Regional Roundup: Top New Features This Week Around Our BroadwayWorld 5/31 - A CHORUS LINE, BEAUTIFUL, and More!

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature A CHORUS LINE, BEAUTIFUL, and More!

Check out our top features from around the BroadwayWorld below! Want more great global content? Check out our "Around The World" section!

Arizona: Contributor Herbert Paine reviews THE HUMANS at ASU Gammage. He writes "In this one act play about a revelatory Thanksgiving get-together, Karam's characters fuss and fume about parental relationships, health care, Alzheimer's, career choices, job security, love affairs, dreams, the meaning of life....and so it goes. It's the whole megillah of America in a lower Manhattan microcosm...almost the whole, save for a startling confession that will turn the evening to a veil of darkness."

Arkansas: Contributor Mike Noland reviews BEAUTIFUL at Robinson Performance Hall. He writes "Another aspect of this show that has to be mentioned is the set itself. The design was at times simple and yet seamlessly moved from office to concert to the suburbs. Using sliding panels, set pieces that glided on and off stage and a lighting design that shifted time and space made it seem like the show never stopped or stumbled. Overall, this show was the story of Carole King's life that many people knew nothing about. The incredible music, period sets and costumes and most importantly breathtaking performances from top to bottom, made this an evening of theatre that people will be talking about for a long time. The was never a more apt title or description of a show because the entire experience was... Beautiful."

Kansas City: Contributor Alan Portner reviews A CHORUS LINE at Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. He writes "This new iteration produced by "Big League Productions," a non-equity tour company, captures something of the original. These are all young actors, mostly on their first national tour. The actors are talented, but still raw in their attempts to scratch and sing and dance their ways all their way to a feature role in some future Broadway production. The actor who played little Connie Wong (Baayork Lee) way back in 1975 has graduated from the chorus line and is now the director of this "A Chorus Line" tour. She preserves the staging, choreography, and feel of the original."

Pennsylvania: Contributor Amber Kusching reviews FUN HOME at Arden Theatre Company. She writes "This production "in the round" is a great choice of staging for Fun Home both from a practical and dramaturgical standpoint. There is no bad seat in the house, and Nolen's dynamic directing results in stunning pictures from every angle and beautiful images no matter where you are seated. Dramaturgically, The Arden's show "in the round" suitably reflects the play's circular themes and even the circular structure of the musical such as the way the play ends the same way it begins, with Small Alison (played by Kate Bove and Lily Lexer) running onstage reenacting a rare moment in Alison's life when she had physical contact with her father while playing airplane with him as a child."

Connecticut: Contributor Carissa Chesanek reviews LOVE NEVER DIES at The Bushnell. She writes "Expect to be delighted with a stunning set design of moody lighting, impressive stage changes, and an overall magical feel only the Phantom of the Opera can bring. Pair this with a heartfelt story as strong as the last, and beautiful love songs that include Beneath a Moonless Sky, Why Does She Love Me, and Love Never Dies, this musical is everything you'd want for this sequel and more."

Toronto: Contributor Lauren Gienow reviews THE MUSIC MAN at the Stratford Festival. She writes "Once again, we are not worthy of Donna Feore's choreography. The "Seventy-Six Trombones" number was utterly spectacular and deserved every moment of the mid-show standing ovation that it received on opening night. I would also be remiss not to mention the delight I felt at seeing both male and female performers doing various acrobatics. A back-flip is impressive. A back-flip while wearing a dress from the early 1900's is outstanding."

San Diego: Contributor E.H. Reiter reviews FLYING SOLO at San Diego Rep. She writes "Gunn even finds a worthy duet partner in this show, as he sings along with himself performing the Met telecast of THE MAGIC FLUTE from 2006 as it is projected on the walls of the set. Kudos to projection designer Brian McMullen, lighting designer Richard Norwood, video designer Christopher Ash, and sound design by Erik Carstensen for keeping all of the moving parts of this scene and the entire show cohesive and complimentary to one another."

Birmingham: Contributor David Edward Perry reviews THE SUNSHINE BOYS. He writes "The comedy works with serious notes to the effects and discrimination attached with growing older. Actors Green (Willie) and Bates (Al) have an honest delivery of the two cantankerous old men who are codependent on facing years of hostility behind them and an uncertainty ahead. The chemistry of Bates and Green performance rings with echoes of another Neil Simon classic, "The Odd Couple." They are a perfect pairing and feed will off each other's stage presence and line deliveries. It's a joy to watch Green and Bates go back and forth."

Regional Editor Spotlight:

Herbet Paine
Arizona Contributing Editor

Herb Paine ~ Senior Contributing Editor for BWW's Phoenix Metro Region ~ is President of Paine Consulting Services, now in its twenty-ninth year of operation, specializing in organizational development, strategic planning, turnaround management, mergers, and governance. In addition to his work with corporations and government, he is a nationally recognized expert on all aspects of nonprofit organization management and has consulted extensively with arts and cultural organizations on strategic positioning, branding, and audience development. For more, visit http://www.UpYourNonprofit.com.

His provocative social and political commentaries have been aired regularly on KJZZ/91.5 FM, NPR's Phoenix affiliate and are available a thttp://standstoreason1.blogspot.com/.

Herb delights in acting. His most recent acting credits include roles as Sgt. Jeff Pugliese in the National Geographic Channel's April 2014 docudrama "Inside the Hunt for the Boston Bombers;" the King of France/Chaudron the forger/Ser Piero, DaVinci's father in Theater Works' "Finding Mona Lisa;" Inspector LeStrade in Fountain Hills Theater's "Sherlock's Last Case;" and Berry Bernard in the short film "Living Will."

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