Jeffrey Kare - Page 4

This happens to be my first review for BroadwayWorld in over a year. The last one I did was for North Carolina Theatre's production of Kinky Boots back in February of 2020, which took place one month before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Thanks to the streaming option from Raleigh Little Theatre, I am now back in business.

I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing Vivienne Benesch, who is the Producing Artistic Director of PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. At PlayMakers, she has helmed productions of Life of Galileo, Leaving Eden, The May Queen, Three Sisters, Love Alone, RED, and In The Next Room (or the Vibrator Play).

On June 8th, North Carolina Theatre announced that based on recommendations from the City of Raleigh and given the circumstances surrounding the current health pandemic, they ended up canceling the remainder of their 2019-20 Season, which includes productions of Memphis, The Sound of Music, and Edges.

From March 24th-29th, North Carolina Theatre will be presenting a production of Joe DiPietro & David Bryan's 2010 Tony-winning musical, Memphis, at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing Robert Hartwell, who will be directing and choreographing the production.

Based on Julian Jarrold's 2005 British independent film of the same name which was inspired by a true story, Kinky Boots tells the story of Charlie Price, who inherits a shoe factory from his father. To save the business, Charlie forms an unlikely partnership with cabaret performer and drag queen, Lola. With Lola's help, Charlie develops a plan to produce a line of high-heeled boots. In the process, he and Lola discover that they are not so different after all.

From February 11th-16th, North Carolina Theatre will be presenting a production of Harvey Fierstein & Cyndi Lauper's 2013 Tony-winning musical, Kinky Boots, at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing Nathan Peck, who will be directing and choreographing the production.

Come From Away is based on a true story of when the isolated community of Gander, Newfoundland played host to the world. What started as an average day in a small Canadian town turned into an international sleep-over when 38 planes, carrying thousands of people from across the globe, were diverted to Gander's air strip on September 11th, 2001. Undaunted by culture clashes and language barriers, the people of Gander cheered the stranded travelers with music, an open bar, and the recognition that they're all part of a global family.

Coming to the Durham Performing Arts Center from January 14th-19th is the national tour of Come From Away. I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing actor James Earl Jones II, who is currently in the production playing Bob & others.

From December 11th-22nd, Theatre in the Park will be presenting their 45th anniversary production of A Christmas Carol. I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing the show's playwright, Ira David Wood III, who is not only back directing this year, but he'll also be alternating the role of Ebenezer Scrooge with his oldest son, Ira David Wood IV.

From November 21st-24th, Judson Theatre Company will be presenting a production of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution at the Bradshaw Performing Arts Center. I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing actor Alan Campbell, who will be starring in the role of Sir Wilford Robarts.

Inspired by William Shakespeare's famous play, Romeo & Juliet, West Side Story is set in the Upper West Side neighborhood of New York City in the mid-1950s. The story explores the rivalry between two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. The Jets, a white gang, and the Sharks, who are immigrants from Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend of the gang's leader, Riff, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks.

I've recently had the great pleasure of interviewing actress Addie Morales, who is currently in rehearsals for North Carolina Theatre's upcoming production of West Side Story, where she'll be starring in the coveted role of Maria. Addie has previously played the role numerous times regionally at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Barrington Stage Company, Casa Mañana, and New London Barn. Her other regional credits include Tick, Tick, Boom at Playhouse Square and The Buddy Holly Story at Casa Mañana.

Based on Disney's 1992 Academy Award-winning animated film musical of the same name as well as the Arabic folktale from the One Thousand and One Nights, Aladdin follows an Arabian street urchin who steals food in order to support himself. Meanwhile, Princess Jasmine is feeling hemmed in by her father's desire to find her a royal groom. To win over both Jasmine and the Sultan, Aladdin teams up with a genie from a magic lamp he found to disguise himself as a wealthy prince. Yet, the Sultan's Grand Vizier, Jafar, is plotting to take over the throne.

I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing actor Korie Lee Blossey, who at the time of our conversation was getting ready to start performances as the Genie in the national tour of Disney's Aladdin in Charlotte, North Carolina. He made his national tour debut as a standby for the role about two and a half years prior to this. A New Yorker by way of Michigan, some of Korie's previous credits include Kerchak in Tarzan, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Caliban in The Tempest, and Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors.

This holiday season, three-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Harry Connick, Jr. will be headlining a one-man show celebrating the work of composer/lyricist Cole Porter for a limited run on Broadway. Recently, he played a premiere engagement at the Durham Performing Arts Center this past weekend. I got to be in attendance for the very first performance on September 21st, and now I give you my review.

Based on Harold Gray's comic strip titled Little Orphan Annie, this musical tells the story of a little orphan with equal measures of pluck and positivity who charms everyone's hearts, despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930's New York City. She is determined to find her parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City Orphanage run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. With the help of the other girls in the Orphanage, Annie escapes to the wondrous world of NYC, finds herself a new home and family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.