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BWW Reviews: PLAYHOUSE Gets Serious With THE SEAGULL
Staging a play by Henrik Ibsen or Anton Chekhov poses certain problems for theatre groups. On the one hand, there is a commitment to 'the classics' - and there is an opportunity for actors (especially young ones) to examine their talents and extend them in directions they have not gone before. The '...
BWW Reviews: Theatre Memphis' THE BOY FROM OZ - Sparkles Aren't Just for July 4th
There was a time when it seemed as if any talent contender in a beauty pageant would lay into 'Don't Cry Out Loud' (later, Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' seemed to supplant it). It crept out of every radio station ad nauseum. Its almost iconic 'ear candy' status rendered it cringe-inducing,...
BWW Reviews: GCT's ALL MY SONS (or Waiting for Larry)
The intimate venue at Germantown Community Theatre provides a perfect setting for a drama like Arthur Miller's ALL MY SONS, an early-but-still timely demonstration of Miller's gifts as a playwright - and, as with all of Miller's major works, a veritable feast for actors. Like the later, legendary DE...
BWW Reviews: Theatre Memphis Splits Atoms in COPENHAGEN
Theatre Memphis' Next Stage has girded its loins and taken on the challenge of staging Michael Frayn's dense and difficult COPENHAGEN, and it must have known from the outset that such an esoteric piece will offer rewards to a select audience. The very title itself (though certainly appropriate) is n...
BWW Reviews: Theatre Works Showcases O'Neill
Nothing seems to scare the valiant little troupe Threepenny Theatre Company. What has it got to lose? So what if the budget allows for no more than a perfunctory set? So what if its selection of classics (i.e., MACBETH) hardly has the appeal of a crowd-pleasing musical? Relying on a commitment to qu...
BWW Reviews: THE LION KING Tour Captivates Memphis
It's only fair to start with a confession: I have purposely avoided seeing 'The Lion King' on stage for seventeen years. You see, when the Disney movie came out (1994) I was raising two small children. (If you need further explanation, ask any parent shepherding tots through Frozen Mania.)...
BWW Reviews: Playhouse Does the 'Time Warp' Again
It's an interesting and unintentional coincidence: PETER PAN, which wrapped up Playhouse on the Square's Holiday Season, offered the younger set its first taste of transvestism, with musically gifted actresses alternating in the role of 'Peter' (talk about the incipience of gender confusion); now,...
BWW Reviews: Circuit's BAD JEWS Is Exciting Theatre
While watching Circuit Playhouse's wickedly funny, stimulating production of Joshua Harmon's BAD JEWS, I was briefly reminded of an almost forgotten episode of SEINFELD, in which 'Elaine' clashes with her mutton-loving cousin 'Holly' over Grandma Mima's missing napkins (actually used by 'Jerry' to h...
BWW Reviews: Theatre Memphis Spikes the Eggnog with A CHRISTMAS CAROL
As my hand was turning to mincemeat while writing personal notes in Christmas card after Christmas card, I persevered, knowing that at the end of my travails there would be a reward: A much anticipated performance of Theatre Memphis' annual 'gift' to Memphis, Charles Dickens' venerable A CHRISTMAS C...
BWW Reviews: Playhouse Has a Right to 'Crow' About PETER PAN
Having witnessed the stultifying, bloated NBC production of PETER PAN LIVE (what were the 'powers that be' thinking would hold a child's attention span for three hours, however padded with yet more Peter Pan plugs from Walmart?), I was reluctant to attend Playhouse on the Square's annual production ...
BWW Reviews: A CHRISTMAS STORY, THE MUSICAL Redefines The Ghost of Christmas Past
This exuberant stage production is like a Norman Rockwell painting brought to life. Set in Hohman, Indiana in 1940, raconteur, Jean Shepherd (Chris Carsten) reminiscences about nine-year-old Ralphie's quest for an official Red Ryder, Carbine-Action, 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle B-B gun....
BWW Reviews: Theatre Memphis Dusts Off TINTYPES
Not too many seasons back, at Theatre Works I saw a charming review of turn-of-the-century musical numbers (by the likes of Irving Berlin and others) entitled SIMPLE MELODIES. The songs were rendered by a small but talented ensemble, and I so enjoyed it that I returned more than once - basically, be...
BWW Reviews: The Orpheum Thinks ONCE Is Not Enough
Despite the fact that I am a great lover of cinema, the film version of ONCE (2006) somehow eluded me; now, the musical stage adaptation, with music by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova and a book by Enda Walsh, is affording Memphians an 'off season' 'pub crawl' at the historic Orpheum Theatre - and ...
