Regional Roundup: Top New Features This Week Around Our BroadwayWorld 10/13 - ONCE, FUN HOME, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and More!

By: Oct. 13, 2017
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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 ONCE, FUN HOME, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and More!

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Denver: Contributor Chris Arneson reviews ONCE at Midtown Arts Center. He writes "Produced and directed by Kurt Terrio, Midtown's production of Once is very reminiscent of the Broadway version. The set is a simple bar setting (designed by Mickey Burdick) where actors serve as the orchestra. Choreography by Micheal Lasris also gives the same vibe as the original production, utilizing simple artistic movements to express the emotional impact of the song."


Nashville: Contributor Cillea Houghton reviews FUN HOME at TPAC. She writes "I'd be lying if I said I didn't leave the theatre in tears, feeling the emotional impact of Allison trying to understand her father's suicide and the life he hid for so many years. As all three versions of herself sing the powerful closing number, a sense of profound sorrow accompanied by compassion washes over you, thinking about this father and daughter's complicated journey in life that ends with a fitting cartoon of the two of them playing airplane, making us feel like we're soaring just like she did in those moments of happiness."


Central Pennsylvania: Contributor Christy Brooks reviews FUN HOME at Open Stage of Harrisburg. She writes "Caroline Chronister (Medium Alison) is a standout in this production. The vulnerability she gives Medium Alison is positively painstaking. With every little movement and word she utters, Chronister delivers an effortless and sincere performance. It is almost as if, being the "middle child" of the Alisons, she has something to prove and we feel that but not in an off-putting way. Medium Alison is filled with the complexities of leaving the child she was behind, growing into young adulthood, learning to face difficult and organic choices regarding sexuality, and keeping it all "together" with the tools she was given. Well, Chronister's tools are sufficient and she navigates the role of Medium Alison with unquestionable believability."


Salt Lake City: Contributor Tyler Hinton reviews AN AMERICAN IN PARIS at the Eccles Theater. He writes "The acting of all the leading and supporting performers is impressive, and the audience is invested in the layered characters and their unexpectedly affecting stories. These include Nick Spangler as Henri Baurel, Stephen Brower as Adam Hochberg, Emily Ferranti as Milo Davenport, and Gayton Scott as Henri's mother, Madame Baurel."


New Jersey: Contributor Marina Kennedy reviews BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at The Growing Stage. She writes "The Production Staff has done a superb job of bringing Beauty and the Beast to the stage with scenic, puppet and mask design by Perry Arthur Kroeger; Costume Coordinator, Lori Lawrence; costumes provided by Scaramouche LLC; Stage Manager, Nikole Rizzo; Assistant Stage Manager, Casey Low; Light Board Operator, Ally Takayama; Spotlight Operator, Linnea Weston."


Washington DC: Contributor Elliot Lanes reviews ASSASSINS at the Pallas Theatre Collective. He writes "One of my personal favorite performances comes from Karen Lange as Sara Jane Moore. She was the housewife who, along with Lynette 'Squeaky' Frome, had a bumbled attempt to kill president Gerald Ford. If you only know Karen Lange from her slightly off-kilter work with her company Pinky Swear Productions, then you really need to also see her in this show. She has a good singing voice and captures her character beautifully."


Maine: Contributor Dan Marois reviews FROM HERE TO ETERNITY at Ogunquit Playhouse! He writes "As for the musical numbers, there's an odd mix of ballads and solos that over-emote how a character is feeling rather than moving the plot. You want the numbers to be epic, but they aren't. "Thirty Year Man" is a boring ballad that gets reprised, unfortunately. "Run Along Joe" as sung by Lorene should be a tender number but plays more like an intrusion in the action. And Karen's "I'll Remember the Day," an ode to her misery with men, seems woefully over acted. (Also, don't get me started on the number "Love Me Forever Today" sung by Prewitt and Lorene that played more like a number from the musical Grease than a tune celebrating a war time love affair. And I never want again to hear "Don'cha Like Hawaii" a puff piece that plays like a travelogue commercial for the Pacific paradise.)"


Denver: Contributor Chris Arneson reviews Denver Center's MACBETH. He writes "What O'Hara's vision gives this show is a ferocious vibe, and not just because the witches are played by guys who call each other "sister." The all-male casting lends itself well to the normally female characters. Lady Macbeth (Adam Poss) finds power in androgyny. He plays the role with just enough submission to make her vulnerable, while not letting go of her authority. In turn, Macbeth (Ariel Shafir) has a bit more wit than you'd expect, toying with audience members and using the character's charisma to his advantage."


Washington DC: Contributor Hannah Landsberger reviews LOTUS at the Kennedy Center. She writes "The performance was named after the lotus flower in order to honor the history of tap; just like the lotus flower grows out of the mud, tap dance has grown out of the struggle of being black in America. Each dancer paid tribute to this legacy by tapping over a recording of themselves speaking about the black leaders and dancers that inspired them. These tributes felt natural and genuine, and made me wish that the legacy of tap was more widely celebrated."


Regional Editor Spotlight:

Chris Arneson
Denver Contributing Editor

Chris Arneson has a degree in mass media from Laramie County Community College, where he was the editor-in-chief of their nationally award-winning student publication. His acting resume includes in productions both in Wyoming and Colorado, and Chris made in Colorado debut in the regional premiere of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson in 2012. He was nominated for BroadwayWorld's 2013 Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his role of Scott in Evil Dead: The Musical.


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