Actors Alliance Festival 2005 - Program 2
Lyceum Space
Oh Dear! is written and produced by George Soete, directed by Terry Scheidt and stars Peg Humphrey and George Soete. Soete plays a bitter, angry old man who has alienated everyone, even his wife at times, with his antagonistic attitude. She puts up with him, almost. Thus, they are never invited out and nobody ever calls or stops by. At least that is what we are led to believe. Humphrey and Soete bring us a convincing performance.
Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
June 2005
Actors Alliance Festival 2005 - Program 4
Lyceum Space

Kids Fest - what a fun time! Is your child interested in theater? This is a fine opportunity to see kids in action for on five bucks.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
June 2005
Actors Alliance Festival 2005 - Program 6
Lyceum Space

The Corpse Bride is produced, adapted, and directed by Mike Sears and stars Kelly Eubanks, Amir Khastoo, Juan Manzo, Sandra Ruiz, and Lisa Berger. Jason Johnson wrote and performed the musical accompaniment. It's a terrifying old story of a poor farmer off to be wed to a beauty when he playfully practices his vows to a tree and puts the ring on a small branch. Alas and alack, he has just wed a long dead corpse. Sears' adaptation is a delight. The cast bemasked, delightfully costumed takes us a matrimonial trip with gusto and occasional song backed up by Johnson's accordion.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
June 2005
Actors Alliance Festival 2005 - Program 7
Lyceum Space

Seven days, seven wonderful days of plays -- and now it is almost over. There will be the best of the best on Sunday, so try not to miss it. Program Seven went international, an interesting mix and take on happiness and tragedy in our times.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
June 2005
Actors Alliance Festival 2006 - Program 1
Lyceum Space

And let the plays begin. It's summer in San Diego, and the 16th annual Actor's Festival is underway. (San Diego is fortunate to be the site of several short play festivals, which begin in the summer and run through the fall.) This festival opened with two very, very funny comedians: Travis Sentell and Phil Johnson. The entered stage center, seated themselves and began a dialogue as two reviewers of the Festival. They gave all of us reviewers a bad name, panning show titles, actors and the festival in general. The audience loved it, as did the reviewers and critics I recognized.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
July 2006
Actors Alliance Festival 2006 - Program 2
Lyceum Space

Another successful Actors Alliance Festival program begins with The Secret Royal Order of the Feminine Gender by James Caputo and produced and directed by Julie Clemmons, with Aja Oberlies-Rodrigues and Emma Shea.
The two stars, I am told, are ten years old. They are shopping for that something special at the local Salvation Army store. They talk "the talk", i.e. dating and boy swagger. They sing and dance. There is even a booming voice-over of mother. Aja and Emma are excellent; don't miss them.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
July 2006
Actors Alliance Festival 2006 - Program 3
Lyceum Space

Program Three of the Actors Alliance Festival was yet another success. On the Corner of Art and Solita Street, by Sandra Ruiz, with Bryant Hernandez directing. The cast includes Sylvia Enrique, Megan Fonseca, Larissa Garcia, John Harris, Sophia Kostas and Sandra Ruiz. It's Christmas at the Cortez family home. Mom is a beautiful woman with two lovely kids and, as usual, her husband is away on a "business trip." Her mother and father are there along with her sister, who apparently doesn't have the wealth experienced by her younger sister.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
July 2006
Trying
Broadway Theater Center - Studio Theater

The don't-miss performance of this holiday season occurs on one of the smallest stages in town, within the confines of the intimate Studio Theater. The limited seating will make it difficult to get tickets to see Richard Halverson in Trying, but it's worth rearranging one's schedule to find a way to see Halverson, a veteran Milwaukee actor, in this sad-but-touching portrait of Francis Biddle. If the name doesn't ring a bell, Biddle was very much a part of shaping national events prior to and following World War II.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
November 2007
Nuncrackers, The
Broadway Theater

The Nuns are at it again.

