Dylan Shaffer - Page 3

Imagine a room filled with four of the greatest rising stars of the music industry today. It's hard to think of only four standout artists, but on December 4, 1956 in a small auto shop-turned-recording studio, Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records, found himself in the company of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash. Million Dollar Quartet chronicles this impromptu recording session with four of the hottest artists of the time, taking liberties and dramatizing the one act musical to make a plot of a single night worthy of a Broadway stage.

In a news story, the lede is the captivating opening paragraph, the exciting exposition that locks the reader's eyes to the text and incites them to continue on. The Disney musical Newsies finds its lede in leading paperboy Jack Kelly (Joey Barreiro), an unknowing hero who rallies his fellow paperboy troops to strike and protest Joseph Pulitzer's increased newspaper bundle cost of 10 cents. Delivering that with 1899 styles of dress, heavy New York accents, and large dance numbers, Mr. Barreiro and the cast of Disney's Newsies create a hot-off-the-press energized performance.

Flags of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico adorn the balconies and railings of the barrio in Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2008 musical In The Heights. The show, which won the Tony that year for Best Musical, brings a Hispanic flair to the Benedum stage through the accents, language, and styles of dances, uncommonly seen by a Pittsburgh audience as part of the Pittsburgh CLO's 2017 summer season.

Hold your breath, because the Pittsburgh CLO is about to dive right into the water and take you under the sea! Disney's The Little Mermaid, based closely off the 1989 animated film, returned to the Benedum Center on Tuesday evening and continues with performances running through next week.

With the fighting over and the French Tricolour waving high, Paris finds itself beginning to stand straight again after a battering war. Adam Hochberg (Etai Benson) and Jerry Mulligan (McGee Maddox), two former United States soldiers who fought in the war, stake their claim in the City of Lights in 1945, both for varying reasons. Add on top of this a beautiful young dancer who has caught the eyes of more than her dance instructors, and An American in Paris is born.

It's the classic story of Baby and her family vacation to Kellerman's resort. The sun is hot, the family activities are campy, and the dancing is dirtier than ever. The staged version of the 1987 movie of the same name, Dirty Dancing is a surprisingly sensational show.

When you walk into the black box Carnegie Stage, the impressive and overpowering rear wall of text smacks you in the face. In front, on the stage, a scene from a dystopian mental hospital with an old spring bed and metal frame, a broken and dirty bathtub, and torn hospital curtains. This becomes the haunting backdrop for Sarah Kane's eerie 4.48 Psychosis.

Imagine growing up as a closeted lesbian with a closeted gay father. Try explaining that one to your mother. Through the life of daughter Alison, the Bechdel family's story comes to life in Fun Home.

A journey to the Far East reveals extravagant sets, ornate costumes, and symphonic melodies in The King and I's return to Pittsburgh. The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic has been delighting audiences for over half a century with the jokes that remain funny, orchestrations that endure beautifully, and themes that resonate contemporarily.

With shirts clean and pressed, and haircuts precise, the cast of The Book of Mormon tapped back into my heart as they did when the tour stopped in Pittsburgh four years ago. Since then, much has changed, both with the cast and with the societal conscience, but one thing remains the same: the show is hysterical and offensive in every way.

A little country twang and some sweet pies are all this short musical comedy needs to charm to a little ol' Pittsburgh crowd. Pump Boys & Dinettes, as the title implies, follows the service guys of L.M. and Jim's Gas Stations and the waitress sisters at the Double Cupp Diner.

The Renaissance was an era of rebirth, new ideas, and particularly in Elizabethan England, grand works of literature. Out of this era produced the cat's meow of writing, the overshadowing Bard, William Shakespeare, but what history doesn't quite tell us is that there were two other great writers of the day. Arguably, Nick and Nigel Bottom's words could compare only to those of Shakespeare's quill. Add in some spectacle, a soothsayer, and tap dancing and the musical Something Rotten! is born.

Before Hedwig was the semi-known rock star she is today, she was a resident of East Berlin during the Cold War who found solace in American rock music. This influence led her West to America where she continued finding herself and her other half. It is this longing for her unknown other half that pushes her narrative six inches forward and gives this hero her quest. Through flashy lights and electric guitar, Hedwig and the Angry Inch brings a genderqueer rock story from East Berlin to Western Pennsylvania in over-the-top fashion.

The Renaissance is vibrant, new, and alive in Something Rotten!, a fantastic and 'very new' musical redolent of the great works of theatre past. The show will have you laughing, crying, and quite possibly giving a standing ovation - in the middle of an act.

Juxtaposing 1940 and 2016 America, you can easily pick out the undeniable differences that layer society, from technology to familial roles and everything in between. One thing that has remained constant over those 76 years is the unbridled joy of a child when they receive the pinnacle present on Christmas morning.

It's a complicated time in a confusing culture for members of the New York City Hair tribe; the Vietnam War has brought a counterculture revolution that vexes many of these youthful Americans. Still, as an audience member watching the conflicted free spirits, I felt more confused about the overall production than any individual characters felt about their choices.

Not every actor on tour can say that they are fortunate enough to wake up each morning and go to sleep each night in their own bed. For Josh Tolle, however, the luxury of his home just north of Pittsburgh has been a welcomed rest, if only for one tour stop.

What is the most beautiful thing in the world? Nature? Love? Food? What if I told you that for some, the answer was shoes? That is the exact mantra the Price family has passed down though the generations and unto the most recent heir, Charlie. When it comes his turn to take over the family shoe business, he is conflicted:  stuck somewhere between the ill-fated triangle of paternal expectations, fiancée demands, and personal validation.

A 1950's house, complete with a rotary phone and tube radio, a milkman and rude jock, a sexist husband and loving wife, is the setting for Come Back, Little Sheba, the superb first play written by William Inge and produced by The Summer Company. Centering around Lola and Doc Delaney, a married couple of a couple decades, Come Back, Little Sheba delves into what it means to grow old and how to maintain a grasp on young beauty.

Baseball players doing pirouettes is not a typical pregame warm-up many major leaguers have, but that certainly doesn't stop the cast of Pittsburgh CLO's Damn Yankees from dancing their shoes off from left field to right, or rather, stage left to right. With bats in hand and led by a headstrong female reporter, the men of the Washington Senators deliver a power-packed, energized dance routine in 'Shoeless Joe' that reflects the charisma and passion displayed throughout the entire show.