Teresa Rodrick - Page 4

The show, A SPELL FOR COLD WEATHER by Charles Way, began after a short break. The show was a sweet story. It takes place on a poor farm. It seemed to take place during the depression but it could have just as easily been in medieval times. I love these stories that tell a moral and define a tradition. Betty (Anastasia Van Allen) and Bob (Steve Martin) live on a farm where the life has gone out of living. They used to sing, dance and play games -but no more.

When you walked into the theatre you were greeted by traditional Christmas music. If you listened to the radio growing up, you know many of these songs. The set is decked out for Christmas, a bit gaudy but not overly so. Once the show starts, you understand that you are now in Tinsel, Texas at the Snowflake Inn. This is where it all happens.

Boise State University Theatre Major's Association's (TMA)showcase this fall was BOOM By Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. To me this was more of a cerebral play than most. It is the tale of the beginning of life, well a possible beginning.

I grew up in the 70's and loved watching all the variety shows that were on TV at the time: Sony and Cher, Donnie and Marie, Carol Brunette and others. WE NEED A LITTLE CHRISTMAS was very much in the style of these shows and made me very nostalgic for my childhood and when I used to believe in Santa Claus (now I believe he is the feeling of Christmas).

One may argue that AMERICAN IDIOT is a glorified concert. Or that it is just a medium for singing Green Day songs while swearing and making rude guestures, and I think a few members of the audience thought that as they left shortly after the first song. However, there is much more to the musical then just the music

Walking into the theatre, there are 1940's recordings of Christmas songs playing overhead, the set (the same from the last show with a few minor adjustments) is painted in holiday colors and decorations to help set the mood. They had a Foley table (for the artist who creates sound effects live) set upstage and center and three microphones spaced out across the stage. There were two light boxes labeled 'applause' centered to the audience on either side of center row.

Arriving at Boise Contemporary Theater, no matter what the weather is outside, is snowing with the wind howling. Once you walk down the hall into the lobby, you are greeted with the bridge set up for the audience to take photos. They even had snow rigged so that it could be snowing in the pictures.

This is true with the production by Starlight Mountain Theatre of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: THE MUSICAL. Starlight Mountain Theatre's cast and crew are spread across the valley. For them to put together a show of any caliber is an incredible act and they put on a good Christmas show.

It was a Friday Night at Liquid Laughs this time and the house was full! It was only a month ago that I reviewed SEAN HANCOCK and HEATH HARMISON in a different show at Liquid Laughs and they are still funny.

Insert Minds. Recycled Foot? I was pondering this. Half of Recycled Minds, Sean Hancock joined Insert Foot on Thursday night for a night of improv.

There was a live band of four playing Russian Folk Music to help set the mood: Anastasia Leonova on vocals/guitar, Gordon Reinhart on violin, Michael Baltzell on the balalaika, and Stitch Marker on guitar. It made for a wonderful transition into the world we were about to enter. They had a quality to them that could (almost should) be on CD.

CHICKS N' GIGGLES is an improv comedy group made up of men and women, I guess the men are the 'giggles'? I was under the impression it was all women from the name, but nope, men were on the stage too. And they all worked well together.

I was invited to review THE MISANTHROPE written by Moliere performed by the students of Rocky Mountain High School. They did something different this year, they have two casts and did the play in two different styles. One cast performed the play in 1910's style of acting and the other cast performed it in the modern style.

All of the stories were enchanting. The actors were very engaging and very energetic. They had a costume change for every story and as you will read below, there were many so for the actors to still have energy at the end of the night after all of those quick changes was impressive. They projected and, I find more surprising, annunciated.

Treasure Valley Children's Theater, LLC, presents Treasure Valley Youth Theater, Inc performing SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK LIVE! JR. Oh, the nostalgia! I loved 'School House Rock' on television when I was young and I purchased them on DVDs to watch with my own children. I could probably sing them all by heart (except for the more resent ones on money and elections) and I did have trouble keeping myself from singing with the young actors on stage.

The format that INSERT FOOT THEATRE uses is similar to 'Who's Line Is It Anyways?'. They have an announcer who gave the rules (and who will play a game or two later) and explains some of the intricacies of the game. He lets the audience know that the pressure for a fun night is on the audience and not on the performers. If the audience does not feed the performance, the performance will not fill the hunger of the audience. Tonight, all appetites were full.

Boise Little Theater presents Steven Sondheim and George Furth's GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER. The director, Curtis Ransom, in his speech let the audience know that there will be a second act, later we would find out why.

On Tuesday nights, the Crescent Brewery opens it stage and hearts to an open mic format comedy show. On this Tuesday night I brought my son with me (all those who come must be 21 or older.)

The JABBERWOCKY is based on a poem by Lewis Carroll in Alice Throuh the Looking Glass. Many people are confused about the poem and what it all means. All of the words are made-up, so much could be read into it. I really enjoyed what authors; Dakota Brown, Noah Moody, and Chat Shohet have done with the poem to give it meaning for young audiences.

This marks the year of Boise, Idaho's sesquicentennial. In celebration, Dr. Charles Lauterbach has produced a reading of the first play performed in Boise in 1864 by the John potter theatre company, THE LADY OF LYONS by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (if I remember correctly, written in 1841)