ICS’ ‘The Niceties’ neatly captures the zeitgeist
Photo by Matthew Tippins Zoe (Rachel Michelle Bryant) is clearly unhappy with her professor (Lisa Kay King) in Island City Stage’s production of The Niceties. By AARON KRAUSE “What are you doing to promote equality?” a black college student demands of her white professor in Eleanor Burgess’s taut, intense,...
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...
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,...
‘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...
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...
‘A Class Act’ shines at The Garden Theatre near Orlando
Photo courtesy of Steven Miller Photography Edward Kleban (Sean Powell) is the center of attention in a scene from The Garden Theatre’s current production of A Class Act. By AARON KRAUSE When you’re feeling down about yourself, it can be comforting to learn that somebody who achieved a...
Island City Stage offers ‘Compensation’ as its next production
PHOTO BY MATT TIPPINS The cast of Island City Stage’s upcoming production of Compensation comprises (l-r) Stephen Kaiser, Gaby Tortoledo, and Israel Vinas. When Island City Stage (ICS) Artistic Director Andy Rogow discovered a new piece titled Compensation, “I knew right away this was a play...
Palm Beach Dramaworks to read from ‘A Christmas Carol’
By AARON KRAUSE When Palm Beach Dramaworks (PBD) presents A Christmas Carol this year, the South Florida company will not stage one of the myriad adaptations available to theaters. Rather, performers will read from Dickens’ 1843 novella – just like the author read from his work. “No...
Licensing rights available for trilingual ‘Our Town’
Photo by Arnulfo Maldonado Keith Randolph Smith played the “Stage Manager” in Miami New Drama’s trilingual Our Town. By AARON KRAUSE Three years after Miami New Drama premiered a trilingual version of Thornton Wilder’s classic play, Our Town, the adaptation’s script is available to perform and/or read....
Thinking Cap Theatre’s ‘Laced’ will leave you hopeful for better days
Thinking Cap Theatre Cat (played by Jordan Patriarca in Thinking Cap Theatre’s virtual production) thought wrong. By AARON KRAUSE The owner of a gay bar “used to throw a mean right hook in the face of some homophobic mother—ers, that’s for sure,” a character says in Samantha Mueller’s...