Paul Batterson - Page 3

What did our critic think of ORIGINAL PRODUCTION THEATRE'S BACK TALK at Abbey Theater Of Dublin? OPT found a small but powerful quartet of actors to bring Ackerman’s script to life.

“You have to prepare your soul and clear your mind as you’re getting ready to go on. I ask myself, ‘why are you sending this message?’ and ‘what does the message mean to you today?’ every day before I go out on stage.” Mary Mulovhedzi

Jimmy Mak, the head writer for the Shadowbox Live! theater troupe, isn’t one to throw an idea away. The Mak-penned “Cereal Killers” is one of eight new sketches in Shadowbox Live’s Halloween-themed FREAK SHOW, performed 7:30 p.m.

What makes this show click is its attention to detail. DelMonte said he wanted to make IN THE LAND OF OZ “theatre beyond four walls.” Project coordinator Maya Eberhardt, experience coordinator Bessie D. Smith, and project manager Brian Altiere make sure the audience’s journey is crammed with visual elements on every corner and keeps the audience moving in a steady pace.

“We all have voices in our heads. Even the people who say they don't have (that inner voice), have one. You have these little suggestions you get from somewhere that aren’t from you. In BACKTALK, we have a double love story between our inner life and our buttoned up life, and that plays out on stage.” --Rob Ackerman

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.