Stage
In Laura Numeroff's 1985 social treatise If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, she uses the analogy of a mouse to illustrate the dangers of welfare. If you give a mouse a cookie, she warns, he'll want milk. And once he has milk, he'll want a place to sleep. Soon
Stage
When Capital Playhouse "parted ways" with its spiritual leader last year, they also bagged Kiss of the Spider Woman in favor of Fame. I reported that it was a good idea, and from a commercial standpoint, it still is. Nothing I say here will change that. Also, if you're related
Stage
Amy's View faced an uphill battle on opening night. There was one paying audience member in the Midnight Sun. The stage manager, a late replacement, couldn't make the house music work. The actors struggled with lines, even skipped several pages. One British accent was among the worst I've ever heard;
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In my review of Harlequin's pyrotechnic April show, boom, I said I enjoyed the script but wasn't sure who else would. Now director Scot Whitney brings us what has been described as the reverse of that prediction, by no less vested an observer than the playwright himself. In his notes
Stage
In my review of Harlequin's pyrotechnic April show, boom, I said I enjoyed the script but wasn't sure who else would. Now director Scot Whitney brings us what has been described as the reverse of that prediction, by no less vested an observer than the playwright himself. In his notes
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When actors who've never quite dazzled suddenly blow you away, it's a hint you're in for something special. And when actors with very little stage experience grip your attention, it's a credit to impeccable directing. A few blocking quibbles aside, what Patrick and his sizable ensemble accomplish here is overwhelming.
Stage
Try as I might, sometimes prejudging a show is inevitable. Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men is a masterpiece, of course, but it demands actors who project charm, IQ and absolute life-or-death urgency. After numerous casting snags, Olympia Little Theatre was obliged to switch directors for its production of the
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In no way do I mean this as a slight, but it doesn't take long before Everyman starts to feel just a bit silly. That's a good thing. I find silliness extremely underrated in modern art critique. Indisputably the most famous English morality play of the late 15th century, Everyman relates
Stage
In no way do I mean this as a slight, but it doesn't take long before Everyman starts to feel just a bit silly. That's a good thing. I find silliness extremely underrated in modern art critique.Indisputably the most famous English morality play of the late 15th century, Everyman relates
Archives
Here's a brilliant idea: Schedule an interview with a longtime newspaper guy, then have no idea what you plan to talk about. Have no plan at all, in fact. It's not like he'll call you on it! Oops ... I'd never heard of Ken Balsley when I was assigned this interview, but
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As you know if you read my review of what I called Cannibal! the Rehearsal, it's a tragically bad idea to invite your critics eight days early when you're still putting in lights and sound equipment, your costumes aren't finished, and you still have cast members you're not
Stage
As you know if you read my review of what I called Cannibal! the Rehearsal, it's a tragically bad idea to invite your critics eight days early when you're still putting in lights and sound equipment, your costumes aren't finished, and you still have cast members you're not going to
Stage
I'll keep repeating this until I'm sure we all get it: I can only review the show you show me. There was no sane reason for Theater Artists Olympia to invite me to see Cannibal! The Musical eight days early. I double-checked; that's how they wanted it. Perhaps director Pug Bujeaud,
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Let's talk about the Olympia Family Theater production. It's cute. Now, sometimes, when we say something is cute - a Reese Witherspoon rom-com, for example - we mean it's inoffensive and a few steps down the road toward being funny. Not so with Alexander. When I say this production is
Stage
In Hamlet, the greatest play ever written in the English language, a young man runs the numbers and concludes that life sucketh, ere ye die. In Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst's 1972 kid-lit classic, a young man muses that while existence is indeed
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The apocalypse called the Permian extinction, aka the Great Dying, nearly vanquished the entire biosphere 251.4 million years ago. The planet didn't regain vitality for tens of millions of years - and no one knows what caused the event. But the real story is that evolution slipped through the bottleneck,
Arts
On June 30, 1908, an unknown object of extraterrestrial origin smashed into the earth's atmosphere over Tunguska, Siberia, and disintegrated with the force of 185 Hiroshima bombs. Witnesses 40 miles away were blown out of their chairs. Superstitious locals believed it was the falling of a god. Luckily, only trees
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I think your enjoyment of The Secret Garden at Capital Playhouse will be determined almost entirely by whether or not you're already versed in The Secret Garden. Perhaps you're a fan of the Marsha Norman musical, or maybe you grew up reading the 1911 book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Unfortunately,
Stage
I think your enjoyment of The Secret Garden at Capital Playhouse will be determined almost entirely by whether or not you're already versed in The Secret Garden. Perhaps you're a fan of the Marsha Norman musical, or maybe you grew up reading the 1911 book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Unfortunately,
Stage
When I was a kid in the mid-‘70s (not the 1870s, wiseass), I was a huge fan of Super Friends, about the DC Justice League. Only years later did I realize it was atrocious, even by superhero standards. Same goes for the jiggle sitcoms Three's Company and Bosom Buddies. My