BWW Reviews: Voices of the South Goes the DISTANCE
If anyone ever told me that, on a Saturday night, I would be watching a play about an elderly woman suffering from the horrors of Alzheimer's Disease, I would question that person's sanity. However, having 'sung the praises' of actor/playwright Jerre Dye on more than one occasion, and having read a ...
BWW Reviews: Theatre Memphis Spit-Polishes THE HEIRESS
THE HEIRESS, Ruth and Augustus Goetz's 1947 adaptation of Henry James' WASHINGTON SQUARE and currently occupying the Lohrey Stage at Theatre Memphis, has had a long and steady run on stages throughout the world - and why not? Tightly corseted, polite to a fault, and observing proprieties, this intel...
BWW Reviews: Circuit Playhouse Remembers THE FANTASTICKS
Just a few weeks ago I was dodging a falling chandelier at the Orpheum's staging of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA; at the 'Phantom Event' held prior to the play, I was reminded of all the physical (as well as fiscal) requirements for properly staging this production. I kept thinking, 'How many small, financi...
BWW Reviews: Playhouse Offers ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS - and Numerous Laughs
With its emphasis on improvisation, stock characters, and a genial carnival atmosphere, the Commedia dell' arte (dating back as early as the 16th century) has never had much appeal to me; I generally find the productions thumb-twiddling after a while. I certainly had my reservations about Playhouse ...
BWW Reviews: 'Don't Sit Under the Chandelier with Anyone Else But Me' - PHANTOM Haunts the Orpheum
When Gaston Leroux published THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA back in 1911, little did he realize the numerous chandeliers that would come crashing down through the decades, and I've witnessed a good number of them. First, in 1925, there was 'the Man of a Thousand Faces,' Lon Chaney, Sr., who frightened poo...
BWW Reviews: MEMBER OF THE WEDDING Has Reception on Theatre Memphis' Next Stage
Following the recent triumph of the musical THE ADDAMS FAMILY, and nestled quietly in the more intimate setting of Theatre Memphis' Next Stage, Carson McCullers' touching THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING offers yet another 'Addams Family.' This time, however, the trio of performers who dominate the play - ...
BWW Reviews: Theatre Memphis Nudges Us to Buy Halloween Candy Early with THE ADDAMS FAMILY
There's Nothing Dead About Theatre Memphis' Ghoulishly Delightful Production of THE ADDAMS FAMILY...
BWW Reviews: BEST OF ENEMIES Enlightens as It Entertains
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Circuit Playhouse's production of Mark St. Germain's BEST OF ENEMIES - a civics lesson or an evening at the theatre. As I settled into my seat and gazed at the essentially bare set (a few platforms and chairs), I listened to bits and snatches of speeches and r...
BWW Reviews: MARY POPPINS' Umbrella Soars at Playhouse
The lessons of MARY POPPINS are made more palatable by those spoonfuls of sugar....
BWW Reviews: Hattiloo Goes to Haiti for ONCE ON THIS ISLAND
Hattiloo Theatre, the shiny 'new kid on the block' in the midtown theatre district of Memphis, has shed its 'ugly duckling' feathers and suddenly become a sleek swan; no longer limited in facilities and seating, it has taken exotic flight with a fanciful musical staging of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Fl...
BWW Reviews: POTS at The Works Series Takes a Giant Step with 4000 MILES
Amy Herzog's family drama (albeit a drama with a number of very funny moments) 4000 MILES is unobtrusively generating a thoughtful, low-key alternative to the outsized HAIRSPRAY (already a sellout at 'Big Sister' Playhouse on the Square just a block or so away); and it's a safe bet that a number of ...
Videos
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Primary Trust Circuit Playhouse (5/08-5/31) |
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The Dreamboats Graceland Soundstage (7/03-7/03) |
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Edwin McCain and Five For Fighting Graceland Soundstage (6/05-6/05) |
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Elmiene Graceland Soundstage (7/17-7/17) |
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Suffs The Orpheum Theatre Memphis (7/28-8/02) |
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Sweeney Todd Playhouse on the Square (6/12-7/12) |
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Gladys Knight Graceland Soundstage (6/19-6/19) |
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Titanic Department of Theatre and Dance, University of Memphis (4/22-4/25) |
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Buddy Guy Graceland Soundstage (10/29-10/29) |
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Leanne Morgan Thompson Boling Arena (12/12-12/12) |
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