Review: An Eye-Opening STRAIGHT WHITE MEN by Young Jean Lee Premieres at TamparepFebruary 5, 2024Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men is a 2014 Dramatic Comedy that premiered off-Broadway at the Public Theatre in New York City on November 7, 2014. Directed by the playwright Lee, and featuring Austin Pendleton as “Ed”, Pete Simpson, James Stanely, and Gary Wilmes. Following its run off Broadway, the play was then produced by Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, opening in February 2017 and running until March 26, 2017. Young Jean Lee’s play made its transfer to Broadway with Previews beginning at the Hayes Theatre June 29,2018, with its official opening night on July 23. Directed by Anna D. Shapiro, and featuring a cast of Armie Hammer as Drew, Josh Charles as Jake, Paul Schneider as Matt, Kate Bornstein and Ty Defoe as “Stagehands-in-Charge,” and Stephen Payne as Ed. Both Tom Skerritt and Denis Arndt had ties to the production but left before opening and during previews.
Review: WHISKEY & SODA at The Off-Central PlayersFebruary 3, 2024“IMAGINE...” a table is set, where a meeting is to soon take place between Britain’s First Female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and an Ex-Beatle, John Lennon. This is what is laid forth in Ben Randall’s Whiskey & Soda currently onstage at the Off-Central Players.
Review: SCROOGE MACBETH: A MASHUP OF SHAKESPEARE AND CHRISTMAS SHOULD BE ON EVERYONE'S LIST at OFF-CENTRAL PLAYERSDecember 14, 2023David MacGregor’s Scrooge Macbeth, is a Comedic Holiday Comedy set to the tune of two things... everything Christmas and the most prolific playwright ever known to classical theatre, William Shakespeare. Now I know what your thinking, how can the works of the Bard possibly coincide with that of Holiday Merriment, Joy, Giving, and Peace and Good Will to all men. For it is by the sheer amount of “Good Will...” all puns intended that David MacGregor’s farcical masterpiece will have you rolling in the aisles of the theatre, and feeling the need to relieve yourself in the nearest restroom.
Review: MIRACLE ON 34TH ST: A LIVE MUSICAL RADIO PLAY HERALDS IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT at FreeFall TheatreDecember 4, 2023Miracle on 34th Street is an American Christmas comedic/drama from 1947 that was produced by 20th century Fox. Based on the story by by Valentine Davies, the film was directed by George Seaton and features Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood, and Edmund Gwenn. Winning three Academy Awards, Miracle on 34th Street takes place between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, and the events that transpire when a Department store Santa Claus claims to be the real Santa.
Review: A Dazzling Revival of FUNNY GIRL Ushers in All the Laughs at Straz Center for The Performing ArtsDecember 1, 2023Funny Girl is a semi-autobiographical comedic musical about the life and times of comedian and Broadway star Fanny Brice, and her tumultuous relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nick Arnstein. With a musical score by Jules Styne, lyrics by Bob Merill, and featuring a book by Isobel Lennart, Funny Girl first opened on Broadway in 1964 featuring Barbara Streisand in the starring role, and was produced by Fanny’s own son-in-law Ray Stark.
The first Broadway production received 8 Tony Nominations at the 18th Annual Awards Ceremony, and the OBC (Original Broadway Cast) Recording was inducted into the Grammy’s Hall of Fame in 2004.
Review: A Powerful Staging Of Jean-Paul Sartre's NO EXIT Takes Center Stage At The Off-Central PlayersNovember 10, 2023No Exit is an Existentialist French play from 1944 written by Jean-Paul Sartre. The play had its first performance at the Theatre du Vieux-Colombier in May of the same year. Sartre’s inception of the play centered around this idea of the look and the ontological struggle of being caused to see oneself as an object from the view of another consciousness or “other person.” Conceptualizing and rationalizing the idea of how we perceive ourselves, versus the mirror image of how society or those in close proximity perceive us to be.
Review: A Unique Telling Of A Poirot Mystery as POIROT RETURNS Continues Their Sleuthing at Stageworks TheatreNovember 4, 2023Playwright Larry Alexander has always been a fan of Agatha Christie and over the years has read and re-read her work. At the height of the Pandemic, Larry was in rehearsal for a new musical that was shuttered into the second week of rehearsal. With no idea when the musical would remount, Larry was trying to find something, anything to occupy his time and fill the void. He began re-reading the works of Christie, and while reading his favorite novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, he found what would soon occupy the coming months/years.
Review: Arthur Miller's THE CRUCIBLE Staged in Unique Form At ThinkTank Theater And Tampa RepOctober 3, 2023Arthur Miller’s Masterpiece The Crucible is a 1953 play that is both dramatized and fictionalized around the true events of the Salem Witch Trials between 1692-93. Written as a Political Allegory on McCarthyism, Miller used its dramatizations to detail a time in which the United States Government persecuted people who were accused of being a part of the Communist Party.
The Crucible was first performed on January 22, 1953 at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway. The original production featured performances from E.G. Marshall, Beatrice Straight, and Madeline Sherwood. Though the play was widely criticized often through hostile remarks, Miller’s play went on to win the Tony Award for Best Play of 1953. A year later, a remounted production was performed and in its wake, the play became a classic. Later esteemed as a central piece in the Canon of American Drama, and regarded as one of Miller’s finest works.
Review: ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD at Jobsite TheaterSeptember 18, 2023Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, an absurdist, existential tragic-comedy written by British Playwright Tom Stoppard opened Friday evening amidst a room full of eager audience members and hearty laughter. Bringing a cast so deserving of the praise to the top of their game, showcasing their hard work on a not-so-easy show.