BWW Review: The Spectacle of THE LION KINGMay 16, 2016Disney's The Lion King has dominated the stage for almost 20 years and audiences still flock to the theatre whenever the show migrates into a new city -- or even an old city as the show makes its return to Overture Center.
BWW Review: Howling at the COYOTE MOONApril 12, 2016Frank's loved ones don't know where he is, but Frank's destination wasn't exactly a "where". It was the aversion of the "were". Frank thinks he is a werecoyote -- yes, you read that correctly. Not a werewolf -- a werecoyote.
BWW Interview: Alan Talaga Talks PokémonMarch 29, 2016Local Madison funny man Alan Talaga and Atlas Improv have teamed up to present something circa 1999 -- Pokemon: The First Movie. But instead of seeing the colorful monsters battling it out on the screen, they've taken to the stage in the format of a staged reading.
BWW Review: SWEET WILLIAM Bats a ThousandMarch 23, 2016If baseball is America's pastime, then gossip has to be a close second. That's precisely what playwright (and director) Doug Reed's Sweet William hits right on the head in his play filled with the sport and the sport of rumor. Gossip as juicy as a ballpark frank is what drives Broom Street Theatre's foray into the sport that smacks of summertime.
BWW Review: Comedy Talks in MISALLIANCEMarch 16, 2016George Bernard Shaw must have been a talker. A man of many talents, Shaw's plays are known for driving home his opinions on the world around him and doing so at length -- hence why he's said to have perfected the concept of 'discussion' plays. Strollers Theatre took the challenging playwright to task with their latest production of Misalliance - a 2 ½ hour comedy of manners with so much talking it's no wonder the characters didn't end up blue in the face.
BWW Review: Fly Away with PETER PANMarch 11, 2016On a lovely Sunday afternoon at the Fireside Theatre, just hours before the new work week was set to begin, adults in the audience for Peter Pan smiled along to the repeated utterance of "I won't grow up." Indeed, in a world like ours who would want to abandon their childish dreams?
BWW Review: Get Lei'd at PSYCHO BEACH PARTYFebruary 17, 2016Psycho Beach Party is a lot like United States of Tara - if Tara included beach babes, surfing, and nods to Joan Crawford. In StageQ's latest production, written by Charles Busch, reality is turned on its head for a group of fun-loving beach bums in a happy-go-lucky 1960's throwback.
BWW Interview: Charles Busch, Tom Judson, and a Valentine's Day CabaretFebruary 14, 2016On Saturday night, before the Stage Q production of 'Psycho Beach Party', I got the opportunity to chat with 'Psycho Beach Party' playwright Charles Busch and his cabaret partner/pianist Tom Judson about their Sunday evening show in downtown Madison as well as Charles' history as a playwright and performer.
BWW Review: Times Are Changing for LA CAGE AUX FOLLESFebruary 8, 2016When Jean Poiret's French play of the same name came out in 1973, and when Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein premiered their Tony Award winning musical in 1983, society was fundamentally different.
BWW Review: Overture Hall is alive with THE SOUND OF MUSICFebruary 3, 2016The musical warhorse penned by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II - the last musical written by the duo -- will turn 57 this year, but thanks to invigorated direction by Jack O'Brien, the musical hasn't aged a day.
BWW Review: An Enchanting BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at Overture CenterJanuary 14, 2016Belle, in her bookish ways and reserved manner, was always a stand out princess of Disney's canon. Disinterested in being one of the aptly named "Silly Girls" who spend their idle time fawning over local hunk Gaston, she is a much different kind of Disney heroine.
BWW Review: Bring Your Quarters to THE 800TH ANNUAL SALVATION SWING-OFFJanuary 13, 2016At a traditional Catholic baptism, the child is wrapped in a white garment as a symbol of their purity in the eyes of God. As the child grows older, the garment becomes metaphorically stained by acts of sin, but the waters of baptism from infancy are said to wash those stains away. So, when the child has grown into adulthood and eventually faces death their garment is said to be clean once again - after a stay in purgatory, of course.
BWW Review: GADZOOKS! A New Holiday TraditionDecember 16, 2015Scrooge, the elves, Santa, and the mistletoe have been done. Christmas shows have been done. Some would argue they've been done to death.
But, there is a type of yuletide entertainment that we are sorely missing on our side of the pond - the British panto.
BWW Review: ARE WE DELICIOUS? Xmas '15December 9, 2015With just a week of preparation time - just 'winging it' is a mantra for the members of the Are We Delicious family. This holiday season they're presenting a series of eight holiday shorts to lighten and enlighten the audiences at Broom Street Theater.
BWW Review: Madison Opera's LA BOHEME Reminds Us To See the BeautyNovember 18, 2015“How do I live? I live!” Exclaimed Mackenzie Whitney as Rodolfo in Madison Opera's fifth incarnation of Giacomo Puccini's La Bohéme. Among the stunning lyrics speaking of love, poverty, and poetry, it was this simple exclamation that stood out on its own.
BWW Review: A WONDERFUL LIFE By the FiresideNovember 11, 2015Christmas in my childhood home involved several traditions: adorning the tree with my mother's crystal ornaments, meticulously setting up the Christmas town figurines, and watching Frank Capra's 1946 classic It's a Wonderful Life.