Review: WHO'S HOLIDAY! at Castle Craig Players
A comedy with a twist of rhyme
Two weeks before Christmas my wife and I'd go
To Meriden to see a phenomenal show
The Castle Craig Players have done it again
At the Memorial Playhouse of Almira F. Stephan
A first rate performance we highly enjoyed
With Dr. Seuss characters this show has toyed
A sequel twist makes this story new
It is the tale of an all grown up Who
I don't mean the group known for "My Generation"
Nor the source of Lou Costello's frustration
I mean Cindy Lou Who, the girl in pink pajamas
Who's life turns would mortify the Who mamas
Matthew Lombardo has written this well
It is Cindy Lou's perspective, that this play would tell
Oliver Kochol directs, yet not by himself
But with Ian Galligan, once Crumpet the Elf
This one woman show is an outstanding play
Showcasing the talents of Kelly Boucher
With great acting and singing, she kept our attention
She knew what to share and what words not to mention
With comedy and drama she makes us all feel
As if Cindy Lou's emotions and feelings are real
Cindy Lou recaps when she was a child
But as she grew up, her life got quite wild
She tells of her growing friendship with the Grinch
Who closer and closer to her heart he'd inch
It was on the birthday that she turned eighteen
That the Grinch showed his intent was obscene
When she married the Grinch, her life went downhill
She was ostracized from her life in Whoville
Making wise choices would soon be elusive
Her husband, the Grinch, became so abusive
What happens to Max, the dog is quite gory
But I won't reveal the rest of the story
The stunning set makes the quality of this show even higher
Built by Mark Laucella, Stanley Dewalt, and Bill Westermeyer
Michael Sottile works wonders with arrangements and score
"Blue Christmas" sounds more somber than ever before
For the production photos you see up there
The photography credit goes to Kevin McNair
I highly recommend, you see the show, too
But keep the kids home, I'm warning you
For all you gentlemen and all you ladies
This show crosses lines, like movies in the eighties
With language and content that can be quite shocking
And some parts some cultures may find to be mocking
The fourth wall gets broken so be quite prepared
Don't sit up in front if that makes you scared
The show plans to run through the 18th of December
Your masks and vaccination cards, you should remember
So please come see WHO'S HOLIDAY! and hear some great rhymes
You can click here for tickets and times
From This Author - Sean Fallon
Review: THE UGLY DUCKLING at Downtown Cabaret TheatreJanuary 8, 2023
This comedic musical stage adaptation of a classic children’s story has been brilliantly written and directed by Andrea Pane, who also performs in it, showing that in addition to his already well established versatile first-rate acting, he is also phenomenally gifted as a playwright and as a director.
Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL EXPERIENCE at Fairfield Center StageDecember 11, 2022
On Saturday, December 10, at 8:00 PM, I had the pleasure of seeing one of my absolute favorite annual shows, A CHRISTMAS CAROL EXPERIENCE, as put on by Fairfield Center Stage. This annual production is easily the show that I talk up the most frequently during the year, every year. I am also excited that it has returned to the Burr Mansion, where it originally was performed, and where I feel it fits the best! Fairfield Center Stage has successfully repeated the groundbreaking excellence that I experienced for the first time back on December 22 of 2018. This is a show I have subsequently enjoyed every year since then!
Review: EVERY CHRISTMAS STORY EVER TOLD at Castle Craig PlayersDecember 4, 2022
On Saturday, December 3, 2022, I had the pleasure of seeing EVERY CHRISTMAS STORY EVER TOLD, which is easily the funniest stage comedy I have seen in the last three years! It is yet another first-rate Christmas comedy production performed by the Castle Craig Players at the Almira F. Stephan Memorial Playhouse in Meriden, CT. EVERY CHRISTMAS STORY EVER TOLD is a hilarious satirical farce written by Michael Carleton, James Fitzgerald, and John K. Alvarez. It is brilliantly directed by Bobby and Carleigh Schultz. It stars the highly talented trio of Chris Brooks, Rick Bennett, and Bobby Schultz.
Review: CALIFORNIA SUITE at Castle Craig PlayersOctober 16, 2022
On Saturday, October 15, 2022, I had the pleasure of seeing Neil Simon’s CALIFORNIA SUITE as performed by the Castle Craig Players at the Almira F. Stephan Memorial Playhouse in Meriden, CT. CALIFORNIA SUITE is different from a typical Neil Simon play in that rather than being one continuous story, it is four separate playlets that have three things in common: location, location, and location. Some audience members may be familiar with this concept in that it was used in A.R. Gurney’s The Dining Room. In CALIFORNIA SUITE, the location is not a dining room, but in Suite 203 & 204 in the Beverly Hills Hotel, a hotel that incidentally has lousy room service, but an entertaining cleaning staff.
Review: THE EXONERATED at Ridgefield Theater BarnSeptember 8, 2022
On Thursday, September 8th, I had the pleasure of seeing THE EXONERATED at The Ridgefield Theater Barn, in Ridgefield, CT. This show is amazing, based on true stories, and sends some deeply impacting messages that touch the emotions to the core, in a good way. It opens awareness in the minds of the audience, about things not always being as they seem, and people not always being who they may appear to be.
