Lauren Van Hemert - Page 4

'Every year around this time of year, people come to hear the story…' And that's the way it's been for the last 43 years as audiences have come to see the Theatre in the Park production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL and Ira David Wood III as Scrooge. The show opens this Wednesday at the Durham Performing Arts Center. Adapted by Ira David Wood III, this version of  A CHRISTMAS CAROL follows the traditional Dickens story, with a bit of updated humor. The miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts the night before Christmas. The apparitions are a telling reminder of Christmases past and a foreshadowing of Christmases to come.

In the Broadway musical ELF, one of the characters says, 'Lower your expectations and you won't be disappointed.' Perhaps audiences attending the touring production of ELF playing at The Durham Performing Arts Center this week should heed that advice. Based on the 2003 movie, ELF tells the story of Buddy, a human raised by elves in The North Pole. When Buddy learns he is not actually an elf, he sets off on a journey to New York to find his biological father, a surly book publisher who is on Santa's naughty list. The movie featured a stellar cast including Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, and Will Ferrell as Buddy. And according to 'Forbes,' 'Entertainment Weekly' and The British Film Institute, ELF is one of the best Christmas movies of all time. So you might expect that a stage adaptation of ELF would follow suit. Nope. Sadly, the staged version lacks the mojo that made its movie predecessor work.

What makes a good play? A musical can hook you with a snappy showstopper, but a play, on the other hand, is all about the language, rhythm, and story. And some of the best contemporary plays I've seen of late are more character-driven than plot-driven and an exploration into the daily life of the everyman, muddling through just like the rest of us, trying to find himself or reconcile with his inner demons. I suppose it is the fine art of storytelling, as well as the astute observation of the ordinary while skating between the supernatural and the mundane, that makes Burning Coal's current production of Conor McPherson's THE WEIR so engrossing.

Seeing children at the theater makes me giddy with excitement. Seeing them dressed up in costumes and fully immersed in the experience is a bonus. I'm also a sucker for tradition. So, to say that the Raleigh Little Theatre's 35th annual holiday production of CINDERELLA checked all those boxes and exceeded my expectations would be an understatement. Yes, this production is bustling with local talent, including the charming Lauren Knott (Cinderella), the bewitching Lauren Bamford (Fairy Godmother) and the wickedly witty Elizabeth Quesada (Stepmama). And yes, the show has humor due in part to funny men Timothy Cherry and M. Dennis Poole, who have played opposite each other as Cinderella's stepsisters for over twenty years. But what makes this production truly enchanting is the fact that it has been nurtured with tender loving care by collaborators director Mike McGee, choreographer Jess Barbour, and music director Joanna Li.

Cute costumed kids filed into The Duke Energy Center Thursday night to see Lythgoe Family Panto production of ALADDIN AND HIS WINTER WISH. The show marks the first of a three-year partnership between the Lythgoe family and North Carolina Theatre and the first foray into the Christmas show market for North Carolina Theatre. While this isn't the Disney version of ALADDIN, the story is essentially the same. A street rat with a dream meets a princess, gets trapped in a cave, finds a lamp, meets a Genie, makes a wish, buys a laundromat, makes it snow, and lives happily ever after. And by all accounts, the kids in the audience loved every minute of it.

Raleigh audiences last saw national recording artist Yolanda Rabun play Medda Larkin in the North Carolina Theatre production of NEWSIES last summer. In fact, she has been nominated for a Broadway World Raleigh Award for that performance. On December 12th, she returns to the Raleigh stage to perform in the Theatre Raleigh concert OH WHAT A HOLY NIGHT. Hear what she has to say about singing Christmas music, paying tribute to Nina Simone this summer, and living life on purpose.

