Nick Lingnofski News

KINKY BOOTS is one of those devious productions where the audience gets emotionally involved with the characters and takes in more of a message than they were originally expecting.

What did our critic think of BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL at Garden Theatre? Thanks to an amazing catalog of songs, a powerhouse cast and the tight orchestration, the musical, which closes July 30 , is one of the “can’t be missed” shows this summer.

a??a??a??a??a??a??a??Consider this entry from the 'If at first you don't succeed' department. A young television writer is recruited to write a book for the musical SHINBONE ALLEY. Haven't heard of it? That's not too surprising. It lasted a little over a month and closed on Broadway after 49 performances. Undaunted, he writes the first act for another musical, ALL-AMERICAN five years later. It also flops, closing on Broadway after 80 performances.

In its latest offering, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, the Short North Stage presents a musical that is a fine cocktail of flamboyance and subtlety and leaves its audience with a powerful, timely message without overtly stating it.

Lisa Glover, Johnathon L. Jackson, Steven Michael Mooney, Sheri Sanders and Jesse Daniel Trieger could probably fit in a Honda Civic and need only one large pizza for the cast party. Yet their performances, with many of the actors taking on an exhausting list of roles, make TOXIC AVENGER seem like a much larger presentation.

There's enormous pressure in reviewing the Short North Stage's most recent production, ASSASSINS. Imagine looking out onto the stage where John Wilkes Booth brandishes a pistol at the audience only a few feet away while the balladeer (Patrick Beasley) sings, 'Some say it was your voice had gone, some say it was the booze. Some say you killed a country, John, because of bad reviews' in the song 'The Ballad of Booth.'

Americans seem to find as much pleasure in learning about the flaws of heroes as they do in building them up in the first place. A quick search of the internet will reveal George Washington probably didn't chop down the cherry tree or that Walt Disney may not be the beloved creator people often imagine him to be.

Somehow, it seems fitting that THE PERFORMERS, the David West Read comedy set in the adult film industry, would make its Columbus debut at the Garden Theatre. Before becoming the home base for the Short North Stage, the theatre did a stint as a burlesque theatre between being movie house and a church.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

Ohio's very own Short North Stage will be hosting yet another Charles Busch play 'Cleopatra' July 27th - August 6th at the Garden Theater. Having produced other tear-jerking comedies by the 'campy playwright' in previous years, Short North Stage Fan favorites 'Psycho Beach Party', 'Die Mommy Die', and 'The Divine Sister' Artistic Director Edward Carignan is excited

Monty Python is the kind of like the sushi of the entertainment world. At first glance, people either devour it and love it or they poke at it with a fork and think "What in God's name is that?"

Short North Stage's annual gala celebrated on October 7th, 2016 by starting with a cocktail hour where guests enjoyed a musical journey through the last five years of fabulous theatre with some of the favorite performers. Then the celebration continued on the main stage where they enjoyed an elegant three-course meal, catered by Carfagna's Kitchen, a Columbus favorite for the past 75 years. As an added pleasure, many of the performers joined each table on stage in costume and in character during the dinner. Throughout the evening they could bid on silent auction items with all kinds of great items to bid on including signed posters, a weekend getaway, and a couple of walk-on performances for shows in their upcoming season.

To help celebrate the start of Short North Stage's fifth year, we present the contemporary hit musical The Last Five Years. A cult favorite, especially among young audiences, this musical by Robert Jason Brown tells the story of a twenty-something novelist Jamie Wellerstein and Cathy Hiatt, a struggling actress. The musical explores their five-year relationship through a novel device: Cathy's story is told in the reverse chronological order-beginning at the end of their marriage-while Jamie's begins just after they've met. The characters never directly interact except for a wedding song in the middle, when their timelines intersect.

In the third song, 'See I'm Smiling,' of the musical THE LAST FIVE YEARS, Catherine Hiatt (played by Melissa Hall) sings to her husband, 'I think you're really gonna like this show. I'm pretty sure it doesn't suck.'

Actor Doug Joseph has gone from playing Cecil B. DeMille in the Short North Stage's production of SUNSET BOULEVARD to playing the very Norma Desmond-esque Angela Arden in the theatre's production of DIE, MOMMIE DIE!