Katherine Waddell - Page 2

"It is far better to light the candle than to curse the darkness." This proverb is a perfect introduction to The Ghostlight Project. Dreamed up just a few weeks ago by our country's theatrical luminaries, this initiative was a response to the apprehension many in our arts communities were feeling. The project's aim: to provide safe spaces for those feeling scared, marginalized, or actively attacked.

After much buzz and anticipation, the 2016 BroadwayWorld South Bend Awards finally came to a close last week with the announcement of 8 winners in 8 different categories. The BroadwayWorld Audience Choice Awards happen across the country, with thousands participating in nominating and voting for their favorites in their own theatre communities.

It's quite a feat to take one of the most over-done holiday shows ever and make it feel brand new, but that's exactly what The Acting Ensemble has done with their recently opened show, A Christmas Carol. It's a story that everyone knows, and has probably seen time and time again, but through the approach that director James Geisel has taken, the show feels infinitely more interesting than the average theaters' take on the classic.

The South Bend Civic Theatre recently opened their new show, It's a Wonderful Life, for the holiday season under the direction of Jewel Abram-Copenhaver. Being one of the most classic stories of all time, SBCT really put on all the bells and whistles to make this show a spectacular piece of Christmas theatre. There were a few details that were outstandingly done in this rendition of an ageless show; these few things really made SBCT's version of It's a Wonderful Life one of the better ones I've seen.

This past weekend, the Clay High School Fine Arts Department presented Children of Eden, a musical based off the first nine chapters of the Book of Genesis. With the music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and the book by John Caird, you already know going in that the music and story will be great and it's just the interpretation of the material that could either succeed or fail; Clay High School more than succeeded, it thrived. Combined with the direction of Meghan Beard and an incredibly talented starring cast, Children of Eden was phenomenal.

This past weekend, The Acting Ensemble, had a brief run of the play, Kalamazoo, by Michelle Kholos Brooks and Kelly Younger. While the plot of the show is relatively simple, the feelings found on stage were not.

A relatively new theatre group, the Michiana PlayMakers, just closed the show, The Birds, by Conor McPherson, based on a story from Daphne DuMaurier. The play follows a few characters struggling to survive the end of the world; birds have become murderous animals and society is on the brink of extermination. The story is gripping, uncomfortable, and suspenseful, a real psychological thriller. These intense emotions are only able to be felt by audience members because the Michiana PlayMakers absolutely nailed their interpretation of the story.

This past week, the Notre Dame Film, Television, and Theatre department, put on Tim Kelly's Frankenstein, a theatrical adaptation of Mary Shelley's famous novel.

Katori Hall's, The Mountaintop, opened this past weekend at the South Bend Civic Theatre and was simply powerful, moving, and unforgettable.

This past weekend The Main Stage, Inc. presented Sweeney Todd for just two nights at The Century Center's Bendix Theater. The musical follows Sweeney Todd, formerly known as Benjamin Barker, as he returns to London after a 15-year exile. Todd has returned to exact revenge upon the corrupt Judge Turpin who had him wrongfully imprisoned so he could pursue Todd's beautiful wife. During his quest for revenge, Todd returns to his former career as a barber (with a deadly twist), with the help of Mrs. Lovett, an admirer of Todd's who runs a failing meat-pie shop.

Why Do Fools Fall In Love had a short run this past weekend and was produced by Pickapart Theatre in association with The Acting Ensemble. The musical, created and written by Roger Bean, tells the story of Millie and friends at an impromptu bachelorette party where they sing their way through 1960's songs trying to understand love and all its struggles. This version was directed by Dave Kempher and had the main actresses double as part of the production team.

Legally Blonde, which is based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the renowned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture, opened this past Friday at the South Bend Civic Theatre to much buzz and anticipation. As I sat in the audience on Saturday night waiting for the musical to begin, all around me I was hearing that this is "the best musical at SBCT in a while."

The Shakespeare Festival at Notre Dame will soon be wrapping up, but you still have the chance to watch The Tempest which plays through August 28th. Let me say that if you have ever had any doubts about whether or not you would enjoy Shakespeare's work, or have not enjoyed it in the past (as I have not), make no mistake that this production of The Tempest is like no other.

There couldn't be a greater choice for Acting Ensemble to close out their 2015-2016 season than with the politically charged comedy November by David Mamet. With an election in our own world just around the corner, watching November allows for a relaxing, hilarious break from the seriousness of our own presidential election.

If you're looking for a hilarious comedy that makes you feel borderline guilty for laughing, look no further than The Cripple of Inishmaan, which opened this weekend at the South Bend Civic Theatre.

Lo Abdelmalek is a special guest blogger who is an actor in the Young Company which is performing at Notre Dame's Shakespeare Festival. Lo plays Thaisa in Pericles, Prince of Tyre and is pursuing her MFA at the University of Louisville.

Summer is already in full swing! Check out BWW's top picks for what you should see this summer in the surrounding South Bend area.

Anyone who has ever cared deeply for someone and subsequently feared for the worst, when it comes to their well-being, will have all of those intense emotions called forth when seeing Sharr White's The Other Place at the South Bend Civic Theatre. The Other Place, which opened May 13th, will utterly devastate you not only with White's deeply emotional script, but with the astonishing production put on by SBCT and director Aaron Nichols.

If you've ever dozed off in history class during the topic of the Declaration of Independence, prepare to be taught the same lesson in a much more interesting way. This past weekend at The South Bend Civic Theatre, 1776 opened. There were no limitations on how they dramatized the creation of the most influential document in the history of the United States of America.

When I first heard that a Catholic college, Saint Mary's College to be exact, was putting on the musical Chicago, I was skeptical. Knowing that Chicago is quite the risque musical with all types of salacious subject matter, I wasn't quite sure how they were going to pull it off. Well, let me be blunt, Saint Mary's did not look very Catholic this past Saturday night when I saw the second showing of the musical.