Eric Williams grew up watching Christmas movies with his family in St. Louis. In fact, he says it was his family who instilled in him a passion and excitement for the holiday movie genre. And while he likes some of the more traditional classic films, the more recent ones that put a contemporary spin on Christmas are by far his favorites. "They try and tell you what the meaning of Christmas is, but do it in a very fresh and modern way," he says. "The modern sensibility of such an old tradition, it really tickles me and excites me." So, it should be no surprise that the 2003 movie 'Elf' is on Williams' short list of Christmas favorites. But what might be surprising is the fact that it wasn't the Will Ferrell movie that made Williams want to step into Buddy the Elf's green, pointy shoes.  It was the original song "World's Greatest Dad" from the Broadway musical that really spoke to Williams.

It was the kiss seen around the world when the cast of THE PROM took center stage at The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. They performed their finale number, at the end of which the two actresses who play the lesbian couple at the center of the show kissed. It was a first for the parade and a moment that was both celebrated and scorned on social media. For Raleigh native Beth Leavel, who is starring in THE PROM, that finale moment celebrates what this show is all about. 'If you come away with your heart exploring something you didn't' think was possible, wow,' she says. 'Theater is amazing.'

Love is in the air at PlayMakers Repertory Company. That's because the musical romance SHE LOVES ME opened earlier this week at the Paul Green Theatre as a love letter to the Triangle to ring in the holiday season. It's a familiar story, especially to fans of the rom-com film genre. Boy and girl meet through a lonely-hearts club ad and begin corresponding through a series of letters. Little do the pair know that the object of their affection may be someone they already know, perhaps even a coworker at that shop around the corner. Inspired by the 1937 play PARFUMERIE by Miklos Laszlo, SHE LOVES ME opened on Broadway in 1963. Two revivals followed one in 1993 and the other in 2016. The latter revival, starring Laura Benanti, Zachary Levi, Jane Krakowski, and Gavin Creel, broke the Guinness World Record for being the first Broadway show to be live-streamed. If the plot sounds familiar, it just might be because Laszlo's 1937 play also spawned the 1940 Jimmy Stewart film 'The Shop Around the Corner,' the 1949 Judy Garland movie musical 'In the Good Old Summertime,' and the 1998 film, 'You've Got Mail,' starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

Although the Lythgoe family is best known for producing reality television shows like 'So You Think You Can Dance' and 'American Idol,' live theater is in their blood. 'It's more part of my DNA,' says Kris Lythgoe. 'I really grew up surrounded by the tradition and frankly know nothing else.' Lythgoe says that tradition included spending his summers in the orchestra pit watching his mother direct, his winters in the editing suite with his TV dad, Nigel Lythgoe, and his Christmas holidays watching panto productions written and directed by both his parents. 'In Britain, the first introduction to theater is through panto for any child,' he says. 'So, whether or not my parents were in the business, the first introduction to theater and the breaking down of walls is what we call panto for kids.'

BWW Interview: Theatre in the Park's Ira David Wood III Opens Up About Family, His Legacy, Christmas, and Scrooge

Later this month, the Raleigh Little Theatre production of CINDERELLA will take the stage for the 35th time. This time, Mike McGee directs and Lauren Knott returns to the title role. Hear what the pair had to say about the changes to this year's production, carrying on a beloved holiday tradition, and the importance of family productions. CINDERELLA opens November 30th. For more information visit: https://raleighlittletheatre.org/.

At the core of Annie Baker's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, THE FLICK is the juxtaposition between celluloid and digital film projections, art and commercialism, reality and make-believe. But it's more than that. It's a character study of the everyman navigating familial workplace relationships and discerning what is real and what's fake. In the case of the Barlett Theater's production, which opened last weekend, what makes Baker's play about a single-screen theater even more credible, is the fact that it's being presented in a movie theater. Here the audience is positioned with their backs to the screen, facing the multi-leveled, cushy brown seats, where the crux of the action takes place. And it works.

