Interview: Tari Kelly, Mrs. White in CLUE at Dr. Phillips Center
by Joseph Harrison - May 30, 2024
Was it Mr. Green in the Library with the Revolver? Miss Scarlet with the Candlestick in the Dining Room? Professor Plum with the Wrench in the Kitchen? These suggestions should sound familiar to any fan of the classic Hasbro board game, Clue, or of the 1985 cult classic comedy film of the same name. But June 4th – 9th in Orlando you might just be accusing Mrs. White of slaying the audience with hilarious comedy in the Walt Disney Theatre (at the Dr. Phillips Center) as CLUE, a new production based on the classic board game and film, takes the stage. Embodying the mysterious (and hilarious) perpetual widow, Mrs. White, will be Tari Kelly who sat down with me to share about her theatrical origins, her experience bringing this classic role to life (and adding her own interpretation to it), and what audiences can expect when they come to see CLUE in Orlando.
Review: A WALK IN THE WOODS at The Abbey Theater
by Paul Batterson - May 21, 2024
What did our critic think of A WALK IN THE WOODS at The Abbey Theater? Bishara’s non-nonsense Honeywell verbally spars with Holliday’s frivolous Botvinnik. The Soviet diplomat believes the only way the treaty can work is if the two develop an attitude of friendship and trust. Honeywell believes the two must maintain a sense of formality.
Review: TIMBUKTU! at The Black Rep
by Steve Callahan - May 20, 2024
Packed with Borodin's music, and African rhythm and dance, romance, and humor that smacks of vaukdeville, this strange package has many delights.
North American Tour of MYSTIC PIZZA to Launch in January 2025
by Blair Ingenthron - May 20, 2024
The highly-anticipated musical adaptation of the 1988 classic movie MYSTIC PIZZA, which recently completed a critically hailed run at LA Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts this past January, will embark on a North American Tour in January 2025.
No Mystery: Go See CLUE at Hippodrome
by Jack L. B. Gohn - May 8, 2024
So, even with one major problem, the muddy sound denign, whether to go see this show is no mystery. The solution: catch it while it’s here.
Review: A CHORUS LINE at The Norris Theatre
by Melissa Heckscher - Apr 28, 2024
The Palos Verdes Performing Arts' production of A Chorus Line is everything community theater should be: It makes you realize you don’t need a big Broadway house to get a Broadway experience.
Review: KING HEDLEY II at A Noise Within
by Evan Henerson - Apr 19, 2024
KING HEDLEY II is the eighth and quite possibly bleakest play of August Wilson’s Century Cycle. Pasadena’s A Noise Within is committed to producing the entire cycle, and ANW’s production, under the direction of frequent Wilson helmsman Gregg T. Daniel, wrestles with it valiantly.
Interview: Hiro Iida, an Electronic Music Designer Making Waves Worldwide
by Ayaka Ozaki - Apr 13, 2024
Hiro Iida: Known as an electronic music designer making waves worldwide, he's a sound craftsman designing the sound of musicals. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, he has won two Grammy Awards. Some of his notable works include 'The Notebook THE MUSICAL,' 'THE GREAT GATSBY,' 'Kimberly Akimbo,' 'Tootsie' on Broadway, 'MJ THE MUSICAL,' 'Mean Girls' in the UK, 'The Man Who Laughs,' 'Mata Hari,' and 'XCALIBUR' in Korea, as well as 'DEATH NOTE THE MUSICAL,' 'Musical IKIRU,' and 'Your Lie in April' in Japan. He has also provided music to notable figures like Akiko Yano.
Review: CLUE at Ohio Theatre
by Paul Batterson - Apr 10, 2024
The script is filled with pratfalls, sight gags, puns and “Dad jokes,” but what makes this play work is the backstory and the personality given to each character and each role contributes something to the plot.
Nashville Repertory Theatre's Stellar 39th Season Continues With Superb Prooduction of THE COLOR PURPLE
by Jeffrey Ellis - Apr 9, 2024
Led by a bravura performance from Carli Hardon, Nashville Repertory Theatre’s production of The Color Purple – the musical based on the beloved Alice Walker novel – is yet another extraordinary success from the professional company in the midst of its 39th season. Directed with complete self-assurance and confidence by Reggie Law, with evocative and energetic choreography by Joi Ware and the musical direction of Dion Treece that results in one of the most emphatically sung shows in Nashville Rep history.