When ACT’s (Actors Community Theatre of Davie) popular director Jerry Jensen decided to keep their latest production, CLOSE TIES by Elizabeth Diggs, in the playwright’s setting of 1981, it was a no-brainer. Audiences would surely love revisiting a family’s summer home set in the quieter and more rural Berkshires of decades past. Where, as Jensen states in his Director’s Notes, “There are no cellphones or even area codes, no PCs, an office where the father uses a Dictaphone. The kitchen table is the center of family activity. But the family relationships are as timely today as they were then.”
Playwright Elena Maria Garcia and Stuart Meltzer’s “Cuban Chicken Soup”, a one woman comedy starring Garcia, now running through May 19 by Zoetic Stage at the Carnival Studio Theater of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, is a humorous look at Latina and Jewish culture in Miami.
How did we get here? As we rapidly approach the intermission season, the limbo space between one performing arts season to the next, institutions in South Florida are wrapping up their efforts, while some are showcasing their penultimate selection of talent. One venue with a firecracker of a musical play is Miami’s Arsht Center and “Peter Pan.” Only on stage for one week, this new adaptation of the classic 1941 play offers contemporary outlooks to dated and harmful portrayals of women and Indigenous cultures.
Multi-accomplished South Florida actor/director/producer … and on, Larry Buzzeo, fresh from his successful inaugural season as founder and artistic director of ArtBuzzTheatrics at Empire Stage, is returning to our beloved Flagler Village blackbox with the sung-through musical, FALSETTOS. You heard right: This far too seldom produced, full-scale William Finn (music and lyrics) and James Lapine (book with Finn) musical that was nominated for seven and won two Tony Awards (for Best Musical and Best Score) in 1992 – and was then nominated for Best Revival in 2016 – has finally arrived! ArtBuzz and Empire Stage are presenting “Falsettos” in Fort Lauderdale from April 26 through May 19.
To close out its 2023/34 season, Miami City Ballet is showing an age-old classic in “Swan Lake,” but with a twist poised to delight all patrons and audience-goers. When you hear the ballet being called a classic, it’s true. It’s been shown on stages around the world since the 1800s, and slowly but surely have things changed. Imagine the popular Disney fairy tales and how they are a more appropriate version of the Grimm fairy tales, usually with the same name, but some often overlooked darkness, maybe even rough edges. Well, this current production of “Swan Lake” is a version that could have been lost to time.
I love new plays! I really get off on being among the first audience to discover a new playwright or new work without any preconceived notions. To immerse myself in what’s often a very topical subject that its author was passionate enough about to devote huge chunks of his/her life to forming and then doing the really hard work (often on a wing and a prayer) of getting it to the stage.
When Theatre Lab’s producing artistic director Matt Stabile bounds onto the stage, it’s to let us know a lot more than to “silence our cellphones.” The professional resident company of Florida Atlantic University (FAU) that specializes in presenting new work (25 full productions, including 12 world premieres!) is culminating its ninth season with yet another hyper-topical world premiere: WHAT’S BEST FOR THE CHILDREN by Idris Goodwin.
The Wick Theatre just opened the final show of its 10th annual audience-pleasing season with a foot-stomping, guitar-twanging, highly energetic musical that smacks of the rock ‘n’ roll-driven performance that closed out The Wick’s 2022-2023 theatrical agenda.
Picture this: the year is 2011. My local Blockbuster just recently closed its doors, which means that my family’s ritual of picking out a few movies on Fridays after school has unfortunately been cut short. Luckily, we’ve found a welcome replacement for our tradition: the $5 movies section at Target. Almost every week, my brother and I will rifle through the bargain bins, or our mom will find something to surprise us with. I’ll discover what will soon become so many of my comfort movies here, and this particular time is no different—the time my mom added a little film called Mrs. Doubtfire to our cart.
MRS. DOUBTFIRE: The New Musical Comedy now blasting through Broward Center as part of their Broadway in Fort Lauderdale series is everything a contemporary musical, comedy, and live show should be … and so much more! For one, it’s incredibly outrageously funny, while featuring all the beautiful vocals and master choreography that one expects from a musical. And in this case, expectations for the updated version of the beloved 1993 film starring Robin Williams and Sally Field run high, to say the least.
