Without a doubt, fate led me to see in the same week the New Theatre’s rendition of Jean Paul Sartre’s No Exit and playwright William Inge’s Natural Affection, produced by the Miami Actor’s Studio. Though Sartre penned his work in 1944 and Inge in 1963, they share an almost uncanny…
When people in the South Florida theater community protest that the area is mainly interested in developing new plays instead of producing tired old revivals, I listen politely but with cynicism. During the two years I’ve done this job, I can’t even count the number of times I’ve heard this…
When the long-awaited revival of Hair, the quintessential Sixties musical, opened in London two weeks ago, the critics unanimously agreed on one thing: not all plays wear well. Charles Spencer of the Daily Telegraph summed up the expensive mistake succinctly: “It would have been far kinder to have let Hair…
All plays are not created equal. Apart from the obviously weak entries, there exist some works of “light” dramatic art suitable for a wide range of acting companies, from the competent troupe to the spectacular. Neil Simon froth, English drawing room comedies, and large-cast mysteries fit under this umbrella. Appropriately,…
The great Noel Coward once heard that a particularly dimwitted producer had blown his brains out. “Must have been rather a good shot,” Coward marveled. As a rule those who produce theater are regularly and soundly ridiculed by those who create theater. Often viewed as starry-eyed prep school graduates with…
Although Hadleyburg, U.S.A. will have closed by the time you read this, ACME Acting Company’s mistakes in choosing this play warrant a postmortem — especially if South Florida venues seriously consider mounting new works as part of a steady theatrical menu. ACME’s artistic director Juan F. Cejas and many other…
The saying is well-known: there are three sides to every story. His side, your side, and the truth. In the interest of fairness to the theatrical community and my readers, this column will address another side of that pesky little political hotbed — the $170-million Dade Performing Arts Center. To…
In the age of so few statesmen and so little great theater, I feel privileged to recommend New Theatre’s production of Mountain, a three-person, no-prop, no-set show. It builds its magic from flawless direction, excellent performances, and the ingeniously written tale of Supreme Court Justice and statesman extraordinaire William O…
The singer who holds the vibrato on a note a bit too long. The dancer who takes three extra leaps. The piano player who tinkles around on one end of the keyboard until you’re anxious for him to move on. All represent examples of the show business phenomenon commonly called…
Over the years, various local theater educators, artists, and yours truly have tried to determine why Miami regards the dramatic arts as a sort of leprous beggar: pathetic enough to throw a few coins its way but too unsightly and inconsequential to develop and build up with hard, hefty cash…
In an essay called “The Decline of Quality,” Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Tuchman writes of Michelangelo, who locked all potential helpers out of the Sistine Chapel while he spent four painful years on a scaffold carrying his famed work to completion. “That is what makes for quality — and its…
An esteemed acting teacher named Richard Pinter, himself a student of the great coach Sanford Meisner, once succinctly explained to his students (including me) the difference between real life and life as properly written and acted for the stage. “If we wanted belly-scratching reality in drama,” he began, “we’d take…
When the Actors’ Playhouse invited me to review their production of playwright Jane Wagner’s dramatic triumph, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, I took several deep breaths and said a prayer for Donna Kimball, the local actress slated to star in the one-woman show. A skilled…
A few empty parking spaces suddenly and miraculously available on Ocean Drive, combined with the paucity of openings around town, tell this reviewer it’s time for the 1992-93 season wrap-up, an annual offering that enables me to put the growth of South Florida theater in perspective. This year, since both…
Susan Karrie Braun appears to be obsessed with the letter A. She’s taken the classic nineteenth-century Nathaniel Hawthorne novel, The Scarlet Letter, in which the initial worn on a young woman’s chest stood for adultery, and updated it to signify AIDS in a performance art/play/polemic called ‘A’ Scarlet Letter, currently…
Along with passing out at the wheel because the car’s AC abruptly conks out at high noon, and showering six times a day, one of the charming oddities of the summer months in South Florida is the opportunity to view eccentric types of theater otherwise not presented or generally overlooked…
I never cease to be pleased by how much I learn on this job. When I first saw one of my personal favorite plays A Lanford Wilson’s lust story Burn This A in 1987 on Broadway, I would have sworn that above and beyond the brilliance of the work itself,…
When I was much younger and wanted something badly, such as a cable- knit sweater or a parakeet, I used to tell my mother that everybody had one. “Everyone?” she would inquire, with an arched left eyebrow. “If everyone jumped off the Woolworth building, would you do it, too?” I…
Snowbirds swiftly flying the co-op believe that the soggy South Florida summer results in nothing more than lethargic attempts at action and lazy, hazy days spotlighted largely by sweaty naps. Juan Cejas and Maria Romeu of the ACME Theater and Mario Ernesto Sanchez of Teatro Avante don’t agree. For these…
The term “unsung hero” usually applies to volunteer firemen or people who tend to the sick without compensation or publicity. But there is another unsung figure of import: the artistic hero who lives and dies in obscurity, who skips the occasional family dinner to wander down to the beach and…
When we found out that I might not grow to be taller than five feet, my family took to reminding me that “good things come in small packages.” This overused aphorism came to mind as I sat in the Miami Actor’s Studio A which holds no more than 50 people…
In the time I’ve occupied this position, I’ve seen dozens of shows A some good, a few excellent, and many fair, poor, or simply awful. However, I’ve only twice found it necessary for the maintenance of my sanity to leave at intermission after experiencing just one of two acts: first…
