Dylan Shaffer - Page 4

A true comedy of errors filled with couples engaged and enraged in wedding jitters, Perfect Wedding at the CLO Cabaret is the madcap comedy of the summer that will make you think twice about saying, "I do."

Surprising to an outsider, Pittsburgh's cultural scene is impressive for a city its size. Ranging from music to murals and everything in between, the Steel City has much to offer visitors and neighbors within its localized cultural mecca. Included in that mix is the Pittsburgh CLO, an organization that has been fostering musical theater in Pittsburgh since 1946.

To see a show, you must rent a seat. You become the temporary tenant occupying the vacant seat for a specified time. When the show is through, the lease is up. Unfortunately, Mark and Roger could never afford to see a show, let alone afford to pay last year's rent.

Sugar. Butter. Flour. Welcome to the kitchen where Jenna (Desi Oakle) is baking up a fresh pie. She works tirelessly every day baking new pies and serving at Joe's Diner, only to have her abusive husband Earl (Nick Bailey) take her sweet earnings at the end of every shift. This all changes when Jenna discovers she is pregnant with Earl's baby.

Explosive and suspenseful, The Bodyguard, the musical, offers a modern take on the 1992 silver screen classic starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. The stage version, touring across America but stopping in Pittsburgh this week, stars Canadian R&B artist Deborah Cox and features thrilling theatrics that accompany the melodrama.

There's a land that you've heard of, once in a lullaby. It's a land of witches and wizards, talking animals and munchkins, and sorcery and dreams. Wicked transports audiences to the Land of Oz where the untold story of its witches unfold on stage in the most elaborate of fashions. The show is in Pittsburgh for a three-week stop and offered an incredible autism-friendly performance as well (more on that a little later).

Ten years after the epic conclusion of The Phantom of the Opera, we find ourselves on the shores of the Atlantic- an ocean away from the Paris Opera House where years prior Christine, Raoul, and the Phantom would meet for an explosive encounter in the lair. Christine and Raoul would flee together, leaving the Phantom to the mercy of the encroaching mob. It is the most recognizable love triangle in musical theatre- one that ends in the questionable disappearance of the Phantom. But Andrew Lloyd Weber could not let the Phantom's love and story end there; thus gives us the basis for the sequel Love Never Dies.

Celie never knew much about a good life. Her sparse moments of joy were shared with her sister Nettie. As a teenager, her father impregnated her - twice - and gave the baby away each time. Celie became a part of a package deal with a cow and was forced into an abusive marriage. Through all this, supported by feminism and a mysterious God, Celie is able to persevere and continue on her unsuspecting quest to produce the colors of the rainbow in The Color Purple.

Take a trip back to the 80s, where Australian accents abounded in California and Greek muses littered the earth; where short shorts and cross dressing was the norm; and where Sonny Malone is inspired to create the greatest roller disco since antiquity.

Washed up and slowly approaching middle age, rocker Dewey Finn (Rob Colletti) is living on his best friend's couch, stuck in his glory days in a college band. He finds himself strapped for cash and soon devises a plan to win the Battle of the Bands, enlisting, of course, the famous School of Rock band, which is comprised of prep school children rocking gnarly licks on the guitar, riffing vocal solos, and pounding drum beats.

The Allegheny River is not well known for its bountiful aquatic yielding, but travel just a little bit further north to the New Hazlett Theatre in Pittsburgh's North Side for a once-in-a-lifetime catch. Front Porch Theatrical's imagining of Big Fish synthesizes the best of Pittsburgh theatre into a musical that abounds with whimsical fantasies and heart-wrenching moments.

Imagine a room filled with four of the greatest rising stars of the music industry today. It's hard to think of only four standout artists, but on December 4, 1956 in a small auto shop-turned-recording studio, Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records, found himself in the company of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash. Million Dollar Quartet chronicles this impromptu recording session with four of the hottest artists of the time, taking liberties and dramatizing the one act musical to make a plot of a single night worthy of a Broadway stage.

In a news story, the lede is the captivating opening paragraph, the exciting exposition that locks the reader's eyes to the text and incites them to continue on. The Disney musical Newsies finds its lede in leading paperboy Jack Kelly (Joey Barreiro), an unknowing hero who rallies his fellow paperboy troops to strike and protest Joseph Pulitzer's increased newspaper bundle cost of 10 cents. Delivering that with 1899 styles of dress, heavy New York accents, and large dance numbers, Mr. Barreiro and the cast of Disney's Newsies create a hot-off-the-press energized performance.

Flags of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico adorn the balconies and railings of the barrio in Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2008 musical In The Heights. The show, which won the Tony that year for Best Musical, brings a Hispanic flair to the Benedum stage through the accents, language, and styles of dances, uncommonly seen by a Pittsburgh audience as part of the Pittsburgh CLO's 2017 summer season.

Hold your breath, because the Pittsburgh CLO is about to dive right into the water and take you under the sea! Disney's The Little Mermaid, based closely off the 1989 animated film, returned to the Benedum Center on Tuesday evening and continues with performances running through next week.

With the fighting over and the French Tricolour waving high, Paris finds itself beginning to stand straight again after a battering war. Adam Hochberg (Etai Benson) and Jerry Mulligan (McGee Maddox), two former United States soldiers who fought in the war, stake their claim in the City of Lights in 1945, both for varying reasons. Add on top of this a beautiful young dancer who has caught the eyes of more than her dance instructors, and An American in Paris is born.

It's the classic story of Baby and her family vacation to Kellerman's resort. The sun is hot, the family activities are campy, and the dancing is dirtier than ever. The staged version of the 1987 movie of the same name, Dirty Dancing is a surprisingly sensational show.

When you walk into the black box Carnegie Stage, the impressive and overpowering rear wall of text smacks you in the face. In front, on the stage, a scene from a dystopian mental hospital with an old spring bed and metal frame, a broken and dirty bathtub, and torn hospital curtains. This becomes the haunting backdrop for Sarah Kane's eerie 4.48 Psychosis.

Imagine growing up as a closeted lesbian with a closeted gay father. Try explaining that one to your mother. Through the life of daughter Alison, the Bechdel family's story comes to life in Fun Home.

A journey to the Far East reveals extravagant sets, ornate costumes, and symphonic melodies in The King and I's return to Pittsburgh. The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic has been delighting audiences for over half a century with the jokes that remain funny, orchestrations that endure beautifully, and themes that resonate contemporarily.