Criticopia

If Next Act Theatre administrators were looking for a comedy to fill this dead-of-winter time slot, one wonders what made them choose Morris Panych’s play, Vigil. There is a glimmer of humor here, but the comedy is about the blackest this critic has seen.

Two exceptionally talented actors, Ruth Schudson and Mark Ulrich, do about the best job one could wish in delivering this odd play. Ulrich is an unhappy bank teller who rushes to the deathbed of his elderly aunt. They haven’t seen each other in 30 years. It is not a happy reunion.

A play that’s become a modern classic is now bound to be remembered as a classic production by WBTT. A strong story, cast and director bring out the universal qualities of a distinctly American experience. As A Raisin in the Sun re-creates that of urban African-Americans half a century ago, it also shows how timeless is the struggle of members of a family to each realize their dreams of success.

Lydia R. Diamond’s Stick Flytakes a fascinating look at a wealthy black family in Martha’s Vineyard as they function and dysfunction. Father: a neurosurgeon (Ruben Santiago-Hudson), chilly, autocratic; two brothers: Flip, a plastic surgeon whose nickname fits him (Mekhi Phifer) and Dulé Hill as Spoon, a writer whose first book is being published. Each brother has a fiancé whom he brings home: for Spoon it’s the bright dynamo Tracie Thoms, whose energetic insights drive the play, and a smart WASP, Rosie Benton, for Flip.

"Farce is tragedy played at a thousand revolutions a minute," said John Mortimer. If he were alive today, Joe Orton would surely have seconded that notion. The British playwright came to prominence in the 1960s with a series of black, bawdy farces -- The Entertaining Mister Sloane, Loot and What the Butler Saw-- that usually ended with blood on the walls.

It only seems fair that a production called The Complete Works of William Shakespeare – Abridged should receive an abridged synopsis. So here goes: Three guys, 37 of Shakespeare’s plays, and less than two hours to cram them all in. That, essentially, is what the show’s creators gave birth to in 1987. Since then, Complete Workshas appeared in many of the country’s regional theaters. It now lands in Milwaukee. (Also noteworthy is the fact that the original cast performed an “updated” version of this play at New York’s Victory Theater in March 2010.)

No doubt about it, Athol Fugard’s The Road to Mecca is tough going, a long, winding journey with its pay-off at the end. This pay-off is not with blazing fireworks but finding an artist’s inspiration she fears is lost. Directed with sensitivity by Gordon Edelstein, the Roundabout Theatre Company's production at the American Airlines Theater is driven by three stunning performances and the poetic, often passionate language of its playwright.

Milwaukee’s Renaissance Theater offers a powerhouse of a play in the one-woman show, Neat. Respected playwright Charlayne Woodard takes the audience on an autobiographical journey that ranges from Savannah to Albany, NY. Savannah, Georgia, is the home town of her favorite aunt, nicknamed “Neat.”

On a playground, Annette and Alan’s admittedly “savage” son hit and knocked out two teeth from Veronica and Michael’s probably provocative son. To their red, tulip-bedecked Brooklyn home, Veronica has called a parents’ meeting to agree on what, if necessary, to “call the incident in a legal statement” and, by implication, whether there should be some kind of contrition, punishment, or effort to bring the boys together in a more civilized context.

The touring musical of Shrekfollows the characterizations of the Dreamworks film and most of the plot of the Broadway musical about the titular ogre. Basically, the inciting incident is Shrek being thrown out of his house by his parents to make life on his own. They predict he’ll be disliked by everyone and thus will lead a perpetually unhappy life.

The cutthroat, heat-of-the-summer struggle that is A Streetcar Named Desiregets worthy treatment in South Florida at New Theater with persuasively well-rounded performances in the central roles of the Tennessee Williams drama and transformative tech.

The title is Jeff’s and it’s ironic. True, Jeff makes the one possibly courageous choice among four characters trying to step out of moral messes. He’s hardly traditionally heroic, though. He’s mostly the resentful son of a father known for one instance of heroism that Jeff could never live up to. Now maybe he has the chance.

Brendan Ragan almost gets sympathy as he shows a conflicted Jeff, after dismissal from the military, trying for a new life. Could he possibly make Dawn part of it?

The category-busting Blue Man Group is easier to watch and enjoy than to describe. In essence, three wide-eyed men, with bald heads covered in blue paint, go onstage to present a 90-minute, multi-media show. Is it theater? Is it a rock concert? Is it a comedy club? Yes and no.

It’s a unique blend of rock music, high-tech projections, audience participants and Blue Man Group’s special brand of humor. For those who have seen the show elsewhere, perhaps in New York or Las Vegas, Blue Man Group doesn’t disappoint.

Is it wise to go off the beaten path? Is it ever too late for love? Is it a good idea to take a chance on love, no matter what the odds or the outcome? Three seniors who’ve loved and lost in the past confront these questions this autumn in a city park.

When the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s new artistic director announced that musicals would be a part of upcoming seasons, some longtime patrons winced. First off, the Rep’s main stage wasn’t designed for musicals. Others cautioned Clements about their expectations. “You don’t understand,” they told him. “We are used to serious theater at the Rep.”

Well, audiences now realize that Clements wasn’t thinking of restaging Oklahoma! or My Fair Lady.”His first entry, presented last season, was a dark, moody production of Cabaret.

Short and sweet! That’s what each half of Golden Apple’s holiday celebration is, and the whole adds up to entertainment that audiences of all ages can enjoy – and with more weekend matinees and earlier evening shows than usual.

Amahl and the Night Visitors distills the spirit and meaning of the holiday. Three rich kings visit a poor lame boy and his single mother one night. These people and their hovel of a home are much like what the kings are seeking, without realizing it.

Attention Dear Readers: Have you been getting your recommended servings of fresh vegetables each day? If not, you may want to hurry over to the 59E59 Theaters for one of the final amusing performances of Cirque de Legume. As the name suggests, it is a bit of a circus, at least to the extent that there is plenty of clowning around from the two clever stars, Jaimie Carswell and Nancy Trotter Landry, with cheerful direction from Pablo Ibarluzea.

Watching the play Scrooge in Rougeis as satisfying as the holiday buffet at grandma’s house. Who cares if no one tampers with the recipe? This is the third (and final) consecutive year that Milwaukee’s In Tandem Theater will produce the show.

At long last it has finally dawned on me how appropriately Houston’s Music Box Theater has been named. I say that because while it casts itself as a comedy club, music is central to its irresistible allure.

In this mini-musical, everything is mini except the talent of the cast. There are three windows with blinds surrounded by bricks suggesting a wall, a few chairs on wheels, a keyboard. There are “Two Nobodies in New York” talking by phones about writing a musical that might win a contest and be produced. Then Jeff the musician and Hunter the writer get together and make “An Original Musical” about themselves making a musical.