Every so often an offbeat show comes along that's nonsensical and nutty. But not all those shows have the longevity or fandom of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW. The costumed crowd filling the Town of Cary's Booth Amphitheater for the limited run of Theatre Raleigh's production the weekend before Halloween was a testament to that. THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW premiered in London in 1973. After a successful run in Los Angeles in 1974, the show flopped on Broadway and closed after a mere 45 performances. Its fate as a cult-classic was sealed though when the 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' film opened in 1975.

Look at him, he's the 'King of New York! ' North Carolina Theatre audiences may remember New York actor Jason Gotay as Jack Kelly in the North Carolina Theatre production of NEWSIES last summer. Last month, he opened in the off-Broadway world premiere of RENASCENCE at The Transport Theatre Group. Later this month, he returns to the North Carolina Theatre stage as Aladdin in the Lythgoe Panto Production of ALADDIN AND HIS WINTER WISH. Hear what he has to say about playing Jack Kelly, taking on the role of Aladdin in a new story about everyone's favorite street-rat, and the importance of introducing kids to the theater.

For HEAD OVER HEELS' Tanner Ray Wilson, performing on a Broadway stage eight times a week is a far cry from his hometown of Jonesboro, Arkansas. 'My dad is a football coach and a basketball coach and a hunter, like outdoorsman extraordinaire,' he says. 'And he was cool enough for some reason to let his boy go take a dance class.' That one class gave Wilson the confidence to pursue more classes and connect with other teachers, who he says not only helped him grow as an artist but also opened doors for him.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately one in five adults, 43.8 million people, in the United States lives with a mental illness. As a person who has lived with family members suffering from mental illness, I know how a diagnosis of anxiety, or any mood disorder for that matter, can cast a wide net and impact everyone.  I've experienced the heartache of watching a loved one suffer in silence and the helpless desperation of struggling to find the right words, the right cure, or any panacea that might help ease their pain. That's why the North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theatre's (NRACT) production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning show NEXT TO NORMAL hit so close to home for me. It's an unrelenting probe into mental illness through the lens of what appears to be an ordinary, suburban family.

They say the show must go on. Such was the case Saturday night when THE CHOIR OF MAN'S truck broke down and showed up in Durham at 7:10 p.m. for an 8:00 p.m. show. Nevertheless, the cast handled the mishap in true CHOIR OF MAN style, greeting the audience in the lobby while the set was being loaded in, taking selfies, and warming up the crowd. Once the doors to the seating area opened, the cast invited audience members up on stage for a pint and a bit of conversation. Clearly, there is no fourth wall among friends, but do all these pre-show theatrics make for a good show? You bet.

LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron explores the complex relationships women have with their shoes, purses, bras, weight, Madonna, their sisters, and their mothers. Based on the book by Ilene Beckerman, the play opened off-Broadway at the Westside Theater in 2009 after a limited run of staged readings to benefit Dress for Success. It closed The Judson Theatre Company's seventh season last week. The parade of well-known actresses who've performed in LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE reads like a who's who and includes Jane Lynch, Carol Kane, Brooke Shields, Rosie O'Donnell, Tyne Daly, Samantha Bee, Parker Posey, and Kristin Wiig. The Judson Theatre's cast too featured some well-known names, including two-time Emmy Award-winner Sally Struthers, who previously starred in the show at The Geffen Playhouse, Kim Coles, who is best known for her role on 'Living Single,' and stage veteran Joyce Reehling. Rounding out the cast were newcomers Ashley Brooke and Olivia Rose Barresi.

Denis Grindel says he's always been a performer.  After all, he's Irish. It's in his blood. 'I love telling stories,' says Grindel. 'It's a big part of my culture.' 'You grow up hearing stories and legends and song, it's a big part of what being Irish is,' he adds. 'So, it was a natural for me to have a life on the stage.' These days Grindel is traveling around the United States as the narrator with the British import THE CHOIR OF MAN. The show, which is the brainchild of Andrew Kay and Nic Doodson, the creators of GOBSMACKED!, premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland a year and a half ago and has been touring around Europe and Australia ever since. This weekend the group plays the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC).