GableStage selects its next leader

GableStage selects its next leader

Photo courtesy of Magnus Stark     By AARON KRAUSE During her time as associate director of Florida Repertory Theatre in Ft. Myers, Bari Newport heard about another theater company down south. It was a company that was consistently doing work that everyone else admired, Newport recalled hearing. “What was...

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Lowe shines as poet in ‘The Belle of Amherst’

Lowe shines as poet in ‘The Belle of Amherst’

  Photo courtesy Palm Beach Dramaworks and Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre Award-winning actor Margery Lowe shines as Emily Dickinson in ‘The Belle of Amherst.’   By AARON KRAUSE If you search Emily Dickinson on Google, one of the photos you’ll find is that of an austere-looking woman dressed...

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Giving Emily Dickinson life

Giving Emily Dickinson life

Photo courtesy of Actors’ Playhouse and Palm Beach Dramaworks. Margery Lowe appears as Emily Dickinson in a co-production of The Belle of Amherst.      By AARON KRAUSE For the second time in less than three years, award-winning South Florida actress Margery Lowe will portray poet Emily Dickinson onstage. However,...

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Playwright peels away ‘The Niceties’ from her piece

Playwright peels away ‘The Niceties’ from her piece

  “We spend so much of our time berating the far right for being racist,” Island City Stage (ICS) Associate Artistic Director Michael Leeds says. However, “we don’t often look to ourselves to see how we might be perpetuating the system. We’re always the ‘nice’ guys. But what happens when...

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New Normal Rep. scores a hit with ‘Jericho.’

New Normal Rep. scores a hit with ‘Jericho.’

  Photo courtesy of New Normal Rep. Beth (Eleanor Handley) talks to the ghost of her husband, Alec (C.K. Allen) in New Normal Rep.’s inaugural online production of Jericho.   By AARON KRAUSE A problem with online theater, especially a taped production, is that performers cannot take bows. In addition,...

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Promising musical theater artists honored

Promising musical theater artists honored

Here are Benjamin Scheuer, Melissa Li, and Kit Yan.   Melissa Li, Benjamin Scheuer, and Kit Yan are names to remember in musical theater. Indeed, these individuals have each earned the 2021 Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre. The honor’s namesake is Edward L. Kleban. He is the late Tony and...

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Brush up your sleuthing skills for ‘Safe House’

Brush up your sleuthing skills for ‘Safe House’

  Photo by Jack Cooper Krystal Millie Valdes and Chris Hayhurst will not appear in person, but digitally in Urbanite Theatre’s production of Safe House.   By AARON KRAUSE After Fletcher leaves his cybersecurity job with a powerful corporation, he and his wife, Ava, hide with damning company secrets. Then...

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‘Compensation’ is a compelling, timely new play

‘Compensation’ is a compelling, timely new play

Photo by Matthew Tippins Tara (Gaby Tortoledo), Gabriel (Stephen Kaiser), and Elliot (Israel Vinas) are engaged in conversation in Island City Stage’s world premiere production of Compensation.   By AARON KRAUSE If you couldn’t have children the conventional way, how far would you go to form and raise a family...

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Come this Spring, enter Emily Dickinson in co-production

Come this Spring, enter Emily Dickinson in co-production

Photo courtesy of Actors’ Playhouse  Actors’ Playhouse and Palm Beach Dramaworks present The Belle of Amherst starring Margery Lowe.   By AARON KRAUSE Southeast Florida theater goers who have remained isolated during the pandemic might be able to particularly identify with Emily Dickinson when she visits the region this spring. A one-woman...

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Watch the world premieres of five short musicals

Watch the world premieres of five short musicals

  Could the next Hamilton or Dear Evan Hansen emerge from a musical theater partnership in the Cleveland area? A collaboration between the Beck Center for the Arts and the Baldwin Wallace University Music Theatre Program has existed for 10 years. And this month, the collaborating partners will present five...

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