Fo'i Meleah News

We surely needed theatre as a tonic for the horrors that defined 2016; here are the best of the best shows in the Bay Area.

The leading ladies sing their hearts out in this incredibly dark, hard rockin' musical treat.

Jobsite and the Straz Center have added a final performance to the run of LIZZIE, providing one more opportunity to experience this unique rock musical that is blowing Tampa Bay audiences away. The Drama Desk Award-nominated LIZZIE, taking the nation by storm in over a dozen licensed productions, will now conclude its run with an 8pm show on Sun., Nov. 6, in the Jaeb Theater at the Straz Center where Jobsite is resident theater company.

MNM Productions today announced that its production of the world's favorite tribal rock musical HAIR will open this Today evening at the Kravis Center's Rinker Playhouse. The show will run for 20 performances May 20-June 5 and feature a multi-talented 22-person cast including such highly acclaimed veterans of numerous South Florida stages as Mike Westrich (George Berger), Michael Scott Ross (Claude), Alexa Baray (Sheila), Fo'i Meleah (Dionne) and Elijah Word (Hud). Scroll down for a sneak peek at the company in costume!

MNM Productions today announced that its production of the world's favorite tribal rock musical HAIR will open this Friday evening at the Kravis Center's Rinker Playhouse. The show will run for 20 performances May 20-June 5 and feature a multi-talented 22-person cast including such highly acclaimed veterans of numerous South Florida stages as Mike Westrich (George Berger), Michael Scott Ross (Claude), Alexa Baray (Sheila), Fo'i Meleah (Dionne) and Elijah Word (Hud). Scroll down for a sneak peek at the company in costume!

We've all heard the saying, 'They don't make 'em like they used to.' Now, thanks to Theatre UCF's REELING, running through February 28th, they actually do still make 'em like they used to, complete with banana peels, pratfalls, and not a single spoken word. This one-of-a-kind play recreates the zany charms and enthusiastic silliness of the classic silent films of Buster Keaton. Written by Barry Kornhauser, REELING features an original, era-appropriate soundtrack by Michael Koerner that underscores all of the madcap action. While REELING won't make you forget the brilliance of Keaton, Fatty Arbuckle, or Charlie Chaplin, it will make you nostalgic for a time when there was no greater revenge than a pie in the face.

What could be more exciting than a stage full of musical theatre students performing the roles they dream to play in the decade that lies ahead? Answer: Absolutely nothing.  I was one of the fortunate audience members to share in the experience of night two of the Dream Roles Concert, performed by the UCF BFA Musical Theatre Senior Class (with half the class performing on December 12 and the other half on December 13). From the opening medley to the finale, all of the students had stars in their eyes and a fire in their hearts.  UCF is known for attracting impressive talent and I can only imagine the pride felt by the staff, family and friends in the audience. I only wish I'd witnessed night one to have captured the complete essence of the pseudo recital.

UCF Cares: The Journey in cooperation with Theatre UCF is the second annual cabaret benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and will be performed one night only on October 30th at 7 PM in the Visual Arts Building Auditorium on UCF's campus.

Since its Off-Broadway debut in 1967, HAIR has become a touchstone for musical theatre fans with a fondness for the decade's counter-culture revolution. Having won both a Tony and a Grammy, there is no doubt that this musical, which defies nearly every theatrical convention, has become as important a part of the genre's cannon as any of the Golden Age's classics. However, it is a show that I have just never 'got.' Perhaps I am too square to appreciate the flower-power sensibility, or too straight-laced to understand the era of psychedelic drugs and free love. Nonetheless, the score by Galt MacDermot (music) and James Rado and Gerome Ragni (lyrics) contains some of the theatre's best 'rock' songs with pop cross-overs 'Aquarius,' 'Good Morning Starshine,' and 'Let the Sunshine In.' Theatre UCF's production of 'The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical,' which runs through October 25th, might not have been able to make me appreciate the show's trippy conceit, but it did confirm that the program has just as much talent as nearly any of Central Florida's professional theatres.

If you've ever seen a show on Broadway or even professional companies touring nationally, you may have hear a curtain call speech requesting donations for a charity called Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. This non-profit group uses the funds to help those suffering from HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS affects people across the nation and that fact was not lost on UCF Senior Gabe Friedman. Gabe and other UCF students are hosting a fundraiser cabaret on October 30th to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Below, Gabe discusses with Broadway World what he's been up to and a little more about this fundraiser.

UCF Cares: The Journey in cooperation with Theatre UCF is the second annual cabaret benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and will be performed one night only on October 30th at 7 PM in the Visual Arts Building Auditorium on UCF's campus.

It's inevitable, like enjoying UCF's hypnotic production, that you'll come face to face with Her kiss. Aurora is her name and playing the dance of death is her game. All I can say is, 'Sorry' to those of you that missed out on UCF's KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN.