Originally Published on artburstmiami.com

Written By Christine Dolen

Aurin Squire’s “Defacing Michael Jackson” is a memory play, at least in part.

Getting its world premiere by Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre on Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road, the piece is about five teens trying to navigate life, love and a turbulent world in Opa-locka circa 1984. It was sparked by the playwright’s memories of himself and his friends doing the same, albeit some years later.

Though I was already pretty certain that Zoetic Stage’s production of Next to Normal was bound to be an incredible one based on my familiarity with the show and with the talented team involved, I didn’t quite expect it to be quite as electrifying a ride as it proved to be at the Carnival Studio theatre this weekend. Both fans of the show and newcomers to the story are sure to be taken in by this gripping journey, which is one I first experienced over a decade ago during the Off-Broadway run that preceded the show’s Tony-winning turn on the great white way. 

Some laughs, but mostly sadness and tears best describes emotions felt after seeing “Marty’s Back In Town”, a two act play by playwright Norman Shabel, running from Friday, March 24 through Sunday, April 2 at The Studio at Mizner Park in Boca Raton.

Neil Simon’s blockbuster comedy, The Odd Couple, has been packaged, repackaged, filmed, performed live, aired on TV and altered in a variety of ways. To bring its 2022-23 season to a close on a highly humorous note, Boca Stage presents a comic version of Simon’s 1980’s reworking of his original production – one that casts the two lead characters and all their working-class buddies as women. 

It’s always exciting to find oneself stumbling upon a world premiere, especially one that shows as much promise as Songs from the Brink, a new song-cycle style musical by South Florida playwriting and composing team Robyn Eli Brenner and Mackenzie Anderson. 

If you’ve ever found yourself “living on a latte and a prayer” or wondering how you can keep it all together, you’ll probably find a lot to relate to in Next To Normal, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winning musical that looks to be on its way to becoming a modern classic.

For the next few weeks, the Wick Theatre in Boca Raton can boast that it has assembled a crack ensemble of folks with intimate ties to the Great American Pastime – baseball – and who are truly worth their weight in rosin and chewin’ tobacco. The reason? The popular big league hit from the mid-1950s, the musical comedy, Damn Yankees, has come to the Wick stage with its plethora of idiosyncrasies – a dominant husband and wife romance theme, lots of devil-may-care antics and a terrific musical score.

Given its generally negative reception and outdated premise,  I was not particularly expecting to have much fondness for Pretty Woman: The Musical, which you’ll find at West Palm Beach’s Kravis Center for only the rest of this week. But, first off, I’ll admit; at least while under the influence of swoon-worthy vocals, romantic allusions to destiny, and overpriced champagne, it was surprisingly easy to feel myself taken in by the show’s fairytale charms. 

Island City Stage scores again with I Wanna F#%*king Tear You Apart, a show far more tender and nuanced than you might expect based on its violent title. Though the ugly emotions the name implies do rear their head throughout, the subject of the play could probably be more accurately described as friendship than anger—though it also ultimately implies that the need for someone’s love and the desire to destroy them may not be as far apart as they sometimes seem.