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...

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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...

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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...

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A unique stage experience is brought to vivid life

A unique stage experience is brought to vivid life

(Photo courtesy of Area Stage Company) Mallory Newbrough (Dora) and George (Robert Richards, Jr.) appear in a scene from Area Stage Company’s production of An Octoroon CORAL GABLES, Fla. — “If anything, the theatre is no longer a place of novelty,” says a character in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’  An Octoroon. “The...

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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,...

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Simon’s one-liners are a nice respite in these frightening times

Simon’s one-liners are a nice respite in these frightening times

Photo by George Wentzler From left, Al Lewis (Peter Librach) and Willie Clark (Michael H. Small) don’t exactly see eye-to-eye in Broward Stage Door’s production of Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys. MARGATE — As you hear his one-liners zing from the mouth of one character to the ear of another,...

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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,...

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Explosive production of Sam Shepherd play mirrors mayhem in Virginia

Explosive production of Sam Shepherd play mirrors mayhem in Virginia

(Photo courtesy of New City Players) Timothy Mark Davis (left) and Andrew Paul Davis appear in a scene from New City Players’ production of True West. FT. LAUDERDALE — In the wake of Saturday’s white supremacist rally and destruction in Virginia, New City Players’ production of Sam Shepherd’s True West serves...

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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...

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Bad Jews can remind us of our naughty selves

Bad Jews can remind us of our naughty selves

Photo by Dennis Lyzniak Hannah Benitez and Joseph Paul Pino play feuding cousins in Main Street Players’ production of Bad Jews MIAMI LAKES — Unless you hail from South Africa, you might not have heard of a koeksister. A feature on www.salon.com describes it as “South Africa’s twisted and delicious...

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