Ronn Burton News

It's December! Voting is now underway for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Oklahoma Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! Now you can vote to make sure your favorite local theatres and performers are recognized. Check out the first set of stats below.

Voting is NOW OPEN and the first votes are in for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Oklahoma Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! The nominees are set, and now you can vote to make sure your favorite local theatres and performers are recognized!

BWW meets with Ronn Burton creator of PRESENCE, a new show that encourages audiences to keep their phones on.

Whether it was the familiarity of close-ups on a lying politician, or the perfectly pleated plaid pants of a journalist, or the mere razzle dazzle of a company of elite Oklahoma City actors, Frost/Nixon proved to be an engaging and important piece of historical theatre that will leave you wondering if we are all, whether hero or villain, actor or politician, just a?oelooking for a way back into the sun, into the limelight?a??

Politics and the press will collide next month as Lyric Theatre presents the Oklahoma City premiere of Frost/Nixon.

BWW REVIEW: Those Who Lie Beyond Offers Audiences a Unique Experience

BWW PREVIEW: THOSE WHO LIE BEYOND Premieres At Factory Obscura in Oklahoma City

19th Century Hound introduces a brand new show, Those Who Lie Beyond, performed within Factory Obscura's immersive art installation Beyond.  This original production - a period piece exploring the themes of creativity, illusion, awakening, and transformation - is fully devised by the company of performers, as the team creates the show together in the rehearsal room. 

Ronn Burton, Regional Contributing Editor for BroadwayWorld Oklahoma, sat down with members of the creative team for HONEY, an original devised play from Fresh Paint Performance Lab, commissioned by Oklahoma Contemporary's Women In Performance series.

Nominated for multiple Tony awards when it premiered on Broadway in 2015, the heartfelt and dynamic SCHOOL OF ROCK national tour stops at Oklahoma City's Civic Center Music Hall. Based on the hit movie starring Jack Black, this production strikes the right chord of cheeky humor (for both kids and adults) and earnest sentiment, topped off by a zesty score to keep everything moving. This show is a rollicking delight for the entire family, and a theatrical opportunity not to be missed.

"The Cowboy Who Fell From The Sky" - an immersive, post-apocalyptic, pop-up folk concert - will be performed February 22nd-24th and March 1st-3rd at 8pm at Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park on Paseo (2920 Paseo …near 30th & Walker.) Additionally, Taylor Gross's inter-dimensional graphic paintings will be housed in the lobby in a series called ((('Hard Traveling' a space romp!)))

This 2014 Tony-winner for Best Musical is still fresh and intoxicating years later. Crisp direction, superb musicianship, and pitch-perfect performances ensure an engrossing evening of delightful English Music-Hall operetta mixed with the fierce satire of a modern theatre piece. A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER earns its stripes, and if you are presented with the opportunity to experience the zaniness and delight it has to offer, that is an opportunity not to be missed.

New works are always a breath of fresh air in the Oklahoma City theatre scene, and the Oklahoma premiere of CONSTELLATIONS - a co-production between Next Stage and KnockDownDragOut staged at the IAO Gallery downtown - is a treasure trove of script, performance, and execution. A two-hander of this magnitude requires strong acting and direction; luckily, audiences at the IAO Gallery are in more than capable hands. CONSTELLATIONS offers profound, thought-provoking drama in an effervescent and entrancing package.

One of the most creatively imagined productions the Oklahoma City arts scene has offered in recent memory blurring the lines of genre - both musical and theatrical - by interweaving turn-of-the-century sideshow with modern-day circus and Americana folklore, GALLOW WALKERS: A PARANORMAL FOLK OPERA is unlike anything else you'll experience this spooky season. Let me put it bluntly: you shouldn't miss Michael Todd's creative masterwork - experience for yourself the bewitching alchemy this team has concocted you'll be better off for it.

BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL is one of the increasingly common type of shows the jukebox musical yet, BEAUTIFUL raises the expectations of what a jukebox musical can be. The story revolves around Carole King, whom Sarah Bockel portrays to gawky, effervescent perfection. BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL continues OKC Broadway's reputation of bringing in top-notch performances to Oklahoma City.

Okay, let's just get real for a moment: if one approaches this show as an adult and compares it with the canon of theatrical literature, this a production which often falls flat. However, in comparison to average children's entertainment (which is clearly the producers' targeted demographic) it holds up well. Your average elementary aged kid will be thoroughly and utterly charmed. But the parents who brought them? That might be a different story. The performers are all supremely talented, with dozens of Broadway shows to their credit. Even if I felt they might have been instructed to push every moment, they still allow their glorious voices to shine through. While it doesn't run in the same league as the classic Disney films, this production does its job: providing fluffy entertainment for an evening out after school, getting through everything as quickly as possible to make sure the kids get back home in bed to be ready for school tomorrow.

Lyric closes out their Civic Center season with HAMILTON mega-star Lin-Manuel Miranda's initial hit musical, the Tony-winning IN THE HEIGHTS. Premiering on Broadway in 2008, this depiction of the flavorful New York City neighborhood at the top of Manhattan paints a vivid and delightful portrait of the struggles and celebrations of everyday Americans. IN THE HEIGHTS is an exciting capstone to Lyric's wildly successful summer season…don't miss it!

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature West Side Story, Mamma Mia!, Something Rotten, and More!

This updated retelling of Romeo and Juliet is set in 1950s New York City, yet its themes of racism and hatred of anything deemed "different" ring especially true in today's political climate, sadly. WEST SIDE STORY is a compelling reminder of just how much hatred, prejudice, and ignorance can destroy what we all hold so dear. One of Lyric's most fully realized productions I can think of in recent memory…do yourself a favor and allow the message of this piece to penetrate your heart and mind - for truly great art has the power to influence the world.

The Bethany Stage, a relatively new theatre company in the Oklahoma City metro area, presented their first musical production, GUYS AND DOLLS. Let me assure you, the beloved score is in capable hands: the four leads of the show carry the show nicely. Artistic Director Audra Faust has led this fledgling theatre company to a successful first musical production, and I look forward to more from her group of players.