JEWISH REPERTORY THEATRE OF WNY

by Michael Rabice - April 10, 2024

Guilty as charged. I openly admit I really enjoy the ABBA musical, MAMMA MIA! There is a time and place for all kinds of entertainment, and the birth of the jukebox musical can almost certainly be attributed to kind of show MAMMA MIA has become. Now 25 years after it's opening, the national tour tha...

by Michael Rabice - March 11, 2024

A breakdown of  union labor relations, abuse in the workplace and  demands for higher wages surely doesn't sound like the stuff of musical comedy. Unless you're speaking of the classic 1954 musical THE PAJAMA GAME, now playing at the Lancaster Opera House. ...

by Michael Rabice - March 04, 2024

Eavesdropping, snooping or just morbid curiosity seemed to be the scene set in Harold Pinter's play BETRAYAL now playing in a riveting production at Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre. The playgoer sits on the sidelines, witnessing a deeply personal story of three  broken people, best kept behind clo...

by Michael Rabice - February 23, 2024

It's not often that  a horror story or the supernatural takes to the stage, so when a comedy turns dark, you know you're in for a night of the unknown. Ike Holter's play THE LIGHT FANTASTIC is full of surprises, twists and turns that kept the opening night audience engrossed in Road Less Traveled Pr...

by Michael Rabice - February 14, 2024

Funny. In 1964 a newcomer named Barbra Streisand was the third or fourth choice  to take on the role of Fanny Brice in the new Jule Styne musical FUNNY GIRL. The result catapulted a gawky Jewish girl from Brooklyn to superstar status. And the musical has never been revived again on Broadway. ...

by Michael Rabice - December 19, 2023

That famed comic strip red head Little Orphan Annie has returned to town just in time to celebrate Christmas in Buffalo. Charles Strouse's blockbuster musical ANNIE is touring the country again and the show will play at Shea's through December 23rd....

by Michael Rabice - December 08, 2023

Buffalo's Revelation Theatre has chosen a intriguing piece of theatrical performance art in presenting the one woman play AIR HEART. The 65 minute show examines the life of Amelia Earhart, leading to her disappearance while on her famed  flight over the Pacific Ocean in 1937....

by Michael Rabice - November 27, 2023

The golden age of Broadway found lilting infectious melodies melding with captivating, if often whimsical stories. Lerner and Loewe's 1947 BRIGADOON ticked all the boxes in a world fresh off of World War II. The Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake has revived it's 2019 production and this version s...

by Michael Rabice - November 20, 2023

As the audience grew restless awaiting the start of the play, the near twenty minute delay had me wondering if there would even be a production. Luckily, the play started and the wait, though unexplained, was worth it. Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre's production of Athol Fugard's riveting 'MASTER...

by Michael Rabice - November 17, 2023

How an American dream ends up as an American tragedy pretty much sums up the gut wrenching production of ALL MY SONS now playing at Road Less Traveled Theater. Arthur Miller's 1947 classic immerses the audience is post World War II Americana, where the pangs of the war are still felt and a quest for...