As You Like It Revival 1950 - Articles Page 3

Get a sneak peek into the highly anticipated 2023-24 season at Ensemble Studio Theatre, featuring an impressive lineup of plays and events that are sure to captivate theater enthusiasts. Find out what to expect and mark your calendars for an unforgettable theatrical experience.

Read the reviews for Summer Stock at Goodspeed Musicals!

I was so frustrated at the situation, but looking back, I wouldn't change a thing.

Summer Stock has its eyes set on Broadway. Does Summer Stock deserve a Broadway run? Absolutely. In this critic’s opinion, it couldn’t get there soon enough.

What did our critic think of GREASE at The Argyle Theater?

Upper Darby Summer Stage presents Memphis as the Mainstage production of its 48th season. A Broadway hit filled with laughs, thrills, and rock & roll music penned by Bon Jovi founding member David Bryan, Memphis is the winner of Broadway's 'triple crown' for Best Book, Best Original Score, and Best Musical.

The first Broadway revival of the American comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch by legendary Ossie Davis will officially open in September. Learn how to purchase tickets!

Starlight will present a performance that will take audiences back in time with RAIN - A Tribute to the Beatles at Starlight Theatre July 21 - 23.

MUSE/IQUE continues its yearlong concert series, MUSIC = POWER with CENTRAL AVENUE: OPEN HOUSE -- The Extraordinary Story of the South LA Music Legends Who Changed the World.

You can now savor authentic German-style Döner kebabs at Döner Haus in the heart of the East Village on 14th Street just a few blocks from Union Square.

A sensational and sumptuous feast for both the eyes and ears, you can’t help but fall under the spell of the pinball wizard TOMMY.

Christine Hayward is set to take audiences back in time with her one hour solo performance, 'Memories of the Early 1950s,' debuting at Just the Tonic at The Caves - Just the Spare Room at 1pm on Aug 3-13, 15-27.

Syracuse Stage closes its 2022-23 season with the madcap farce, Clue. Based on the iconic 1950’s board game of the same name, Clue spoofs whodunit mysteries, film noir, 1950’s pop culture and gothic horror films. The play is adapted for stage from the 1985 film that was a critical flop but has since become a cult classic. Set during McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee hearings, a time fraught with suspicion and accusation, the mansion owned by Mr. Boddy becomes the gathering point for six invited guests. These guests we find out are all guarded about their pasts, are all being blackmailed and are referred to by aliases that correspond to the famous characters in the board game. Each guest is then gifted one of the six murder weapons. In all, there are six potential murderers, six weapons and nine rooms in the mansion, 324 possibilities for who, what and where; as Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes agree, now “the game is afoot.” The gothic mansion, the dark and stormy night, the suspenseful reality of the play merge with Parker Brothers’ (now Hasbro’s) rule book and the characters become mashups of villains and game pieces. They punctuate the endings of scenes with comic confusion, mad scrambling and a kind of frantic skipping, like game pieces moving on a board after a dice roll. Scenic designer, Czerton Lim, creates the perfect 3-D version of the original board game. Upon entering the theatre, the audience sees a classic gothic foyer, complete with crystal chandelier, mahogany woodwork, marble stairs and a tiled floor fashioned to replicate the spaces on a game board. As the play progresses, the set becomes a character in itself as it transforms into the rooms of the mansion required by both the game and the play. His design is beautiful and functional. It not only provides a setting but also helps establish the humor and tempo of the play. It always surprises and delights. Likewise, original music by Michael Holland and sound design by Todd Mack create a comically suspenseful mood and punctuate the zany exploits on stage. Along with lighting design by Jared Gooding, the cliché of a dark and stormy night permeates the atmosphere and heightens the tension and anxiety of this mock thriller. The production is at its best when the actors are highly choreographed and in tune with the music, sound and light cues. In fact, the funniest moment in the play is prompted by a single gunshot. Director Benjamin Hanna establishes a fast pace from the very beginning of the play. It is so fast and furious that neither the audience nor the actors are allowed to get their bearings. The characters in Clue are obvious stereotypes but the portrayals all share the same frenetic quality without ever establishing basic, underlying traits and motivations. Characterization, for the most part, has been sacrificed to blatant silliness and camp. (There is nothing in the script that requires the beginning to move at such a pace.) Once the first murder occurs and the stakes are raised the speed can and should pickup through the end. For example, Plum is a stereotypical Professor, haughty and cerebral but cursed with an inflated libido. Beethovan Oden has a nice general feel for the character and indicates his personality traits, but he isn’t able to develop those qualities from the onset of the play. If he had, then as the pace became more frantic the audience could have enjoyed watching him first struggle then ultimately fail to keep his composure. Clearly many of the actors are talented. John Taylor Phillips as Wadsworth has a natural presence on stage as well as crisp comic timing but never fully embodies the stereotypical reserved, unflappable and ultimately arrogant butler. Emily Berman as Miss Scarlet is also clean and precise. Miss Scarlet is a stereotypical Madame but the actress is not allowed to explore the cynism and sexuality of the character who should have a slower, more voluptuous pace than some of the others. Henry Woronicz’s Colonel Mustard vacillates appropriately between being doddering and demanding. He sketches out an interesting frame for his character but again seems to fall prey to the tempo of this runaway train. Claire Wilcher makes a strong acting choice to play Mrs. Peacock with the nervous energy of a bird. Her comedy is broad and eccentric while still grounded in reality. Even when she is in the background of the action, she is always in the moment. When given focus, she commands the stage and rate of action. As a result, her portrayal is very funny and very satisfying to watch. Her least successful moments occur when directed to do something out of character simply for a laugh. Less successfully, Eric Sharp’s Mr. Green and Emjoy Gavino’s Mrs. White just seem lost in the silliness and frenetic mayhem. As lovers of farce and broad comedy, we were disappointed that more care wasn’t taken to create an underlying believability before descending into comic chaos. A stock character when presented by an actor still needs to have specificity. Silliness can be funny, comic bits enjoyable and a fast pace exciting, but they need to be balanced and well executed. By the end of the production, it felt like all 324 murder possibilities were explored, but few realities remained. If you are looking for an evening of fast-paced silliness, screwball comedy and sight gags this production satisfies. As a farce poking fun at human frailty and foibles, Benjamin Hanna’s Clue misses the mark. Clue runs through Sunday, June 25th. Tickets can be purchased by visiting SyracuseStage.org or by calling (315) 443-3275 or by visiting the box office at 820 East Genesee Street. did our critic think of CLUE at Syracuse Stage?

