Regional Roundup: Top 10 Stories This Week Around the Broadway World - 9/4; MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET at Ogunquit, BEDROOM FARCE in CT and More!

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Connecticut, Maine, Sydney and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include BEDROOM FARCE at Westport, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET at Ogunquit, and THE ALIENS in Sydney, just to name a few.

East/Northeast

1. Connecticut: Editor Lindsey Sullivan reviews BEDROOM FARCE at Westport Country Playhouse. She says, "While Bedroom Farce is certainly a comedy, Ayckbourn captures the seriousness in this fact. "People had said to me that I'd set plays everywhere but in the bedroom," Ayckbourn said after writing Bedroom Farce in 1975. "I became fascinated by what people do in bedrooms".... Be glad a playwright as prolific as Ayckbourn rose to the challenge. With 81 plays under his belt (he averages one play every seven months), he celebrates his 60th year as a man of the theater in 2015." Read her full review here.

2. Rhode Island: Editor Andria Tieman reviews AS YOU LIKE IT at Head Trick Theatre. She says, "This version is particularly gender-bending as Orlando is portrayed by Rebecca Magnotta who is so convincing the viewer forgets she a woman. The play begins with her wrestling a much larger man, and the fight is so well-choreographed and convincing, I found myself worried she was actually hurt. Orlando is charming, earnest, scrappy and Magnotta's performance just makes the audience fall in love with him/her as she groans with love for Rosalind and scatters the forest with terrible love poems." Read more here.

3. Boston, MA: Editor Kristen Morale reviews MURDER BY MISADVENTURE at The Cape Playhouse. She says, "...I must say that I have been absolutely riveted by anything as much as I was with the group's current production, Murder By Misadventure. Not only is the plot incredibly clever and the number of suspenseful moments abundant, but everything that constitutes this brilliant text has the ability to capture it's audience's attention to the point that people will discuss who they believe the murderer to be during intermission." Read more here.

4. Maine: Editor Trevor Worden reviews the first regional premiere of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET at Ogunquit. He says, "Robert Britton Lyons plays the role of Carl Perkins, possibly the lesser known of the quartet. However, Lyons voice is spot on with Perkins stylings. He also holds some of the best acting moments in the show. At the moment the show opens, Perkins is not the star he wanted to be. What's more, is he isn't sure of his future. His vulnerability and sadness is readily seen in Lyons portrayal. He is an excellent juxtaposition to some of his counterparts." Read more here.

5. Pittsburgh, PA: Editor Greg Kerestan says that "THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA dazzles at Front Porch." He goes on, " Joshua Grosso's pop-opera tone blows Matthew Morrison in the Broadway cast out of the water, bringing a touch of Josh Groban's classical-inflected but still mainstream lyricism to the tricky role of Fabrizzio in a way "Ol' Butt-Chin" of GLEE fame never did. Lindsay Bayer, a veteran of Santa's previous Next to Normal, handles the musical theatre sections of the music better than the operatic, but truly tears the roof off in her Sondheim-inspired "Tirade" at the climax of Act 2." Read more here.

Midwest

6. Minneapolis, MN: Editor Jill Shafer reviews EXTREMITIES at Dark & Stormy. She says, "Smart young director Mel Day brings a clarity to the murky waters of the play and works well with the four-person cast, each of whom brings their A game. Artistic Director Sara Marsh gives a brave and raw performance as Marjorie, going from a terrified woman at the worst moment in her life, to taking control of the situation, and turning into an unforgiving force. Also excellent as the two roommates are Tracey Maloney (a familiar face on Twin Cities stages) and Emily Bridges (yes, she's Beau's daughter, but also a welcome newcomer to the local theater scene)." Read more here.

West

7. Seattle, WA: Editor Jay Irwin reviews New Alchemists' EATEN VOICES. He says, "Gebresellassie as the main protagonist of the story keeps her goals and focus ever present in the piece. Canne turns in a fantastic performance as a sweet and adorable lost hero. Campos is super fun as the flitting helpful Moth. Ivory and Merat make for superb malevolent obstacles to our heroes. And the rest of the ensemble lend some wonderful physicality to the denizens of night." Read his full review here.

8. Los Angeles, CA: Senior Editor Don Grigware reviews GUYS & DOLLS at GCT. He says, "I have been awestruck as well by Abe Burrows' and Joe Swerling's ability to take Damon Runyon's New York Broadway characters from the 20s and blow them up into something overwhelmingly moving and appealing. The two worlds of sin and redemption have never been connected so naturally, cleverly and colorfully nor with such style and panache. Now at GCT, the cast give their all to Loesser's Runyonesque romp and ... it comes up a surefire hit." Read more here.

International

9. Sydney, Australia: Senior Editor Jade Kops reviews THE ALIENS at Old Fitz Theatre, Woolloomooloo. She says, "Baker allows the audience to ponder what is going on in time with the characters as they study their situation, giving the show an ease and a truth that not everyone will respond immediately, which other plays that deliver a rapid response would have the audience believe. The silence allows the audience to get a clearer measure of the characters from the rambling KJ, the seemingly level headed, apart from when it comes to his ex girlfriend Jasper, and the shy, socially awkward, good boy Evan." Read more here.

National Tour Highlight:

10. Charlotte Editor Vickie Evans reviews MOTOWN THE MUSICAL at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center's Belk Theatre, which is playing through September 6. She says, "From the opening number with the "battle of the stars" between the Temptations and The Four Tops, to the final curtain call, this riveting Broadway-style production had its culturally-diverse audience dancing, singing (some had impromptu solos), snapping our fingers, applauding, and reminiscing on an era when music was real and relevant, not remastered or sampled via a computer with man-made sounds and beats - it was real singers, musicians, songwriters, beautiful costumes and it was made possible by one man...Berry Gordy, Jr., a man with a dream that would not die." Read her full review here.

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