Woodwinds creep together in soft, low measures before intertwining in higher registers and giving way to announcing brass that awaken spirits from the underworld. Those dark figures manipulate wood puppets to tell the agonized history of a royal, childless marriage. From foggy mists, faceless sisters of the night emerge in every sort of torn and draped rag, roving about while … [Read more...] about Macbeth
Archives for February 2020
Gatz
Into a drab, empty office setting with its metal shelves full of boxes that are clearly full of folders full of papers walks a man in his blue shirt and tie who sits at a table and attempts to turn on his computer – a clunky-looking model by today’s standards from some time period fifteen-to-twenty years ago. After several frustrating attempts, he opens a small container on … [Read more...] about Gatz
The SpongeBob Musical
Goofy but cute? Check. Nutty-and-fruity but timely in theme? Check. Sappy but good-hearted? Check. For kids and adults alike? Check. Ignore the title and just go see it? Check. For anyone like myself that somehow – in my case, even with six kids – never tuned in even once to Stephen Hillenburg’s award-winning, Nickelodeon hit, SpongeBob … [Read more...] about The SpongeBob Musical
Chicago
Hips snap and swirl. Hands spread their fingers, Fosse-style. Shoulders roll as twelve bodies slowly swing around in unison, grouped together in a triangle that moves in soft but precisely placed steps. Through the center in her black lingerie snakes a slinking gal singing in a smoky, sensuous voice, “C’mon babe, why don’t we paint the town, and all that jazz?” And onto … [Read more...] about Chicago
The Children
What is the responsibility of retired parents to their children? Is it to continue to be supportive, loving, and available, even making sacrifices for them if a grown kid is having problems making it as an adult? Is it to relish and enjoy their grandchildren, spoiling them in ways they could not their own children? Is it to live their own lives, to do the things they now … [Read more...] about The Children
Tiny Beautiful Things
“Dear Sugar, ... I’m secretly addicted to pain meds.” “Dear Sugar, Icky thoughts turn me on …” “Dear Sugar, My wife drinks while I am at work …” “Dear Sugar, My daughter has a tumor … and I find myself doubting God’s existence.” “Dear Sugar, My birth mother doesn’t want to meet me.” “Dear Sugar, What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck? I’m asking this … [Read more...] about Tiny Beautiful Things
The Fantasticks
In 1960, it was a little musical that broke many molds, especially from the beloved musicals by big Broadway composers/writers like Rogers and Hammerstein, George Abbott, and Lerner and Loewe. It had little plot and became one of several of the earliest so-called ‘concept’ musicals that would later lead to dozens of others such as A Chorus Line, Assassins, and Avenue Q. There … [Read more...] about The Fantasticks
Princess Ida
An operetta from the conservative Victorian Age that satirizes feminism and women’s education and sets up a battle between the sexes that the men are destined to win is not exactly a winning formula for most 2020 audiences. But the operetta is by the perennially loved W.S. Gilbert (libretto) and Albert Sullivan (music); and there are many, modern aficionados of the famed pair … [Read more...] about Princess Ida
