Review: SHUCKED at Walton Arts Center
by Theresa Bertram - Dec 20, 2024
If you mix the Hee Haw cornfield joke skits with a PG-13 RomCom, you get SHUCKED, which is playing at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville now through December 22nd. This hilarious Broadway musical (Book by Robert Horn with Music and Lyrics by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally) combines down-home humor with a heartwarming love story, filled with witty one-liners that will have you laughing non-stop.
SIX Ths Musical Comes To The Bushnell This Month
by A.A. Cristi - Dec 16, 2024
The Bushnell has announced the regal return of the Tony Award-Winning electrifying musical phenomenon SIX by Tony Award-winners Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss are on sale now for eight performances from December 31 through January 5, 2025.
Review: IRVING BERLIN'S WHITE CHRISTMAS at The Forum Theatre
by Paula Makar - Dec 15, 2024
If you’re looking for something family friendly to get you in the holiday spirit, I advise a trip to the Forum Theatre to indulge in a visually fun and entertaining production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. The beloved musical has become a Christmas tradition in many communities across the United States. It’s based on the Paramount Pictures 1954 film of the same name, which starred Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen, and was Hollywood’s all-time highest-grossing musical.
Review: San Diego Symphony Perform Richard Strauss and Shostakovich at The Jacobs Music Center
by Ron Bierman - Dec 13, 2024
This year’s final subscription concert at the new Jacobs Music Center began with Richard Strauss’s tone poem Don Juan and ended with his equally familiar Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks. In between, Inon Barnatan was featured in two 20th Century piano concertos by Dimitri Shostakovich.
The usual please-silence-the-phones admonition before the concert was more emphatic than usual. The audience was informed that this last of three performances would be recorded for possible commercial release. As you’ll see, that didn’t stop one competitive phone from auditioning.
The familiar Don Juan lives up to its name. It’s a tone poem for orchestra with a mix of romance, heroism and tragedy. San Diego Symphony Music Director and conductor Rafael Payare was at his enthusiastic acrobatic best. The music’s many moods were reflected in his motions and facial expressions and then realized in the orchestra for an exciting performance.
Review: Kyle Abraham Explores His Ouroboros
by Lora Strum - Dec 11, 2024
The one constant in life is change. Humankind is destined, and doomed, to cycle through periods of denial, discomfort, exploration, adaptation, and integration to return to a similar starting point after a period of transformation. Kyle Abraham’s latest work, Dear Lord, Make Me Beautiful, explores not just this infinite loop, but how we thrive within the confines of life’s ouroboros.
Review: BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL at The Paramount Theatre
by Jay Irwin - Dec 11, 2024
Dear Readers, buckle up! Not because we’re about to go 88 mph but because I’m about to be a musical theater snob. The trend of turning popular (or even not so popular) movies into big splashy Broadway musicals is not a new one. And when it works such as with the likes of “Legally Blonde”, “Waitress”, or “Some Like It Hot”, it can be glorious. But for every one of those, you also get the likes of “Pretty Woman”, “Dirty Dancing”, or God forbid “Flashdance”. Shows that were better left on the silver screen. One such show is “Back to the Future: The Musical”, currently playing at the Paramount Theatre. And even if they could have gotten the car running (we’ll get to that in a minute) the show is still a travesty.
ONCE Comes to TheatreZone in Naples
by Stephi Wild - Dec 10, 2024
Naples’ TheatreZone will kick off its 20th season with its production of Once, the 2012 Tony Award-winning Best Musical. The musical is a romance set in Ireland with a multi-talented cast who are also the show’s on-stage orchestra.
SIX On Sale This Week At Jubilee Auditorium
by A.A. Cristi - Dec 9, 2024
Tickets for the Tony Award-winning electrifying new musical phenomenon SIX by Tony Award®-winners Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss will go on sale December 16, 2025. SIX will play eight performances in Calgary from May 20-25, 2025 at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.
Review: SCROOGE! at Arizona Theatre Company
by Herbert Paine - Dec 9, 2024
Arizona Theatre Company's SCROOGE!, directed by Matt August, offers moments of holiday cheer and showcases talented performances, making it an enjoyable seasonal outing.