Late Nite Catechism
Ivanhoe Theater

 Maybe it's a matter of ethnicity -- Irish Catholic vs. Italian Catholic -- or maybe one of attitude. But while it was always patently obvious that Lisa Buscani, the most recent portrayer of Late Nite Catechism'sTeaching Nun, was an actress playing a nun, many audience members the night I attended swore Patti Hannon was, or had once been, what she appeared to be onstage.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
January 1996
Late Nite Catechism
Le Petit Theatre de Vieux Carre

 As the Holy Roman Catholic Church has spread its gospel throughout the world, so has Maripat Donovan and Vicki Quade's wryly humorous look at the American parochial school experience spawned productions overseas and stateside, with the latter enjoying open runs in such diverse cities as New York, Boston, Los Angeles, New Orleans and, of course, Chicago.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
June 2002
Laughing Matters Too
Florida Studio Theater

 Obviously, FST's presentation of satirical skits, mostly featuring parodies of Broadway show tunes, a few years ago had such a success that an encore is in order. Maybe because the objects of satire have multiplied (sadly), maybe because nights of improv (happily) have sharpened Rebecca Langford's conception of what goes over with local audiences, this new revue should enjoy an extended gig at FST.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
March 2007
Laughing Stock
FSU - Mertz Theater

 As Charles Morey lets out of its barn the backstage secrets of an old summer stock theater, the more you've seen like it, the more you know or have experienced of theater itself, the more you'll like his tribute to both. Your enjoyment will be enhanced by familiarity with Hamlet, Charley's Aunt, and Dracula -- the three plays being rotated here by The Players. Correction: Dracula has been newly adapted by artistic director Gordon into "Dracul the Impaler" for budgetary reasons.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
November 2005
Laughing Stock
Off Broadway Theater

 What really shines at the Off Broadway Theater is the improvisational show Quick Wits, which runs Friday and Saturday nights at 10 PM for about an hour and a half. The show, which emcee Bob Bedore tells us is, obviously, never the same twice, is consistently inventive, clever and funny. What makes Quick Witswork is that each skit has an overall structure within which the improvising occurs. Then Bedore solicits suggestions for situations, characters and lines of dialogue that have to be incorporated into the scenes.

Barbara Bannon
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Persians, The
Studio Theatre at Broadway Theater Center

Renaissance Theaterworks continues to push the boundaries of Milwaukee theater. Here, the company resurrects the oldest surviving play in Western literature, The Persians. The play recently was adapted by noted playwright/actor Ellen McLaughlin. Her prize-winning works have been produced at regional theaters throughout the U.S. However, she is perhaps best-known for originating the part of the Angel in Tony Kushner's play, Angels in America. Given her familiarity with the theater, it is no wonder that she tries to wring every dramatic moment from this ancient Greek play.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
October 2008
Laughing Stock
Milwaukee Repertory Theater - Quadracci Powerhouse Theater

 December needn't be limited to holiday "classics" such a A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker or touring productions of "Holiday On Ice." The Milwaukee Repertory Theater demonstrates this with a sprightly examination of summer theater called Laughing Stock. It may seem odd when characters complain of blazing heat and mosquitoes when the real temperature outside is barely above freezing. Aside from that, however, Laughing Stock offers a rare treat for theatergoers of all ages.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
December 2005
Laughing Wild
Central Avenue Playhouse

 I wasn't looking forward to renewing my acquaintance with Laughing Wild at Carolina Actors Studio Theater. Watching a previous production that starred April Jones and Sidney Horton, two accomplished performers, I'd felt harangued by Durang. But under T.J. Derham's sparkling direction, C.A.S.T. lightens the barrage of verbiage while intensifying visual interest and physical comedy.

Perry Tannenbaum
Date Reviewed:
May 2004
Lend Me A Tenor
Coronado Playhouse

 Comedy tests both director and actor, and when it works, it is a pure pleasure. Lend Me a Tenor, at the Coronado Playhouse, under Bob Christiansen's direction, works. It works because it is well cast and well directed. Convinced that sold-out houses will continue, the show has been extended an additional two weeks from the original May 11 close to May 25, 2003.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
April 2003
Lend Me A Tenor
Cape Playhouse

 A case could be made that, in the past quarter century, two farces stand out among their competitors: Noises Off (1982), by British playwright Michael Frayn, and Lend Me a Tenor (1986), by the American dramatist Ken Ludwig. It is the latter that is closing out the Cape Playhouse's 81st season with plenty of laughter provided by its cast of eight.

Caldwell Titcomb
Date Reviewed:
September 2007
Leonce und Lena
Athenaeum Theater

 Georg Buchner's comedy -- the author's only --- Leonce und Lena, was written for an 1836 writing competition, but Buchner missed the deadline, and the play wouldn't be brought to a stage till 1895, well after the author died from typhus at age 23.

