BWW Reviews: MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT Brings the Funny to RaleighFebruary 15, 2013The winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical, Monty Python's Spamalot is has taken up residence in Raleigh, presented by NC Theatre and Broadway Series South. It is playing through Sunday at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts.
BWW Reviews: PlayMakers Rep's A RAISIN IN THE SUN Brings 1950s Chicago to the TriangleFebruary 9, 2013PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill is currently showing Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun, playing in rotating repertory with Bruce Norris's sequel-of-sorts, Clybourne Park. In some ways a period piece, and in some ways shockingly current, A Raisin in the Sun is a gutsy look at race in America, from a voice and perspective that had gone largely silenced until the play's original production.
BWW Reviews: BUS STOP Brings Small-Town Charm to RaleighFebruary 7, 2013Bus Stop, written in 1955 by William Inge, and currently playing at Raleigh Little Theatre, tells the story of a Kansas country diner which, as the title implies, doubles as a bus stop, in the middle of a snow storm that strands several travelers. The travelers come from all walks of life, and include two cowboys, a night club singer, and a professor with a drinking habit and a proclivity for teenage girls. Add to the mix the diner owner, the bus driver, a high school-age waitress, and the town sheriff, and things really get interesting. The plot lines range from a cowboy trying to re-light the spark of a romance gone south to the bus driver's less-than-perfect ruse to secretly get the diner owner alone upstairs. Moments in the show run the spectrum of serious to comedic, but manage to achieve some real humanity along the way. The show is written in the style one would expect from a 1950s play - a little too polished, but loveable nonetheless.
BWW Reviews: New Musical NERDS Takes on RaleighJanuary 21, 2013The new musical comedy, NERDS, is trying to make its way to Broadway, and it's starting out right here in Raleigh. This is a great opportunity for the Triangle theater community, and the show is absolutely worth a trip downtown.
BWW Reviews: On the Way to Broadway, JEKYLL & HYDE Comes to DurhamJanuary 9, 2013Jekyll & Hyde is hitting Broadway this spring, but it's making a pit-stop right here in the Triangle on the way. It's a rare and fun chance to see a show before it opens on the Great White Way. Top that off with three show-stopping stars, and it amounts to a theatrical experience you won't want to miss.
BWW Reviews: Keeping With Tradition at Raleigh Little Theatre's CINDERELLADecember 10, 2012Raleigh Little Theatre's production of Cinderella is absolutely kid-friendly. It's my opinion that kids need theater early and often. So, why not let your kids dress up as Cinderella or Prince Charming and experience theater that is accessible for them? Your kid may even get to try on a glass slipper.
BWW Reviews: MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET Brings Legends to Life in DurhamDecember 6, 2012Put on your blue suede shoes and head down to the Durham Performing Arts Center for a fun-filled evening of rock and roll legends. Million Dollar Quartet tells of the historic night, December 4, 1956, when four legends happened to be in the recording studio at Sun Records at the same time: Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash.
BWW Interviews: Talking with David Elkins, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET's Johnny CashDecember 4, 2012Opening exactly 56 years to the date of the actual event, Million Dollar Quartet is coming to the Durham Performing Arts Center this week. On Tuesday, December 4, 1956, four music icons came together for a jam session. Those four - Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis - and that one fateful night are the subject of the musical. I recently had the chance to sit down with David Elkins, who plays Johnny Cash, to ask him about how he landed the gig, how he prepares for the role, and more.
BWW Reviews: Burning Coal's AS YOU LIKE ITDecember 3, 2012This winter, the Burning Coal Theatre Company in Raleigh offers a respite from the cold and into the forest of Arden with As You Like It. The play is a Shakespeare comedy first published in 1623, and follows would-be lovers Rosalind and Orlando into the forest of Arden after being banished from court. Rosalind and her cousin Celia are disguised - Rosalind as a man named Ganymede and Celia as a poor woman named Aliena. The forest is filled with more than its fair share of disguise and shenanigans as the characters therein try to navigate the confusing path to love and happiness.
BWW Reviews: AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is a Win for Hot Summer Nights | Theatre RaleighDecember 1, 2012If you think your family is crazy, just wait until you meet the Westons. The Weston family is the center of Tracy Letts' emotionally-charged Pulitzer Prize-winning drama August: Osage County, currently in performance at the Fletcher Opera Theatre at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, helmed by Hot Summer Nights | Theatre Raleigh.
Photo Flash: JERSEY BOYS Tour Holds 'Rock Like a Man' Concert to Benefit BCEFANovember 16, 2012This Past Monday, November 12th, cast members from the national tour of Jersey Boys hosted the a cabaret fundraiser called 'Rock Like a Man' at the Carolina Theatre to benefit BCEFA and the Carolina Arts Discovery Program. The show was hosted by cast members Curtis Wiley and Kaleigh Cronin.This Past Monday, November 12th, cast members from the national tour of Jersey Boys hosted the a cabaret fundraiser called 'Rock Like a Man' at the Carolina Theatre to benefit BCEFA and the Carolina Arts Discovery Program. The show was hosted by cast members Curtis Wiley and Kaleigh Cronin. The cast sang songs from the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Bob Marley and more - and included several original songs written by cast members themselves. The event raised over $9000. Jersey Boys is running at the Durham Performing Arts Center through November 18th.