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.