In 1985 playwright Dan Goggin's highly successful Nunsense opened off Broadway. There has been over 5,000 productions worldwide, translated into 21 languages. The playwright, taking advantage of the immense popularity, has written five sequels: Nunsense 2: The Second Coming, Sister Amnesia's Country Western Nunsense Jamboree, Nuncrackers: The Nunsense Christmas Musical, Meshuggah_Nuns!, and Nunsensations: The Nunsense Vegas Revue.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
November 2007
O'Conner Girls, The
Alliant International University - Legler Benbough Theater

I really didn't belong there. I wasn't invited. I didn't know these women. I felt like a voyeur observing the most intimate moments of a family's life. But it wasn't real; it was Katie Forgette's play, The O'Conner Girls, on the stage of Scripps Ranch Theater.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
November 2007
Torch Song Trilogy
Diversionary Theater

Script by Harvey Fierstein. Direction by Tim Irving. Cast of Matthew Weeden, Barron Henzel, Sidney Franklin, Amanda Sitton, Tom Zohar and Jill Drexler. All the ingredients necessary for a fantastic production of Torch Song Trilogy, which is exactly what we get with Diversionary's current offering.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
November 2007
Young Frankenstein
Hilton Theater

The New Mel Brooks musical, Young Frankenstein, book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan, music and lyrics by Brooks, is primarily an entertainment. It's full of old-fashioned vaudeville numbers, catchy, zippy dance numbers by director/choreographer Susan Stroman, bouncy tunes performed by top-level Broadway performers Roger Bart, Megan Mullally, Sutton Foster the amazing Shuler Hensley as the creature, Andrea

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
November 2007
Greetings!
Off-Broadway Theater

The star at the top of this critic's Christmas tree belongs to Greetings!, presented by Milwaukee's Next Act Theater. The show is a revival of sorts for the company, which offered Greetings! as part of its season eight years ago. As the play opens, we meet Phil and Emily Gorski, a long-married couple who live in a working-class section of Pittsburgh. It is the night before Christmas, and they are bustling about making last-minute preparations.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
November 2007
Actors Alliance Festival 2006 - Program 4
Lyceum Space

Program Four was one of the best of this year's crop of the Artists Festival.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
July 2006
Actors Alliance Festival 2006 - Program 5
Lyceum Space

Sadly, this year's Artists Festival is over. It has been the best to date, with expectations even higher for next year. As for Program Five of the Fest:

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
July 2006
Actors Alliance Festival 2006 - Program 6
Lyceum Space

A Fare Ride written, produced, and directed by Matt Thompson with Colleen Kollar and Ted Reis sharing the stage. Kollar plays a stereotypical taxi jockey in any big city. She does everything her own way; that's her style, which includes singing, humming, as well as chewing and popping her bubble gum. She picks up a gun-toting bank robber wannabe (Ted Reis). What develops is a strange relationship. The taxi driver takes everything in stride as she tools down an L.A. freeway at 80 miles per hour. (I don't recall ever being on an L. A.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
July 2006
Actors Alliance Festival 2001
St. Cecilia's Playhouse

Actors Alliance San Diego's Actors Festival, an annual event, includes 24 plays, most of them new, many being showcased for the very first time. Each play is performed just twice, with itinerant Actor Todd Blakesley serving as the Festival Artistic Director. The schedule is hectic, mixing new works by talented local playwrights with works by McNally, Bradbury, Mamet, and Dr. Seuss.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
May 2001
Adult Entertainment
Broadway Theater Center - Studio Theater

Bialystock and Bloom theater company bills itself as "Milwaukee's Guilty-Pleasure Theater," and this production is right up its ... alley. Adult Entertainment is a lighthearted spoof about porn stars who long to do some REAL acting. However, their goal is not only to stretch their acting abilities, but also to show off their ... assets, as well.

Written by comedienne Elaine May, the show had a New York run at Variety Arts Theater in 2002. Perhaps a more seasoned cast than the one in Milwaukee could have succeeded in mining genuine laughs from the dialogue.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
June 2004
After Ashley
Actors Theater of Louisville

Smart barbed exchanges about sex and marriage between a restless 35-year-old mother and her 14-year-old son make for an attention-grabbing start to Gina Gionfriddo's provocative and unexpectedly funny, After Ashley, the sixth and last full-length play in this year's Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theater of Louisville.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
March 2004
After Ashley
Actors Theater of Louisville

The 28th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, KY, generated a number of fine offerings. The most buzz surrounded After Ashley, a searing black comedy by Gina Gionfriddo.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
May 2004
Agamemnon and His Daughters
Arena Stage

rena Stage's contribution to the "Greek Invasion" during this season of the classics in Washington, D.C., is the world premiere of an intriguing Agamemnon and His Daughters. Kenneth Cavender provides a colloquial and intelligible adaptation of six plays by Euripides, Aischylos, and Sophokles (the program utilizes the Greek spellings) into a marathon three hours of theater.

Barbara Gross
Date Reviewed:
September 2001
Cry-Baby
La Jolla Playhouse - Mandell Weiss Theater

A special congratulations to book writers Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan and song scribes David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger for maintaining John Waters' raunchiness in the musical, Cry-Baby. Add to that Rob Ashford's highly suggestive choreography and Mark Brokaw's blatant direction. Baltimore, the year is 1954. Black and white TV, Bill Haley and the Comets, Eisenhower, "I Love Lucy", B-47s, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Eddie Fisher, The Chords and The Cordettes were all a part of the scene. It was a time when the kids got their first polio vaccine.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
November 2007
Boxer, The
Bathhouse Cultural Center

Bootstraps Comedy Theater has reprised The Boxer by Bootstraps' co-artistic director, Matt Lyle. The Boxer was the hit of this summer's Festival of Independent Theaters at the BathHouse Cultural Center. This time around, it ran November 15-December 2, 2007 at the Rosewood Center for Family Arts with the original cast.

The Boxer is a one-hour play without words in the style of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. It's set in the early 1900s on the streets, where making a living is difficult at best and even moreso for a woman if she wants to retain her virtue.

Rita Faye Smith
Date Reviewed:
November 2007
Agnes of God
Florida Studio Theater - Keating Mainstage

Having seen the original Broadway production, I must admit that Agnes of God lacked, on this viewing, the impact it once had. I'd like to think that's because the suspense wasn't there for me, whereas the play's mystery is gripping as a first experience. Many in the audience with me obviously had just that. I wish I'd been able to share it, but the answers to the mystery seemed just too obvious this time. I refer to how, in a contemplative order of nuns, young, unworldly Sister Agnes became pregnant -- and is she guilty of killing her baby?

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
December 2003
Ah, Wilderness!
Utah Shakespearean Festival - Randall L. Jones Theater

The most luminous production at the Utah Shakespearean Festival this season is Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness!, a gentle family portrait dramatically different from the tragic depictions he usually penned. Although O'Neill calls the play "a comedy of recollection," wish fulfillment describes it more accurately. This is the family O'Neill would like to have had rather than his dysfunctional real one (indelibly chronicled later in Long Day's Journey Into Night).

Barbara Bannon
Date Reviewed:
July 2001
Aida
Cadillac Palace

When you consider that the opera, Aida, was written-to-order for the Cairo Opera House, the narrative liberties taken by Elton John, Tim Rice etc. seem less heinous. Flag-crossed lovers make good, hankie-wringing drama anytime, with extra resonance for American audiences added by the interracial aspect. (Radames is Egyptian, Aida is Nubian -- tribes that would appear virtually identical to us, were the former not played by an Anglo-European actor and the latter by an African-American actress). But the political situation in the Red Sea district circa 1400 B.C.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
December 1999
Aida
Marcus Center for the Performing Arts

The theme of romance in a time of war is hardly new, but this sparkling production of Aida nonetheless captures our interest with its soulful tale of an enslaved African princess and her Egyptian lover. As the show opens, the two neighboring territories, Egypt and Nubia, are at war. This brings together the victorious Egyptian captain, Radames, and one of the captured Nubians, Aida. Her outspoken manner piques Radames' curiosity, and soon this interest turns to forbidden passion.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
August 2003
Ain't Misbehavin'
Paper Mill Playhouse

Either by association or direct composition, the legendary composer/pianist/entertainer Fats Waller (1904-1943) was famed for "Spreadin' Rhythm Around." 25 years ago, a sizzling, if small-scaled, revue called "Ain't Misbehavin'" proved a winning homage to the great Waller.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
September 2003
Ain't Misbehavin'
Dallas Theater Center

Dallas Theater Center opened the Fats Waller Musical Show, Ain't Misbehavin', on April 13, 2004, following five days of previews. There's no plot line, just two hours of rousing music associated with Waller. The most recognizable songs include: "Two Sleepy People," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "It's a Sin To Tell a Lie," "Honeysuckle Rose," and the title song. The performers are first-rate, especially Dallas regular, Liz Mikel, who commands attention just by walking onto a stage. Her interpretation of "Squeeze Me" was interrupted several times by applause.

