Bruce Apar

For that verite vibe to work its magic requires a high order of acting, and veteran director Lisa Spielman has cast Elmwood’s production with that requisite caliber of talent. 

Mr. Dawson’s staging is highly effective in its simplicity and pacing, holding the audience in thrall throughout. That, of course, also is a testament to the two very fine actors he’s cast. 

The real-life director of Stage Kiss, Anthony Valbiro, has brought his reliably effective stagecraft instincts to this polished production

For this perennially popular, bittersweet stage piece, plot really isn’t the point any more than it is on the daytime TV soaps.  It’s all about relationships

A keyboard operator, known as a captioner, seated in the audience, manually enters exactly what is said, when it is said. The script for each show is downloaded in advance, and the captioner makes adjustments on the fly as the play progresses, precisely reflecting the live action on stage.

One play asks the very timely question, 'Do your elected representatives really live the values they trumpet on the campaign trail??

The Elmwood cast, directed with the requisite command of comic timing and savvy stagecraft by Director and Choreographer Jason Sommers, is comprised of an impressive array of skilled performers who seem to be enjoying their over-the-top antics as much as the audience does. 

At the center of the orbit of mashed-up relationships is the consummate performance of Sam Guncler. He prowls the stage as a feral Leo with gritty gravitas. He is the “steel man” not just because he lives in Pittsburgh, but also because he has defied death several times, including twice surviving fires, one time while working in a steel mill, so it’s more than a figure of speech to say the steel-spined Leo has been to hell and back.

The great playwrights find imaginative and diverting ways to prick our conscience and provoke our curiosity about the mysteries of life. They force us to think about the human condition, in all its felicities and foibles, through the metaphorical use of familiar objects and experiences. Kites and ballroom dancing, for instance.

It is on the wings of wit and pleasantly wacky characterizations that the operative message of tolerance is delivered, in one case with the revival meeting fervor of “Love Thy Neighbor,” led by the fun and funny antics of Michael Valinoti as genially goofy Trent Oliver. 

Produced by State of Play Productions in partnership with the League of Women Voters of New Castle, the staged reading of POTUS will take place 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13, at Chappaqua Performing Arts Center. 

The Reading is Produced under the banner of Axiial's Safehouse Playwrights Series.

With 'Dear Jack, Dear Louise,' Mr. Ludwig willingly dates himself, to give us a poignant glimpse into what it was like, 80-plus years ago, to woo someone without benefit of physical connection and with a world war raging.

In virtually all of its production values, Musicals at Richter's Beauty and the Beast meets the demands that define the Disney gold standard.

The play follows the journey of three men who discover a stranger trapped on a half-frozen lake. One tries desperately to save him from his harrowing fate, only to find that his well-intended actions trigger consequences that alter the lives of the trio forever. 

Mike Labbadia creates a larger-than-life Vincent whose slow burns, emotional outbursts, and comically hapless attempts at romance reminded me of Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden in seminal sitcom The Honeymooners. I mentioned the Gleason comparison to Mr. Labbadia after his performance. What I didn’t realize at that moment is that in the script, which I read later, the character breakdown for Vincent invokes “Ralph Kramden” and an authors’ note in the script references “The Honeymooners.”

One of the several surprises I encountered as Desperate Measures got underway with a bang at North Castle Library’s Whippoorwill Theater in Armonk, N.Y. is that the dialogue is all rhyming couplets. If that brings to mind the prolific punslinger Wild Will Shakespeare, it should, because the premise of this Western-themed show is based on his play Measure for Measure. (The Armonk production is through June 15; armonkplayers.org). 

Tony winner Karen Ziemba (for 'Contact') leads a stellar cast directed cannily, as usual, by iconic theater maven Austin Pendleton

This thoroughly enchanting production, replete with two strong leads and a 14-piece orchestra, triumphs in its simplicity of story brought alive with an easy-on-the-ears, tuneful Schwartz score

Axial Theatre’s SAFEHOUSE Playwrights Series Presents a Reading of Professor Sycorax by Award-winning Playwright, TV Writer and Librettist Cheryl L. Davis with Guest Moderator two-time Obie-winning playwright Susan Miller.