Marakay Rogers

Marakay Rogers

 America's most uncoordinated childhood ballet and tap student before discovering that her talents were music and writing, Marakay Rogers finally traded in her violin for law school when she realized that she might make more money in law than she did performing with the Potomac Symphony and in orchestra pits around the mid-Atlantic. Unfortunately, she forgot to factor in the student loan repayments! She has never recovered from being chewed out by Terrence Mann in public for hanging up her bow. 


A graduate of Wilson College (PA), Marakay is also a writer, film reviewer and interviewer. Additionally, as of 2014, she serves as vice-chair of the Advisory Board of the Beaux Arts Society, Inc. and is a member of GALECA. 


She's also taught college-level communications, writing, theatre criticism and English literature classes, has received multiple writing awards  for several small-press novels, and is listed in Marquis' "Who's Who in America".  She has done additional post-collegiate English and drama studies coursework with Open University (UK) in drama and literature.


Her junior high English teacher was Broadway star Katrina Yaukey's mother, Kay Yaukey.  (Her high school math teacher was Ordean Yaukey, Katrina Yaukey's father, but between Marakay's mother, an editor, and Katrina's mother, English won out.) Marakay is senior theatre critic for Central Pennsylvania and a senior editor for BWWBooksWorld as well as a classical music reviewer. In her free time, Marakay practices law and often gets it right.



 


 


 






MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

Review: Irving Berlin's WHITE CHRISTMAS At Bucks County Playhouse
Review: Irving Berlin's WHITE CHRISTMAS At Bucks County Playhouse
December 20, 2023

The Bucks County production of WHITE CHRISTMAS, starring Broadway performer Jeremiah James, is the stuff Christmas - and earworms - are made of.

A VERY PHILLY CHRISTMAS at Kimmel Cultural Center
A VERY PHILLY CHRISTMAS at Kimmel Cultural Center
December 16, 2023

Philly has always done Christmas big. The Gimbels and Lit Brothers windows. The Wanamaker organ and light show. Jason Kelce Christmas music, from the Eagles to you. And now, following Kelce's releasing of annual Christmas songs, our own No Name Pops and dynamic conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez present a big, even huge, on-stage Christmas extravaganza at Verizon Hall. 

Review: A BETTER PLACE… WHERE EAGLES FLY MUSIC PREMIERE at Union League
Review: A BETTER PLACE… WHERE EAGLES FLY MUSIC PREMIERE at Union League
November 10, 2023

The Union League of Philadelphia was the beautiful and historic setting for a presentation of the songs and music for the upcoming musical, A BETTER WORLD... WHERE EAGLES FLY on November 8. With producer Michael Durkin and composer John Anderson present to answer questions and discuss their hopes for the show, a packed house received the concert enthusiastically. The full production is scheduled to open in Philadelphia in 2024 with a national tour immediately following. 

Review: ILLUMINATION Shines Bright at Prima
Review: ILLUMINATION Shines Bright at Prima
December 10, 2022

Smart, stylish, sexy, intelligent. The perfect date? Yes, especially at Prima's delicious new Christmas event. A dark room illuminated with candles, a grand piano, and singers and dancers.

Review: HERE COMES THE SUN Is Far More Than All Right at Prima
Review: HERE COMES THE SUN Is Far More Than All Right at Prima
October 21, 2022

Lancaster’s Prima Theatre puts on a show that will send JoJo looking for Pennsylvania grass

Run - or Creep or Crawl - to Keystone Theatrics' THE ADDAMS FAMILY at Allenberry
Run - or Creep or Crawl - to Keystone Theatrics' THE ADDAMS FAMILY at Allenberry
October 21, 2022

Wednesday Addams is in love with an ordinary guy, and now he has to face the family. Will anyone survive?

Review: THE WIZARD OF OZ at Keystone Theatrics At Allenberry Playhouse
Review: THE WIZARD OF OZ at Keystone Theatrics At Allenberry Playhouse
August 8, 2022

When Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg put THE WIZARD OF OZ together, they knew they had a good thing. So did the studio. And audiences knew it, too. There's still a crowd that will show for any public performance of the movie, especially if it's a sing-along. It's this popularity that turned the movie into a stage musical, to keep the magic going.

