Regional Roundup: Top New Features This Week Around Our Broadway World - 3/10; THE NETHER in Rhode Island, THE LAST FIVE YEARS in Orlando and More!
By: BWW Special Coverage Mar. 10, 2017
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 THE NETHER in Rhode Island, THE LAST FIVE YEARS in Orlando, and STOREFRONT CHURCH in Phoenix, just to name a few. Check out our top features below!
East/Northeast
1. Rhode Island: Editor Andria Tieman reviews THE NETHER at The Gamm. She says, "A play of this nature is obviously challenging to pull off without being either so dark it's unwatchable, or laughably over-the-top, but veteran Gamm actors Casey Seymour Kim, Richard Donnelly and Jim O'Brien manage to get the audience on all their sides, even though they're in direct conflict with each other." Read more here.
Midwest
2. Cleveland, OH: Editor Roy Berko reviews THE FLICK at Dobama. He says, "What makes Baker so exceptional? She has a knack for creating normal individuals who cope with everyday issues. She combines a depth of character development with people who speak simple and clear narrative lines with a kind of tender, off-the wall humor. Her writing forces the audience to think, while holding up a mirror to themselves." Read more here.
3. Minneapolis, MN: Editor Jill Schafer reviews Open Eye Figure Theatre's re-imagined Hans Christian Andersen's THE RED SHOES. She says, "Yes there are a few (hilarious) runaway dancing scenes, but their 80-minute show at Open Eye Figure Theatre is more 20 Century creepy noir thriller than 19th Century fairy tale. I'll let director Joel Sass describe it to you: "Equally humorous and hair-raising, our adaptation of THE RED SHOES draws inspiration and influences from the vintage detective novels of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, case studies of amnesia and multiple personality, and black and white film noir movies of the 1940s. Like that cinematic genre, THE RED SHOES evokes a highly stylized landscape of convoluted mystery, subconscious manacle, fever dreams, and existential crisis." My immediate thought at the end of the show was, "how do people think of such things?" THE RED SHOES is something so curious and unique, odd and chilling, inventive and charming, it's thoroughly captivating from start to finish." Read more here.
South/Southeast
4. Orlando, FL: Editor Libby Champion reviews THE LAST FIVE YEARS at Studio Theatre. She says, "The emotional range of actors Zealand and Morse is absolutely amazing. While this show has parts that are more happy, overall it's a deeply introspective and sad look at the trials that many relationships face. That's not to say that the people in those relationships are always best-selling novelists and struggling actors, but the themes presented in the musical are something that everyone in a relationship can identify with. Zealand and Morse do an outstanding job of portraying those emotions without going over the top." Read more here.
5. Charlotte, NC: Editor Perry Tannebaum takes an annual trip to New York City and rounds up his favorite Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, including HAMILTON, THE GREAT COMET, A BRONX TALE and more. Read what show he thought was better than HAMILTON in his full roundup here!
6. Dallas, TX: Editor Kyle Christopher West previews a new musical, ONE WORD REVOLUTION, which will be broadcast LIVE this Saturday! Check out a sneak peek below!
West Coast
7. Phoenix, AZ: Editor Herbert Paine reviews STOREFRONT CHURCH at Theatre Artists Studio. He says, "Carol MacLeod has created a taut and well-paced interpretation of STOREFRONT CHURCH. Her cast delivers the goods, balancing wit and intensity to produce a provocative reflection on the limits of morality." Read more here.
International
8. India: New Editor Zofeen Maqsood features David Hare's SKYLIGHT, which gets its first-ever Indian adaptation. She says, "It is the seamless blend of sensory, gastronomic, complicated and sometimes unspoken human emotions that continue to fascinate the audiences in the first ever, Indian adaptation of famous English playwright David Hare's iconic play - Skylight. The play made it Indian debut late last December in the capital city of Delhi, with theatre actors Samar Sarila and Vidushi Mehra playing the parts of protagonists Tom and Kyra respectively. Since then, the play has also had its second showing, in February this year at the quaintly situated Oddbird Theatre in a quiet part of Mehrauli in the city. The play has managed to attract a steady crowd of seasoned theatre lovers in India and encouraged by the response the cast is planning an elaborate eight-city tour across the country this year." Read more here.
BWW Highlight:
9. Opera. Kansas City Editor Alan Portner reviews DEAD MAN WALKING at Lyric Opera at Kansas City. He says, "This is a moving examination into victim's pain, the possibility of redemption, and man's ultimately man's inhumanity to man. Sister Helen finally fails in her crusade to save De Rocher and the death sentence is carried out." Read more here.
Regional Editor Spotlight:
10. Herbert Paine, Phoenix. Herb Paine is President of Paine Consulting Services, now in its twenty-eighth year of operation, specializing in organizational development, strategic planning, turnaround management, mergers, and governance. 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 and branding. For more, visit http://www.UpYourNonprofit.com.
His social and political commentaries are aired monthly on KJZZ/91.5 FM, NPR's Phoenix affiliate.
Herb's most recent acting credits include roles as Inspector LeStrade in Fountain Hills Theater's Sherlock's Last Case, Berry Bernard in the short film Living Will, and Sgt. Jeff Pugliese in the National Geographic Channel's April 2014 docudrama Inside the Hunt for the Boston Bombers.Why does Herb enjoy writing for BroadwayWorld? "My primary motivation and greatest satisfaction in writing for BroadwayWorld lies in the opportunity to broaden the exposure of the Phoenix Region's growing and increasingly diverse performing arts. BWW provides an invaluable channel for featuring and supporting the remarkably talented artists and craftspersons who might not otherwise be acknowledged because of the constraints of local media."
STUDENT BLOGGERS! We'd like to feature a few of our student bloggers below!
College: College Student Monica Furman discusses how to deal with rejection. Read her latest blog here.
High School: High school student Clarissa Moon interviews the cast of CURIOUS GEORGE: THE GOLDEN MEATBALL at the Orlando Repertory Theatre. Read her blog here.
This week, we'd like to welcome our newest contributing writers: Zofeen Maqsood (India), Mika Lindsay Ouellette (Maine), and Samantha Saunders (Denver).
*BONUS* - Interested in joining our team, but not exactly sure what we do? All of your questions are answered, along with every open position from guest and student bloggers, Regional Editors, and more! Find out where we have open positions available here!
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