Brooke Bridenstine - Page 2

Ballet is not a dance style often featured on a Broadway stage, but Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty may change that. His production of Sleeping Beauty is as imaginative, expansive, and stunning as the best productions offered on Broadway. In its' North American premiere at the Des Moines Civic Center this past weekend, Sleeping Beauty won over audiences with virtuosity and spectacle.

Just as summer is transitioning to fall, September is also the month in which the slower summer theater season shifts into the busier fall and winter season. Several shows will open in September, including a show making its' North American Premiere.

August is caught between the relaxing stretch of summer and the buildup to the hustle back to school season. Luckily, there is a wonderful play you can see this month that will transform you to a different time and place.

When Jersey Boys opened on Broadway in 2005 it won numerous Tony awards and was heaped with praise. This week, the national tour makes a second stop in Des Moines, to remind us that the awards and praise are well deserved.

What has thus far been a relatively quiet summer on the stage heats up this month thanks to a national tour and a local take on a Broadway hit.

Des Moines Performing Arts' Temple Comedy Series has done an excellent job of showcasing small comedy and improv troupes this season. Wrapping up the series right now is the improv musical comedy Broadway's Nest Hit Musical running now through May 12th.

May is not quite the busy month that April was, but there are some fun events to look forward to in Des Moines this month.

When Rock of Ages stopped in Des Moines for a limited engagement last week, the beat could be heard for blocks and audiences were on their feet before the last number was over.

Des Moines audiences are getting spoiled with several productions again this month. After a busy March, April follows suit with a national tour and numerous local productions throughout the month.

Million Dollar Quartet is difficult to categorize. Billed as a musical, it is unlike almost any musical playing because it takes place over an extremely short time span and features a small cast of characters. The show, which tells of a recording session at Sam Phillips' Sun Records featuring Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, and Carl Perkins, feels more like a concert because the musical numbers do not comment on the plot or characters. One thing is certain, when Million Dollar Quartet stopped in Des Moines last week, audiences were dancing in the aisles.

With two national tours and a local production getting underway, March will be a busy month in Des Moines.

February, despite the frigid temperatures, is going to be another hot month for Des Moines theater.

The Book of Mormon, which opened Thursday at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, anchors the 2012-2013 Broadway series just as it is an anchor on the Great White Way itself.

What can I write about Wicked that hasn't already been written? The musical has been a hit since opening on Broadway in 2004 and now has productions around the globe and two touring productions in the United States. Some write of the power of its' message and others lament its' shortcomings. But I am writing this piece and therefore I have the freedom to say that Wicked is my favorite musical, hands down. Wicked played in St. Louis through January 6th and lucky for me the Fox Theatre is just a short journey down the yellow brick road from Des Moines.

The New Year is officially underway, and what better way to ring in 2013 than with a theatrical escape into another world.

War Horse, which played last week at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, is about as unique a theatrical experience as there has been in recent years.

The holiday season is upon us and there are plenty of ways to celebrate the season in the theater this December.

You would be hard pressed to find an adult or child of a certain age not familiar with the tale of Beauty and the Beast. It would have been equally as difficult to find someone who did not leave the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines with a smile last week when the touring production played for eight performances.

It has been over twenty years since STOMP opened in the UK. And while time tends to reveal imperfections, when STOMP performed at the Civic Center this past weekend it was proven that even in an era of big budget musical extravaganzas you simply need excellent performers and a fun idea to succeed and stand the test of time.

The Civic Center of Greater Des Moines' Broadway Series got underway last week with a run of the 25th anniversary production of Les Miserables. Under the watchful eye of original producer Cameron Mackintosh and with music that is known around the world, the new production reinforces the show's position as a timeless classic in the musical theater world.