It wasn’t an easy, or even straightforward journey. When the groundbreaking musical’s creator (credited with book, music, lyrics, and first actor to perform the lead role) young Lin-Manuel Miranda, on a break from his 2008 multi-Tony Award-winning In The Heights, first announced he was working on a musical about HAMILTON, it was at a presidential concert in the Obama White House whose theme was “The American Experience.” At the time, he’d written just one, four-minute rap song about Alexander Hamilton’s first 20 years. Miranda’s performance of the song left the Obamas utterly entranced.

When I first read about Jennifer Haley’s play The Nether a few years back, I was immediately intrigued by the bold premise and made a note that I’d like to see it whenever I got the chance, so I was particularly excited to see the play show up as part of the Lake Worth Playhouse’s Black Box series this season. A 2013 play that explores what virtual reality means for morality, it’s a piece I think I responded to much differently today than I would have even a few years ago. In other words, back then, maybe I would’ve taken some of the questions it poses as merely speculative ones. But given how much artificial intelligence has evolved and infiltrated our daily lives in the meantime? The chilling piece and the unsettling questions it raises felt much more urgent to me, like a prescient cautionary tale that’s all too appropriate for the AI age. 

They say that all the world’s a stage…. But actually…. What if all the world’s a zoo? 

I wouldn’t say that’s exactly the question asked by Edward Albee’s At Home at The Zoo or by Plays Of Wilton’s production of it, but it is one of many, many questions one could say that I left the theater thinking about….. Except for the fact that, technically speaking, there was no “theater” at all. Rather, this set of one-acts was the latest to be staged in Richardson Park as part of the company’s wildly successful free outdoor theatre series— a choice that elevated the already phenomenal production into something truly thought-provoking. 

As a writer, I’ve always kept a special place in my heart for the written word. My husband, a lifelong professional wordsmith and bibliophile, collected antique printer’s blocks in wood and metal that often found their way as decorative paperweights (yes, we still used paper) throughout the house. I could look up a letter’s design name in the hefty “Typeface” books he kept on shelves above his desk. How could I resist a man whose first dating gift was custom “Ex Libris” (From the Library of) bookplate stickers to identify my personal library? 

You can’t argue with a centenarian’s secret of longevity. Especially if that 100-year-old happens to be America’s beloved (and still active), universally acclaimed comedian/actor/playwright/filmmaker and songwriter, comedy icon Mel Brooks. Brooks says his secret to a long and happy life is to “Keep laughing.” He’s fanatic about giving audiences lots to laugh about at his shows … and we’re forever grateful! 

‘Tis the season for “scary.” But given the perennial popularity of “Rocky Horror,” nothing beats scary AND campy AND maybe a hefty helping of outrageous, gender-bending funny! Here’s a new one (to me) that’s developed quite the following in America’s regional theater circuit (including off-Broadway accolades), played London’s West End, and even brought down the house in Ramstein and Amsterdam. I was especially delighted to learn that DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS, now playing at Empire Stage, was an early, original commission by none other than our very own Maltz Jupiter Theater who’d contacted the zany comedy-writing team of Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen to script their company’s first world premiere.