Drew Eberhard - Page 3

Duncan MacMillan’s Every Brilliant Thing is different than anything we have seen as of late. I think this is what truly makes it an endearing yet very sobering piece. Grounded in Audience Participation and two constants, a list and the Mother’s mental illness. In this fast-paced but never rushed 65 minute tour-de force the Narrator who is remaining nameless maneuvers his way through the space telling the tale of his younger years, his time in college, falling in and out of love, marriage and eventually the failings/ups and downs in which life brings along its path.

27 Characters, 1 performer, allow me to say it again...27 DIFFERENT CHARACTERS, 1 PERFORMER. Over the course of a 2 Hour span, 1 Performer has the daunting task of honing in on 27 different perspectives, different accounts of a real event. A real event that happened in 1992 but hits just as hard at the core today as it did a mere 28 years ago.

Rage! Sex! Betrayal! Bloody Murder! Sounds like the makings of a good time right? What if the good time is focused on a retelling of myth, lore, and just pure rock & roll.

The Prom a new musical with music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and a book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin is based on an original concept by Jack Viertel.

Same Time, Next Year is a romantic comedy written by Bernard Slade that premiered in 1975 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. The plot revolves around a man and woman, George and Doris (respectively), who meet together once a year for a rendezvous over the course of 24 years despite being married to other people. Over the span of 24 years, George and Doris, who have six children between them, develop a much deeper level of intimacy for one another, despite only meeting once a year for a clandestine weekend. They discuss births, deaths, and marital woes amidst the ever-changing social climate that plagues their existence over the course of a span of two decades.

The Great American Trailer Park Musical written by David Nehls and Betsy Kelso is a two-act musical exploring relationships between the tenants of Armadillo Acres Trailer Park in Starke, Florida. Its main focus is between Pippi a “stripper on the run,” Jeannie an Agoraphobic, and Norbert, Jeannie’s toll booth collector husband. First performed in 2004 at the first annual New York Music Theatre Festival, and then on off-Broadway in 2005. Opening at Bows at Dodger Stages in November of 2005, with Betsy Kelso directing. The show played 121 performances and closed in December of 2005. The first regional premiere in the U.S. was performed in June of 2006 at the Hippodrome in Gainesville, Florida. The first National Tour began in Spokane, Washington in January of 2008.

Annie, is a musical based off of the 1924 comic book Little Orphan Annie written by Harold Gray. The musical features music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and features a book written by Thomas Meehan.

Oz: A New Musical, is an original musical exploring the genius of L. Frank Baum and his complicated relationship with his most famous creation, the Land of Oz. This is the story of a dreamer at the dawn of a new age who reinvented the fairy tale in a distinctly American way, painting an idealized and magical vision of a world where witches might be good, and what you’re seeking is already inside you.

Arthur Miller's subliminal masterpiece in a Three-Act structure All My Sons is what Miller considered his last-ditch effort at writing a commercially successful play. You see Miller's first play The Man Who Had All the Luck failed miserably on Broadway lasting a total of four performances. Miller considered throwing in the towel prior to writing All My Sons.

Jagged Little Pill, is the latest “Jukebox Musical,” in a rather long line of “Jukebox Musicals,” to make it on Broadway and then tour in recent years. With music by Alanis Morissette, book by Diablo Cody, and additional music by Michael Farrell and Guy Sigsworth, the show traverses the iconic landscape of songs represented on Morissette’s 1995 album of the same name, and touches on topics of pain, healing, and empowerment.

If its the weird and somewhat twisted that you seek...if you find entertainment in exploring a warped sense of fantasy, then look no further than the genius that is the Ensemble Company of Jobsite Theater. Ever since its production of Shockheaded Peter, Jobsite has harnessed a niche in the realm of the weird, and unexpected. Damn do they do it well.

Mamet’s full-length comedy penned to appeal to young audiences premiered in 1978 at the Town Hall Performing Arts Center in Flushing, Queens a borough of New York City. The plot is messy, convoluted, and at some times almost mind-warping. The story follows the adventures of Binky Rudich, his friend Vivian Mooster and an almost human-like sheep Bob as they struggle to get the two-speed clock to work. Soon, Binky’s mother known as Mrs. Rudich calls for Binky to come down for lunch, Binky decides to hit the clock with a hammer one last time hoping to make it work. Suddenly the kids have blasted nearly 50 lightyears away from anything they’ve known to the planet of Crestview.

Ain’t Too Proud is a 2018 Jukebox Musical with original music and lyrics by the Temptations and a book written by Dominique Morisseau. It opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre in March of 2019.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin and opened on Broadway at the Schubert Theatre in December of 2018. The play is set in 1930s Alabama and follows the story of Atticus Finch, a small-town lawyer in his defense trial of Tom Robinson, an African American man wrongfully accused of rape. However, Sorkin’s adaptation differs from the book by Lee, in which we see Atticus as the protagonist here, unlike the portrayal of Scout in Lee’s novel. Witnessing Atticus as the protagonist of the story we go on an emotional journey, and are able to see the change in Atticus as the show progresses. As Sorkin developed his adaptation, the production was faced with its own legal disputes. One being with the Lee estate in regards to its faithfulness to the original narrative, and the other to exclusivity rights regarding the use of the script by Christopher Sergel.

The Off-Central Players continue their Spring Season with Karen Zacarias’ “hot-button”comedy that packs all of the punches. Onstage from March 15-26, and directed by Jack Holloway, Native Gardens is not your average comedy. During its prologue, we meet Tanya and Pablo, a young “Millennial,” couple having just moved into a well-established neighborhood filled with the most unlikely of neighbors. Tanya is expecting a child anytime, and Pablo is on the partner track at the law firm in which he is dutifully employed. The house they decide to settle down in is a bit of a fixer-upper and is right next door to Frank and Virginia Butley. Frank and Virginia are of an older generation and have an established home in the neighborhood complete with a beautifully, meticulously kept garden.

Misery written by the incomparable “Master of Horror” Stephen King was first released via Viking Press on June 8, 1987. The story revolves around the main character, romance novelist Paul Sheldon, and his self-proclaimed number-one fan Annie Wilkes. Paul is seriously injured in a car crash, and Annie being a former nurse discovers Paul and brings him home for rehabilitation. While staying in Annie’s home, Paul receives treatment and pain meds and soon discovers he is prisoner and forced to adhere to all of his captor’s demands.

Shear Madness an audience interactive murder mystery whodunit play is the second of this seasons Straz-Produced productions produced fully in-house in the Straz Center’s Jaeb Theatre. Featuring a cast of local area talent, and spotlighting the incredible performers residing here in the bay area, Shear Madness is one of the longest-running non-musical plays in the world.

Michele Lowe’s calculated and chilly dark comedy The Smell of the Kill premiered at the Cleveland Playhouse in 1999. It later transferred to Broadway to the Helen Hayes Theatre in 2022 where it played only 40 performances.

This is Our Youth, is a play written by Playwright Kenneth Lonergan (The Waverly Gallery) and Screenwriter (Manchester by the Sea). Youth premiered off-Broadway in 1996, and since its premiere has seen productions all over the world on Broadway, in Sydney and Toronto. The most recent Broadway revival featured Michael Cera in the role of Warren and Kieran Culkin in the role of Dennis, featuring Tavi Gevinson as Jessica.

Falsettos, a primarily sung-through musical was written by William Finn and James Lapine and features two one-act installments March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland. The aforementioned are the last two additions to a trio of one-act musicals by Finn and Lapine, the other being called In Trousers.