Robert Barossi - Page 2

Major Broadway musicals are bound to have many different incarnations over time, from early workshops to original runs to revivals and regional productions. Shows that stand the test of time, the way that Rent does, appear on the stage in touring productions, long, open-ended runs, and international productions all over the world. The current tour that's travelling the country, heralded as the 20th Anniversary Tour and currently running at the Civic Center in Oklahoma City, is a mostly disappointing production that doesn't really do the show as a whole the justice it deserves.

Some shows can challenge a review when it comes to whether or not to recommend a particular production. There can sometimes be long internal debates about whether or not to advise audiences to spend their hard earned money buying those tickets. That is not the case with the Pollard Theatre Company's current production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. No waffling or wavering here. The best advice about this particular production can be summed up in three words: See. This. Show.

There are few decades that elicit the kind of immediate, emotional and visceral response that you get when you mention the 1980s to anyone who was around during that era. There's just something about the 80s. The movies, the pop culture, the music, the politics, everything that went on during that decade seems to be somehow extra unique or extra special, especially to those who lived during those times. The hair band glam rock of the 80s gets the musical treatment in Rock of Ages, now running at the Lyric Theatre's home on the Plaza.

There have been many great singers who left an indelible mark on the music industry and who created music that has stood the test of time long after their voices fell silent. Among them is an undeniable country music legend who changed the game in many ways and blazed a trail for numerous female country artists to follow, the incomparable Patsy Cline. Although her life and career were cut tragically short in 1963, Cline's music and voice are still instantly recognizable and her impact is still felt in the country music world even today. To open their season, CityRep is currently presenting a show that provides a window into the life of the legendary singer and a chance to hear many of her most beloved songs, sung live on stage. While A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline does succeed in bringing to life those songs in quite spectacular fashion, the show as a whole is a mixed bag, an odd combination of disparate and at times frustrating elements that never really gel into a cohesive whole.

It's undeniable that just saying the word 'Disney' conjures up an instant image, thought or feeling in a person's mind and maybe heart as well. The world created by Walt Disney has become a worldwide empire spanning everything from amusement parks to movies to merchandise of all kinds. Much of that involves iconic and beloved characters, many from beloved animated movies. The movies and their characters have been around a long time and are instantly recognizable. But if you thought you could never experience them in an entirely new and different way, Lyric Theatre is here to prove you wrong. Their production of Disney's When You Wish takes those magical movie moments and brings them to life in an entirely spectacular new way.

The works of William Shakespeare can be some of the most challenging plays for any company to produce. One of the potential hurdles is whether or not to change or alter the play to make it 'more accessible' to modern audiences. Some will argue that no such changes need to ever happen because the plays are as accessible and relatable today as they have always been. Others say modern audiences need help to grasp the play's language and its meaning. Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park is taking on these challenges in their rollicking and entertaining production of Taming of the Shrew, now playing on the stage at the Myriad Botanical Gardens.

Often, an audience member goes into a show with a certain set of expectations in mind. If you're seeing Shakespeare, you expect sonnets and iambic pentameter. If you're seeing Arthur Miller or Tennessee Williams, you expect searing drama and representations of real, recognizable people and their very human problems. If you are seeing Bring It On: the Musical, based on the cult-favorite movie of the same name, you expect camp, fun, nothing to be taken too seriously and some excellent dance and cheerleading. All of that and more is found in the infectiously enjoyable production of Bring It On now running at the Pollard Theatre in Guthrie.

Since the dawn of theater, even in it's most nascent forms, audiences have marveled at spectacular moments brought to life on stage. Throughout their history, plays and musicals have utilized the talents of theater artists and professionals to do what may have seemed impossible. Today, modern technology makes it possible to dig even deeper into our imaginations and bring to life what's found there. Few shows have excited and fulfilled our collective imagination the way The Lion King has and the touring production currently playing at the Civic Center remains as spectacular as ever.

It's never a good idea to say that anything is a sure thing. On the other hand, when the creative team behind the Broadway smash The Producers put the show together, it must have seemed just a little bit like it could be a sure thing. You had the comic genius of Mel Brooks creating a musical based on his own hysterical movie, with the help of other Broadway heavy hitters like Susan Stroman, who directed and choreographed the original production, as well as major stars like Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. The show went on to become one of the biggest hits in modern  Broadway memory and the current production at the Pollard Theatre loses none of what made the original such an enormous success.

Rodgers and Hammerstein shows are known for being of a certain type. They are rarely what might be called small or minimalist and it would be tricky for any theater to do minimalist versions of most of them. These are shows that often have the word “big” attached to them and for a smaller sized theater with somewhat  limited resources to attempt one of these big shows is an ambitious effort. Jewel Box Theatre is currently trying to do just that with a fully staged production of one of these shows, South Pacific, and the attempt ends up with highly mixed results.