Kevin Henely
Date Reviewed:
July 2004
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Martin Experimental Theater at Kentucky Center for the Arts

 Bored French aristocrats from the 18th century who cynically manipulate each other and set out to seduce and abandon vulnerable sexual targets for their own depraved amusement are a poisonous breed whose comeuppance is sweet in the Louisville Repertory Company's production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Michael J.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
November 2005
Les Miserables
Ahmanson Theater

 The 1985 musical, back in L.A. for the third time, holds up more than well. Combining spectacle with social consciousness and historical relevance, the show manages to remain a crowd-pleaser by dint of its powerful performances, stirring music and savvy staging (annoying turntable and all). Ivan Rutherford as Valjean and Stephen Bishop as Javert make formidable enemies and handle their respective arias with impressive chops. Joan Almedilla (Fantine) and Aymee Garcia & J. P.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
December 1999
Les Miserables
Prudential Hall

 While it's touted as having a "critically acclaimed" cast of 36, the same Tony-award winning design as the Broadway original, five fog machines, 500 pounds of dry ice, and 1000 costume pieces, the numbers for this Les Miserables just don't add up. It looks and sounds pretty dog-eared and tired despite its recent rave review in the New Jersey Star Ledger (6/11/04). The show is, unfortunately, what one tends to expect of a national touring company of a blockbuster Broadway icon.

Kathryn Wylie-Marques
Date Reviewed:
June 2004
Les Miserables
Marcus Center For The Performing Arts

 Fourteen years after its Broadway opening, Les Miserables still holds the power to enchant us, with its heart-wrenching stories and improbable alliances, intertwined with episodes of cunning, deceit, heroism, virtue, spiritual awakening, love and patriotism. All of this unfolds within the framework of the French Revolution. However, what saves Les Miserables from being a dry history lesson is the quality of the characters who struggle to survive at any cost. Throughout the tale, they are presented with difficult choices.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
August 2001
Les Miserables
Marcus Center for the Performing Arts

 Les Miserables has become a familiar repeat in Milwaukee, as it played here just four years ago (most Broadway tours are seen perhaps once in a decade). It is indeed a welcome return, as this top-notch cast features many actors who came directly from the Broadway version (which closed about six months ago). Although it is impossible to duplicate a Broadway show on tour, this one comes close. This lavish production sparkles with rich production values and a stellar cast.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
January 2005
Lesson Before Dying, A
Florida Studio Theater Mainstage

 The exposed brick walls of the Parish Courthouse storeroom in rural Louisiana, where most of the action of A Lesson Before Dying takes place, seem ready to implode. Under the torn-mesh ceiling in a makeshift meeting room, 1948, clash Emma Glenn (spirited Gloria Bailey), her godson Jefferson who's going to be executed, and Grant Wiggins, his former teacher. Neither an exemplary Negro nor a smart one, Jefferson is innocent of the murder a white jury has pinned on him.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
January 2001
Lesson From Aloes, A
Broadway Theater Center - Studio Theater

 Although it would be welcome at any time of year, Athol Fugard's A Lesson from Aloes was particularly appreciated during February's bitter chill. Set in 1963 South Africa, the play explores the emotional and physical effects of apartheid.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
February 2007
Let Me Sing
Booth Playhouse

 Charlotte Rep's sassy new musical, Let Me Sing, is a wonderful collection of old songs from 1899-1943. The ambitious new book, written by Rep artistic director Michael Bush and literary manager Michael Aman, comes loaded with good intentions. Make that overloaded with good intentions.

After teaching the history of American musical theater at Brooklyn College for eight years, Bush was possessed by the notion that the evolutionary scenario could be successfully brought to life onstage -- given the right people and the right tunes.

Perry Tannenbaum
Date Reviewed:
January 2003
Let My Enemy Live Long!
San Diego Rep at Lyceum Theater

 Let My Enemy Live Long! is a close-up and very personal look at writer/performer Tanya Shaffer's adventures on a river trip to West Africa. She offers an energetic tour de force, a trip well enjoyed, a trip of personal interaction between a white Jewish woman and the natives. The educated few spoke French; the others communicated using sign language. Her story is about personal interactions between cultures -- the successes and the failures. It is about understanding and friendships.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
January 2002
Let's Murder Marsha
Poway Performing Arts Company

 Playwright Monk Ferris has a way with words. He explores the consequences of hearing only fragments of a conversation and coming to the wrong conclusions in the riotously funny Let's Murder Marsha, currently on the boards at PowPAC.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
June 2006
Lieutenant of Inishmore, The
Florida Studio Theater - Gompertz Stage III

