Ramrod News

What did our critic think of MARY POPPINS at Broadway Palm?

Anemoia Films will present world premiere of 'You Can't Disappear In Studio City', our brand new summer main stage original play in two acts by Chris Haas.

The summer institution's season opener effortlessly blends the two genres the venue is most famous for.

Les Miserables returned to Indianapolis, again, in excellent fasion, propagating its underlying message that theater can suppress the multitudes. It can be ambitious and weighty, thematically sacred, and blatantly tear-jerking.

Directed by J. Paul Nicholas and starring Abdul Sesay and Angela Bey, The Light centers on the hot-and-cold engagement night of two youngish Chicagoans as they wind up reliving their romantic pinnacles alongside their separate, secreted traumas around sexual assault.

MY LORD, WHAT A NIGHT at Ford's Theatre is a fascinating story of a surprising friendship developing at a critical time in history. We don’t see the characters as mythological beings in this production, thanks to the expert cast we are drawn to the approachable – very human – personal stakes, strong bonds and real concerns that compel action.

The Warner Stage Company will hold auditions for a Main Stage musical production of JEKYLL & HYDEon Sunday, November 3, 2019 and Monday, November 4, 2019by appointment. The production is co-directed by Keith Paul & Sharon W. Houk with music director Holly J. McCann and choreographer Peggy Terhune. It will be presented at the Warner Theatre beginning February 1, 2020 for 5 performances.

The premise is simple: it's the 90s and the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra is travelling from Egypt to Petah Tikva to perform in a concert. Due to a language barrier, they end up in the tiny desert town of Bet Hatikva with little money, no hotel to check into, and a full day's wait until the next bus out of town. The next ninety minutes follow members of the band as they explore the town with their hosts. Café owner Dina (Chilina Kennedy), her employee Papi (Adam Gabay) and patron Itzik (Pomme Koch) each take a few members of the orchestra with them, and each provide a different look into Bet Hatikva, its residents, and their struggles. In its Toronto premiere this 10-time Tony winning musical, based on the film of the same name, is directed by David Cromer and presented by Mirvish.

In the airless unfunny farm over which dour Nurse Ratched presides, McMurphy appears to foment anarchy. Yet, given the oppressive circumstances, the only thing subversive in his intention is to restore a sense of dignity and free will to those he views as the downtrodden -- captives of a rigged system that is oblivious to their best interests.

It is also a universal truth that PRIDE AND PREJUDICE will be portrayed with the stiff formality of prior Austen adaptations - it's the law.  Thankfully, the Kate Hamill adaption now playing at the Cygnet Theatre through June 16th takes all of the starch out of the proceedings and adds in a bit of zany fun instead.

Pigeon keepers are an interesting and unique, albeit diminishing, subset of humans, and within that group is a subset, presumably small, of people who identify with the birds. Taking it one step further, Birdy, the protagonist in Naomi Wallace's adaptation of William Wharton's novel BIRDY, identifies, not with, but as a bird. Strange as it sounds, it may be the most sane response to an insane world in this drama that toggles back and forth between a pre-World War II Philadelphia suburb and an Army hospital in post-war Kentucky. It is a war story that plays out on the battlefield of an intense, intimate friendship, where the psychological wounds are more damaging and enduring than the physical ones. Steve Maler's skillful direction unleashes a dazzling palette of colorful performances, each actor contributing a broad brush stroke to the communal masterpiece.

Soulpepper's production of Kate Hennig's THE VIRGIN TRIAL, originally produced by the Stratford Festival, brings an investigation of power, morals, and misconduct to the stage. The gripping re-imagining looks at Henry VIII's second daughter Elizabeth I (Bahia Watson), a 15-year-old princess who's a few positions behind in line for the throne and extremely charming, if not untrustworthy.

Portland Stage's antidote to the winter doldrums is a new production of Oscar Wilde's incandescent classic of comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest. More than a century after its creation, this quintessential comedy of manners proves a delicious and refreshing confection of perfectly crafted playwriting. For well over two hours Wilde regales his viewers with one bon mots after another, with pithy and poetic, wise and urbane, cynical and silly dialogue that delights with its energy and acuity.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in the Berkshires, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, presents Lucas Hnath's A Doll's House, Part 2. Previews for A Doll's House, Part 2 begin July 12, with an official opening night on July 15, and performances through July 28 on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage (30 Union Street).

Ryan Landry mines the Old West and Old Hollywood for his new Gold Dust Orphans springtime musical. It's a fast ride on a runaway train with more kicks than a buckin' bronco. Old Orphans and new rally around Director Robin JaVonne Smith, stepping into the big boots of the late, beloved Larry Coen, and she hits the bullseye. Don't let a team of wild horses keep you from BROKELAHOMO!

As sure as Christmas rolls around every December 25th, Ryan Landry and the Gold Dust Orphans return to the stage at the Ramrod Center for the Performing Arts at Machine Night Club with a Christmas-themed musical mystery, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JESUS? The inventive mash-up is unlike any other holiday show in town and will send you out fa-la-la-ing into the night.

'ANGELS,' the original studio cast recording released from Broadway Records, celebrates the Australian album launch with an exclusive event at the Northern Beaches Christian School in their performance space appropriately known as 'Manhattan City' on Nov. 28.

A Trivial Comedy for Serious People.

'ANGELS,' the original studio cast recording released from Broadway Records, celebrates the Australian album launch with an exclusive event at the Northern Beaches Christian School in their performance space appropriately known as 'Manhattan City' on Nov. 28.

Fresh off a sold-out New York City run of their smash hit musical 'GREECE', Ryan Landry and his Gold Dust Orphans return to Boston and the Ramrod Center for the Performing Arts (Machine Night Club) with a brand new Christmas themed mystery! Otherwise known to you professional sleuths as a 'Christmystery', this one's entitled ... 'WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JESUS?'