Colorful, dynamic, vivid, fascinating. These words capture the staging and playing of Ralph Manheim’s translation of Bertolt Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Urturo Ui at Blue Barn Theatre. Despite all that admirable non-stop energy though, the details underneath the surface hammer on too long and can easily bewilder an audience. Brecht didn’t make […]
Theater Review
Femininity In Many Forms
Spotlights on women have recently shown on our theatre stages. The Playhouse offered Calendar Girls in April and Love, Loss and What I Wore in December. Plus there was SNAP Productions’ June offering of Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England dwelling on a lesbian trio. But given the overall theatre season, you certainly can’t call […]
Zinging, Leaping Shakespeare
Wonderful performing cascades before your eyes and ears. It’s The Taming of the Shrew made endearing and vivacious, brimming with style and sparkling loquaciousness as guided by director Amy Lane and interpreted by a flawless 18-member ensemble for Nebraska Shakespeare. The players own the stage and Lane has everyone on it in constant and delightful […]
Murder Under The Stars
Nebraska Shakespeare offers an earnest, intellectually provocative production of The Tragedy of Macbeth. It rushes to its foretold conclusion full of energy, at the same time often running roughshod over the eloquent and meaningful speeches which underlie this play’s enduring reputation. Director Vincent Carlson-Brown seems to be attempting to make this a wound-up relentless machine […]
Accentuating the positive.
Wednesday evening arrivals at the Orpheum were greeted near the front doors by friendly young men in white shirts, carrying religious literature. Mormons. Sure. Why not? The musical The Book of Mormon was on display inside. And further inside, within the program book, the prosperous Church of the Latter Day Saints had bought two full-page […]
Playhouse Does Producers Right
If you liked past stage or film versions of Mel Brooks’ The Producers, you’re likely to love the Omaha Community Playhouse treatment. If you weren’t that crazy about it before, you’re still likely to love the Playhouse treatment. There’s something special about seeing hometown talents excel in a handsome setting […]
What’s Your Damage, Heather?
When a cult movie becomes Heathers: the Musical and one managed to not join the cult, one brings some skepticism to opening night at the Blue Barn Theatre. I mean, seriously, a musical where a high school kid in a black trench coat starts killing off the snooty clique queen and the jock bullies to […]
Speaking the speeches trippingly on the tongue
Amid solemn, unfurnished rooms of Joslyn Castle, voices are raised and colorfully dressed bodies swirl, evoking words, ideas and drama that Shakespeare wrote. Here Brigit Saint Brigit Theatre Company seeks to personify many such dimensions and characters. Scott Kurz has taken charge of the complexities by stitching together multiple fabrics of famed plays into what […]
Have a little priest
Exceptionally skilled acting at Shelterbelt Theatre makes The Feast by Celine Song an impressive display of talent. And it appears that director Noah Diaz has done much to make the piece provocative. This unusual and far-out script looks like a worthwhile experiment whose recipe is still in the trial-and-error stage. The script has so many […]
Astonishments
Kwaidan materializes magnificently at UNO Theatre. This evocation of Japanese Ghosts and Demons comes alive. The Immersive Journey compels in its conception. In its realization. Credit visiting director Izumi Ashizawa and UNO director Dr. Cindy Melby Phaneuf for a brilliant and fascinating experience. Remarkable visual effects, choreography, costumes and perfectly integrated style make this […]
