Paul Batterson - Page 4

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.

Jerry Harrison doesn’t have too many regrets in his musical career. The Talking Heads’ keyboardist, who was in town to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band’s landmark film STOP MAKING SENSE May 4 at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main Street in downtown Columbus), is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with his bandmates in 2002 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 2021.

“I'll tell you what it is. It happens because of the audience,” Iris said in an interview with BroadwayWorld.com in April. “The audience is there with you, you know what I mean? The joy we give them, they give it back to us. We just keep going back and forth with them and it’s a wonderful thing. It really is.”

'It’s full of satire, especially of the musicals of the 1920s before they had figured out story structure, character development, or basically anything else Rodgers and Hammerstein figured out in OKLAHOMA.' Jeremy Blaustein

However, the audience can deduct the pair didn’t make it from the first line of the show’s opening number “Still Hurting” – Jamie is over and Jamie is gone/ Jamie's decided it's time to move on. Although they know the heart ache is coming, the audience can’t turn away from it.

The stellar cast accommodates theater goers on both sides of the Diamond spectrum and by the end of the two-act musical the average music fan will be surprised by how many Diamond songs he or she knows by heart and how good some of those songs truly are.

Noted reviewer Leonard Maltin gave STOP MAKING SENSE four out of four stars and called it  one of the best concert films. The staging was ambitious: set pieces float in and out of the frame while screens project random images and words behind the band.