Now that Memphis in May has finally bid adieu to the Sunset Symphony, crowned the winners of the barbecue contest,and trod well the welcome mat to the magnficent new Bass Pro Shop, Memphians can look to its theatres, old and new, for diversions of a histrionic nature.
For its spring musical, Playhouse on the Square has reached several decades back and produced -- not an 'old warhorse of a musical' (sorry, Rodgers and Hammerstein) -- but a true thoroughbred, Cole Porter's sparkling, innovative (at the time) KISS ME, KATE.
George Cukor's 1940 film version of Philip Barry's THE PHILADELPHIA STORY was Katharine Hepburn's return to glory after the actress had been labeled 'box office poison' after the failure of several films.
Once again, it's Spring; and once again, Stage Door Productions has brought professionals and nonprofessionals together to share their love of musical theatre and their talents in what is, by now, an annual event: THE BEST OF BROADWAY 3, closing this weekend at the KROC Center, is Director Brandon K
David Morgan's detailed set design for Circuit Playhouse's production of Nina Raine's TRIBES 'speaks volumes' (no pun intended) for the noisy, ego-driven family the audience is about to meet: Piano, stage left; 'intellectual' clutter scattered about; books everywhere; and - oh, yes - a liquor bottle
While watching the Next Stage production of Gina Gionfriddo's RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN at Theatre Memphis, I was reminded of John Van Druten's screenplay for the 1943 Warner Brothers film OLD ACQUAINTANCE.
Poor 'Edna Pontellier' of Kate Chopin's THE AWAKENING - as 'corseted' by society as she is by the habiliments of the day.
I wonder if Jackie Nichols is providing on-site psychiatric help for those involved in the repertory presentations of Anton Chekhov's THE SEAGULL and Christopher Durang's VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE at Playhouse on the Square.
KING HEDLEY II Provides Powerful Theatre at Hattiloo
The Emerald Theatre Company at Theatre Works is currently showcasing not one, not two, not three - but nine pieces in its latest production, STANDING ON CEREMONY: THE GAY MARRIAGE PLAYS.
Staging a play by Henrik Ibsen or Anton Chekhov poses certain problems for theatre groups.
There was a time when it seemed as if any talent contender in a beauty pageant would lay into 'Don't Cry Out Loud' (later, Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' seemed to supplant it).
The intimate venue at Germantown Community Theatre provides a perfect setting for a drama like Arthur Miller's ALL MY SONS, an early-but-still timely demonstration of Miller's gifts as a playwright - and, as with all of Miller's major works, a veritable feast for actors.
Theatre Memphis' Next Stage has girded its loins and taken on the challenge of staging Michael Frayn's dense and difficult COPENHAGEN, and it must have known from the outset that such an esoteric piece will offer rewards to a select audience.
Nothing seems to scare the valiant little troupe Threepenny Theatre Company.
It's an interesting and unintentional coincidence: PETER PAN, which wrapped up Playhouse on the Square's Holiday Season, offered the younger set its first taste of transvestism, with musically gifted actresses alternating in the role of 'Peter' (talk about the incipience of gender confusion); now,
While watching Circuit Playhouse's wickedly funny, stimulating production of Joshua Harmon's BAD JEWS, I was briefly reminded of an almost forgotten episode of SEINFELD, in which 'Elaine' clashes with her mutton-loving cousin 'Holly' over Grandma Mima's missing napkins (actually used by 'Jerry' to h
I like the title of Harold Ellis Clark's WE LIVE HERE, winner of the NewWorks@TheWorks playwriting competition hosted by Playhouse on the Square and now playing at Theatre Works.
