Drew Eberhard

What did our critic think of USHERING IN THE HOLIDAYS WITH ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY at TampaRep?

Jobsite Theater once again dives headfirst into a world only they know how to portray. A world reveling in the strange, the unorthodox, and yet proving to be a masterclass of all things twisted and warped. This production which harkens back to their production of Shockheaded Peter, a few seasons back, once again dives into a little unfamiliar territory than we normally witness in the area, but an area so well known to Jobsite and its followers. Perfectly demented and, perfectly placed this deranged grouping of child-like tales have a bleak ending for most of the characters involved.

Somewhere in a world on a road less traveled, between the likes of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, American Psycho, Carrie, and the more recently conceptualized Beetlejuice lies the twisted campy world in which the characters of Evil Dead the Musical reside. First performed in 2003 in Toronto, this campy rock-filled musical made its transfer to Off-Broadway at New World Stages in 2006. In 2012 a production opened in Las Vegas as a 4-D Experience and complete with a 100 chair “Splatter Zone,”and as of 2017 making it the longest running theatrical experience on the strip. With Book, Lyrics, and Music by George Reinblatt, Evil Dead the Musical brought Sam Raimi’s characters to life in true blood-filled fashion.

Alice Paul...remember her? In 1920, she was THE WOMAN, THE SUFFRAGIST, who secured the right to vote for women, and wrote the unratified Equal Rights Amendment. Further explanation of her movement can be found in the recent musical Suffs, Shaina Taub’s musical which more recently won Best Book of a Musical at this years Tonys Ceremony. However, this is not Suffs, nor is this a musical. Instead, this is the blistering, hilarious, farcical take on women in the White House behind every dumb ass that could’ve ever held power. Its borderline lumbering subtitle says it all, “Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.” Selina Fillinger’s hilarious play proves just that. Women are in power, and behind every great man is a woman trying to save the day. Feminism at its finest, and proving that this is the moment to be alive.

In researching and marinating the events that played out in my head following the opening night performance of the Off-Central Player’s production of David Harrower’s Blackbird, I ran across this quote. The quote in which I will speak about is actually fitting to the play itself. I’m going to post it now as a way to reflect and then continue with my thoughts on the show itself. The quote states, “The best theater teaches again and again that before one can truly love another, one has to find justice and connection with oneself.”

Though Shakespeare’s Tragedy is often regaled as one of the “Greatest Tragedies ever written,” it does little if any true accounts behind the people these characters actually were. Regarded as being steeped in its history, one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays is actually founded in lore, and ghost story.

Doug Devita’s Fable makes its World Premiere as it anchors center stage right in the heart of St. Petersburg, to tackle the story of the Mother of all musicals. Fable tells the story about the creative differences and feuds that arise following the mounting of yet another revival of Gypsy. In the story Gypsy Rose Lee, June Havoc, and their mother June Hovic are seen at different points in their lives, and how they come to terms with the mounting of Gypsy. Featuring original music & lyrics by freeFall’s Resident Music Director Michael Raabe, and featuring the talent of an incredible Company of performers, Devita’s Fable is a beautiful masterclass in sisterhood, family, and truth above all else.

Something we knew we always wanted, but unexpected is how much we would need a show like this. Who’d of thought, Rocky Horror in July? If ever there was a truer testament to the old saying, “If you build it, they will come...,” then that would be none other than Jobsite and their production of Richard O’Brien’s titillating cult behemoth The Rocky Horror Show.

Falsettos, a primarily sung-through musical was written by William Finn and James Lapine and features two one-act installments March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland. The aforementioned are the last two additions to a trio of one-act musicals by Finn and Lapine, the other being called In Trousers.

Adapted from the much-loved 1985 film, and the Hasbro Board Game, Clue: A New Comedy, is a murder mystery of a farcical nature that was written by Sandy Rustin and features additional materials by Hunter Foster and Eric Price.

ThinkTank Theatre and freeFall Theatre are teaming up to present You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown Friday, June 7 through Sunday, June 16, 2024, with a preview performance on Thursday, June 6.

Many times, I look at the cultural landscape and all its vast plethora of fortune we have been given in the Tampa Bay area alone, and one things for certain, I will move mountains, stop at nothing to experience theatre that moves me and thrills me to the core. Taking me out of the present worldview, away from daily trials and tribulations and into the stories of many characters, or in this case, one singular character that will allow me to invest time in their plight.

Sir J.M. Barrie’s classic tale and 1904 play, tells the story of reference to Native Americans who inhabit a fictitious island known as Neverland. Referred to as “Piccaninny Warriors,” include Tiger Lily and her tribe as they steal pockets from the Lost Boys and try to claim the island as their own, reclaiming it from those who began to take it away from them.

Mrs. Doubtfire, a new musical based on the 1993 hit family film of the same name, is actually based on the 1987 novel Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. The stage musical in all its purposes features music and lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick, with a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell. The National Tour is currently onstage in the Carol Morsani Hall, at Tampa’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts.

Stranger Sings! is a musical parody based on the adventures of some unlikely heroes set in the 1980’s in Hawkins, Indiana. Created in part to celebrate the fandom surrounding the Netflix behemoth, Stranger Things super fans Jonathan Hogue and Nick Flatto, whereas Flatto also serves as producer-director of the show.

“Tonight’s story begins and ends at a guesthouse in Duluth, Minnesota, in the winter of 1934.” These were the opening words spoken by Dr. Walker, as he sets the scene. An evening of love, pain, suffering, interloped with a lush score based on the music of Bob Dylan. Girl from the North Country, is a dramatic musical with a book by Conor McPherson (The Weir), and songs with music and lyrics by the great Bob Dylan. The show made its Off-Broadway premiere at the Public Theatre from September 30, 2018- December 22, 2018. This transfer featured an all-American cast and was helmed after the successful run at London’s Old Vic a year prior, and following a limited 12-week run shortly thereafter at the Noel Coward Theatre in London’s West End.

What did our critic think of BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE at Jobsite Theater?

From the moment the lights dim to the opening chords of the Prologue, the audience knew they were in for a treat. A haunting and stirring rendition of The Old Red Hills of Home, led by young actor Elijah Zurek as the Young Soldier, will have you in a chokehold from the very start.

An explosive 90-minute sung-through Rock Opera written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice, took the Carol Morsani Hall by storm Tuesday evening. This reimagined 50th Anniversary Tour, is the story loosely based on the Gospels’ accounts of the Passion. It works to interpret the psychology of Jesus, while much of the story’s plot centers on Judas’ disdain for how Jesus is leading his disciples. The rock opera was initially unable to attain funding, so Webber and composers released the idea as a concept album. Garnering much success, which led to the eventual Broadway stage debut in 1971. Some nine years later the musical had grossed more than $237 million worldwide. It soon became the longest-running West End musical in London, running for 8 years between 1972-1980, and was soon bested by Cats in 1989.

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is Kurt Vonnegut’s fifth novel and was published in 1965. Its Post-Modern Satire context paved way for Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, arguably his most well-known work. In the novel, Vonnegut highlights the life and times of the consciously-bound multi-millionaire Eliot Rosewater.