,” the ambitious,...

Read more
Morality play about science, religion sizzles in GableStage production

Morality play about science, religion sizzles in GableStage production

(Photo by George Schiavone) Betsy Graver and Jovon Jacobs appear in a scene from GableStage’s production of Informed Consent   CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Art has the ability to make us feel a variety of emotions, including fear and helplessness. Consider the following from Deborah Zoe Laufer’s heartfelt, heartbreaking and unsettling...

Read more
PBD’s Sweeney Todd is riveting

PBD’s Sweeney Todd is riveting

Sweeney Todd (Shane R. Tanner) raises his razor high (Photo courtesy of Palm Beach Dramaworks).   WEST PALM BEACH — How do you sympathize with a barber who slashes the throats of his customers, instantly killing them and sending their remains down a chute for his partner-in-crime to bake them...

Read more
‘Finding Mona Lisa’ brings history to life entertainingly

‘Finding Mona Lisa’ brings history to life entertainingly

(Photo courtesy of Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre) CORAL GABLES, Fla. — You hardly have to brush up on your art history to enjoy award-winning playwright Michael McKeever’s new play Finding Mona Lisa. McKeever takes us on a fun-filled trip featuring stops in France and Italy and time periods...

Read more