DELAWARE THEATER REVIEWS

What did our critic think of THE PRODUCERS - A MEL BROOKS MUSICAL at The Candlelight Theatre?...

Disney’s The Little Mermaid, loosely based on the fairytale of Hans Christian Andersen, tells the simple story of the beautiful young mermaid, Ariel, and her longing to leave her ocean home and live in the world above with humans....

City Theatre Company’s CHICAGO was met with a warm audience response on opening night—and deservedly so. Now celebrating its 32nd year, CTC has long occupied a vital place in Delaware’s theatrical landscape, with current Artistic Director Kerri Kristine McElrone integral to the company since i...

Aisle Say is really dating himself as he references Laurel and Hardy’s MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS. It must have been 1953 on Christmas Day when I first saw it on our black and white Mortorola. I still believed. I was mesmerized. Each Christmas Day for many years I looked forward to it. That movi...

It’s the same thinking every year. You tell yourself, this year the holidays will be different. But, the days fly by and before you know it – BAM! – Thanksgiving is two days away and Christmas is just around the corner. You start to get a little panicked. So much to do, so little time. It’s ...

Ragtime, like the mega-musicals of the late 1990s (Les Mis, Phantom, Miss Saigon), is epic in scope. Candlelight’s staging, running through October 26, is a monumental success — vocally, visually, and emotionally....

In four decades of sitting in darkened houses across Delaware and Pennsylvania, Aisle Say has seen hundreds of productions come and go. Some amuse, some delight, many entertain. But every now and then, a community theatre dares to reach beyond the comfort of Moon Over Buffalon, Noises Off–style cr...

Candlelight Music Theatre’s summer production of Escape to Margaritaville offers audiences an irresistible tropical vacation without ever leaving Ardentown....

Wilmington Drama League has mounted a joyous and exuberant Hairspray, a dazzling production before a sold-out audience. A joker smile was plastered on my face from first note to last. Post show, it took 2 double vodka tonics to look normal....

Delaware Theatre Company’s latest production, Stompin’ at the Savoy, bursts onto the stage with heart, harmony, and a whole lot of swing. Check here for more information. ...

Resident Ensemble Players’ King Lear is not a safe, reverential staging—it is a bold, bracing confrontation with one of Shakespeare’s most devastating works. Tt is a production that does what great theatre should: it wounds, it awakens, and it leaves us changed....

I HATE HAMLET by Paul Rudnick is cute, silly little nod to all you theater nerds. Rudnick wrote I HATE HAMLET in the early ‘90s, while living in the very same New York apartment which housed John Barrymore before he began performing his legendary Hamlet uptown. Rudnick believed the place provided ...

What did our critic think of BRIGHT STAOver recent years, Candlelight has taken a few risks on mainstage shows. Aisle Say had never heard of BIG FISH. It was a stunner with electric choreography and an inspiring, uplisting story; analogous to the current running BRIGHT STAR.R at Candlelight Music Th...

The Wilmington Drama League has done it again, delivering a production that is equal parts gut-busting comedy and deeply moving storytelling. THE FULL MONTY, with its mix of raucous humor, tender moments, and an unforgettable finale, is no small undertaking—but under the confident direction of Liz...

Aisle Say is a history junkie. In fact, he wrote an historical novel, ALEXEI and The Mad Monk RASPUTIN. Historical novelists adhere religiously to the facts. With a novel the author inserts fictional characters....

Even with a sentimental attachment (more on that later), Aisle Say had not visited Wilmington Drama League for years. I reviewed FREAKY FRIDAY, starring the luminous Becky Kotsifas and antenna then sprung from my ears. Next came KINKY BOOTS (starring Catherine Callahan, who is the titular star pres...

City Theatre remains true to its mission with a stunning, joyous, provocative rock n roll SPRING AWAKENING. This story ain’t OKLAHOMA!, wherein the greatest tension was who was going to take Laurey to the Box Social. Or is it anywhere akin to MARY POPPINS, the fantastic and fantastical show I saw ...

Delaware Theatre Company serves up a frothy confection of a Christmas juke box musical in HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS -IN THE 302. Juke box refers to the likes of MAMMA MIA, JERSEY BOYS Sand BEAUTIFUL: The Carol King Musical. They are popular for people enjoy hearing the tunes they’re already familiar w...

Aisle Say didn’t have enormous expectations for “Holiday Inn”, mostly because I have zero expectations for society in general right now. Happily, Candlelight abandoned their normal “Christmas by Candlelight” (a grab bag of seasonal ‘heartwarming’ songs). Two words you will never read i...

The curriculum vitae of Tom Stoppard is staggering. 1964’s “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” brought him initial fame in the theatre world. Prolific does not do the man justice. In every theatrical/writing genre he has excelled. Tony Awards, Academy Awards and every other conceivable one...

Aisle Say has watched professional wresting for decades. Theatre people love both larger than life characters and drama. Think Randy “The Macho Man” Savage, his gfriend Elizabeth, the Hulkster, Ric Flair and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, et al....

Aisle Say began reviewing UD REP - Resident Ensemble Players – in a campus gym, long before the capacious and elegant Roselle Center for the Arts became a reality. I was always struck with their overarching quality of both acting and tech. In many reviews called them the pre-eminent acting company...

We all love Dolly. She wrote all the songs for 9 to 5. On Broadway, the musical had a short life, as did attempts on London’s West End. UK tours and those in Australia met a quick demise. Plan B: license to regional theatres. The show’s producers added a vid with Dolly herself at opening curtain...

Aisle Say was never a Stephen King fan. ‘Horror and Supernatural’. ‘Fear and Psychological Terror’. ‘Coming of Age’. I’ve experienced a ‘come to Jesus” moment. 180 degrees. I had written an historical novel, ALEXEI and The Mad Monk RASPUTIN and given the opportunity for a book si...

Aisle Say cannot imagine any veteran of community theatre who does not some relationship with THE FANTASTICKS; who does not look on the show with fondness and a sense of nostalgia. The original 1960 off-Broadway production closed in 2002 with 17,000 performances and revived from 2006 to 2017. There ...