Drew Eberhard - Page 5

A Skeptic and a Bruja by Rosa Fernandez makes its world premiere with Urbanite Theatre in Sarasota, and in Cooperation with freeFall Theatre Company across the bay. The last time freeFall worked in conjuncture with another company was their collaboration with the Hippodrome and their production of Lone Star Spirits, and more recently with their staging of Ebony Rep’s Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. In speaking with Matthew McGee, freeFall’s Marketing Coordinator, he mentioned this is something the folks at freeFall will continue to explore with future seasons. I for one can attest with first-hand knowledge that this is something that freeFall should continue to do.

The show opens with a Ghost Light center stage. As most shows of a Brechtian nature go, characters of nondescript fashion layout the evening events in the manner of Prologue. The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, or as it is subtitled “The Parable Play,” tells the story of the rise of Arturo Ui a fictional Chicago Mobster as he ruthlessly tries to control the Chicago vegetable market despite opposition. A political satire based on Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Nazi Germany prior to the events of World War II.

Anyone who has been immersed in “Pop Culture” over the last 30+ years has seen, heard, or knows every line and sequence of the 1990 Romantic Comedy Pretty Woman starring the iconic duo of Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. Read our critic's review of the new stage musical.

The Sugar Ridge Rag, a play by Philip Middleton Williams, premiered at LAB Theater Project in Tampa’s Historic Ybor City on April 28, 2022. The story is a complex, yet simplistic study of the life of an average family in rural Ohio, and what lies at the depths of family values and the definition of true love. From the synopsis found on the Playbill; Pete and Dave Granger, age 17, are twin brothers in rural northwest Ohio in 1970. Dave enlists in the Army; Pete goes to Canada to pursue his career in music. Over the next five years, their lives are changed by the Vietnam War and the choices they made. Deb and Hal, their parents, are left to deal with the consequences of their actions and their future as a family.

'Do yourself a favor, DO NOT miss this incredibly sobering production.' says BWW's critic.

Over the course of the last 26 years somewhere along the line of learned history in the depths of musical theatre you have heard the name Jonathan Larson, synonymous with the 1996 Rock musical RENT that changed the face of musical theatre in its time. Boasting a rock score and groundbreaking storylines such as the rise of the AIDS epidemic sweeping the country, RENT was unlike anything in its conception. However, Jonathan Larson and his stamp on modern musical theatre came into fruition before RENT. Trying to establish himself in the live theatre arena since the early 1980s, Larson began performing his Semi-Autobiographical Rock Musical Tick, Tick...Boom! in the early 90’s as a solo piece. Tragically Jonathan Larson passed away in 1996 of a rare heart condition before he was able to feel the immense magnitude of his fame.

Read our critic's review! Over the years and throughout the History of the stage musical, certain shows come along and start as films before moving into an adaptation for the stage. Shows such as Grease, The Bodyguard, Ghost, and more recently Moulin Rouge, Beetlejuice, and Back to the Future. One thing is true to most if not all of these....they sell tickets!

Little Shop of Horrors is a horror comedy rock musical with somewhat of a cult following much like Hedwig & the Angry Inch, and Rocky Horror Show. Read our critic's review.

Murder on the Orient Express a stage adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel was written and adapted by Ken Ludwig and premiered in New Jersey in 2017. Based on the Christie novel that was first published in the United States in February 1934, and originally published under the name Murder on the Calais Coach. The twisted plot is full of a wild cast of characters. As Poirot puts it, “It was like a painting by Pablo Picasso.” We open the play in Istanbul at the Tokatlian Hotel, as we meet Poirot we understand he is due in London in three days' time due to the delivery of a telegram, and he runs into his old friend Bouc. His friend then arranges a trip on the Orient Express which he is the owner, and the two climb aboard with Poirot hoping he makes it to London on schedule. Upon boarding the Orient Express one by one Poirot meets an oddity of characters much like boarding a train to Carnival. As the train departs the station amidst the snowy conditions like an onion we see the layers of each of the passengers peeled back one by one.

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill is a play with music written by Lanie Robertson and this production is directed by Wren T. Brown. The musical premiered in 1986 in Atlanta, Georgia and its story recounts some events of Billie Holiday’s life leading up to this performance at Emerson’s four months shy of her death in 1959. Emerson’s is a small bar in South Philadelphia and the time is a midnight performance by Lady Day. Set to the backdrop of a piano center stage and a few cocktail tables around the space, we relive some events of Ms. Holiday’s life as told through stories found deep in her memory but living on the surface as if they just happened yesterday.

For Thursday evening’s performance of Frozen the Musical the crowd was buzzing, little girls and women of all ages appeared in Elsa and Anna dresses, and some were carrying Olafs by their side in anticipation of a magical trip to the fictional Arendelle. Like many of us immersed in pop culture and especially here in the Sunshine State where Disney makes Central Florida a primary vacation destination, the magic of Frozen has appeared in our lives in some form or fashion over the course of the last 8-9 years. Since its release in November of 2013, the Disney film Frozen has captivated audiences and families of all ages. From its hit musical numbers to the lovable characters Disney once again created something for everyone. In 2019 Disney released a sequel to the behemoth film and added yet another magical adventure to Arendelle with the release of Frozen 2. Led by an all-star cast of Broadway Legends from Idina Menzel and Jonathan Groff to film actress Kristen Bell, Frozen and Frozen 2 warmed even the coldest of hearts and the world of Disney animation has never been the same since, and for that, we are forever thankful.

