Hannah and the Dread GazeboJiehae ParkOregon Shakespeare Festival“This is a story about a wish.” But does this story really have a beginning, a middle, and an end? Should it? Must it? Or is this a story where we simply accept and enjoy that there is something about a stone in a bottle, about a tiger and a bear, about magpies and garlic, and about a … [Read more...] about “Hannah and the Dread Gazebo”: Day 9, Play 11, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
“Henry IV, Parts One and Two”: Day 8, Plays 9 & 10, OSF Ashland 2017
Henry IV: Parts One and TwoWilliam ShakespeareOregon Shakespeare FestivalOregon Shakespeare Festival this season offers the rare opportunity to see what one might call William Shakespeare’s ‘Falstaff Triad.’ Along with The Merry Wives of Windsor, the third in the so-called Falstaff sequence, Henry IV, Part One and Henry IV, Part Two document parallel journeys of the … [Read more...] about “Henry IV, Parts One and Two”: Day 8, Plays 9 & 10, OSF Ashland 2017
“The Drowsy Chaperone”: Day 7, Play 8, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
The Drowsy ChaperoneLisa Lambert & Greg Morrison (Music & Lyrics); Bob Martin & Don McKellar (Book)Oregon Cabaret TheatreFrom the still-dark stage, we hear a squeaky, dramatic, and overly protracted sigh, followed by “I hate theatre.” But when the lights finally come up on a rather mousy, nervous-looking man in bow tie and sweater, we soon learn this Man … [Read more...] about “The Drowsy Chaperone”: Day 7, Play 8, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
“Shakespeare in Love”: Day 6, Play 7, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
Shakespeare in LoveAdapted for the Stage by Lee Hall, Based on the Screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom StoppardOregon Shakespeare Festival“Shall I compare … compare … compare thee … to a mourner’s play?”As a cast of Elizabethan characters of all shapes, sizes, and classes hover over his every word (with many looks of disbelief and disapproval of the lines he is currently … [Read more...] about “Shakespeare in Love”: Day 6, Play 7, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”
Disney’s Beauty and the BeastAlan Menken (Music); Howard Ashman & Tim Rice (Lyrics);Linda Woolverton (Book)Oregon Shakespeare FestivalThe first time I saw Disney’s Beauty and the Beast on the big screen as an animated film, I immediately pictured the opening number “Belle” as made for the big stage. As the song’s angelic-looking namesake roams aimlessly nose in a book … [Read more...] about “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”
“UniSon”: Day 4, Play 5, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
UniSonUNIVERSES (Steven Sapp, Mildred Ruiz-Sapp, William Ruiz — aka Ninja)Oregon Shakespeare Festival“If there is such a thing as public art and private art,Then the poems are private. They mark the landscape.…They are a record of private moments.…I count them as gifts.”After creating the ten, decade-by-decade plays chronicling African-American history of the twentieth … [Read more...] about “UniSon”: Day 4, Play 5, Theatre Eddys at OSF Ashland 2017
“Julius Caesar”: Day 3, Play 4, TheatreEddys at OSF Ashland 2017
Julius CaesarWilliam ShakespeareOregon Shakespeare FestivalFor anyone wondering how an electorate can switch in such a short time from electing an Obama to choosing a Trump, a re-visit of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar may send chills up the spine, especially as now being brilliantly directed by Shana Cooper at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In the opening scene, a … [Read more...] about “Julius Caesar”: Day 3, Play 4, TheatreEddys at OSF Ashland 2017
“The Odyssey”: Day 2, Play 3, TheatreEddy’s at OSF Ashland 2017
The OdysseyHomer, Adapted by Mary Zimmerman from the Translation by Robert FitzgeraldOregon Shakespeare FestivalAnyone who read in a high school Latin class the Roman version of Homer’s The Odyssey may remember the weeks of translating that it took to get through the 12,000+ lines. There are moments during the current Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s version of Mary … [Read more...] about “The Odyssey”: Day 2, Play 3, TheatreEddy’s at OSF Ashland 2017
“Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles”: Day 2, Play 2 TheatreEddys at OSF Ashland 2017
Mojada: A Medea in Los AngelesLuis AlfaroOregon Shakespeare FestivalAnyone even vaguely familiar with Euripides’ ancient, Greek play, Medea, walks into a play entitled Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles with some apprehension and an assumption that the ending is not going to be happy, that there will be blood shed. When the Spanish word “mojada” (Spanish for “wetback”) begins … [Read more...] about “Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles”: Day 2, Play 2 TheatreEddys at OSF Ashland 2017
“Merry Wives of Windsor”: Day 1, Paly 1 TheatreEddys at OSF Ashland 2017
Merry Wives of WindsorWilliam ShakespeareOregon Shakespeare FestivalFirst, two rather bizarre-dressed women and then an entire stage of quirky characters dance onto the multi-level Elizabethan stage, looking as if they had arrived from some sort of “Alice in Wonderland,” fractured-fairy-tale costume party. All are rocking out, singing in ‘80s-familiar harmony, “I wanna … [Read more...] about “Merry Wives of Windsor”: Day 1, Paly 1 TheatreEddys at OSF Ashland 2017
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-TimeSimon StephensSHNAdam Langdon“I see everything. Other people are lazy; they don’t see everything.”A boy of fifteen years, three months, five days indeed can count from a fast moving train the exact number of trees on a hillside, of clouds in the sky, and of hues of green in the meadows passing by. He notes without … [Read more...] about “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”
“brownsville song (b-side for tray)”
brownsville song (b-side for tray)Kimber LeeShotgun PlayersCathleen Riddley & Davied MoralesWith sleepy eyes, we peruse the morning paper or slide through the IPhone news updates; and a too-familiar headline catches our eye. Another family mourns the shooting death of a teen or 20-something, a kid struck down by a random bullet or one meant for someone else. We … [Read more...] about “brownsville song (b-side for tray)”
“What You Will”
What You WillMax GutmannPear TheatreAmelia Adams & Jim JohnsonRarely, if ever, can anyone in the Western World go through a day without either quoting or hearing quoted at least a few, choice lines from the 118,406 William Shakespeare left us. What if several thousand were selected from his thirty-seven plays– purposely and cleverly of course – and rearranged into a … [Read more...] about “What You Will”
“Warplay”
WarplayJC LeeNew Conservatory Theatre Center JC Sclazo & Ed BerkeleyHow inevitable is it that most boys will play war when they are kids, that plastic helmets and swords will be badges of honor to wear, and that lifelong bonds will often form with other guys as they tumble on the fields of backyard battle? And how likely is it that those same boys will grow to be men … [Read more...] about “Warplay”
“The Toxic Avenger”
The Toxic AvengerJoe DiPietro (Book & Lyrics); David Bryan (Music & Lyrics)The Stage Courtney Hatcher, Brandon Noel Thomas, Joshua Marx, Allison F. Rich & Will Springhorn Jr. The Toxic Avengeris a solid choice by The Stage for summertime fun in much the same way local movie houses decide to give us silly comedies and super-hero … [Read more...] about “The Toxic Avenger”
