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,...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
‘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...
‘Long Distance Affair’ is intimate, immersive theater
By AARON KRAUSE The young man had never ventured outside the U.S. That is, until recently, when he and others dropped by Segun Adefila’s home and arts center in Lagos, Nigeria. Adefila was deep in incantation. Nevertheless, he was thrilled to meet his visitors. The Nigerian welcomed them...
Broadway to return to West Palm Beach later this year
Photo by Matthew Murphy Dear Evan Hansen is among the touring Broadway shows that will play the Kravis Center during the 2021-2022 touring season. Come November, and with COVID safety measures in place, the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach will welcome audiences back into the theater...
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...