 Stressing stupid vengence and callous violence of self-styled Irish "liberators," FST's The Lieutenant of Inishmore shows ruthless Padraic as an over-the-top yet typically sadistic terrorist. When his da, Donny, on Inishmore isle calls to tell him his cat wee Thomas is ailing, Padraic drops torturing a drug dealer strung up in an Ulster warehouse and heads home. Because the cat already is roadkill, Donny and slow-witted, effeminate Davey, who found and brought him back, catch a tabby to disguise as wee Thomas with bootblack. Padraic arrives to find them smeared, sotted, sleeping.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
February 2007
Life And Limb
Stage Left

 The difficulties faced by disabled American war veterans in their re-assimilation into civilian life have been well-documented, and even with the absurdist spin a young Keith Reddin put on it in 1984, the trials of Franklin Roosevelt Clagg, sent home from Korea minus -- literally -- his good right arm, are by now familiar territory. But the Swing For The Fences company, most of whom are too young to even remember Viet Nam, refuse to take cover in ironic distance, instead grappling with their material as seriously and intensely as if it were 1954 instead of 2001.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
August 2001
Life Is A Dream
Oregon Shakespeare Festival - Angus Bowmer Theater

 At last month's Oregon Shakespeare Festival's press conference I was drawn to Laird Williamson as he sat emitting a Buddha-like radiance. As well he should; he has, for the second time in as many years, staged his own adaptation of Pedro Calderon De La Barca's intense play, Life is a Dream. Williamson spoke of the play's mysticism, its metaphorical themes, and overpowering dark intrigue. I drank in his words with my coffee, not realizing then that a magical experience at the Bowmer Theater was soon to move me.

Steve & Herb Heiman
Date Reviewed:
June 2001
Life (X) Three
FSU - Cook Theater

 What a difference a production makes! In the original French presentation of Yasmina Reza's three versions of a disastrous mis-timed dinner party, the hosts and their counterpart guests were like the couples in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Their dramatic interplay barely caused a snicker, much less laughter, from the audience. But Banyan Theater Company draws laughs aplenty from the moment Henri and caustic wife Sonia spar over how to handle their six-year-old as he refuses to go to sleep in his room off the parlon.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
August 2006
Life, Death and Resurrection of Pulcinella, The
FSU - Cook Theater

 In an academic setting, as a demonstration of facets of commedia dell'arte and use of its traditional masks, this "exclusive performance" might have been more appropriate. Presented for the public after much hype and without an accompanying lecture, it did neither the genre nor Antonio Fava credit. Fava has been working with students at Riverview High School and Florida State University's Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training who apparently learned enough about his work to better appreciate his take on Pulcinella.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
February 2005
Light in the Piazza, The
Sanford & Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House at Carnival Center for the Performing Arts

 Miami's performing arts center opened unofficially in September with The Light in the Piazza, winner of six Tony Awards in 2005. Official gala events for the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts -- named for cruise operator Carnival Corp., which paid $20 million for the rights and is headquartered nearby -- didn't begin until Oct. 5, 2006. On the fourth stop of its first national tour, the Craig Lucas-Adam Guettel romantic musical was in fine form at the Ziff Ballet Opera House, the new venue that will mount touring Broadway shows.

Julie Calsi
Date Reviewed:
October 2006
Light Up The Sky
Patio Playhouse

 It's opening night, the first tryout in Boston before the long arduous trip to The Great White Way. Thus opens Moss Hart's 1948 Broadway success (it ran 27 weeks), Light up the Sky. This aging play survives quite well for it tells the story, admittedly way over the top, of the trials and tribulations of bringing a brand new play by a first-time playwright to the public.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
February 2004
Light Up The Sky
Olney Theater Center For The Arts

 In playwright Moss Hart's loving tribute to the insanity of his profession, Producer Sidney Black (Tony Hoty) says he wants his latest investment to be a roman candle that will light up the sky like the Fourth of July. Although the fictitious allegory he's backing may not survive tryouts, this revival of Light Up the Sky,directed by John Going, a master of farce, is a hit for the Olney Theater Center.

Barbara Gross
Date Reviewed:
July 1999
Lights, The
MeX Theater

 The Lights illuminates via sudden flashes or prolonged exposure the gritty lives of big city (New York?) denizens in their struggles with ordinary jobs, failed relationships, and corrupting influences. In 15 galvanizing scenes the extraordinary Necessary Theater cast makes the characters they portray disturbingly real. Howard Korder's play is a kind of theatrical collage in which scenes involving five major characters and some others are cut up and pasted together. Lilian (Mary Oliver Humke) and Rose (Susan Linville) work in dead-end department store jobs.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
March 2000
Limonade Tous Les Jours
Actors Theater of Louisville

 Charles L. Mee's seductive valentine to a sun-dappled Paris in the spring and the possibility of love between an enchanting young French woman and a somewhat boring older American man is as light as a souffle and as refreshing as an aperitif (or in this case a lemonade) sipped at a sidewalk cafe. The production values here, under Marc Masterson's fluid direction, are so strong, they almost camouflage the play's thinness.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
March 2002
Lindstrom And Motambi
National Black Theater Festival

 This ripening script pits a UN colonel against an African chieftain in a drama mirroring the long strife in Angola and the futility of well-intentioned mediation. John Amos, of "Good Times" fame, gets the opportunity to stretch beyond comedy and unleash the full power of his manly stage presence as General Motambi. But the spell is too often broken by Amos having to call upon an offstage prompter to read him his next line. And playwright Walter Owens gives him far too many lines to remember.

