All stories by Bill Hirschman on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Dry Powder Paints Merciless Portrait Of The Conscienceless by Bill Hirschman

Dry Powder, GableStage’s excoriating tour that delves into the barren ethical landscape of big business is an unsparing drama whose copious humor comes from one character’s blithely limi…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 04:42PM
Saturday, March 25, 2017

Timely ‘All The Way’ Exposes How Your Sausage Is Made by Bill Hirschman

Although the Actors’ Playhouse folks are working very hard to master this Everest of a play, All The Way, about Lyndon Johnson's campaign to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this time th…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 01:32PM
Friday, March 24, 2017

Everything’s Coming Up Roses With Lewis & Dodge In Gypsy by Bill Hirschman

Merman. Lupone. Daly. Lansbury. Taking not a scintilla away from those iconic performances, you have never seen a Mama Rose like the one Vicki Lewis incarnates in Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s u…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 02:03PM
Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Something Rotten Is A Hoot For Theater Nerds & Novices Alike by Bill Hirschman

If there is a corner of Heaven reserved for musical theater nerds who know Stephen Sondheim’s middle name, likely one stage is rotating The Drowsy Chaperone, [title of show] and, as proven…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:48PM
Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Miami New Drama’s Inventive A Special Day Finds Whimsy, Melancholy In Fascism’s Rise by Bill Hirschman

Once it gets going, Miami New Drama's A Special Day, is a hallmark of wily invention and Brechtian artifice, a celebration of theater’s ability to create something from nothing in front of…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:36AM
Monday, March 20, 2017

FGO Hosts Moving If Flawed Tale Of Gay Cuban Poet-Dissident by Bill Hirschman

The true-life narrative in Before Night Falls is profoundly powerful and undeniably affecting: Reinaldo Areneas, the gay Cuban poet, inspired by the beauty of the island but brutally oppress…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 10:12AM
Sunday, March 19, 2017

Climb On The Raft With Huck And Jim In Slow Burn’s Big River by Bill Hirschman

Classic American values of friendship, tolerance, freedom and a sense of subversive independence are lovingly and joyously resurrected in Slow Burn Theatre Company’s Big River, a revival-l…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 08:36AM
Thursday, March 16, 2017

Working To Ignore The Ghosts In Maltz Jupiter’s Revival Of Gypsy by Bill Hirschman

When a theater revives the musical Gypsy as the Maltz Jupiter Theatre is doing this month, there is always the ghost in the room. So the challenge for director Marcia Milgrom Dodge and her f…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:02AM
Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Stand Up, Wick Theatre’s Guys And Dolls Is Rockin’ The House by Bill Hirschman

One quiet fear of frequent theatergoers is that some well-meaning troupe will bungle a piece they love and override precious memories with mediocrity. Well, breathe easier. The Wick Theatre…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 11:12AM
Sunday, March 12, 2017

M Ensemble Returns Again To Canady’s Brother of the Dust by Bill Hirschman

Blood may be thicker than water, but Brothers of the Dust at M Ensemble asks whether it’s thicker than land or greed or, crucially, dreams. M Ensemble presented this family drama three yea…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 11:32AM
Friday, March 10, 2017

Something Larger Than Life Is Missing In Riverside’s Mame by Bill Hirschman

Although Jerry Herman’s music and lyrics come alive again in Riverside Theatre’s production of Mame, there’s something missing. The larger-than-life part of this production is not ecce…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:06AM
Saturday, March 4, 2017

Wick Slates Drowsy Chaperone, Brigadoon, Singing’ In The Rain by Bill Hirschman

The Wick Theatre in Boca Raton hopes that musicals connected to popular films will be an alluring draw in its fifth season, based on the three of the five titles it announced this week. But …

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 11:18AM
Thursday, March 2, 2017

Danny Kaye Musical Entertains But Danny Himself Is AWOL by Bill Hirschman

The Kid From Brooklyn, a bio-musical about Danny Kaye at Broward Stage Door, is blessed with strong singers, likable performers, a peppy period score, a fine live band, a few touching moment…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 08:54AM
Monday, February 27, 2017

Off-Beat ‘Love And Human Remains’ Fails In Its Ambition by Bill Hirschman

While Infinite Abyss deserves praise for attempting the abysmal script for Love and Human Remains, they simply cannot force this intentionally bizarre journey rife with explicit sex, nudity,…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 08:32AM
Saturday, February 25, 2017

Fuacata!: Zoetic Stage’s Hilarious And Touching Journey Through Miami-Dade’s Latina Culture by Bill Hirschman

When Elena Maria Garcia, one of the finest comediennes in the region, and Stuart Meltzer, one of the finest directors, team up to co-write Fuácata! (Or a Latina’s Guide to Surviving the U…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 03:54PM
Friday, February 24, 2017

Can It Happen Here? Mad Cat’s Surreal Take on Vaclav Havel Plays Will Unnerve Patrons by Bill Hirschman

Mad Cat Theatre's production of Vaclav Havel's one acts Protest and Audience draw uncomfortably relevant visions of repressive totalitarian society.

