Melissa Hall News

Don Quixote, the infamous errant knight questing to save those in need and fighting windmills because he sees giants in their frames. He is a familiar character to most of us. Man of La Mancha is a classic musical inspired by the Spanish story. Beef & Boards' current production of the show features Disney royalty in the titular role.

Three men claiming to be Sherlock Holmes are being held in an asylum on an island. The famous detective's trusty sidekick, Dr. Watson, must make his way to the remote isle to identify the true Sherlock. The Indiana Repertory Theatre's season opener is a twisty mystery that keeps you guessing until the final moments. It takes a minute for the show to hit its rhythm, but it's worth settling in to wait and see how the identities are revealed.  

Bright Star is a bluegrass musical with a big heart. Written by banjo-playing renaissance man Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, the show is set in the hills of North Carolina in the 1940s with flashbacks in the 1920s. It is at times playful and at others steeped in nostalgia. There's a large ensemble cast with a full bluegrass band onstage providing live music. The set is simple, with movable pieces on wheels and straightforward staging. The result is an absolutely delightful show.

The Lion King is one of the epic Broadway shows that everyone should see at least once in their life. It's also one of the few stage productions based on a Disney movie that actually works. They never make the mistake of many movie-to-stage adaptations: sacrificing the heart of the story for the spectacle. It is a huge production. From Pride Rock to an elephant graveyard, the sets are so creative.

Six week after giving birth I braved the outside world with my daughter for the first time completely on my own. We went to a breastfeeding support group at a local hospital. I was completely overwhelmed, sleep-deprived and somehow managed to get lost in the winding corridors. The adventure ended with me in tears in an elevator. I don't often share personal details here, but the Phoenix Theatre's production of Cry It Out hit close to home for me.

In 1956 Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins spent one evening jamming together at Sun Studios. The group was referred to as the 'Million Dollar Quartet' and the recording became famous. Years later a musical was made to commemorate that famous night and the show is on stage now at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre.

When the Theatre on the Square closed the Indy theatre community couldn't help but worry and speculate about what would happen next. It breathed a collective sigh of relief when the building was saved. Now named The District Theatre, the Mass Ave space opens its doors with the musical Forbidden Broadway.

There's a new theatre company in town and its inaugural production is not to be missed. Summit Performance Indianapolis, co-founded by Lauren Briggeman and Georgeanna Smith Wade, opened Silent Sky at the Phoenix Theatre this past weekend. The play by Lauren Gunderson tells the true story of the astronomer Henrietta Leavitt who worked at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s. It is an astonishing piece of theatre. 

A.J. kicked British butt, shafted the Indians and smacked down the Spaniards, all in the name of these United States - who cares if he didn't have permission? Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson creators, Michael Friedman (Love's Labour's Lost, The Fortress of Solitude) and Alex Timbers (Love's Labour's Lost, Peter and the Starcatcher), cook up an alternate universe (and draw parallels to today's political/populist landscape) with their musical about the seventh U.S. president. PERFORMANCE DATES: June 21 - 30th at The Franklinton Playhouse, 566 W. Rich St., for tickets or more info visit: https://www.warehousetheatre.org/

Here's the premise, it's 1963 and the night before three soldiers are about to be shipped off to Vietnam. They've decided to hold a dogfight, a marine tradition where each guy tries to find the ugliest date possible. The winner takes the pot and the girl is never the wiser. Eddie Birdlace (Patrick Dinnsen) meets Rose, a waitress who he decides will work in a pinch, unfortunately she's more than he bargained for.

'Womanhood shouldn't always mean motherhood.' The line from Tom Horan's new play about the invention of the birth control pill is sure to start some interesting conversations. Horan is the Phoenix Theatre's playwright-in-residence and this is the world premiere of The Pill. The show is performed by an all-female quintet of characters, including the infamous Margaret Sanger.

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, RAGTIME, and More!

What do you do when an author dies before his work is finished? You make it into a 'choose your own adventure' musical of course! Audience goers get the rare experience of choosing not only the murderer, but also which lovers end up together and who plays the detective in the Actors Theatre of Indiana's production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Charles Dickens never had the chance to let readers know how he would've wrapped up the novel, but now we can all try our hand at solving the mystery.

Indiana Repertory Theater closes its season with the slamming of the door, or rather many slamming doors, in Noises Off. I'll admit that farces don't tend to tickle my funny bone, but this one is an exception to the rule. It rises above the general stereotype of mistaken identities and slapstick (though there is plenty of both) by adding another brilliant layer. It is a play within a play, three acts and two intermissions packed with nonstop humor.

In the movie, 'FIELD OF DREAMS,' Annie Kinsella attacks a conservative member of the school board who wants to ban the writings of Terrance Mann with the line, 'I think if you had just experienced the Sixties ...'

When the play you're about to see is a murder mystery called "And Then There Were None", you know there will be a body count. The deliciously dark Agatha Christie novel comes to life on the stage in the Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre's current production. Unlike most of its shows, this one is held in the smaller, more intimate Studio Theater, a great fit for the chilly drama.

Music and plot are so closely intertwined in Appoggiatura, that you can't mention one without the other. Even the title reflects this, it means: a grace note performed before a note of the melody and falling on the beat. The play, part of a trilogy written by playwright-in-residence James Still, follows three travelers on a sojourn through lovely Venice. On their journey they wander the canals finding pieces of their hearts as they go. The city feels like one of the main characters in the story. As one actor notes, 'Venice is as old and broken as the rest of us.'.

One bride, one mom, and three potential dads all on one Greek island; the premise of Mama Mia! might seem silly, but its playful absurdity provides the right framework for a musical built around ABBA songs. Beef & Board Dinner Theatre's current production captures that spirit and runs with it.

I think we all felt the earth move a little bit at Clowes Hall this week. Beautiful, the musical of Carol King's life, is on stage now. The singer/composer famous for hits like 'It's Too Late' and 'You've Got a Friend' had a incredible career and the musical chronicles her rise to stardom in the 1960s.

Going into the Mathile Theatre on Saturday night, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I am not overly familiar with The Who's music but I do remember that my older brother had a copy of the Tommy album back in the 70's. I also think that I may have actually played pinball on a Tommy machine. Consequently, my mind was a pretty clean slate and I was ready to enjoy the evening.