Perry Tannenbaum
Date Reviewed:
August 1999
Lion In Winter, The
Legler Benbough Theater at USIU

 The Lion In Winter was one of the most powerful dramas to hit the stage and screen, as well as television, in the last half of the twentieth century. The film won three Oscars plus another 11 awards. A revival of the play opened this weekend at Scripps Ranch Theater. And what an opening it was!

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
February 2006
Lion In Winter, The
Peninsula Players Theater In A Park

 Late in the second act of The Lion In Winter, Eleanor of Aquitaine brings "breakfast" to her three sons, all imprisoned in the castle's wine cellar. It is a very cold breakfast, one made of steel. She has brought them daggers. Eleanor hopes they will use them to escape. But the three quickly decide to kill King Henry when he arrives. It's a royal family that puts a big "D" into dysfunction, but it makes for an engaging and compelling night of theater. The Lion in Winter isn't a strict accounting of historical events.

Ed Huyck
Date Reviewed:
July 1999
Lion King, The
Pantages Theater

 The Lion King is a mega-hit in L.A. and elsewhere, a show that attracts audiences of all ages and types, so criticizing it is like a lesson in frustration and irrelevance. But criticize it I must. Not that I find it all bad; on the contrary, it has miraculous things, such as Taymor's staging, costumes and puppetry. I also find much of the music (and arrangements) stirring, and there are first-rate performances galore, notably Danny Rutigliano's antic Timon, John Vickery's villainous Scar and Bob Bouchard's flatulent Pumbaa.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
March 2001
Lion King, The
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center

 When The Lion King first opened on Broadway ten years ago, even seasoned New York critics were stumped about what to say. Adjectives such as "stunning," "fantastic" and "incredible" didn't even come close to describing this unique show. The best statement, I think, came from The New York Times: "It's unlike anything you've ever seen." Thankfully, that's still the case. A touring version recently opened in Appleton, Wisconsin, bringing local theatergoers their first taste of this extraordinary musical.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
May 2007
Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, The
Todd Wehr Theater

 A dazzling production by Milwaukee's acclaimed First Stage Theater brings to life the children's classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Though a vastly simplified version of the Land of Narnia book series by C.S. Lewis, the show manages to pack a lot of wallop into 90 minutes. (This is the prescribed running time for all First Stage performances.) In retrospect, the show does perhaps stretch a bit too far. It introduces a number of characters (such as the White Stag), and situations that are not fully explained.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
March 2004
Little Foxes, The
Cygnet Theater

 The house of Regina (Rosina Reynolds), Horace (Michael Harvey), and daughter Alexandra Giddens (Rachael VanWormer) is a beautiful example of southern elegance. Alas, the matriarch, Regina, is a driven woman. She is in constant power struggle with her brothers Ben (Tom Stephenson) and Oscar (Tim West) and with her husband, Horace (Michael Harvey). Yet, more than greed that drives her in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes. Add to this mix the lovely, but repressed Birdie (Glynn Bedington), wife of Oscar, who himself is repressed by his brother Ben.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
November 2005
Little Mary Sunshine
Legler Benbough Theater at USIU

 She might not look it, but Little Mary Sunshine is almost 48 years old. She still has a spring in her step, even if she has a passing resemblance to the 1954 film, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."

Here we have six young gentlemen of the United States Forest Rangers and General Oscar Fairfax and the young ladies of the Eastchester Finishing School along with Nancy Twinkle and Madame Ernestine Von Liebedich with the charming Little Mary Sunshine. Ah, that magic number seven again.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
May 2006
Little Night Music, A
Mann Center for the Performing Arts

 It's a perfect fit -- a musical comedy about a midsummer romance "in the country" staged in the park on a midsummer's evening. In addition, this orchestra and this show are a good match. Sondheim's score is in three-quarter time and variations of it, and the Philadelphia Orchestra has a long association with waltz music. Unfortunately we have to put up with bad amphitheater acoustics, with reverberations that make it difficult to hear Sondheim's exquisitely-crafted word play. Despite this, the music triumphs.

Steve Cohen
Date Reviewed:
July 2001

Pages