An Octoroon — Wilma Theater
Beyond being entertaining and thought-provoking, Branden Jabobs-Jenkin’s “An Octoroon” is an experience. An exciting, exhilarating experience that is compounded, with exponential interest, by Joanna Setlle’s variegated, perceptive production, a landmark … Continue reading
Forbidden Broadway’s Greatest Hits — Act II Playhouse
To someone who has been seeing Broadway fare since Roscius was an actor in Rome, Gerard Alessandrini is as valued a being as Stephen Sondheim or Fred Ebb. For more than 30 … Continue reading
The Fair Maid of the West — Philadelphia Artists’ Collective at Broad Street Ministry
Charlotte Northeast figured out how to make a rollicking entertainment of Thomas Heywood’s ungainly 1631 intrigue -filled comedy, “The Fair Maid of the West.” She parodies Heywood’s work as she … Continue reading
Souvenir — Montgomery Theater
The souvenir referred to in the title of Stephen Temperley’s affectionate and funny play is a recording by Florence Foster Jenkins, an independently wealthy socialite who became a novelty in … Continue reading
The Musical of Musicals — Montgomery Theatre
Contemporary composers each have styles theater wags can identify immediately and can have fun parodying. I actually do a rather decent musical passage from “Waiting for Godot” as if written … Continue reading
Let’s Pretend We’re Famous — Act II Playhouse
Theatrical fame, Tony Braithwaite and Jennifer Childs point out in their vaudeville pastiche, “Lets Pretend We’re Famous,” could once be achieved, at least locally, by procuring a barn, hanging a … Continue reading
Potted Potter — Prince Music Theater
With all of J.K. Rowling’s inventive lore, distinctive characters, descriptive costumes, myopic muggles, and wizardly traditions, there is oodles to spoof and celebrate in the Harry Potter books. Everything from … Continue reading
Gender Comedy — A Less Stupid Twelfth Night Gay Fantasia — Curio Theatre
Samuel Taylor Coleridge had a reason for recommending that people encountering art should learn to suspend their belief and go with the action and logic at hand in a work … Continue reading