Michael Rabice - Page 5

After 20 months of sitting on a darkened stage at Shea's 710 Theatre, All For One Theatre Productions dusted off the set that has sat idle for the brilliant production of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME. The production closed on opening night in March 2020, never being able to be seen by a paying audience due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Now with a vaccinated and masked audience, the abundance of talent that went into making this production can now be seen. It was definitely worth the wait.

TOOTSIE has taken the town as the first National tour of the Broadway musical opened in Buffalo this week. A full house of Covid vaccinated theatre goers packed into Shea's Buffalo theatre. Based on the 1982 movie, this non-Equity  tour has been rehearsing in Buffalo prior to launching it's visits across the country next week.

Excitement filled  the air as the Shea's Broadway season kicked off with  Disney's FROZEN.  Adults and children clad in costumes and clutching their Olaf dolls patiently entered the theatre, all wearing  their obligatory face masks. Covid was not going to dampen anyone’s spirits. The warm Buffalo evening welcomed the slick crystalline production that is sure to charm audiences of all ages. 

'A Whole New World' is not only the theme from Disney's ALADDIN but may also be the theme of life as we know it in 2021. Happily audiences returned to Shea's Theatre last night for the first time in 504 days, after the Broadway tour of HELLO DOLLY closed abruptly due to a pandemic that changed the world forever. Shea's President Michael Murphy welcomed the audience back to in person entertainment last night with a slick and uplifting musical concert, THE MUSIC OF DISNEY ON BROADWAY.

Unfurling the raw emotions associated with sickness, death and grief are not new  topics in literature. But author Joan Didion has suffered immense loss and tragedy in losing her husband and daughter, and uses this as the narrative of her book turned one woman play  THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING. In Didion's own words her emotions may not seem raw, but they are truly rich with a deep sense of introspection and self awareness. And during the time of Covid, where live theatre is still on hold, Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre is presenting it's second virtual performance with Didion's  gripping play.

How to survive during a pandemic? Well that not only depends on your personal health, but your chosen occupation. Many a starving artist had trouble making ends meet pre-Covid, but post-Covid? Can we talk? Well, that's just what actress Lindsey Brett Carothers is doing in her one woman cabaret 'I'm Still Singing.' The on demand program is being co presented by STARRING BUFFALO and MUSICALFARE.

Creative programming for theatre companies has become a do or die venture during the covid pandemic, so Starring Buffalo and Musicalfare Theatre have joined forces to give their own patrons and the world of the internet a chance to escape lockdown woes. Their recent online concert showcases two of Broadway's youngest and best talents. Zachary Noah Piser, who is the most recent alternate star of DEAR EVAN HANSEN on Broadway and in Toronto, and his partner Adam Rothenberg, Assistant Conductor of the eagerly awaited Broadway revival of COMPANY, came to town to perform an exciting live concert. Using Starring Buffalo's mantra of including Buffalo's own best talent alongside prodigious High School students, the concert was rounded out of Karen Harty and West Seneca West High School Senior Talia Mobley.

Even the untamable powers of the sea could not keep Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre from beginning it's 30th season under a veil of a pandemic. Artistic Director Kate LoConti Alcocer has joined forces with Buffalo's own Pan-American Film Division to bring theatre into it's audience’s homes with their newest venture. And the result is captivating as we watch a powerful production of Gardner McKay's SEA MARKS filmed on the ANDREWS THEATRE stage. The intimacy that audiences have come to know and expect at Irish Classical is heightened without being overly cinematic in it's approach.

Many may think that the heartwarming and brassy American musical comedy of yore with it's hummable tunes will never be seen again. That the days of star driven shows have dried up. The era when the names of Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, or Carol Channing all but guaranteed a hit musical. Now producers are wary of putting all of their eggs in one basket, relying on a star to stick with a show until it recoups it's investment. Happily...... no, joyously...... Broadway producer Scott Rudin was able to engage superstar Bette Midler for a year in the first revival of HELLO DOLLY! ever to happen on Broadway without Carol Channing

Another wholly dysfunctional family has entered the literary realm in a new play by  Bryan Delaney and Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre gets to show them off in all of their wretchedness. Dublin-born playwright Delaney has been honored  this year and named ICTC's Playwright in Residence. Best known to Buffalo audiences for his plays the  The COBBLER and THE SEEDBED, Mr. Delaney has been in town for the World Premiere production of THE ONION GAME, a wicked black comedy set  in rural North County Dublin. The results are mostly satisfying for it's revelatory nature and unexpected twists.

Will good triumph over evil? Can you invoke the name of God to protect your positive behaviors? According to playwright Robert Askins, you can most definitely blame the powers of evil when it comes to bad deeds, and if you state 'the devil made me do it' then you are absolved of all wrong doing. Askins' play HAND TO GOD opened last night at Buffalo's Road Less Traveled Theater in a hilariously irreverent but thought inducing production.

