Multi-accomplished South Florida actor/director/producer … and on, Larry Buzzeo, fresh from his successful inaugural season as founder and artistic director of ArtBuzz Theatrics 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.

For the first three weekends in April, the Lake Worth Playhouse is closing out their 2023/24 season with the award-winning musical Ragtime. This timeless tale transports audience members back to early-twentieth-century New York, where we follow the intersecting journeys of three very different individuals, played by actors who give unforgettable performances: Mother (Jessica Perry), a wealthy White housewife constrained by the demands of her upper-class life in New Rochelle, Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Chase Stante), a talented Black pianist fighting for change in Harlem, and Tateh (Tom Hallett) an ambitious Jewish artist who has recently immigrated to the Lower East Side from Latvia with his young daughter.

Written By Michelle F. Solomon

Originally published on artburstmiami.com. 

Change takes on many meanings in “Caroline, or Change,” now playing on the mainstage of Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables. There’s pocket change. Political change. A desire to change circumstances into a better present, and the present into a better future.

South Florida-favorite Slow Burn Theatre Company premiered its penultimate performance this past week with The Prom. All at once, a tale of acceptance, teenage love, and popularity, told through LGBTQ characters in homophobic settings, The Prom scratches a pestering itch inside us who have an unruly heart. Slow Burn’s production here is guaranteed to make you laugh and feel a little better about loving your neighbor after you leave.