Just in time for the spooky season, Lake Worth Playhouse dares to feed their ambition by showing a mightily-portrayed production of Little Shop of Horrors. With a number of notable improvements, including a PhD director in Christy Rodriguez de Conte, Lake Worth is having a meteoric rise, and they welcome plantlike aliens into their ranks on that ascent. Little Shop captures the camp, the laughs, and the terror that make this quirky musical one of the best ever.

They say “truth is stranger than fiction” but if the plot of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: The Musical were a work of fiction, it would never fly. I’m also using “fly” here literally for that’s how we are introduced to the young high-flyer who posed as a pilot and was ultimately caught at an airport, about to board a plane. From the age of 16 to 18 (early 1960s, in our storyline), he was the youngest, most prolific, and genius conman to ever have gotten away with two years of multiple professional identities (Pan Am co-pilot, surgeon, lawyer – though he did later study and pass the bar exam) along with printing millions of dollars-worth of counterfeit checks.

Leave it to New City Players (NCP) to find the perfect “new” (to South Florida audiences) play to open their milestone Tenth Anniversary Season. The ambitious young theater company, which began with bold idealistic dreams of making a difference in the community through “must-attend-live” creative theatrical engagement and performances, has definitely arrived! By presenting both classics and originals, along with lesser-known fantastic finds, they’ve reaped dedicated followers of all ages and walks of life, prestigious local awards, and ongoing critical acclaim.

There’s a reason why some stories become timeless classics. They tend to feature truths about the human condition that resonate anew for each generation. Pulitzer-prize-winning author Larry McMurtry’s novel about an intense, difficult yet devoted mother-daughter relationship, marital troubles, and issues with lovers called TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, became a literary sensation in 1975. His highly emotional-yet-relatable story gained cinematic fame when the 1983 movie-version won five Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay by James L. Brooks. 

Nothing beats seeing a brand-new show by a brand-new theater company where you haven’t a clue (really) about what to expect and are completely blown away! I was instantly, and repeatedly, delighted and astonished during the entire 90-minute (no intermission) flashy space opera and lifestyle-parody show that’s out-of-this-world (literally and figuratively) creative, futuristic, and riotously funny while keeping satirically grounded in the inanities of contemporary life – especially the youth culture of Gen Z.

We’ve come a long way since wedding vows always featured an officiant pronouncing the ominous words: “Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

That’s the traditional quote from the marriage liturgy section of The Book of Common Prayer, first published by the Church of England in 1549. Updated variations, which nevertheless always end with “speak now or forever hold your peace,” are rarely used in real life nowadays, but continue to be a popular comedic motif of film and TV. And perhaps, now, plays as well. At least in substance, if not in the specific use of the phrase.

If the title wasn’t enough to prepare you for the setting and subject matter of Bryna Turner’s At the Wedding, the set, costumes, and vibe of Island City Stage’s polished production will quickly clue you in. Having enjoyed a brief off-Broadway run in 2022 before emerging on the regional theatre circuit, this sweet-natured comedy here arrives as the closing show of the company’s all around excellent 13th season. And though this play may be far from the meatiest of the bunch, it does hit the spot as an easy-to-swallow summer trifle- or, to put it in on-theme terms, like a slice of cake served after a hearty meal. 

If the name “Trotsky” barely rings a bell, blame Stalin. Trotsky was a major player in Russia’s 1905 Revolution, 1917’s October Revolution, and on, a lifelong agitator for permanent, worldwide social revolution, Marxist political theorist, journalist and war correspondent. In his day, the Trotsky name was as recognized as Lenin’s. Leon Trotsky never stopped advocating for the working class … from prison, from exile, wherever he landed. He accumulated quite the extensive resume.

We can all use a little more Harvey Fierstein in our lives. The multi-Tony (and more) award-winning actor and playwright who many of us recognize from recent local productions of “La Cage Aux Folles,” “Kinky Boots,” and “Newsies,” and from his film work in everything from “Hairspray” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” to the Emmy Award-winning documentary, “The Times of Harvey Milk,” first made his name with “Torch Song Trilogy,” a three-act play that runs over four hours. Nonetheless, this underground hit about the life, loves, and woes of a Jewish drag queen living in New York City transferred to Broadway in 1982 where it achieved landmark status for the LGBTQ community by winning two Tony Awards – for Best Play and Best Actor – the latter also going to the playwright, who starred in the lead role.