There’s a reason why some stories become timeless classics. They tend to feature truths about the human condition that resonate anew for each generation. Pulitzer-prize-winning author Larry McMurtry’s novel about an intense, difficult yet devoted mother-daughter relationship, marital troubles, and issues with lovers called TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, became a literary sensation in 1975. His highly emotional-yet-relatable story gained cinematic fame when the 1983 movie-version won five Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay by James L. Brooks. 

Nothing beats seeing a brand-new show by a brand-new theater company where you haven’t a clue (really) about what to expect and are completely blown away! I was instantly, and repeatedly, delighted and astonished during the entire 90-minute (no intermission) flashy space opera and lifestyle-parody show that’s out-of-this-world (literally and figuratively) creative, futuristic, and riotously funny while keeping satirically grounded in the inanities of contemporary life – especially the youth culture of Gen Z.

We’ve come a long way since wedding vows always featured an officiant pronouncing the ominous words: “Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

That’s the traditional quote from the marriage liturgy section of The Book of Common Prayer, first published by the Church of England in 1549. Updated variations, which nevertheless always end with “speak now or forever hold your peace,” are rarely used in real life nowadays, but continue to be a popular comedic motif of film and TV. And perhaps, now, plays as well. At least in substance, if not in the specific use of the phrase.

If the name “Trotsky” barely rings a bell, blame Stalin. Trotsky was a major player in Russia’s 1905 Revolution, 1917’s October Revolution, and on, a lifelong agitator for permanent, worldwide social revolution, Marxist political theorist, journalist and war correspondent. In his day, the Trotsky name was as recognized as Lenin’s. Leon Trotsky never stopped advocating for the working class … from prison, from exile, wherever he landed. He accumulated quite the extensive resume.

We can all use a little more Harvey Fierstein in our lives. The multi-Tony (and more) award-winning actor and playwright who many of us recognize from recent local productions of “La Cage Aux Folles,” “Kinky Boots,” and “Newsies,” and from his film work in everything from “Hairspray” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” to the Emmy Award-winning documentary, “The Times of Harvey Milk,” first made his name with “Torch Song Trilogy,” a three-act play that runs over four hours. Nonetheless, this underground hit about the life, loves, and woes of a Jewish drag queen living in New York City transferred to Broadway in 1982 where it achieved landmark status for the LGBTQ community by winning two Tony Awards – for Best Play and Best Actor – the latter also going to the playwright, who starred in the lead role. 

In June, I reviewed FAU’s Festival Rep’s delightful production of Neil Simon’s rarely produced 1988 couples farce, Rumors. And now, in July, I have the privilege of reviewing Pembroke Pines Theatre of Performing Arts (PPTOPA)’s excellent presentation of Simon’s 1968 megahit, PLAZA SUITE, whose rather recent (2022) Broadway revival was enthusiastically received by both audiences and critics. That one starred real-life superstar couple Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker. Of course, back in the day, many of us watched the 1971 film    headlined by Walter Matthau with Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Harris and Lee Grant. Though Simon served as screenwriter, he wasn’t all that happy with the results. 

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes” is a maxim I’ve been hearing far too often. We live in a world that’s blasting headfirst toward what many see as a sci-fi future … yet also appears to be falling off a societal cliff into our troubling past. The “rhymes” of warning are coming at us at lightning speed – but how many of our populace care about poetry, rhyming or not? How many study history, read essays, think deeply about editorials by distinguished academics and politicos?

When America’s most recognized and awarded and prolific TV and theater comedy writer – I’m speaking, of course, of the incomparable four-Emmy and 14 Tony, plus Pulitzer Prize-winning giant Neil Simon – decides to cheer himself up while “going through difficult times” by writing his “first farce” … We can expect it to be a doozy. RUMORS opened on Broadway in 1988 and ran for two years. All the while (at least in my opinion) setting a new, high bar for fast-paced, zany drawing-room comedy. 

Carnivorous houseplants. Homicidal barbers. Psychotic wives and mothers. Miserable lives lived in figurative and literal Hell. Sometimes it feels like there’s no place too dark or outrageous for contemporary musical theater. If presented well, with talent to match, audiences will embrace any “horror” and clamor for more. But sometimes what sounds like a scary plot (like a mad killer on the loose?) is packed with so much musical talent and yes, joy, that it defies classification. Unless one is looking for colorful, beautifully executed, concert-level escapist fun.