Cheryl Swift

I witnessed the best stage effects I have ever seen anywhere (including Broadway), when  on Saturday, July 20, I had the pleasure of seeing BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at the Sharon Playhouse, in Sharon, CT!   While this story is likely familiar to most people, the Sharon Playhouse grips the audience right from the start, not merely by elevating the Enchantress into the air, but by having the Young Prince transformed into the Beast, on stage, in front of the whole audience, in a manner of seconds, with effective use of strobe lights, a successful undertaking of a greater magnitude than what people can expect in a typical magic show, much less a musical!  Without providing any spoilers, for those of you familiar with how the story ends, that happens on stage too, right before our eyes, with effective use of strobe lights.  Lighting Designer Jamie Roderick deserves a lot of credit for working what appears like magic, on the stage.  Every show I have seen at Sharon Playhouse has been wonderful, but this is the best!

This fun and family friendly musical, adapted from the original Disney film, brings to life “a tale as old as time” of a selfish prince who is turned into a hideous monster and must win the affection of a beautiful, young girl in order to regain his humanity. This musical includes the classic scores of “Be Our Guest”, “If I Can't Love Her”, “A Change in Me”, the title song “Beauty and the Beast” and many more. The magical musical offers humor, romance, and excitement for all ages.

Sharon Playhouse in Sharon, CT under the management of Artistic Director Alan M-L Wager and Managing Director Robert Levinstein, announces the casting and creative teams for its 2019 60th Anniversary mainstage summer season.

Steps off Broadway Productions, Inc., will be performing the stage production of Fiddler on the Roof on August 17th, 23rd, 24th at 7:30 PM and August 18th and 25th at 2:00 PM.

Steps off Broadway Productions, Inc., will be performing the stage production of Beauty and the Beast today, August 3rd, 9th, 10th at 7:30 PM and August 4th and 11th at 2:00 PM.

Steps off Broadway Productions, Inc., will be performing the stage production of Beauty and the Beast on August 3rd, 9th, 10th at 7:30 PM and August 4th and 11th at 2:00 PM

Steps off Broadway Productions, Inc., will be performing the stage production of Peter Pan tonight, July 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 (call for times).

Steps off Broadway Productions, Inc., will be performing the stage production of Peter Pan on July 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 (call for times).

On Wednesday, April 18th, Disney's Beauty and the Beast celebrated its 13th Anniversary with Broadway's biggest cast photo and party.

On Wednesday, April 18th, Disney's Beauty and the Beast will celebrate its 13th Anniversary with Broadway's biggest cast photo and party.

ont size="2"> When you go to a fringe theatre festival it's expected you'll be choosing your entertainment from an assortment of one-person plays, avant-guarde pieces, multi-media productions and cutting edge social commentaries. In such an atmosphere, perhaps the most experimental type of theatre piece you can do nowadays is a traditionally structured, show-tune laden book musical with a ten piece orchestra (no synthesizers), a full singing/dancing/acting chorus and a plot that lightheartedly spoofs American politics without holding a particular politician or party up to ridicule. Back in the 1930's, before Saturday Night Live and The Onion, theatregoers would often get their political satire by taking in the latest hit Broadway musical. But shows like I'd Rather Be Right and Leave It to Me, big hits in their day, would be quickly be considered unrevivable because, as satire, the issues they dealt with dated quickly. But one exception was the Pulitzer Prize winning Of Thee I Sing, which eschewed taking it's plot from the latest headlines and instead explored the timeless theme of swaying public sympathy. That silly, gentle-humored spirit is re-created in Seth Bisen-Hersh (music and lyrics) and Daniel Scribner's (book and lyrics) charming gumdrop of a musical, The Spickner Spin.