If you caught the recent touring productions of Pippin or Motown: The Musical at Civic Center Music Hall, you've also been part of the first season for OKC Broadway presenting Broadway productions at the Music Hall. This young organization, formed through a partnership between the Civic Center Music Hall Foundation and the Nederlander Organization, is led by Elizabeth Gray, who is both the General Manager of OKC Broadway and Executive Director of the Civic Center Foundation. I spoke with Ms Gray about how OKC Broadway came to be, what audiences can expect in the near and long-term future, and how she sees OKC Broadway fitting into the arts community here in Oklahoma City.

The musical theatre scene is filled with adaptations of Hollywood movies, to the point of overflowing. Some of these musical stage versions of popular movies have not translated well (Ghost and Flashdance, I'm looking at you). On the other hand, a number of them have gone on to become highly successful Broadway musicals, winning a number of Tony awards as well as critical and audience raves. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is part of the latter group and is now getting a breezy and extremely fun production at Sooner Theatre in Norman.

Adapting any children's book for the stage is likely to be a tricky proposition. By their very nature, kids' books are filled with challenging settings and characters, from talking animals to fantastical locations to entire magical worlds that come right out of the most vivid and playful imaginations. It's no different for Roald Dahl's classic James and the Giant Peach. Having said that, it's hard to imagine any production of a stage version being as well-produced and successfully achieved as the one currently playing at the Lyric Theatre's Plaza Theatre.

Let's face it, long bus rides can be an at-times uncomfortable and awkward journey. The seats are not always conducive to comfort and if there are lots of people, it's going to get cramped. But, as the saying goes, it's not about the journey, it's about the destination, and while the ride might be bumpy, getting to our destination is often rewarding and exciting. William Inge's Bus Stop, now playing at Jewel Box Theatre, is a bit like a long bus journey. The ride might have its ups and downs, but it's the destination, the pay-off, that makes it a journey well worth taking.

It's true that there are countless musicals from yesteryear that are, and always will be, timeless classics. On the other hand, there is also a constant flow of new material being created, which runs the gamut in terms of quality and success. Many of these new works do not succeed the way that the age-old classics do. Others, though, become almost instant classics in their own right as they find critical and popular acclaim. A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder is that kind of show and the current touring production at Providence Performing Arts Center demonstrates just how fantastic this very young musical really is.

Movies to musicals and musicals to movies. It's been a regular occurrence for years, although it seems that recently it's been happening more and more. Sometimes, the transition from movie to musical, or vice versa, works perfectly and can be pulled off without a hitch. Sometimes it fails miserably. The musical version of the 1954 classic holiday movie White Christmas is neither of these things. It's not spectacular, nor is it a failure. It's uneven, at best, something that is made worse by an uneven and surprisingly disappointing production currently running at Ocean State Theatre Company.

In the five years since arriving in their brand new space in Warwick, Ocean State Theatre Company has quickly become among the top tier of theater companies in our region, consistently producing plays and musicals of the highest quality. That trend continues with their current riveting production of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Doubt: A Parable.

There is certainly something worthwhile about theater that pushes boundaries, tries new things, experiments and offers unique way to tell a story. The art form, in general, benefit from that kind of work. It benefits from work that expands the minds of an audience and tells them a story in a way that challenges them. On the other hand, Wilbury Group's second show of the year, 10,000 Things by Erik Ehn, proves how this kind of theater can instead leave an audience bored, confused or both. 

There is a current trend in Hollywood to combine movies in a way that creates a 'cinematic universe.' This allows studios to create a number of movies that are all connected and can be tied together, usually because of a shared world of characters, think Marvel superheroes or the famous Universal Studios movie monsters. In an ingenious sort of experiment, Wilbury Group is kicking off its season with a production that creates a kind of 'theatrical universe,' by linking together three plays that would otherwise be thought of us very different and entirely separate. With masterful execution, Wilbury manages to create a fascinating and frightening world in which we can really believe these three disparate works might coexists.

Epic Theatre Company begins its fifth full-length season with an attempt to walk that fine line, presenting the Rhode Island premiere of Anne Nelson's play The Guys. A simple, straightforward story, Nelson's work offers us only two characters, two people who would be complete strangers if not for the events in New York City on that day. Joan is a New York City writer, and transplant from Oklahoma, who is at the center of the play, often breaking into monologues to talk to address the audience directly about the events of the day and how it impacted her and everyone else. Nick is a Fire Captain, one who lost a number of men in the towers during the attacks. He arrives at Joan's doorstep asking for a very specific form of help: he needs her to help him write the eulogies for the men who died while under his command.