Brian Michaels - Page 5

West Fargo High School Theatre Presents: A Midsummer Night's Dream

The musical based on a 1953 novel that made it's Broadway debut in 1954 comes to life at Fargo South High Theatre. The story about a labor dispute at a pajama factory with workers fighting over a 7 ½ cent raise. This one has a special place with director Kevin Kennedy as he himself played Pop in this show while he was a freshman in high school.

There are so many Christmas traditions I can think of that hold a special place in my heart. Decorating the tree, the first snow, the lights at Lindenwood Park, Home Alone, It's a Wonderful Life, Die Hard and of course the Charles Dickens Classic story of Ebenezer Scrooge. It's probably been 20 years since I have seen a stage production of this but I always try to find the classic movie to watch every year. I was beyond excited to see this show on the FMCT schedule and as usual they do not disappoint.

Kind of like the story, a small town high school puts on the glass slipper and attends the ball. A school with a total attendance of 103 kids (7-12) and a total cast of only 23 kids came together and put on a fun show with their production of Cinderella. Director Lanah Akvik and Vocal Director Mark Aamold should be very proud of what everyone pulled off.

Based on the classic novel by S.E. Hinton which she started writing at the age of 15 in 1965 and published in 1967, The Outsiders is a coming of age novel about the conflict between two rival gangs: The Greasers and The Socs (Short for Socials). The book is written in the first person as told by Ponyboy Curtis. The play does try to stick to that also by having Ponyboy narrate numerous parts. The Play was first published in 1990 and I hear there is a musical adaptation in the works.

Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre Presents Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

For those not familiar with the story, Noises Off is a 1982 play by Michael Frayn. This is a three-act show and each Act hilariously shows us how a play comes together or at least try to get through ONE ACT. Act one shows the final dress rehearsal before the play opens. Act 2 shows a matinee performance about a month later, but in a twist, we see the performance from back stage. Act 3 is a performance near the end of the run. Mix in a few love triangles, fights and wonderful physical and you get a recipe for fun.

The story of Seymour and his 'Strange and unusual plant' is brought to life at West Fargo Sheyenne for the West Fargo Summer Arts Intensive.

The story of The Wizard of Oz has been told numerous times in many different ways. Originally a book written in 1900 by L. Frank Baum with the first Broadway musical adaption coming in 1902. Of course the most popular version is the 1939 musical film adaption starring Judy Garland as Dorothy. For the 60th anniversary of the film release the Gooseberry Park Players decided to bring the story to their stage. Most people know the story, but this version may offer some new scenes not seen by many before, including the 'Jitterbug' song/scene that was actually cut from the original movie due to time constraints.