Stage Voice

BY: ANDREA BRAUN – THEATRE CORRESPONDENT

    Playwright Lynn Nottage was born in 1964, and published Crumbs From the Table of Joy which is set in 1950 in 1995. So, the play is a young woman’s perspective of a crucial time in Black American history through which she did not live from 45 years in the future. Considering all that distance, the work seems to be a knowledgeable depiction of the characters, but overall, a rather shallow look at their world.

BY: COLIN MURPHY – SENIOR WRITER

    The curtain rises on the 2010-2011 U.S. Bank Broadway Series at The Fabulous Fox with a big-green-ogre of a hit in Shrek The Musical, Sept. 11-26.

BY: ANDREA BRAUN – THEATRE CORRESPONDENT

Arthur (Tom Lehmann) and Howard (Stephen Peirick) are friends, though on the surface they have little in common. Arthur shambles around in sloppy, mismatched clothes and red Converse sneakers. He’s a “starving artist.” Howard wears an ascot, a navy blazer and gray slacks with polished tassel loafers to hang around his house oozing success.

BY: ANDREA BRAUN - THEATRE CORRESPONDENT

If I were to tell you everything I didn’t like about SLS’s production of Jane Martin’s Anton in Show Business, this page would be blank. In fact, I loved it all so much that Alvy Singer would say, “I lurved it.” It is a funny, touching and even profound script (but never sentimental—that is discouraged in the dialogue) extremely well-played as directed by Carolyne Hood with impeccable timing and amazing grace.

BY: ANDREA BRAUN – THEATRE CORRESPONDENT

    What can you say when your heart is shattered? If you’re a member of the family Jenny Schwartz has created in God’s Ear, quite a lot. Some of the statements sound like nonsense but make sense. Some observations are hilarious, but considering the situation, it doesn’t seem quite right to laugh, yet it’s impossible not to. I think you feel God’s Ear as much as hear it, so it is necessary to have all chakras open and maintain an intense focus because on many levels, this is no play for sissies.

BY: ANDREA BRAUN – THEATRE CORRESPONDENT

    Talking to Liz Callaway is a lot of fun and a little hard to do at the same time. When I rang off on our call, I felt like I’d spent 45 minutes talking with a girlfriend, and that I’d done as much of the sharing as she did. I liked her immediately, and I’m confident you will too.

BY: ANDREA BRAUN - THEATRE CORRESPONDENT

    Promises, Promises is the only musical written by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. There’s a reason for that: the music is (mostly) completely unmemorable. When the Broadway revival opened earlier this year, two more songs were added for Kristin Chenoweth, “I Say a Little Prayer” being one of them, and it is considerably stronger than anything in the original. However, that makes the show even longer than its current 2 hours, 45 minutes, which is not a good thing.

BY: ANDREA BRAUN – THEATRE CORRESPONDENT

    Last week, I wrote about chatting with Liz Callaway who will appear at the Gala to open this year’s Cabaret Conference. Yesterday, I got a chance to talk with her “partner in crime,” Jason Graae.

BY: ANDREA BRAUN - THEATRE CORRESPONDENT

    Having seen Wicked several times, I wasn’t prepared for any real surprises, but the national touring company of the blockbuster musical provided one: two Elphabas.

BY: COLIN MURPHY – SENIOR WRITER

    In 2005 and 2007 it shattered area box office records and sold out in record time. So after a three-year wait, fellow Ozians rejoice! Wicked—the smash-hit musical which turns The Emerald City on its head is returning to the Fabulous Fox, June 16-July 11.

    The larger-than-life production proved an instant gay favorite with its unique twist on the camp classic, The Wizard of Oz—its message of acceptance and the alternate storyline where things aren't necessarily what they appear to be.