Paul Batterson - Page 3

Perhaps no one is more surprised Steve Hackett is doing a retrospective on THE LAMB 50 years after the fact than the guitarist himself. THE LAMB was ranked in the top ten of Rolling Stone magazine’s top 50 progressive rock albums of all time. The BBC called it a “conceptual masterpiece.” Hackett has another word for it: an anomaly.

Colin Hay, who will perform an acoustic show Nov. 2 at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main Street in downtown Columbus), disagrees with the assessment, but the former Men at Work frontman is a man of misperceptions. For example:

What did our critic think of PIFF THE MAGIC DRAGON'S VEGAS ALL-STARS TOUR at Southern Theatre?

In the Contemporary Theatre of Ohio production ALICE BY HEART, Alice Spencer (Elise Parks) finds herself in an air raid shelter with her best friend Alfred Hallam (Ethan Zink) as the German Luftwaffe bombard London during the Blitz in World War II. To comfort Alfred, who is dying of tuberculosis, Alice tries to tell him their favorite story, Lewis Carrol’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND, from memory after her copy of the book is destroyed.

What did our critic think of AMERICAN IDIOT at At Short North Stage? In Short North Stage’s production of AMERICAN IDIOT, everything isn’t meant to be okay. The characters are disappointed, disillusioned, and defiant, and their story is depressing, dark, and disturbing.

Over the last 65 years, The Second City improv and sketch comedy school has built itself into one of the premiere comedic factories of its kind. Lorne Michaels, the creator of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, seems to draw the majority of the show’s talent from three primary sources: Second City (Chicago, New York, and Toronto), the Groundlings (primarily of Los Angeles) and the Upright Citizens Brigade (NYC).

Before he takes the stage as a part of the Second City’s 65th Anniversary Show Sept. 4 at the Southern Theatre (21 East Main Street in downtown Columbus), Rich Alfonso will go through the same ritual he always does as he prepares to perform.

After years of striving to build the Abbey Theater of Dublin into one of the more respected theaters in Columbus, director supervisor Joe Bishara put on a disaster of a musical.

Superman has his cape. The Lone Ranger has his mask. And John van der Put has a spikey green felt dragon costume. Yet once he slides into his outfit, he transforms from van der Put to Piff the Magic Dragon. The Las Vegas headliner will bring his magic show to town Sept. 10 at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main Street in downtown Columbus).

Although it is mainly known for its mass production of the Bible, Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press was also responsible for the mass distribution of Greek myths and texts to spark the age of enlightenment.

Everyone should have a way of expressing themselves. Some sing. Some shout. Some curse.

The June 9 performance of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s epic musical HAMILTON may have opened under a cloud of disappointment at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State Street in downtown Columbus). Before the opening curtain, theatergoers learned the roles of Aaron Burr and Angelica Schuyler, two of the lynch pins in the sweeping story of Revolutionary War America, were to be played by understudies Hosea Mundi and Alexandrea Reynolds respectively. Jorge Guerra (Sam Seabury) and Kevin Murakami (Charles Lee) were also understudies who played in the June 9 performance.

Like many young actors and performers, A.D. Weaver moved to New York City because of the entertainment industry. What’s different about Weaver’s story is he bit into the Big Apple to get away from Broadway instead of running towards it.

Brooke Jacob is the first to admit her storyline is a bit unusual in the Short North Stage’s production of WAITRESS, which runs July 10-Aug. 10 at the Garden Theatre.

Playwright Herb Brown faces an uphill battle in his play, You're My Boy when trying to give audiences at the Abbey Theater of Dublin (5600 Post Road in Dublin, Ohio) a “better understanding” of Richard Milhouse Nixon.

What did our critic think of MILLENNIUM at Shadowbox Live!?

Chances are Seth Weetis, the anagram-obsessed friend in KIMBERLY AKIMBO, would have a field day with the show’s title. The two-act musical opened June 3 and runs through June 8 at the Ohio Theatre.

As we (Millennials) have all entered our 30s and 40s, we’ve stopped caring about what people think is cool and we dive into whatever we want. We aren't embarrassed by ourselves anymore.” Ash Davis, co-writer of MILLENNIUM

“The great thing about this character is she's so positive. She really has such a great outlook on life, much, much better than I have in real life. I can learn a lot from the way she's written.” Carolee Carmello on her character Kimberly Akimbo

Although the cast took a wrecking ball to the fourth wall separating the audience from the actors and the show within a show is intentionally light on plot, The Drowsy Chaperone serves up a cocktail that is two shots of Golden Age musicals, a jigger of acerbic wit, three parts parody, and a half ounce of honesty.