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 03:54PM
Thursday, February 23, 2017

Mermaid Plays Swimmingly But You Can’t Understand Singing by Bill Hirschman

The tour of The Little Mermaid is engaging and enthusiastic playing at the Broward Center’s Broadway Across America series. The problem is you likely will not understand 10 percent of the …

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 12:24PM
Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Curtain Call Playhouse, TheatreSouth & Outre Find A New Home In Pompano Beach by Bill Hirschman

Outré Theatre Company and Curtain Call Playhouse, two troupes that have played at many different venues, plus TheatreSouth, a fledgling African-American company, will have a new base of ope…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 10:12PM
Saturday, February 18, 2017

Florida Theatrical Assoc Creates Charlie Cinnamon Scholarship by Bill Hirschman

Florida Theatrical Association has announced the Charlie Cinnamon Theater Scholarship in honor of longtime FTA board member and dean of South Florida publicity agents Charlie Cinnamon, who d…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 11:18PM
Friday, February 17, 2017

Disgraced Makes You Reexamine What You Think, Who You Are by Bill Hirschman

Disgraced, bravely offered to the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s mainstream audience, is an incisive drama dissecting intersecting issues of ethnic identity, assimilation and especially persistin…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 02:06PM
Thursday, February 16, 2017

With Tensions High, ‘Disgraced’ Could Not Be More Timely by Bill Hirschman

Disgraced, a drama dissecting ethnic relations in post 9/11 America, already has become one of the most produced plays in regional theaters over the past three years. But the Maltz Jupiter T…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 11:48AM
Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Rites of Passage Pass Very Rapidly In Stage Door’s The Bris, The Bar Mitzvah And Beyond by Bill Hirschman

Broward Stage Door’s The Bris, The Bar Mitzvah and Beyond is an amusing afternoon mixing early Neil Simon-Woody Allen humor with a lengthy parade of serious issues ranging from father-son …

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 11:36PM

King’s Soundtrack Of Our Lives Is Still ‘Beautiful’ At The Arsht by Bill Hirschman

Validation – the affirmation that what you valued and invested yourself in does matter – is one of the most powerfully effective facets of both entertainment and art. And that, we’ll v…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 11:24AM
Monday, February 13, 2017

Something Old, Something New: Actors Playhouse, Island City & New City Players Set Seasons by Bill Hirschman

The rollout of 2017-2018 seasons continues with some South Florida theaters pushing the edge of their audience’s cultural envelopes and others relying on reliable titles in an uncertain ti…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:36AM
Saturday, February 11, 2017

Riverside’s Private Lives Is Study In Perfection Of Wit And Polish by Bill Hirschman

Take Noel Coward's sophisticated wit, add exquisite direction and elegant acting, then tie it up with visuals you could plotz for, and it's no wonder that Riverside Theatre's production of P…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 07:42PM
Thursday, February 9, 2017

Main Street’s First Pro Outing Lands Real Women Have Curves by Bill Hirschman

Real Women Have Curves turns out be a no-excuses-needed production that justified the confidence that Main Street Players' leaders had in evolving from a community theater into a professiona…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 11:54PM
Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Carousel Swirls And The Music Swells At Actors Playhouse by Bill Hirschman

The miracle of the Carousel when it’s done well, as it is in this Actors Playhouse production, is that although it’s 72 years old and its protagonists are a wife-beating ne’er-do-well …

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:42PM
Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Estefans’ On Your Feet To Begin Tour in Miami, Broward Will Get Hamilton First in Region & Kravis Finally Hosts The Lion King by Bill Hirschman

Hamilton, On Your Feet, The Lion King, and a host of major Broadway titles will tour South Florida's three major presenting houses over the next two seasons,

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 12:36AM
Monday, February 6, 2017

Bravura Acting Duo Highlights Dramaworks’ ‘Collected Stories by Bill Hirschman

Palm Beach Dramaworks’ production of Collected Stories is not only one of the most affective and effective dramas seen in the region for many months, it offers a superb performance by a yo…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 09:03AM
Sunday, February 5, 2017

Slow Burn’s Xanadu Skillfully Follows A Middling Muse by Bill Hirschman

Slow Burn Theatre has certainly captured Xanadu's vibe in the company’s spirited, stupidly happy revival of its own 2012 production, which opened last weekend in Aventura and which will so…

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 06:48PM
Saturday, February 4, 2017

Driving Miss Daisy Is Competent Road Trip But Not Exciting by Bill Hirschman

Chicken Coop Theatre’s production at the Levis JCC of Driving Miss Daisy is hardly among the most incisive nuanced editions you’ve seen of this oft-mounted warhorse, but the play itself …

SOURCE: Florida Theater On Stage at 10:36AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic
TBA: Ragtime