The Mobile Film Festival Africa unveiled the winners of its 2023 edition at a prize ceremony held on Thursday June 8 at the Renaissance cinema in Rabat, an event part of the 'Rabat, African Capital of Culture' program celebrations.

This spring, audiences went back to Rydell High for Rise of the Pink Ladies, the new Grease prequel series on Paramount+. We sat down with Angelina Kekich, who set the tone for the new series by designing the costumes for the first three episodes of the season. Read about her process and check out exclusive photos of costume sketches!

The 2023-2024 season has been announced at Stolen Shakespeare Guild, Fort Worth's esteemed classical theatre company. Join in for the company's 18th season and experience the magic of live theatre with seven incredible productions.

Goodspeed Musicals has announced the cast for the world premiere musical comedy Summer Stock, the second production of its 60th anniversary season. Filled with exuberant dance numbers and hits from the American songbook, it is adapted from the MGM/Warner Bros. film Summer Stock and will appear on the Goodspeed stage from July 7 – August 27 in East Haddam, Connecticut.

MUSE/IQUE honors Duke Ellington in performances entitled THE DUKE: Ellington as America's Ultimate Renaissance Man, conducted by Artistic and Music Director Rachael Worby, Sunday, May 21, 7:30 pm at the Skirball Cultural Center in West Los Angeles and Wednesday, May 24, 7:30 pm at the Huntington Library in San Marino.

Syracuse Stage is currently offering a world premiere play by resident playwright Kyle Bass. Tender Rain is an intriguing play and certainly stimulated hours of discussion on our drive home. It took time to unravel the events of the play's past and untangle the complex character relationships, like unsnarling knots out of a fine gold chain.

This month, the reader question was: I’ve heard Shucked parodies a lot of musical tropes w/ references to Oklahoma!, The Music Man, etc… We’ve seen that a lot on Broadway lately - Something Rotten, Mean Girls, Bad Cinderella, Be More Chill, etc… It seems to be becoming more and more popular - when did it start, why do audiences love it?

MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET has returned to New Theatre & Restaurant after a five-year absence. For fans of early 1950s Rock N Roll music, finding a great production of the QUARTET is equivalent to stumbling upon the Holy Grail while flashing on their teenage years. MDQ is entertaining.

When you get right down to it, Amanda and Elyot are two people with the enormous blind side of being drawn to one another yet destined to hurt one another; walking a fine line between love and hate, desire and aversion. 

Presented by McCoy Rigby Entertainment, this beautiful, mesmerizing, Broadway-caliber production of THE KING AND I has all the ingredients of a great revival done right, from its dazzling visual and technical components to the vibrant musical magic created by both its rousing orchestra and the talented artists that make up its superb ensemble cast.

Artistic Director Michael Unger has unveiled Skylight Music Theatre's 2023-2024 season at an in-person and livestreamed event from the Cabot Theatre featuring musical selections from the shows to be presented in Skylight's upcoming 64th season. Unger was joined by Skylight performers and an on-stage band.

What did our critic think of THE PAJAMA GAME at Artistry Theater? A classic tale of boy meets girl, and girl wants a raise - wait, that's not how it goes! Sid and Babe will show you exactly how it goes, as they manage romance and work on opposite sides of a labor dispute at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory.