Matthew Korinko and Lisa Kerstin Braun in 'Into the Woods'.

For Broadway composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who has given us musicals about a vengeful barber, presidential assassins, the follies of former Follies girls and the opening of Japan to Western influences, no subject matter would be surprising. Still, 25 years ago, when he and librettist James Lapine investigated the dark side of fairy tales in Into the Woods, the results were as unexpected as they were entertaining.

Leave it to Sondheim to put a new spin on such familiar fables as Cinderella, Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk, by interweaving their stories, adding an original story to the mix and finding ambiguities where there was once simply good and evil. For Into the Woods asks us to consider that when a giant is toppled, he leaves behind a widow. And even the pesky wolf slain after menacing that girl in the red hoodie left a mother behind to grieve.

Directions, invite a friend

Into the Woods may traffic in Grimm territory, but it does so with both a sense of whimsy and a concern for the serious consequences of these moral-laden tales. True, this is Sondheim’s most family-friendly musical, but it is anything but kids’ stuff.

The show’s unconventional nature makes it ideal for West Boca’s Slow Burn Theatre, which rises to its considerable production demands with brio. With its cast of 19 tackling some two dozen intricate musical numbers – from the Disneyfied title jingle to the witch’s rap solo to Jack’s plaintive farewell to his emaciated cow to the heartfelt ballads of the moody second act – the show is the company’s most ambitious undertaking to date, which pays off in remarkably satisfying ways.

Read the full story

By CHRISTINE DOLEN

Boca Raton’s Caldwell Theatre Company, which postponed its planned world premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown’s Our Lady of Allapattah less than two weeks ago, has now canceled the show.

Artistic director Clive Cholerton said Wednesday that Palm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach has agreed to exchange Our Lady tickets for a ticket to Dramaworks’ production of David Auburn’s Proof (May 25-June 17) or the theater’s production of the long-running Off-Broadway hit The Fantasticks (July 13-Aug. 5). Subscribers and ticketholders are being contacted by the Caldwell with details on the ticket exchange.

“As much as we wanted to personally honor our ticket holders, it simply wasn’t feasible,” Cholerton said in a statement. “We continue to explore all of our options and will make a formal announcement when all of the facts have been addressed. We are incredibly appreciative of the generosity of Bill Hayes and Sue Ellen Beryl of Palm Beach Dramaworks.”
Read the full story

Paul Bodie, Summer Hill Seven and Jared McGuire star in Athol Fugard's 'Master Harold ... and the boys'. (Photo by Alicia Donellan)

Palm Beach Dramaworks, which trafficks in "theater to think about," has previously not dealt with an issue very much on the public’s minds now – racism. But producing director William Hayes is intent on changing that, beginning with his latest production, Athol Fugard’s Master Harold … and the boys, opening Friday.

As Hayes explains, "When we were doing an overview of (African-American playwright) August Wilson a couple of years ago, people felt very strongly in the talkbacks about the racial divide in this country. So I made a commitment for the next few years to do plays that deal with race, because I think it’s that important of an issue."

Fugard considers Master Harold to be his most personal play, a look back at himself as a boy in his mother’s tea shop in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Hally interacts with his longtime playmates, black waiters Sam and Willie, and ultimately assumes the mantle of racism that was so prevalent under the national policy of apartheid.

Directions to ‘Master Harold … and the boys’, invite a friend

"I think Master Harold … and the boys demonstrates what we lose when brought up in a society that has institutionalized racism and hatred and bigotry," says Hayes. "That it prevents us from moving forward, socially, politically and even economically."

Read the full story

Frank Sinatra lovers will revel in this production of “Come Fly Away” which was 80 minutes (no intermission) of his vocals combined with Twyla Tharp’s concept and choreography. In town for eight performances at Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the part-tribute, part-dancing-with-the-stars-esque show will engage audiences of all ages.

You don’t have to be fan of “Ol’ Blue Eyes” to enjoy this show which plays through March 25 but numbers like “Fly Me to the Moon’, “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby”, “That’s Life”, “My Way” and “New York, New York” will have you wishing you were.

Ticket information, directions, invite a friend

It was pure bliss watching the talented cast, including Mallauri Esquibel as Betsy, Ron Todorowski as Marty, Stephen Hanna as Sid, Ashely Blair Fitzgerald as Kate, Amy Ruggiero as Slim, Anthony Burell as Hank, Matthey Stockwell Dibble as Chanos and Meredith Miles as Babe. The Ensemble cast included Nathan Madden, Marceea Moreno, Candy Olsen, Julius Anthony Rubio, Tanairi Sade Vazquez, and Michael Williams.
Read the full story

Vicky Lewis (right) as Dolly Gallagher Levi with Gary Beach as Horace Vandergelder in 'Hello, Dolly!' at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre.

There are a lot of clever staging ideas in director-choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge’s fresh take on Hello, Dolly!, but her best idea, by far, is the casting of diminutive dynamo Vicki Lewis in the title role.

Small of stature, large of voice, fluttery of hands and lethal of comic timing, Lewis is a take-no-prisoners knockout as meddlesome Dolly Gallagher Levi, who has set her sights on Horace Vandergelder, "Yonkers’ well-known half-millionaire." For the curmudgeonly hay and feed merchant, and for the audience at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, any attempt at resistance would be futile.

Wily, flirty, fast-talking and – the best trick of all – unexpectedly touching in the role, Lewis dominates an evening that is loaded with pleasures. As with so many recent productions at the Maltz, Dodge serves up a Hello, Dolly! that should captivate a first-time viewer as well as those who have seen this landmark 1964 musical many times over the years.

For starters, the show has great source material in Thornton Wilder’s philosophical comedy, The Matchmaker, about a turn-of-the-century marriage broker with a knack for instigating romance in all those around her, including herself. Then there is the infectious Jerry Herman score, with such seductively hummable tunes as Put on Your Sunday Clothes, It Only Takes a Moment and the irrepressible title number. Add to that Michael Stewart’s crafty, economical book, which retains Wilder’s many direct address monologues.

Read the full story

The Plaza Theatre, the area’s newest stage venture, will be producing mainly musical revues in its Manalapan home during its opening season. But before that onslaught, the company is presenting a jukebox book musical with songs by ’60s pop-rock composer-performer Neil Sedaka, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, that producer Alan Jacobson found at a Sarasota dinner theater.

That may not set the bar very high for the playhouse that once housed the late Florida Stage, but the show proves to be pleasantly lightweight entertainment. Its score is full of familiar hits, its story line winks at the romantic conventions of musical comedy, and both are served up by a capable, if not overwhelming, cast.

If you are looking for production values, you would be in the wrong place, but judging from the receptive opening night audience, there is probably a market here for the Plaza’s fare.

The show’s chief asset is Sedaka’s trunk of tunes which chronicles various stages of longing, heartbreak and puppy love, crafted into numbers with an infectious period beat. You know, numbers like Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen, Calendar Girl and Stupid Cupid, which Sedaka rode to the top of the charts, and a few, like Where the Boys Are (Connie Francis) and Love Will Keep Us Together (The Captain and Tenille) that he wrote for others.

Read the full story

By ROD STAFFORD HAGWOOD

Woody Guthrie tied folk music with activism during the economic blight of the 1930s. In doing so, he helped pave the way for the likes of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and the Indigo Girls. But it’s the musical “Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie” – opening Friday at the Theatre at Arts Garage in Delray Beach – that hopes to link the travails of the Great Depression with the Great Recession.

“Oh, yes, there’s a lot that will resonate with people that is reflected with the homelessness and joblessness,” said David Lutken, the show’s creator and star, between rehearsals in Manhattan. “Especially with the economic collapse in 2008, the Occupy Wall Street people, the Arab Spring, and even with President Obama and his administration – whether you’re for him or against him.”

Directions, invite a friend

Aside from its being a potential powder keg, here are five things you need to know about “Woody Sez.”

1. Lutken – a Broadway veteran of shows such as “Inherit the Wind,” “Ring of Fire” and “The Will Rogers Follies” – also appeared in a Guthrie jukebox musical titled “Woody Guthrie’s American Song,” which had a successful run in 1994 at the Florida Stage in Manalapan.

2. The genesis of the show stretches back to the 1950s with Harold Leventhal, the folk impresario who handled the careers of Dylan, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Odetta, Neil Young and Woody’s son Arlo Guthrie. “Harold was an old Jewish Communist and he was in charge of the Guthrie estate,” Lutken explained. “He did a show in 1956 with, like, 40 people called ‘This Land Is Your Land.’ I made it a show with four people, and we take it to schools all over to this day. In 2007, I composed ["Woody Sez"] from 75 to 80 articles of Woody Guthrie’s own words.”
Read the full story

Director Julie Taymor has hit back at her former creative partners in “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark,” arguing in court papers that she was the victim of a conspiracy to unfairly push her out of the production.

Taymor’s legal team on Friday defended the Tony Award winner against a countersuit from producers, the latest installment in their bitter legal battle over financial rewards for Broadway’s most expensive show.

Her lawyers allege that for months the producers “were secretly conspiring to oust Taymor and use and change her work without pay” even as they urged her to continue working.

Taymor was the original “Spider-Man” director and co-book writer. She was fired in March after years of delays, accidents and critical backlash over the musical.

It doesn’t seem likely that a story inspired by a miners strike would explode with emotion and humor, but that’s exactly the case with Billy Elliot, now on stage at the Broward Center.

The story of Billy Elliot was borne from the 1984 Miners Strike in England during the time when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister.

The musical brims with emotion, working class humor, and incredible dance, tap and ballet numbers.

The musical, which was first a movie, features music by Elton John. Because of the rigor of the title role of Billy Elliot, there are several young men alternating performances, including Ty Forman, Kylend Hetherington, Zach Manske and J.P. Viernes.

Directions, nearby dining

With strong characters like Mrs. Wilkinson, played by Leah Hocking, Grandma (Cynthia Darlow), Tony
(Cullen R. Titmas) and Dad (Rich Hebert), Billy (played on this night by Ty Forhan) turns from boxing enthusiast to ballet dancer extraordinaire.
Read the full story