By AARON KRAUSE FT. LAUDERDALE " A man with much physical difficulty tries to reach the love of his life. Naturally, she seems overjoyed that hubby is approaching. And so, she cheers him on.…
By AARON KRAUSE FT. LAUDERDALE " Whoever said "You never get a second chance to make a first impression" obviously had never heard of Phil Connors. Certainly, the quote's originator had no w…
By EDWARD RUBIN My Name Is Lucy Barton written by Elizabeth Stout and published to a chorus of Hosannas in 2016, is now a one-woman, two-character play " running through Saturday, February 2…
By EDWARD RUBIN I cannot remember any play that unnerved me to such a degree as the Vineyard Theatre's production of Tina Satter's brilliantly conceived Is This A Room. Not only did this one…
By AARON KRAUSE MIAMI "A black mother expresses a chilling, yet valid concern in American Son, Christopher Demos-Brown's unflinchingly honest and heartbreaking play about race, set in …
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") With its current production of Something Rotten!, Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré has set the bar so incredibly high that even they m…
By EDWARD RUBIN First things first. Before I delve into the Irish Repertory Theater's marvelous production of London Assurance by Dublin-born playwright Dion Boucicault (1820-1890) " extende…
By BILL HIRSCHMAN For even those who only knew Herbert Simpson in passing, likely what they remember was his voice " usually deep and sonorous, a bit scratchy, but brimming with passion. The…
By AARON KRAUSE NEW YORK, N.Y. " Dorothy Michaels is unstoppable. We learned that much in the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical adaptation of Tootsie. It is based on the popular Ac…
By AARON KRAUSE NEW YORK, N.Y. " If you want to hear current members of the famed musical group The Temptations perform live this year, you're out of luck. According to https://www.songki…
By AARON KRAUSE NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. " The wording on the Playbill at Circle in the Square Theatre does not deceive your eyes: It really does say Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! Now,…
By EDWARD RUBIN Will Arbery's latest play, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, having been extended two times by popular demand, is now running Off-Broadway through Sunday, November 17, 2019 at Pl…
By ANNE SIEGEL It has been a long wait, but the people of southeast Wisconsin finally get to be in the room where it happens. Hamilton has arrived. And what a reception it's getting. The mos…
By EDWARD RUBIN I have often been asked how my plays come about. I cannot say. Nor can I ever sum up my plays, except to say that this is what happened. That is what they said. That is what …
By ROY BERKO Suzan-Lori Parks, Lynn Nottage and Tonya Barfield are noted as emerging African-American playwrights. Another member of that sorority is the award-winning Dominique Morisseau, t…
By AARON KRAUSE INDIANAPOLIS " Hairspray might not offer the most in-depth examination of race and racial attitudes. Nevertheless, this big-hearted, tuneful and sweet, (yet not sacchar…
By ROY BERKO In its off-Broadway production, Shakespeare R&J (which is now on stage at convergence continuum) ran for a year, making it the longest running version of "Romeo and Juliet" …
By JACK LYONS, Desert Local News "Silly is as silly does," could easily be the subtitle following the name of the current comedy/farce romp The Underpants, now on stage at the Old Globe's Sh…
By JACK LYONS, Desert Local News There have been many love stories written about the redemptive power of love in all its art forms:Â poems, songs, odes, sonnets, essays, novels, movies, an…
By ROY BERKO Kenneth Lonergan is noted for writing about decent people who are unexpectedly challenged by issues of ethics. In his Lobby Hero, now on stage at Blank Canvas, the 2016 Oscar wi…
By EDWARD RUBIN There are probably greater painters than Noël. Greater novelists than Noël, greater librettists, greater composers of music, greater singers, greater dancers, greater c…
By EDWARD RUBIN While New York City recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising with much hoopla and an enormous traffic-stopping Gay Pride parade that went on well in…
By HERBERT W. SIMPSON It seems that Geva Theater Center's long devotion to creating a worthy theater piece devoted to the history of Son House has reached a temporarily completed form in thi…
By AARON KRAUSE He is entering his 50th and final season as TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's Artistic Director and has garnered many awards for his work with the Bay Area company. And to top of…
By HERBERT W. SIMPSON Virtually all of our leading contemporary repertory theaters now include non-traditional experimental techniques in staging not only original new work but also " even e…