Regional Roundup: Top 10 Stories This Week Around the Broadway World - 12/18; MAME in DC, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY in LA and More!

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Washington DC, Los Angeles, Japan, and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include MAME in DC, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY Tour in L.A., and our featured Guest Blogger in Japan, just to name a few.

East/Northeast

1. Washington, DC: Editor Jeffrey Walker reviews MAME at Riverside Center. He says, "Leading the musical comedy at Riverside is Sandy Bainum and she is the picture of glamor, grace, charm and offers a vivacious portrayal of everyone's favorite aunt. Bainum has the elegance, beauty and winning vocal power to enchant the full houses that seem to be the fate of this production. (Don't hesitate to get your tickets!) The comic turns are in good hands with Bainum but she handles the music like a Broadway star. Whether she is warbling "Open a New Window" to her new-found nephew or delivering her 11 o'clock number "If He Walked into My Life," Bainum makes Mame's songs her own." Read more here.

2. Central PA: Editor Marakay Rogers reviews SHREK at EPAC. She says, "Over at Ephrata Performing Arts Center, director Edward R. Fernandez has managed to make SHREK a nearly perfectly-realized modern fairy tale, one that isn't just a knight rescuing a princess and slaying a dragon, but that embraces liberation, accepting differences as good, and the need to overcome personal limitations in order to grow. Personal growth and inner revolution are as crucial to our ogre hero and his friends as the need to overcome dragons - but sometimes overcoming dragons doesn't mean killing them. You can use a dragon on your side, you can." Read more here.

3. Boston, MA: Editor Nancy Grossman reviews Tir Na's RETURN OF THE WINEMAKER. She says, "The story is obviously irreverent and played for laughs, but it is all done lovingly and with good humor. Each of the principal players is terrific, with Hamell appearing to be constantly on the verge of bursting a blood vessel out of his frustration with losing his golden goose. Woodhouse charms as he follows his character's growth from boy, to adolescent, to man, to savior. When his parents come to visit, his excitement is palpable, and, when he must depart, his sadness is felt in equal measure. Russell nails the part of God as rock star, enlivening the action whenever he introduces a song, and adds to the verisimilitude of his Elvis-persona when he sings "Blue Christmas." Read more here.

Midwest

4. Milwaukee, WI: Editor Peggy Sue Dunigan reviews Young Company's ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. She says, "What a privilege to watch Young Company produce an all feminine All's Well That Ends Well. On Sunday night at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, Shakespeare's coming of age romance unfolded under the direction of Marcella Kearns, who produced an amazing performance by these future thespians. Young Company's Director John Maclay acknowledged the beauty of the play, asking the audience to "lean in and listen to the Bard's beautiful and evocative language." Read more here.

5. Cleveland, OH: Editor Roy Berko reviews REEFER MADNESS at Blank Canvas. He says, " Derrick Winger schooled and scolded well as The Lecturer. Cory Zukoski was geek-right as Jimmy, the good-boy turned bad. Cute Neely Gevaart was delightfully on target as Mary, Jimmy's girl friend. Kate Leigh Michalski, she of big eyes and over-done gestures, was terrific as Mae, the kindhearted abused partner of Jack, the hoodlum. Michael Crowley was evil incarnate as bad guy Jack." Read more here.

6. St. Louis, MO: Editor Chris Gibson reviews St. Louis Actors' Studio's THE GIN GAME. He says, "Peter Mayer and Linda Kennedy are both superb. I could stop right there and I would have said it all, but you'd probably want to know why I think that way. Well, it's because both actors are fully vested in their characters. Mayer and Kennedy are giving us a masters class in acting with these stellar performances. They show how subtle nuances can be just as effective as the intensity that is sometimes on display. The supreme compliment that both deserve is that you actually believe they are who they're playing. That's the way it should always be, but sometimes acting can be more transparent. Not in this case. And, that's a big part of what makes this play come to life in such transcendent fashion." Read more here.

South

7. Nashville, TN: Editor Jeffrey Ellis reviews A TUNA CHRISTMAS at Arts Center of Cannon County. He says, "As good as Smith and Thomas are (maybe they should go into the cough drop business or open up an insurance agency with those names), it's Cody Rutledge's stunning set design that may be the true star of this production of A Tuna Christmas. The up-and-coming designer has poured his heart into making the set for Bailey's production an even more evocative iteration of Tuna itself: a giant map of the Lone Star State serves as the unexpected backdrop that provides Messrs. Smith and Thomas the requisite inspiration to help bring the tiny Texas town to vibrant life in the middle of Tennessee." Read more here.

West

8. Los Angeles, CA: Editor Don Grigware reviews PETER PAN Panto at Pasadena Playhouse. He says, "Ian Wilson has created a fine set design for London and the Island with the Lost Boys, and there are beautiful costumes by Dana Neillie. Director Bonnie Lythgoe guides her entire ensemble of adults and children with a loving hand and choreographer Spencer Liff has the boys, pirates and Tiger Lily dancing wildly, some moving around uber swiftly with the help of nifty electronic footgear (PhunkeeDuck). The cast are all delightful. O'Hurley as Hook and his Smee (Parvesh Cheena) steal the show. Kevin Quinn makes an appropriately boyish Peter and Sabrina Carpenter an unusually stern Wendy with her Brenda Lee - like low-pitched almost gutteral singing voice." Read more here.

International

9. Japan: Dylan Rattell of CHICAGO in Japan is blogging about his experiences in Tokyo. Check out his first two blogs here and here, where he does a Q&A, talks about how grateful he is for all the support from his friends and family, and wishes everyone "A Very 'Chicago' Christmas!"

National Tour Highlight:

10. Los Angeles Editor Don Grigware reviews the National Tour of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, which is playing at the Ahmanson Theatre through January 17. He says, "THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY THE MUSICAL should be at the top of your must see list. It is a cherished piece of life and love which should one day return to Broadway to reap the awards it missed. In the meantime, go and savor every moment of this precious piece of poetry." Read more here.

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