In these days where celebrity divorce is in the headlines, you've gotta tip your hat to the enduring and iconic marriage of Macbeth and his Lady. He's got the ambition, she's got the boundless nerve, and together, they can achieve the unthinkable.
While Matthew Broderick clearly can take a joke, it might be best if he skips the latest edition of the theater spoof "Forbidden Broadway."
In the opening moments of "Hold These Truths," Jeanne Sakata's eloquent one-man drama about civil rights giant Gordon Hirabayashi, the reflective protagonist recites a Japanese proverb he learned from his father while growing up on a farm in Washington state during the Great Depression: "Deru kugi wa utareru," or, "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down."
Two years after Buddy the Elf made Broadway audiences believe in an unlikely theatrical adaptation of a Will Ferrell movie â an adaptation without Ferrell â "Elf" the musical is back with yet another lead actor and all the joy we've come to expect from the industrious toy-maker in green tights.
Jealous sniping has always been in fashion, whatever the century. The backstage passions and vanities of a quartet of popular opera singers, plus a revered diva and a couple of renowned composers illuminate the New York City premiere of "Golden Age," Terrence McNally's play about an important evening in the life of 19th-century Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini.
In the original Greek classic âOresteia,â written by Aeschylus, the madness in the House of Atreus ends on a happy note. But in Tanghalang Ateneoâs version, âAng Oresteyas,â the conclusion is more ambiguous; the play places the protagonistâs fate in the hands of the live theater audience, and ends with a question mark.
âRodgers and Hammersteinâs Cinderella, 2â which opened Oct. 10 for a three-month run at the cavernous Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila is not exactly how people would picture a musical based on a childrenâs fairy tale.
When the curtain opened in the first act of âSan Andres B.,â one saw a highly cohesive and compact production design by Eric Cruz, with the orchestral ensemble not in the pit but in one visible part of the stage, becoming almost part of the action.
Upon entering the theater, one notices an annoying crack of light that seeps through one side of a door, glaring at the audience, on the set of Repertory Philippinesâ staging of âWait Until Dark.â
It is a sad but accepted reality for teachers and theater reviewers that they must spend their lives pointing out the flaws in the works of others. It is a rare indulgence for a reviewer to gush about a beloved work without reservation.