Rita Faye Smith
Date Reviewed:
April 2004
Ain't Misbehavin'
Broadway Theater Center - Cabot Theater

When the onstage band strikes up the first notes to Ain't Misbehavin', all one can do is echo the words of the press materials: "this joint is jumpin.'" A polished and well-cast production is drawing full houses to Milwaukee's Cabot Theatre, as well it should. This is the second time that Skylight Opera Theatre's has staged Ain't Misbehavin'. If the1994 show was anything like the current production, no wonder it busted the box office. This time, the show has a musical pedigree in the form of Neal Tate, whose work goes back to the days of Cab Calloway.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
May 2003
Ajax
Sixth at Penn Theater

When you are fortunate enough to be a member of the audience (49 people) at the 6th @ Penn Theater, you usually become a part of the production. This is true, in part, because many entrances are made from, and some of the action takes place in, the audience area. This happens in Ajax, under the direction of Forrest Aylsworth.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
January 2006
Alice in Modernland
Sledgehammer Theater

Alice In Modernland is a world premiere by jazz vocalist, saxophonist, writer, and composer, Kirsten Nash. She has combined her love of jazz, blues, and many variations of rock with a contemporary version of the classic tale of one woman's dream/nightmare. Kirsten Brandt, who gave us the award winning Sweet Charity in 1998, has directed an almost-ready-for-Broadway production. But is New York ready for singer Alice's travails into the world of the cross-dressing Queen of Hearts (Christopher Hall), the Duchess (Leigh Scarritt), the Y.D.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
November 2000
All in the Timing
New World Stage

Ion Theater and InnerMission Productions has brought us David Ives' delightful, six-act, All in the Timing. First performed in 1996, the play has garnered acclaim as well as awards for its wit, intellect, satire and just plain fun. This production is no exception. Let's take a quick look at the six vignettes by this artful word master.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
July 2006
All in the Timing
Carolina Actor's Studio Theater

You've got to wonder why CAST has been hiding its light under a bushel for two years. The professional acting school finally gave its first public performance, spotlighting 19 of teacher/director Ed Gilweit's students. After seeing the half dozen sketches of David Ives's All in the Timing, teacher must be proud. Starting off, David Randal and Beth Burney give a nearly A+ rendition of Sure Thing. Rapidfire pacing, faultless contouring of characters, and impeccable timing make this wild succession of variants on boy-meets-girl a scream.

Perry Tannenbaum
Date Reviewed:
July 1999
All My Sons
Milwaukee Repertory Theater - Quadracci Powerhouse Theater

Although playwright Arthur Miller is known for his masterpiece, Death of a Salesman, it is curious to note why his earlier work, All My Sons, isn't revived more often. To this reviewer's mind, it has all the elements that elevate Salesman to a higher artistic level. In its own way, it seems like a more difficult play to do well. However, one needn't have worried about the production that recently opened at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. From start to finish, the show is mesmerizing. That's to the credit of the talented cast and director Paul Barnes.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
March 2003
All Night Strut
Drury Lane Evergreen Park

All Night Strut, featuring the music of the 1930s and 40s, is a lot of fun and a great way to introduce the younger generation to music you can come out singing. All Night Strut offers no plot or dialogue, just one song after the other. It's an ensemble piece, and the four very talented performers each get the opportunity for solos, duets, trios and quartets. Songwriters celebrated here include Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Frank Loesser, George and Ira Gershwin and on and on.

Richard Allen Eisenhardt
Date Reviewed:
July 1999
all wear bowlers
La Jolla Playhouse - Mandell Weiss Forum

The stage is bare, save for a nine-by-twelve-foot white screen. The house lights dim. We hear an ancient film projector grinding away. We see the film leader: five, four, three, two, and then the film title, "all wear bowlers," staring Earnest Matters (Geoff Sobelle) and Wyatt R. Levine (Trey Lyford). The two are dressed in black, wearing bowlers. They are in a bleak landscape walking and walking and walking, finally getting closer to us. The scratchy film, with occasional subtitles, grinds on.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
August 2006
Alligators
Riverfront Theater

Here again among the works of local writers is a novel posing as a play. If performed, it should be as chamber theater. A distinctive, poetic style proves both attraction and fooler.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
July 2004
Alpha
SouthEnd Performing Arts Center

Seeking to apply his fight choreography skills to a female combat drama, Tony Wright quickly discovered there were no existing scripts to suit his needs. So the actor/playwright, who directed last year's slumber party version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, cooked up his own futuristic sci-fi potboiler, Alpha, now playing at the SouthEnd Performing Arts Center.

Perry Tannenbaum
Date Reviewed:
August 2003
Always...Patsy Cline
Welk Resort Theater

The proscenium of the Welk Theater is a huge barn entrance. The center offers a raised stage framed by another barn-like background, representing many of Patsy Cline's singing venues. To the right of the stage is a bar interior and to the left is Louise Seger's kitchen. We are entering into the land and history of Miss Cline and about to hear a retrospective of her best songs in Always...Patsy Cline.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
April 2006

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