There are as many forms of entertainments as there are concepts. Expressing one's point of view can be difficult and when you put nine people in the same room and ask them to brainstorm for the next best idea for a film script, there are bound to be way too many or too few concepts that work. Playwright Annie Baker has penned her most recent play, THE ANTIPODES, using this idea as a construct for a present day 'theatre of the absurd' that hasn't been seen Ionesco's THE BALD SOPRANO. Happily Buffalo's Road Less Traveled Productions is presenting Baker's play in a knockout evening of theatre with some of the best ensemble acting you will ever encounter.

The eventual pairing of happy lovers in Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM proves that all's well that ends well. So it is no coincidence that another happy pairing of two of Buffalo's artistic jewels have collaborated to bring the Bard's comedy to the stage of Kleinhans Music Hall. The Irish Classical Theatre Company and the Buffalo Philharmonic are presenting a cohesive treat for the mind and ears that helped take a chill of a brisk January night.

Local boy does good. That has been the success story of Buffalo born playwright Tom Dudzick. His play OVER THE TAVERN that premiered at the old Studio Arena Theatre in 2006 has become a hot  commodity, being produced by multiple theatres across the United States. It went on to become a trilogy and has been a favorite amongst Buffalo audiences ever since. Alas, his latest venture, the musical CHRISTMAS OVER THE TAVERN does not appear to be destined for a similar destiny.

A frothy holiday confection playing out in Hollywood inspired Technicolor-come-to-life is the best way to describe the Shaw Festival's jubilant production of Irving Berlin's HOLIDAY INN now onstage at their Festival Theatre. Based on the 1942 movie of the same name starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, HOLIDAY INN has been overshadowed a bit by the later Berlin hit WHITE CHRISTMAS. But thanks to some crackerjack casting and a huge budget, The Shaw has breathed new life into the 2014 stage version written by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge.

ust as an American classic will always persevere, Buffalo's Kavinoky Theatre has triumphed in finally being able to present Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. After a major kerfuffle last spring that resulted in a cease and desist order from Broadway producers, The Kav was forced to entirely scrap their entire production of MOCKINGBIRD less than 2 weeks before opening night. A highly lauded production by Aaron Sorkin was and still is playing on the Great White way, and for questionable reasons, Buffalo was forced to shut down the Lee play. Happily, this season the Kav received the go ahead to produce Sorkin's version, and like a phoenix, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD has risen in a gripping and superbly acted production.

Starring Buffalo concluded it's 3 performances of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS on Saturday night. The visiting Broadway artists included Matt Doyle as Seymour, Lindsay Nicole Chambers as Audrey and Brandon Espinoza as the Dentist. Artistic Director Drew Fornarola has announced EVITA as the spring of 2020 staged musical concert. Casting will be announced in the new year. The company is using Shea's 710 Theatre this season, after it's inaugural season at Rockwell Hall last year presenting THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. The touring cast of THE BROADWAY PRINCESS PARTY was also in town and joined in to celebrate.

For those of a certain age, growing up included reading or hearing the voices of columnists and commentators like Paul Harvey, Dear Abby, Howard Cosell, and Erma Bombeck . In fact Erma and Abby had columns that often ran side by side. Dear Abby gave advice and Erma commented on the every day life of American housewives. While all of these names will be lost on millennials, everyone over 45 years old will have some memory of these folks. A production of the one act play 'ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT'S END' is playing at Shea's 710 Theatre through November 10th after it's successful run at Rochester's Geva Theatre, and includes the same cast. That is, a cast of one.

The most famous of man eating plants made a Halloween weekend appearance as LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS played out on the Shea's 710 Theatre stage Friday night. Under the auspices of the fledgling STARRING BUFFALO company, Buffalo was treated to it's second fully realized staged musical reading. Director Drew Fornarola has assembled three of Broadway's best young talents to visit the Queen City, work along side some of Buffalo's own finest actors, and mentor and perform with three of the areas High School choirs. After their fine inaugural production of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME last year at Rockwell Hall, the change of venue seemed to work perfectly.

COME FROM AWAY has come to Buffalo. The show with that rather odd title that has been beguiling audiences since it's inception and doesn't have the same name recognition as HAMILTON fully deserves to be placed among HAMILTON's ranks. When the brilliant tour opened at Shea's Buffalo Theatre on Tuesday night I have feeling that most people in the audience had no idea what they were about to see (and quite honestly, may only have been in the audience because they kept their subscription from last season that guaranteed a seat for HAMILTON. ) What played out over the next 100 minutes was one of the most captivating and ingeniously told pieces of theatre seen in many years.