Drew Eberhard - Page 2

Playwright Larry Alexander has always been a fan of Agatha Christie and over the years has read and re-read her work. At the height of the Pandemic, Larry was in rehearsal for a new musical that was shuttered into the second week of rehearsal. With no idea when the musical would remount, Larry was trying to find something, anything to occupy his time and fill the void. He began re-reading the works of Christie, and while reading his favorite novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, he found what would soon occupy the coming months/years.

Beetlejuice the Musical, is a live stage musical, based on the 1988 film of the same name in which Michael Keaton plays the iconic ghoul. The musical features music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect, with a book by Scott Brown and Anthony King.

Set to the “heartbeat” of an unbelievably brilliant sound design by Jeremy Douglass, Jobsite Theater’s presentation of Nick Dear’s Frankenstein, is a slow-burn, salt-in-the-wound, gripping, tour-de-force that will leave you speechless.

Nightsweat is a comedic farce mixed with a a little mystery and some horror tropes placed throughout. What began as a singular idea, spun off a conversation between playwright Natalie Symons and local favorite Matthew McGee, is now in full glory onstage at its rightful home freeFall Theatre.

Written and Directed by local area playwright William Leavengood, this marks the 3rd collaboration with the Off-Central Players, following The Sister-Mothers of Gulfport, and The Azure Sky in Oz.

Created by Nic Doodson and Andrew Kay, The Choir of Man is a British musical set inside a traditional British or Irish Pub. The unique concept includes a working bar on-stage in which audience members can be served beer during the pre-show and during the performance. For the Tampa stop, local brewery Coppertail lent the evening libations.

Arthur Miller’s Masterpiece The Crucible is a 1953 play that is both dramatized and fictionalized around the true events of the Salem Witch Trials between 1692-93. Written as a Political Allegory on McCarthyism, Miller used its dramatizations to detail a time in which the United States Government persecuted people who were accused of being a part of the Communist Party. The Crucible was first performed on January 22, 1953 at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway. The original production featured performances from E.G. Marshall, Beatrice Straight, and Madeline Sherwood. Though the play was widely criticized often through hostile remarks, Miller’s play went on to win the Tony Award for Best Play of 1953. A year later, a remounted production was performed and in its wake, the play became a classic. Later esteemed as a central piece in the Canon of American Drama, and regarded as one of Miller’s finest works.

The Last Five Years is a musical by Jason Robert Brown that received its premiere at Chicago’s Northlight Theatre in 2001, late in 2002 it was produced off-Broadway. Since its premiere, the musical has spawned numerous productions across the United States, and overseas, and even received treatment as a film adaptation.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, an absurdist, existential tragic-comedy written by British Playwright Tom Stoppard opened Friday evening amidst a room full of eager audience members and hearty laughter. Bringing a cast so deserving of the praise to the top of their game, showcasing their hard work on a not-so-easy show.

Duncan MacMillan’s Every Brilliant Thing is different than anything we have seen as of late. I think this is what truly makes it an endearing yet very sobering piece. Grounded in Audience Participation and two constants, a list and the Mother’s mental illness. In this fast-paced but never rushed 65 minute tour-de force the Narrator who is remaining nameless maneuvers his way through the space telling the tale of his younger years, his time in college, falling in and out of love, marriage and eventually the failings/ups and downs in which life brings along its path.

27 Characters, 1 performer, allow me to say it again...27 DIFFERENT CHARACTERS, 1 PERFORMER. Over the course of a 2 Hour span, 1 Performer has the daunting task of honing in on 27 different perspectives, different accounts of a real event. A real event that happened in 1992 but hits just as hard at the core today as it did a mere 28 years ago.

Rage! Sex! Betrayal! Bloody Murder! Sounds like the makings of a good time right? What if the good time is focused on a retelling of myth, lore, and just pure rock & roll.

The Prom a new musical with music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and a book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin is based on an original concept by Jack Viertel.

Same Time, Next Year is a romantic comedy written by Bernard Slade that premiered in 1975 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. The plot revolves around a man and woman, George and Doris (respectively), who meet together once a year for a rendezvous over the course of 24 years despite being married to other people. Over the span of 24 years, George and Doris, who have six children between them, develop a much deeper level of intimacy for one another, despite only meeting once a year for a clandestine weekend. They discuss births, deaths, and marital woes amidst the ever-changing social climate that plagues their existence over the course of a span of two decades.

The Great American Trailer Park Musical written by David Nehls and Betsy Kelso is a two-act musical exploring relationships between the tenants of Armadillo Acres Trailer Park in Starke, Florida. Its main focus is between Pippi a “stripper on the run,” Jeannie an Agoraphobic, and Norbert, Jeannie’s toll booth collector husband. First performed in 2004 at the first annual New York Music Theatre Festival, and then on off-Broadway in 2005. Opening at Bows at Dodger Stages in November of 2005, with Betsy Kelso directing. The show played 121 performances and closed in December of 2005. The first regional premiere in the U.S. was performed in June of 2006 at the Hippodrome in Gainesville, Florida. The first National Tour began in Spokane, Washington in January of 2008.

Annie, is a musical based off of the 1924 comic book Little Orphan Annie written by Harold Gray. The musical features music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and features a book written by Thomas Meehan.

Oz: A New Musical, is an original musical exploring the genius of L. Frank Baum and his complicated relationship with his most famous creation, the Land of Oz. This is the story of a dreamer at the dawn of a new age who reinvented the fairy tale in a distinctly American way, painting an idealized and magical vision of a world where witches might be good, and what you’re seeking is already inside you.

Arthur Miller's subliminal masterpiece in a Three-Act structure All My Sons is what Miller considered his last-ditch effort at writing a commercially successful play. You see Miller's first play The Man Who Had All the Luck failed miserably on Broadway lasting a total of four performances. Miller considered throwing in the towel prior to writing All My Sons.

Jagged Little Pill, is the latest “Jukebox Musical,” in a rather long line of “Jukebox Musicals,” to make it on Broadway and then tour in recent years. With music by Alanis Morissette, book by Diablo Cody, and additional music by Michael Farrell and Guy Sigsworth, the show traverses the iconic landscape of songs represented on Morissette’s 1995 album of the same name, and touches on topics of pain, healing, and empowerment.

If its the weird and somewhat twisted that you seek...if you find entertainment in exploring a warped sense of fantasy, then look no further than the genius that is the Ensemble Company of Jobsite Theater. Ever since its production of Shockheaded Peter, Jobsite has harnessed a niche in the realm of the weird, and unexpected. Damn do they do it well.