A classic Hammerstein and Rodgers musical, The Sound of Music and its timeless numbers are available for your pleasure now at Lake Worth Playhouse. Continuing one of the strongest seasons of local theater I’ve ever had the pleasure to review, the playhouse delivers the seminal score at a time in America when it’s most needed. The plot, one of defiance in the face of a Nazi oppressor, is about the resilience of family bonds and, of course, music; both loud and proud.
No matter who you prefer to be President of the United States, be prepared to laugh heartily at the over the top performances of seven actresses in Selina Fillinger’s comedy “POTUS”, a Zoetic Stage production running now through January 26 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami.
Comedy, romance, and just a dash of drama—Living on Love has it all! A classic screwball comedy at its finest, the play (written by Joe DiPietro and based on the play Peccadillo by Garson Kanin) follows the hilarious hijinks of a famous power couple and the ghostwriters they’ve hired to pen their respective autobiographies. When acclaimed diva Raquel DeAngelis (Mallory Newbrough) discovers that her husband, the feisty and often self-centered Maestro Vito DeAngelis (Wayne LeGette) has fallen for the sweet young woman (Amber Lynn Benson) he’s hired to ghostwrite his (mostly fictional) autobiography, she retaliates by hiring her own handsome ghostwriter (Jim Tyminski) to tell the tale of her illustrious career as an opera star. Completing this talented, laugh-out-loud funny cast are butlers Bruce (Jack Stein) and Eric (Matt Schenk), who just might have some secrets of their own. Sparks—and snow globes—fly as unexpected romances bloom and unforgettable stories are told amidst the chaos.
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.
A cold front might be working its way through South Florida, but there’s no need to worry—The Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s production of Frozen is guaranteed to warm your heart even on the chilliest January day. Directed by Tony nominee John Tartaglia, the story (based on the beloved 2013 Disney film) follows sisters Elsa (Tristen Buettel) and Anna (Brooke Quintana), princesses whose once-unbreakable bond is now on thin ice, severed by isolation.
Prolific, award-winning and long-lived (he died in 2020 at the age of 81) American playwright/writer/actor/director Israel Horovitz boasts over 70 produced plays in the US and internationally. He’s also the most produced American playwright in France, ever, (where he often directed French versions of his work). Not all that surprising, given that he divided his time between France and the States for most of his life.
It is not only nostalgia, but a salute to the art of songwriting and the ability of making anecdotes come alive through melody that is most appealing of the South Florida premiere of “Both Sides Now’, starring singers Robbie Schaefer and Danielle Wertz, running now through January 5 at GableStage in Coral Gables.
For a special Christmas and New Year’s run, Slow Burn Theatre Company is in the midst of its 15th Anniversary Season, and their current production of “Anastasia the Musical” is perfect for December. A take on the beloved animated Disney movie from 1997 with the same name, the production features a wintery Russia and an aristocratic Paris; snowy and cozy both are general feelings with which you leave. Taking fairly major diversions from the movie musical with which we all fell in love with Anya and Dimitry, the musical encapsulates the feeling of family and December, but ultimately misses on the magic from the film.
A maddened leader surrounded by flattering sycophants and slipping into senility. Betrayal, backstabbing, a nation under siege. No, I’m not describing King Lear, though the similarities are by no means coincidental. I’m describingThe Dresser, a 1980 play by Ronald Harwood that revolves around a dysfunctional British theatre troupe’s performance of the aforementioned tragedy—in January of 1942.
