Connor McPherson’s “The Seafarer,” now on stage at Palm Beach Dramaworks, arrives as a fitting addition to the company’s season, offering audiences a work that is as unsettling as it is humane. Set on a bleak Christmas Eve in a small seaside town in Ireland, the play unfolds largely in one room, yet its emotional and metaphysical reach extends far beyond its modest physical confines. McPherson’s text blends folklore, existential dread, and dark humor, creating a quiet but persistent tension that lingers long after the final scene.
Given our daily international news shockers, homeless and addiction numbers, soaring unemployment, not to mention the constant threat of gun violence, climate disasters, pandemics and poverty, many in our country would say we currently live in “miserable” times. Why rush to see more misery in LES MISÉRABLES, despite its exalted reputation as the “world’s most popular and beloved musical”? The musical is based on renowned French writer and activist Victor Hugo’s sensational (and banned by the Catholic Church) 1862 novel about the mistreatment and hopeless lives endured daily by the French underclass – especially, the number-tattooed, and thus marked-for-life as felons, incarcerated “criminals” who are routinely debased and used for slave labor.
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the author’s celebrated tale of a wretched skinflint named Ebenezer Scrooge who finds lifesaving redemption with help from a bevy of ghostly apparitions on a fateful Christmas Eve in mid-19th century London, has returned for his attitude adjustment.
Only this time, the makeover is filled with song and dance. The version at the Wick Theatre in Boca Raton is a dynamic musical adaptation of Dickens’ original novella. The production, told in a single act split into multiple scenes, is drawn from a book by Mike Ockrent and Lynn Ahrens. It features a dozen delightful songs by master composers Ahrens and Alan Menken.
We all love the many joys that modern trends bring us over the holiday season. Netflix’s wintery romcoms? Add to watchlist immediately. Seasonal tunes sung by the radio’s favorite pop artists? On repeat, of course. However, there’s something so magical about embracing the holiday traditions of yesteryear, too. This winter, the Delray Beach Playhouse does just that with their festive production of Winter Wonderettes. Directed by Elizabeth Guerra, the jukebox musical takes audience members back to 1968, where Harper’s Hardware Store is hosting its annual company Christmas party. When Santa goes missing, best friends Betty Jean (Lili Mueller), Cindy Lou (Hannah Almanzar), Missy (Jessica Perry) and Suzy (Amber Arevalo) step in to save the day, regaling the crowd with their honeyed harmonies and catchy renditions of popular holiday songs! Can the Wonderettes make the party a success after all?
I love how ONE SUMMER IN BROOKLYN: The Musical’s producer Lisa Walkowitz (who’s also the founder/president of Not Your Average Theater Group that is presenting this world premiere) introduced the show on their Facebook page: “They say you can never go home again … so … we brought Brooklyn to Boca.” It certainly was a delight for many former New Yorkers (like myself), or anyone who remembers the 1960s, to enter Boca Raton’s Willow Theatre at Sugar Sand Park and be met by early sixties’ tunes and a looming full-stage projection of the Brooklyn Bridge. Followed by revolving photos of happy, mostly young couples on Coney Island Beach and Steeplechase Park with its famous Ferris wheel and rides.
Playwright Delia Ephron’s openness to finding love in her 70s after a long 35 year marriage ended is the central focus of her autobiographical one act drama LEFT ON TENTH, running now through Dec. 21 at GableStage in Coral Gables.
On the surface, ‘Clue: Live on Stage’ appears to be a story about solving a murder mystery and sounds like it will be a whodunit dramatic mystery with the audience being on edge until the mystery is solved.
Except the reality of this play is different as audiences will see as “Clue: Live on Stage” is running now though Sunday, Dec.7 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami as part of the Broadway in Miami series this season.
Despite thousands of books, films and plays written about The Holocaust and specifically the deaths of millions of Jews in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi Germany from 1933-45, one would think that all that needs to be expressed about Auschwitz has been accomplished. But there is evidence that changes that perspective. The one act drama “Here There are Blueberries” by playwright Moises Kaufman and Amanda Gronich, running now through December 14 at Miami New Drama’s Colony Theater in Miami Beach, focuses on the Nazi Germany perpetrators. The central focus of the play is on the discovered Hocker photo album, a scrapbook of photos taken by a Nazi officer stationed at Auschwitz during the 1940s.
Flamingo Gardens (specifically the 10 acres when you enter) that’s normally closed at night is now open – and all lit up! This year, South Florida’s renowned botanical garden and wildlife sanctuary was chosen to host WINTER WONDERLAND and I, for one, consider these historic gardens to be an ideal location for resurrecting the sorely missed, family tradition of evening strolls through holiday light displays. All those magnificent tall trees along the winding paths serve as perfect limb “hangers” for shooting stars, lantern globes, and glittery iridescent streamers. And it’s so much fun to get lost – if only temporarily (because the roads circle back) – on hidden pathways of discovery. Like passing under an igloo-shaped work of art that looks like it dropped from outer space or suddenly confronting flashy-lit pink flamingos and other cute, bright LED-lit animals, clutching gift boxes or ornaments.
On the surface, the story behind playwright Larry Gelbart’s (who is most well-known for creating the television series “M.A.S.H.) two act comedy “Better Late”, running now through November 30 at Empire Stage in Ft. Lauderdale, is about how husband Lee (played by actor Geoff Freitag) and wife Nora (Patti Gardner) have to cope with having a new resident in their home, Nora’s ex-husband Julian (Peter W. Galman) on a temporary basis.
