Aristotle’s quote, “No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness,” seems right on the mark for Man of La Mancha, a story conceived by Miguel de Cervantes. What drives mankind to reach greatness: power, determination, perhaps even madness?
Miguel de Cervantes wrote Don Quixote in two parts: the first in 1605 and the second part in 1615.It is important to understand some background material to put the play in its proper perspective.
Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Twas the Night Before…, presented as part of the Kravis on Broadway series, arrives with all the trimmings one expects from a holiday spectacle. It is festive, colorful, family friendly, and polished in a quintessential one would expect from a world-renowned troupe like Cirque. Yet beneath the glitter, the show’s story is loosely sketched that, if you were to strip away every bauble related to Christmas, replace it with Alice in Wonderland or any other whimsical world, and very little would change. Whether this is a virtue or a missed opportunity depends entirely on what you want from your holiday outing.
What happens when you get a group of our most talented local divas together in a musical that’s notorious for skewering the very genre that made their name? You get a mind-blowing explosion of show-stopper applause moments, that’s what, in a show that couldn’t get any better if it tried.
Most of the highly experienced, award-winning actors that Island City Stage’s artistic director Andy Rogow assembled for his 14th season opener, RUTHLESS! The Musical, have performed together before. So they’re old hats at tapping into extra creative energy from one another. And I could sense them having the time of their lives when they let it all rip – reaching for a personal vocal best when they burst into song. Winning still more “energy” and applause from their audience.
Lake Worth Playhouse’s production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town leans into the melancholy that makes the play endure. It is not sad in a showy or theatrical way. Instead, it captures the quiet desperation of the masses, the accumulation of moments that Frankenstein a life. This staging understands that Wilder meant the play to be honest. What emerges here is a gently depressing but deeply humane portrait of love, time, and loss. It succeeds because it lets the world of Grover’s Corners be as bare or full as a memory.
One thing is for certain: Kimberly Akimbo is unlike any musical you’ve ever seen before. Family secrets, vibrant (and, sometimes, quite possibly toxic) personalities, anagrams, and check fraud schemes abound…yet while its plotlines are unique, the show’s message is truly universal. At the heart of the story lies high schooler Kimberly Levaco (Ann Morrison), a young girl growing up in 1999 New Jersey with a rare, unnamed genetic condition that causes her to age four to five times as fast as usual. Kimberly longs for connection, belonging—and maybe even a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure. Still, it isn’t so easy for Kim to follow her dreams when she’s also dealing with parents (Brandon Springman and Laura Woyasz) who wish she were someone different, along with the impending arrival of a baby sister who could be the “normal” child they’ve always wanted, an aunt (Sarah Lynn Marion) who’s trying to rope Kim and her friends into her criminal plans, a crush on Seth (Marcus Phillips), her project partner from biology class—and the project itself, where he’s managed to convince her to present on her disease. Can Kim truly make the most out of life when not even time might be on her side?
Puppet shows for adults, anyone? You bet! Just ask Broward Centerfor the PerformingArts whose Au-ReneTheater has been taken over by puppets of late. And not just any puppets – realistic-looking animals usually found in zoos – life size, often ferocious or regal, sometimes friendly and kind. Still, I wouldn’t rush to introduce them to the Sesame Street set.
If there was ever a musical that managed to be both gut-busting and heartbreaking in the same breath, Kimberly Akimbo is it. Now playing at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, this Tony Award–winning gem tells the story of Kimberly, an optimistic, dreaming teenager despite her rare genetic condition that causes her to age four times faster than normal. As she navigates this marked life, having a 50-year-old body as a 16-year-old, she tackles a first love and dysfunctional family dynamics headfirst. Kimberly’s story becomes a poignant meditation on time, mortality, and the beauty of simply being alive.
Pompano Player’s matinee production of Steel Magnolias on Saturday, November 8, was poignant and witty, with plenty of southern charm. Before researching Robert Harling’s play, several thoughts came to mind. Does this script stand the test of time? The answer is a resounding yes. Steel Magnolias premiered on Broadway in 1987. The original movie, with its amazing cast, hit theaters in 1989 and received three Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. The story reappeared on the big screen again in 2012 with an African American cast featuring Queen Latifah and Alfre Woodward. What gives this heart-wrenching drama its unique durability? Maybe its unique name, Steel Magnolias, contributes to its attraction. The contradiction of terms doesn’t match until you look at it from the perspective of these strong women: women as delicate and fragile as magnolias and as tough as steel at the same time. This cast took both aspects to heart, showing their own unique strengths, with grit and vulnerability.
On Halloween night, a perfectly spooky occasion for a family of delightful misfits, South Florida Theater caught the opening performance of The Addams Family at the Kravis Center. It was a truncated run, but the enthusiasm of the audience, with the charisma of the cast, made the evening worthwhile. The show, directed by Antoinette DiPietropolo, and featuring Rodrigo Aragón as Gomez and Renee Kathleen Koher as Morticia, found its stride in moments of humor and physical play but faltered in its true resonance, at no fault of the director or actors.
When the producing artistic director of one of the premiere new play destinations in the country can’t get a new play he’d read years back out of his head – we can be assured it’s going to be a winner! I’m speaking, of course, of none other than Matt Stabile, the dynamic creative force behind Theatre Lab, the professional theatre company of Florida Atlantic University (FAU). And his latest new play production, which survived a Covid-era delay to arrive at just the right time for the right actors, designers and crew … not to mention coinciding with the year’s theme of exploration and seeing the world through another’s eyes. Stabile proudly presents THE CITY IN THE CITY IN THE CITY by Matthew Capodicasa as the opener of their 2025/26 MainStage Series (and the Lab’s 18th world premiere!).
