Prize-winning play focuses on women’s strength and resilience
Stephanie Alison Walker By AARON KRAUSE The 2019 winner of a national award recognizing an emerging female playwright penned a piece about “the strength and resilience of women,” in the author’s words. The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) has honored Stephanie Alison Walker with the Francesca Primus Prize....
Tony Awards to take place online this year
Tony Awards officials have decided that this year’s ceremony, the 74th annual event, will take place online this fall. For the moment, further details are unavailable. Earlier this year, presenters put the ceremony on hold due to the pandemic. This past March, it forced all Broadway theaters, — and most...
Prominent lighting designer dies of cancer
Howell Binkley One of Broadway’s most renowned lighting designers, a two-time Tony Award winner who also received nominations for many other awards, died on Friday. Howell Binkley was 64. He succumbed to lung cancer at a hospital in Jacksonville, N.C., his wife, Joyce Storey, confirmed on Facebook. Binkley’s designs...
Musical wunderkind wows critics, audiences
Photo courtesy of Joshua Turchin Out of all of the instruments he plays, Joshua Turchin likes the piano best. By AARON KRAUSE Joshua Turchin plays a dozen or so instruments. In addition, he wrote the book and lyrics, and composed the music, to an original, award-winning, Broadway-bound musical which...
Zoetic Stage leads the way with 12 Carbonells
Photo by Justin Namon Here’s the cast of Zoetic Stage’s Sweeney Todd By AARON KRAUSE South Florida’s “theater prom” on Monday night might have lacked the glitz and glamour of previous years. Still, the 44th Carbonell Awards carried an aura of optimism, hope, and celebration. Indeed, presenters, performers, and...
Union suggests no ‘stage-dooring’ once live performances resume
The areas around stage doors could look as deserted as the one above if theaters implement a union’s guideline prohibiting autograph seeking following live theater productions. If you loved seeking autographs and taking backstage tours following stage productions, new safety guidelines may disappoint you. A theater union suggests...
GableStage seeks to engage through multi-media
By AARON KRAUSE While GableStage has decided to cancel the remainder of its 2019-20 season of live theater due to COVID-19, the company’s current endeavor might offer snapshots of what theater could, at least partially, look like in a post-pandemic world. Specifically, to replace the remainder of the 2019-20 season,...
Play finalists for Primus Prize focus on aftermath of violence
By AARON KRAUSE How do we cope ahead in the aftermath of large-scale violence? A group of plays answer that question in ways that make the pieces stand out, said the chairwoman of a committee that recognizes the outstanding work of emerging female playwrights. From 2019, Ripe Frenzy, Benevolence,...
Some of South Florida theater’s shining stars
Barbara Bradshaw (Photo by Steve Anthony) Kelley Shanley (Photo by Jason Nuttle) A theater production that a critic hailed as a “masterpiece,” a much-lauded performer, a nationally-renowned regional theater, and a performing arts...
Ohio teens performing ‘The Crucible’ safely and in person
Photo courtesy of Toledo Repertoire Theatre Two cast members from Toledo Repertoire Theatre’s Young Rep group rehearse a scene in person and with social distancing in mind. By AARON KRAUSE Several Toledo teenage thespians who are performing in person Arthur Miller’s classic, The Crucible, are viewing masks and social...
