It ain’t easy being second fiddle. Even for TV’s most famous and beloved “second banana” Ethel Mertz who played Lucille Ball’s frumpy, housecoat-wearing neighbor for nine seasons of “I Love Lucy” and related TV comedies from 1951 through 1965. Everyone loved Vivian Vance’s portrayal of Ethel which won her the first Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in 1953. But when fans begged for her autograph and Vivian signed her real name, they’d ask for a redo as “Ethel.”
Whether or not you remember the famous “Golden Girls” situation comedy television series about the everyday antics of four senior women living together in a Miami home, audiences will laugh heartily as five actors team to recreate the nostalgia of the series in “Golden Girls The Laughs Continue” running now through September 29 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Ft. Lauderdale.
Everyone knows and loves the story of The Little Mermaid. Maybe the centuries-old fairytale was your favorite childhood bedtime story. Or perhaps you loved the Disney animated version (I may have watched it so many times when I was little that I somehow damaged the VHS tape in the process). Or you might have tuned in for the star-studded live-action remake last summer. Regardless, one thing is for certain: when it comes to the brand-new adaptation currently being performed at Florida Atlantic University’s Theatre Lab, you’ve never seen The Little Mermaid quite like this before.
Imagine theater’s longest-running show ever, Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap,” turned inside out and upside down into a nonstop laugh riot of bumbling incompetence by a hapless yet determined amateur troupe known for choosing their plays based on their member numbers. But even then things don’t exactly work out. Earlier Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society productions came with revised titles such as “Two Sisters,” “The Lion and the Wardrobe,” “Cat,” and “James and the Peach.”
If you’re in the market for a thought-provoking new play that’s as effortlessly entertaining as formally innovative, then you’d be much remiss to skip Miami company LakeHouseRanchPNG’s premiere of playwright Robert Kerr’s Have You Seen Boomer. This crisp and compelling piece follows the evolution and devolution of the romantic relationship between its only two characters, a woman named Jess and a man named Mark. As is immediately apparent thanks in part to sparse but effective set design from Indy Sulliero, we meet the two as they are moving in together, on day 1 of their new lives in a new apartment.
What better way to top off a blockbuster 12th season than for Island City Stage(ICS) to gift us with Charles Busch’s notoriously famous and hilarious camp comedy DIE, MOMMIE,DIE! Playing now through September 22. The fabulously productive drag icon, and award-winning actor/director/novelist and cabaret performer, first played the leading role in his own killer melodrama comedy that skewers “Grande Dame Guignol” horror films of the 1960s (featuring aging stars like Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Lana Turner) and Hollywood in general. Busch’s stage production proved so popular, it too was made into a film, with Busch starring and winning a Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
Audiences will be thrilled with the musical and comic talents of eight actors who command the stage in the True Mirage Theater production of “Ride The Cyclone”, a one act musical written in 2008 by Canadian playwrights Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richardson, running now through August 18th at Main Street Players in Miami Lakes.
There are big, no HUGE things happening on a little strip of Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. The excitement, quality and professionalism of two neighboring black box theaters – Island City Stage and The Foundry – just keeps on growing. New City Players’ sold-out sensation, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” recently closed at Island City. Meanwhile, Sunday, August 11, was supposed to be closing day for POW!’s (Plays of Wilton) world premiere of A SHONDA: The Musical at The Foundry. But that’s been extended through September 1, having played to sold-out crowds for weeks.
Originally posted on Artburstmiami.com | Written by Michelle F. Solomon
It may take one hundred days to fully realize all that’s happening on the Balcony Theatre stage at the Miracle Theater with Actors’ Playhouse’s season closer. And while the unusual musical theater concept “Hundred Days” may not be for everyone, it is an experience that should not be missed.
To “unofficially” start its 2024-2025 season, Lake Worth Playhouse is putting on a rendition of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s School of Rock at their historic venue in downtown Lake Worth Beach. For a seasonal community like South Florida, where the more wealth-affluent demographic leaves during the sticky summer, Lake Worth chooses to celebrate the year-round community with their first production of the performance season. Prized for its century-old facility, black box theater, and the showings of excellent indie films, the organization has something for everyone.