Review: THE MUSIC OF QUEEN+JOURNEY at Prima Theatre
Review: THE MUSIC OF QUEEN+JOURNEY at Prima Theatre
June 27, 2022

What did our critic think of THE MUSIC OF QUEEN+JOURNEY at Prima Theatre? It's true that Prima Theatre's own music shows can be its best productions. This one, THE MUSIC OF QUEEN+JOURNEY, is no exception to that rule. This was performed outdoors in 3021; now, post-pandemic, it comes to Prima's stage, tuneful all the way. Executive Artistic Producer Mitch Nugent directs this delightful musical mayhem for a warm summer evening with evident pleasure. Your pleasure will be equally evident.

BWW Review: THE BUZZ IS ABOUT JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR  at Mickey's Black Box At Rock Lititz
BWW Review: THE BUZZ IS ABOUT JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at Mickey's Black Box At Rock Lititz
April 16, 2022

Goths, not hippies, spread the buzz about Lindsay Bretz-Morgan’s Jesus at Rock Lititz venue. The casting works perfectly, and offers some insights. Read our critic's review.

BWW Review: BWW REVIEW: MURDER BALLAD IS A SHOW TO DIE FOR at PRIMA Theatre
BWW Review: BWW REVIEW: MURDER BALLAD IS A SHOW TO DIE FOR at PRIMA Theatre
March 29, 2022

The one-act rock musical promises, and delivers, on murder. This is not your grandmother's Agatha Christie drawing-room whodunit.

BWW Review: Plunge Into An ART BATH at The Blue Building
BWW Review: Plunge Into An ART BATH at The Blue Building
March 22, 2022

Violin, dance, opera singers and the sounds of Nina Simone are just a few possible experiences you can have at one time at The Blue Building.

BWW Review: SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD Brightens Servant Stage
BWW Review: SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD Brightens Servant Stage
March 18, 2022

The oft- performed theatrical concert at the Junction Center is as cheering as the new weather coming in with it.

BWW Interview: Anthony Roth Costanzo Takes an Art Bath
BWW Interview: Anthony Roth Costanzo Takes an Art Bath
March 14, 2022

Anthony Roth Costanzo is taking a break from rehearsing Handel's RHODELINDA at the Metropolitan Opera. He has a few minutes to talk about singing countertenor both in opera and in popular music. 'Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi all wrote for countertenor - they were composing for castrati.' Fortunately the creation of castrati ended, but, alas, so did composing for countertenor. 'All the roles are before 1750 and after 1950.'

Keystone Theatrics Stages PUFFS (OR: SEVEN INCREASINGLY EVENTFUL YEARS AT A CERTAIN SCHOOL OF MAGIC AND MAGIC)
Keystone Theatrics Stages PUFFS (OR: SEVEN INCREASINGLY EVENTFUL YEARS AT A CERTAIN SCHOOL OF MAGIC AND MAGIC)
February 26, 2022

Love Harry Potter? Loathe Harry Potter? Take a trip to the Allenberry Playhouse to see Keystone Theatrics' production of PUFFS: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic.

BWW Review: JOY TO THE WORLD Brings Back Caroling
BWW Review: JOY TO THE WORLD Brings Back Caroling
December 17, 2021

Caroling around the Christmas tree never gets tired, especially when it’s a whole song and dance show.

BWW Reviews: ELF the Musical by Keystone Theatrics
BWW Reviews: ELF the Musical by Keystone Theatrics
December 17, 2021

Come because you loved the movie, stay because you love the music.

BWW Review: ON THE NAUGHTY LIST at Prima
BWW Review: ON THE NAUGHTY LIST at Prima
December 9, 2021

It’s fun to be naughty at Christmas! Let’s count the ways…

BWW Review: The Dessoff Choirs Premiere CONSIDERING MATTHEW SHEPARD
BWW Review: The Dessoff Choirs Premiere CONSIDERING MATTHEW SHEPARD
November 9, 2021

The famed Dessoff Choirs, conducted by Malcolm J. Merriweather, presented the first New York production of Craig Hella Johnson’s acclaimed choral work

BWW Review: SOON at Prima Theatre
BWW Review: SOON at Prima Theatre
October 5, 2021

Climate change rocks the earth. Your roommate is heading to the beach. What will you do about that Bar Mitzvah for your fish?

BWW Review: AMAZING GRACE at Servant Stage
BWW Review: AMAZING GRACE at Servant Stage
October 4, 2021

The show’s been on Broadway and national tour; Lancaster has first ever regional production



 1       …    




Videos