Titanic the Musical opened on Broadway in April of 1997. The musical tells the story of the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, or what would soon be aptly named “The Unsinkable Ship.” However, as history tells us the ship sank on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912. The 1997 Broadway production won five Tony Awards including Best Musical and was directed by Richard Jones. Following the opening of its Broadway run, Titanic was adapted for film and released the same year in 1997 by James Cameron starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Both of which the musical and film have no correlation to the other. Maury Yeston who was a Broadway composer and lyricist for Nine was inspired by the discovery of the wreckage of the Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland in 1985. Yeston said he was inspired by all the ship represented. So Yeston met with Peter Stone who wrote the libretto and Titanic the Musical was born. Of the five Tony’s that Titanic went onto win among them were Best Score, Best Book, Best Orchestrations, Best Scenic Design as well as Best Musical mentioned above. Previews started in 1997 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and received mixed but positive reviews. After 804 performances, Titanic the Musical closed in March of 1999. Boasting a whopping 20 musical numbers in Act One and 12 in Act Two this behemoth of a musical is grand in design, and song. This musical also features a cast of 37 some doubling multiple roles. Proving to be a huge undertaking for amateur productions and professionals alike.

Jennifer Haley’s haunting and sensitively-driven script dive deep into the middle of the human experience as it examines it from one of the hardest perspectives, dealing with a crippling disease. Some diseases render a person defenseless in body and in mind, but then there are diseases such as Dementia, a disease that is not only crippling on the mind but just as crippling on the human soul. What happens when the victim, if that word can even be used, is faced with an extraordinary experience? The ability to trust, feel, and even need, the person is faced with the idea that it could all be gone in a blink of an eye, or for Alida the turn of a page. Jennifer Haley creates an emotionally driven and complex world that is as sobering as it is heartbreaking, and far too familiar with a number of us as audience members. I think that is what makes Jennifer Haley’s script so intriguing and yet so relevant, especially in today’s climate.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a musical inspired by the Victor Hugo novel of 1831, with music primarily featured in the 1996 Disney film adaptation. With music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and book by James Lapine and Peter Parnell The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 2.5 hour deep dive that takes pieces from both the film and Hugo’s novel to create an amalgamation of the world in which the people in this story reside.

In 1962 English author Anthony Burgess published the Dystopian-Black Comedy novel entitled A Clockwork Orange. The novel itself was partially written in a Russian-influence argot called “Nadsat” which in a Russian suffix took on its namesake for the equivalent of “TEEN” in English. In 2005 the novel was included by Time Magazine in a list as one of the 100 best English Language novels of the 20th Century. The novel is divided into three parts: Alex’s World, Ludovico Technique, and After Prison, and each of the novel’s three parts contained only 7 chapters. 7 x 3= 21 which was an intentional nod to the age of 21 which is considered a milestone in adult maturation.

The Prom a new musical with music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and a book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin is based on an original concept by Jack Viertel. Directed and Choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, this explosive new musical took the stage by storm Tuesday night at the Straz Center, and with open arms, the audience welcomed this exceptional cast to the bay area. Boasting a primarily younger cast who danced and sang till everything was left on the stage, the audience was grooving in their seats and filled with joy all evening.

As has happened in theatres from Broadway to Buffalo, the coronavirus has claimed another victim. TampaRep’s long-awaited production of Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy KING LEAR opened to a small but powerful house on Friday, February 4th, and enjoyed an engaged Saturday night crowd. The cast, crew, and administrative team had no idea that would be the final performance.

We all know the story, have studied it in High School English, and for some even had the experience of visiting the Annex itself in Amsterdam. For Anne Frank and her family, the time spent in the “Annex” in hiding goes down in history as a timeless story that is still being told and is still as relevant as ever. The time was 1942-1944 prior to the liberation of the Jews in Holland. Not a sound could be made, shoes were not to be worn indoors, food was rationed, and for families of Jewish lineage an ever-pressing fear hung in the balance of what was now their reality.

In 1946 before Julia Child rose to fame James Andrew Beard became the first “celebrity” cook with the premiere of his NBC cooking show, “I Love to Eat.” Television sets were still black and white back then and there may have been 1000 sets total in all of Metropolitan New York, but between Howdy Doody and the 9 o’clock hour, you could experience the culinary delights of James Beard.

Kitch and Moses sit on the corner of a nondescript street, underneath a streetlight adorned with an old tire and over-turned shopping cart. “The Block” is what they call this specific corner. No city has been identified, but we know the time is now, but also 1855, but also 13th Century BCE. Like I stated before; a ghetto street, a lamppost at night, but also a plantation, but also Egypt, a city built by slaves. Crystal clear, right? Let’s break it down even further as we explore the inner workings of Antoinette Nwandu’s explosive new play Passover, onstage and in collaboration with Studio620 and Outcast Theatre Collective.