Broward Center for the Performing Arts is currently hosting a live, interactive sleuthing experience of the iconic murder-mystery board game, “Clue.” The game takes place at a series of historic and business landmarks in downtown Fort Lauderdale. An imaginative, outdoor, audience-led version of a touring show, CLUE: A Walking Mystery (produced by Right Angle Entertainment and designed by award-winning interactive entertainment company The Wild Optimists, under license with Hasbro) first opened to two successful runs in Chicago, followed by Boston. You might recall last season’s popular staging of “Clue: A New Comedy” at Broward Center. Making our area an ideal choice for the IRL (In Real Life) game play version’s first southern stop (Tampa’s next). It’s all happening now through April 6.
You can always count on Thinking Cap Theatre (TCT) to discover that special gem of a new play (or unearth an ancient classic) and gift it to South Florida with a uniquely creative and entertaining production. This time it’s ALL THE NATALIE PORTMANS, a newplay by C.A. Johnson that generated positive buzz at its Off-Broadway debut at MCC Theater in 2020, only to be abruptly shut down by the pandemic. But just like all those great Natalie Portman roles resurrected by Johnson’s protagonist for inspiration, you can’t keep a great play from finding its audience.
Touted as “The Worlds #1 Musical” (in earnings and ongoing popularity), the six Tony Award-winning (including Best Musical) “nothing else like it” theatrical extravaganza that is Disney’sTHE LION KING returns to Broward Center for an extended run through March 30. And continues to draw enthusiastic crowds of all ages – from first-time-at-the-theater kids (a popular, parental-choice rite of passage) to repeat Disney- and “Lion King”-obsessed fans.
If you think you know all about witches, think again! You’re about meet 250-year-young Angelina Max, a force of nature who can screw up like a human, exact revenge like a witch, but is also funny, loving and kind. And about to sing and dance her way into your heart.
Musicals-made-from-movies-made-from-books is a popular, winning formula drawing audiences from print, from film, from lovers of musicals – as well as “none of the above.” By the time a book- and/or movie-based musical hits Broadway, it tends to have a well-established fan base, eager for more. There will always be purists who claim one must read the book first or are emotionally tied to the movie. Coming from someone who’s experienced all three – in no particular order – I say there’s no one right or wrong way to enjoy a great musical. Nothing compares to the buzz and anticipation felt by a live audience when the curtain rises. Where personal issues are put aside and we can all sit entranced, together, for a few magical hours of drama, comedy and, especially, wondrous music and songs!
Did you hear about the latest plane crash? What about the latest protest resignations by our most experienced government officials? And the firings, all the firings. And dismantling of essential federal agencies that protect us from foreign invasion (both human and microbial), our environment from climate disaster, our food and air and water … in essence, insure our quality of life? Even our cultural life (what really makes us human) is hanging by a thread from all the cutbacks to education, the arts, and book bans designed to keep “dangerous” inquiring minds from ever questioning the wisdom of our billionaire overlords.
I was thrilled to finally discover why I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE is off-Broadway’s second longest-running show. It’s also a popular international favorite, having played in over 35 countries and translated into at least 17 languages! This timeless musical comedy, which premiered off-Broadway in 1996, boasts book and lyrics by Tony Award-winning Joe DiPietro (famous for Memphis, Over the River and Through the Woods, and much more) with music by Jimmy Roberts (composer of The Thing About Men). The show was (likely) universally embraced for its bold and honest exploration of that most stressful, heartbreaking and heart-expanding universal human emotion: LOVE, the pursuit of love, and all the related relationship trials and joys that have obsessed man- and womankind since time immemorial. (There’s even a short opening scene where God presents Adam with Eve, and Eve presents Adam with her list of demands before any coupling can commence.)
Political greed, ruthless ambition, ignoring “facts” to sell a popular story, and always – everywhere and in every age – deep-seated antisemitism lie at the heart of PARADE. This blockbuster, emotionally-charged musical (co-conceived and directed on Broadway by Harold Prince), shook the conscience of our nation in 1999. It went on to win Tony Awards for Best Score (by Jason Robert Brown who also wrote the lyrics), Best Book of a Musical (by Alfred Uhry), along with five Drama Desk Awards (including Outstanding Musical) and The New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical.
Everyone knows the name “Carole King.” For many of us, the legendary American musician/singer/songwriter’s copious output spanning six decades (writing and co-writing over 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts) formed the soundtrack of our lives. If there were a Guinness world record for most popular songs ever written/co-written, she’d likely win by a mile.
If you live in South Florida and love theater, you are doubly blessed. Not only can you enjoy a variety of finely curated and produced world premieres, you can also revisit (or initially experience) award-winning, timeless classics that every serious theater-goer should see at least once in their lifetime.
