Nicole Ackman - Page 2

You could still smell the new paint in the newly refurbished theater during the opening night of Theatre Raleigh’s CITY OF ANGELS. It’s fitting that director and choreographer Lauren Kennedy Brady was fulfilling a dream of bringing this production to life while also debuting the company’s new theater.

Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s classic 1960 novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD opened on Broadway in 2018. (Yes, that Aaron Sorkin). Directed by Bartlett Sher, the play transports the audience to Alabama in 1934, where Atticus Finch is representing a Black man falsely accused of sexual assault.

When JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR first premiered in 1972, it was banned by the BBC for being “sacrilegious.” The musical, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, imagines the last week in the life of Jesus Christ in the form of a sung-through rock opera. The tour currently at DPAC plays into the rock side of the musical. 

Raleigh Little Theatre’s production of IN THE HEIGHTS was initially announced in February 2020, just before the Coronavirus pandemic shut down theaters across the country. So it’s a joy to finally see it make its way to the stage in June 2022. Directed by Patrick Torres, the story of Washington Heights is brought to life by talented local Latinx community members.

Read our critic's review. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical remains every bit as engaging and innovative today as it was seven years ago. Under Thomas Kail’s direction, the show is one of the most unique to have made it big on Broadway.

On Wednesday night, I got to attend the Triangle Rising Star Awards at DPAC. They are part of the National High School Musical Theater Awards, also known as the Jimmy Awards, which celebrate achievement in high school musical theatre. After the ceremony, I got to chat with the Best Actor and Best Actress winners Joshua Thompson and Symoné Spencer.

From the moment that the ceremony started with an upbeat rendition of “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from HAIRSPRAY by the twenty finalists, it was clear that the 2022 Triangle Rising Star Awards was going to be something special.

Read our critic's review: When the film “Pretty Woman” first came out, its narrative didn’t feel as tired. The Cinderella story of sorts follows prostitute Vivian Ward who wealthy businessman Edward Lewis hires to be his escort to business functions for a week. In 2022, with a modern audience, it’s harder to sell that romance, and the gender politics are harder to stomach.

This is not your grandparents’ OKLAHOMA. During intermission, I heard one woman ask another, “Is this the Oklahoma you remember?” and it’s certainly not. If you’ve ever found the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic musical boring or problematic, then this is the revival for you.

When a musical makes as much of an impact on Broadway as HADESTOWN did when it first premiered, the first national tour cast has a lot to live up to. Luckily, the tour of HADESTOWN manages to recapture all of the magic that the show had on Broadway, with a stellar cast stepping into the roles.

If you’re looking for something festive to do with the family, the national tour of A CHRISTMAS STORY is a fun option. The musical brings the beloved 1983 film to life onstage with music by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. While the musical exposes the weakness of the plot of the film, the talented cast make it entertaining nonetheless. 

ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE surely features the most Hawaiian print clothing that has ever graced the stage of DPAC. Especially as the weather has turned colder recently, it is just what it promises: an escape to a warm climate full of singing, dancing, and tequila. 

“Singing has always been the best part of living for me,” Billie Holiday tells the audience in North Carolina Theatre’s new production of LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL. Angela Robinson plays singer Billie Holiday and Nygel Robsinon plays her pianist Jimmy Powers at NCT, under the direction of Jarvis Green.

Jarvis Green is the director and music director of North Carolina Theatre’s Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. This play with music explores events in the life of American singer Billie Holiday. Jarvis is the Founding Artistic Director of JAG Productions.

THE BAND’S VISIT is an incredibly gentle, but very human musical about a band of Egyptian musicians who end up stranded in a small Israeli town. It’s a show about unlikely connections as we see the Arab musicians bond with those in the small town.

“Am I just like you?” Alison Bechdel questions, looking back on her father after his death in Theatre Raleigh’s latest show, FUN HOME. The musical has music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron. It’s based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel and Bechdel herself is the main character of the piece.

“A new world calls across the ocean,” is the first line of Jason Robert Brown’s SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD. It’s a familiar feeling in 2021, as we all try to navigate what our world looks like now as we move out of quarantine and into a new stage of the pandemic.

Krystina Alabado is playing Woman 1 in North Carolina Theatre’s SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD. This sung-through show by Jason Robert Brown explores themes of new beginnings and evolutions. Alabado was last seen onstage in Broadway’s MEAN GIRLS, playing Gretchen Wieners.

“Blood Done Sign My Name” is an unfortunately timely show that recounts a racially-motivated act of violence committed in Oxford, North Carolina in 1970. The adaptation of Tim Tyson’s book of the same name is written and performed by Mike Wiley. It delves not only into the incident, but also looks at the civil rights actions that unfolded after.

“I love ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ I love it so much, I’m gonna do it for you all by myself,” the narrator tells the audience at the top of THIS WONDERFUL LIFE. This one-woman play is an adaptation of the classic Christmas film “It’s A Wonderful Life” and Amy White Pridgen brings plenty of enthusiasm and pluck.