When Gilbert and Sullivan first put pen to paper on Pirates of Penzance over 100 years ago, they probably were not picturing a troupe of actors in Hawaiian shirts and colorful stockings, hitting beach balls around and jamming out to Taylor Swift, or an audience perched upon set pieces wearing leis and waving pirate flags. But […]
In the wake of the last year’s live action remake of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, the stage version, unsurprisingly, has become a popular choice for schools and community theater groups this spring. Movie aside, it’s a solid choice as one of the most well-received Disney musicals, with a classic Alan Menken score made up […]
As the saying goes, “good fences make good neighbors.” But when it comes down to deciding the placement of said fence, with someone’s prized garden at stake, good neighbors are quick to sour. Such is the premise of Karen Zacarías’ Native Gardens, now playing at Trinity Rep. On the surface, it sounds light-hearted enough – […]
In the 1950s, the death penalty was still widely legal across the country — though falling out of fashion — and only men served on juries in many states. This is the world in which Reginald Rose wrote the teleplay 12 Angry Men. Throughout the past half century, the story has received multiple adaptations on […]
If history books are anything to go by, movements are defined by the people who lead them. But no movement could move anywhere without its foot soldiers, who fuel the fire. The journey to the mountaintop begins first on the front porch, where communities gather for conversation and pea shelling. It is from their front […]
We think of Broadway as being a pretty gay place, but most musicals, even today, follow a rather heterosexual formula, with a straight couple at the center of the action and maybe some peripheral gay couples. Rarely do you see a musical with a gay main character. In fact, the first mainstream musical to feature […]
I’ve seen a handful of productions at the Stadium Theatre, and I’m consistently blown away by their talent and their production value. It’s not even a matter of being good for a community theater group – they’re easily on the level of a professional production. As good as they’ve been in the past, however, nothing […]
Most musicals cover lofty themes central to the human experience – the likes of revolution, forbidden love, revenge, defying societal expectations and fantasy worlds. Then there are shows like The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which is about, well, a spelling bee. Unless you’re really into competitive spelling, it probably doesn’t sound like a […]
Society has long been fascinated by serial killers. Macabre though it may be, we are drawn to these stories of people who represent the extremes of derangement and the gory details of their deeds. Hence their prevalence in the media: in documentaries, television shows, films, books and, yes, a musical. Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber […]
Some shows are meant for audiences to sit back and enjoy. The story is packaged neatly and delivered to the listener without making them do much work. This is not to say there is anything wrong with that; it has its place. Shows like Dreamlandia, however, require more from the viewer. It can be easy […]