Review: MISERY Loves Company in This Stage Adaptation of Stephen King's Ultimate Thriller at Jobsite Theater
Misery written by the incomparable “Master of Horror” Stephen King was first released via Viking Press on June 8, 1987. The story revolves around the main character, romance novelist Paul Sheldon, and his self-proclaimed number-one fan Annie Wilkes. Paul is seriously injured in a car crash, and Annie being a former nurse discovers Paul and brings him home for rehabilitation. While staying in Annie’s home, Paul receives treatment and pain meds and soon discovers he is prisoner and forced to adhere to all of his captor’s demands.
Review: Paul Potenza Will Break Your Heart as THE ELEPHANT MAN at The Tampa Repertory Theatre
Sometimes a show comes along that is so powerful, at times shattering, with a top-flight cast, that it deserves two Broadway World reviews. Tampa Rep's production of THE ELEPHANT MAN certainly fits into that category. My BWW colleague, Drew Eberhard, saw the show at its final preview, and I had the honor of attending its opening weekend. At the play's center is a performance by Paul Potenza in the title role that should have anyone reading this sentence to stop what they're doing and obtain their tickets ASAP. THE ELEPHANT MAN runs at the HCC Studio Theater in Ybor City thru February 19th, so you better hurry.
Review: THE ELEPHANT MAN at TampaRep
Bernard Pomerance’s The Elephant Man, premiered at the Hampstead Theatre in London in November of 1977. Pomerance’s play also transferred to the National Theatre in London for an “In Rep” residency. From January to March of 1979 it played off-Broadway, and made a transfer to the Booth Theatre on Broadway later in 1979, but the production closed in 1981 after 916 regular performances. The Elephant Man received revivals in 2002 and 2014.
Previews: THE ELEPHANT MAN at TampaRep
This production is especially poignant as it was a conversation between the late beloved C. David Frankel, co-founder and artistic director of TampaRep, and Paul Potenza that set the show in motion.
Review: Steven Dietz Adaptation Of The Bram Stoker Classic DRACULA Commands the Stage in True Gothic-Noir Fashion at Jobsite Theater
Dracula, a novel written by Bram Stoker and published in 1897, became Stoker’s most definitive work. Told in an epistolary style through letters, journal entries, and newspaper articles, Stoker’s novel is never told through the eyes of a single protagonist. Our tale begins with a businessman by the name of Jonathan Harker traveling to the Transylvanian Castle of one Count Dracula, in order to procure a deed. Having merely escaped the castle with his life, after finding out the Count is a Vampire, Harker makes his way home to England, where the Count has now taken up residence with plans to plague the small seaside town of Whitby.
BWW Review: SHOCKHEADED PETER MARVELS IN THE STRANGE AND WEIRD WITH JOBSITE THEATER at Straz Center For Performing Arts
“WHAT BECOMES OF A CHILD THAT STARVED FOR AFFECTION?”
-M.C. IN SHOCKHEADED PETER
“YOU’VE GOT TO BE CRUEL TO BE KIND, IN THE RIGHT MEASURE. CRUEL TO BE KIND, IT’S A VERY GOOD SIGN....”
-NICK LOWE FROM “JESUS OF COOL” ALBUM (1978).
Once every so often audiences of a theatre-going persuasion are treated to something a little out of the ordinary. Something that may just have to be experienced before allowing it to fully sink in. Jobsite revels in the strange, the unorthodox, the Masterclass of all things twisted and warped; and these are some centralized moments of Shockheaded Peter or its namesake Der Struwwelpeter.
Having personally never heard of Der Struwwelpeter or William Maloney’s The Worst of Everything, I had no idea what I was in store for. Which made this particular show more zany, exciting, and mentally stimulating than most seen as of late. From every angle, there was something to watch, something to leave our mouths agape and make you just think what the hell?