Regional Roundup: Top New Features This Week Around Our BroadwayWorld 2/8 - RENT, HELLO DOLLY, EVER AFTER, and More!

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature RENT, HELLO DOLLY, EVER AFTER, and More!

Check out our top features from around the BroadwayWorld below! Want more great global content? Check out our "Around The World" section!

CD/Books/DVDs: Contributor David Clarke reviews RENT (Original Soundtrack of the Fox Live Television Event) writing "When it comes to RENT being on broadcast television, it was always going to be a dicey experience. Diehard fans were sure to be disappointed by lines altered to be in compliance with the FCC. Then, casting a handful of pop performers over trained actors was sure to lead to questionable character choices throughout the evening. Sony Masterworks Broadway's RENT (Original Soundtrack of the Fox Live Television Event) drives these points home with all the subtly of a sledgehammer bludgeoning a nail."

Los Angeles: Contributor Don Grigware reviews HELLO, DOLLY! at the Pantages, writing "The cast is delightful, all triple threat performers. Buckley, assuredly one of our greatest Broadway divas, is perfect for this role. She makes Dolly Gallagher Levi totally her own creation. Of course, we all know she can still sing but most importantly here she must milk the already excessive humor and make it stand up. That she does! Stadlen is one of the best Horace Vandergelders I've seen, a lovable penny-pinching curmudgeon very much like the original David Burns. Nic Rouleau makes a straight-forward, honest Cornelius Hackl and Jess LeProtto is dynamically agile and riveting as Barnaby Tucker. Kristen Hahn is adorable as Minnie Fay, with sharp attention to Fay's naivete. Leaming lends her beautiful soprano to Irene Molloy. Praise as well to Garett Hawe as Ambrose Kemper, Morgan Kirner as the whimpering Ermengarde, to Jessica Sheridan who is delicious fun as Ernestina Money and to the rest of the dynamite chorus."

Connecticut: Contributor Joseph Harrison reviews A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER at Warner Theatre, writing "What do you get when you mix together lively music, hilarious characters, stylized storytelling and murder? In A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER, which is currently playing at the Warner Theatre in Torrington, what you get is pure theatrical magic."

Norway: Contributor Christian Ranke reviews THE WIZARD OF OZ at Chateau Neuf, writing "The creative team has delivered a beautiful, inventive and masterful version of the classic 'The Wizard of Oz'. Visually it is pleasantly different to what we are used to, but it is very audibly familiar."

UK / West End: Contributor Marianka Swain reviews Jenna Russell WITH Seth Rudetsky at Leicester Square Theatre, writing "West End favourite Jenna Russell made a surprisingly belated solo concert debut at Leicester Square Theatre, but, judging by this entirely winning performance, she's a natural. Seth Rudetsky, unparalleled master of the format, was on hand to accompany and guide her through a superlative set-list, as well as draw out anecdotes both deliciously foul-mouthed and funny, and unexpectedly moving."

Long Island: Contributor Nicholas Pontolillo reviews BWW Review: Merrick Theatre & Center for the Arts's production of Rabbit Hole is brilliant., writing "Rabbit Hole centers on the accidental death of a young child and how his death affects five individuals. This play is not your typical Lifetime movie of the week and it's not supposed to be; thank God! Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, who won a Pulitzer prize for this play, captures the honesty of the grieving process and examines multiple perspectives of how one copes with grief. Through Lindsay-Abaire's lyrical dialogue, the audience learns that it's ok to laugh, cry & remain spirited and resilient when dealing with grief. What's important is that you have to be able to move on, no matter how tragic the loss."

Atlanta: Contributor Sally Henry reviews Alliance Theatre's EVER AFTER, writing "With Broadway dreams in sight, this adaptation can keep dreaming. Alongside forgettable songs, Marcy Heisler's self-aware book gets caught up in pandering to cynical audiences using 2019 jargon (like, "I'm totally hyperventilating right now") and apologizing for politically incorrect elements inherent in any mildly historically accurate Renaissance-era tale. The dumbed-down dialogue produces a few cheap laughs and robs the piece of any depth. EVER AFTER gets no legs, but rather sits exactly where the writers seem to be painstakingly trying to avoid: a shallow story with neither heart nor relevance."

New Jersey: Contributor Marina Kennedy reviews The World Premiere of LITTLE GIRL BLUE-THE NINA SIMONE MUSICAL, writing "Tickets won't last long for this one. George Street Playhouse (GSP) is now presenting the world premiere of Little Girl Blue-The Nina Simone Musical through February 24. Superbly written and performed by Laiona Michelle, the production enjoys inspired direction by Devanand Janki. This show is a sure fire hit!"

Regional Editor Spotlight:

Sally Henry
Atlanta Senior Editor

BroadwayWorld Atlanta's Senior Editor. Freelance theatre journalist and incorrigible Broadway fangirl calling coffee shops home.

Read more from Sally on Twitter: @BwayGinger, Wordpress: BroadwayGinger.Wordpress.com

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