Michael Gravois News

I wonder if Jackie Nichols is providing on-site psychiatric help for those involved in the repertory presentations of Anton Chekhov's THE SEAGULL and Christopher Durang's VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE at Playhouse on the Square. Surely the veteran Irene Crist, performing double duty as Director of both the uber-heavy Chekhov piece and the giddy Durang parody, is on a schizoid seesaw as she veers from the serious to the silly - and the same might be said from the cast members who swap costumes and take their characterizations from one play to the next. Having just seen THE SEAGULL last week, I was eager to see how Durang's TONY-winning play would parlay all that Chekhovian talk about artists and pseudo-artists into something more laughter-inducing. However, rest assured that the talents involved in both plays rise (or fall, as it were) without any difficulty.

Playhouse on the Square's 38th Annual Original Art Auction will take place on Saturday, April 25. With over 150 Artists contributing one-of-a-kind pieces for a live and silent auction, the PARTY is happening at Playhouse on the Square on April 25.

Staging a play by Henrik Ibsen or Anton Chekhov poses certain problems for theatre groups. On the one hand, there is a commitment to 'the classics' - and there is an opportunity for actors (especially young ones) to examine their talents and extend them in directions they have not gone before. The 'downside' is the reputation such plays have as 'talkfests,' for they are often deliberate and detailed in their construction of characters and relationships. I was reminded of this during both the performance and the intermission of Playhouse on the Square's production of Chekhov's THE SEAGULL (which, literally, follows on the 'heels' of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW). During Intermission, two couples stood next to my seat and discussed the play. With a hint of apology, one lady stated, 'The actors are very good, but I really prefer the musicals.' Yet, as I watched and listened to the play, I glanced at one audience member, leaning forward and rapt in concentration; and further down my row, another could audibly be heard gasping at the insensitivity of 'Madame Arkandina' toward her son.

Humorist Christopher Durang pays homage to Chekhov's classic themes of love and loss in this 2013 Tony Award winner for Best Play. Vanya and Sonia have frittered their lives away in their family's Pennsylvania farmhouse full of regret and angst. When their self-absorbed movie star sister Masha visits with her prized 20-something boy toy Spike, the stage is set for an absurd weekend of general hilarity and sibling scorekeeping.

Famous, but aging, actress Irina Arkadina is obsessed with a callous younger lover, dismissive of her son the frustrated playwright, and suspicious of an admiring ingenue. Christopher Hampton's adaptation of Anton Chekhov's 1895 play lays bare its comedy and its cruelty in a household overflowing with creativity, fantasies of fame, jealousy, and unrequited love.

Famous, but aging, actress Irina Arkadina is obsessed with a callous younger lover, dismissive of her son the frustrated playwright, and suspicious of an admiring ingenue. Christopher Hampton's adaptation of Anton Chekhov's 1895 play lays bare its comedy and its cruelty in a household overflowing with creativity, fantasies of fame, jealousy, and unrequited love.

Humorist Christopher Durang pays homage to Chekhov's classic themes of love and loss in this 2013 Tony Award winner for Best Play. Vanya and Sonia have frittered their lives away in their family's Pennsylvania farmhouse full of regret and angst. When their self-absorbed movie star sister Masha visits with her prized 20-something boy toy Spike, the stage is set for an absurd weekend of general hilarity and sibling scorekeeping.

Votes are cast; polls are closed; and results have been tabulated! This was our biggest year yet! After a record number of voters in more than 60 regions worldwide, BroadwayWorld is very excited to announce the 2014 Memphis winners! Thanks to all who voted, and huge congratulations to all the winners!

It's your last week to vote for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Memphis Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 26th. Voting closes at the end of the year, in under one week!

Time is ticking on your last chance to vote for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Memphis Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 19th. Voting closes at the end of the year!

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Memphis Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 4th.

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Memphis Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 4th.

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Memphis Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 25th.

With its emphasis on improvisation, stock characters, and a genial carnival atmosphere, the Commedia dell' arte (dating back as early as the 16th century) has never had much appeal to me; I generally find the productions thumb-twiddling after a while. I certainly had my reservations about Playhouse on the Square's current production, ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS, adapted by British playwright Richard Bean from a 1743 play by Venetian Carlo Goldoni. However, as much as I cringe at the thought of a play written in this tradition, at the opposite end I am very much a fan of British humor at its silliest - from the 1930's and 40's comedies of Will Hay (who, at least in a number of films, utilized his own kind of stock company) to the sketches of Benny Hill and Rowan Atkinson's delightful MR. BEAN (and wasn't there a group called MONTY PYTHON?) That said, Mr. Bean's sublimely silly little take on the Goldoni play, removed in time and place to early 1960's Brighton, has a plot that bounces from corner to corner of the proscenium like a ping pong ball on Ritalin.

In this fresh, English version of the classic farce, Servant of Two Masters, Francis Hernshall has just been fired from his folk jazz skiffle band. Desperate for work, he becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe. But Roscoe is really Rachel, posing as her own dead brother -- who's been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers. Francis spots the chance for an extra meal ticket and takes a job with Stubbers -- but to prevent discovery he must keep his two 'guvnors' apart. Simple. This unique laugh-out-loud mix of satire, songs, and slapstick is an award-winning celebration of British Comedy.

In this fresh, English version of the classic farce, Servant of Two Masters, Francis Hernshall has just been fired from his folk jazz skiffle band. Desperate for work, he becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe. But Roscoe is really Rachel, posing as her own dead brother -- who's been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers. Francis spots the chance for an extra meal ticket and takes a job with Stubbers -- but to prevent discovery he must keep his two "guvnors" apart. Simple. This unique laugh-out-loud mix of satire, songs, and slapstick is an award-winning celebration of British Comedy.

Don't Put Your Faith in HIMmelman

Grace is making its shining regional debut at The Circuit Playhouse. This tragicomedy centers on a naive, evangelical couple, Sam (Joel Onken) and Sara (Morgan Howard) who move from Minnesota to Florida to pursue Steve's dream of opening a chain of gospel-themed motels.

During World War II, the gifted young Jewish girl chronicles her rapidly changing life as she and 7 others hide in an attic to avoid the terrors of Nazi rule. This transcendently powerful adaptation by Wendy Kesselman tells a deeper story by incorporating Holocaust survivor accounts and newly discovered writings from Anne Frank's diary.

During World War II, the gifted young Jewish girl chronicles her rapidly changing life as she and 7 others hide in an attic to avoid the terrors of Nazi rule. This transcendently powerful adaptation by Wendy Kesselman tells a deeper story by incorporating Holocaust survivor accounts and newly discovered writings from Anne Frank's diary.