Hillary Clemens and Kate Hampton in Asolo Rep’s Fallen Angels. For Noel Coward fans, a chance to see even one of his minor plays is cause for some celebration. And that’s what we have with Fallen Angels, a little-seen work from 1925 that’s now onstage at the Asolo Repertory Theatre. It’s hard for modern-day audiences [...]

Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida—a more modern, pop-py retelling of the tale told in the classic Verdi opera—was a success on Broadway, even winning a few Tony Awards. But it’s not always easy to tell why in the production of the show now onstage at the Manatee Players Riverfront Theatre. To be fair, the [...]

FSU/Asolo Conservatory’s The Robbers. The FSU/Asolo Conservatory frequently makes play choices that are challenging, both for its students and its audiences. Case in point: the current production of Friedrich Schiller’s The Robbers, a seldom-seen (in America at least) work from 1781 that is a key example of the German sturm und drang movement. Schiller was [...]

There are ample reasons why Meredith Willson’s The Music Man is a perennial hit. Charming small-town turn-of-a-past-century nostalgia, memorable characters and a score that includes so many gems it seems almost unfair to other composers are just a few of them. Fortunately, at least some of those ample reasons can be enjoyed during Venice Theatre’s [...]

A Chorus Line, now onstage at the Players Theatre, is one of those shows with legions of loyal, loving fans. They know it by heart, and the aspiring dancers auditioning for a place on the line of a new musical are like real friends to them.   Krista Hubschmitt One senses the cast of the [...]

When it comes to Circus Sarasota, artistic director Pedro Reis does as fine a balancing act as any of his performers in choosing the mix of talents that will please the public. He does it year after year, and the 2012 version, which runs through Feb. 26 under the Big Top across from Ed Smith [...]

Venice Theatre’s Altar Boyz. It’s not hard to see why Altar Boyz, the musical comedy about a boy band that travels the county praising Jesus (with book by Kevin Del Aguila and songs by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker), has been such a popular show around the country in the past few years. Seeing [...]

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe presents A Raisin in the Sun. Photo by Don Daly. Theater fans may have heard of the new Broadway-bound play Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, which is a modern-day response to Lorraine Hansberry’s groundbreaking A Raisin in the Sun, about a black family that integrates a white Chicago neighborhood. Without having [...]

No matter how successful any theatrical piece has been—and Les Misérables has certainly been über-successful by any definition—there always exists the opportunity to revisit and refresh what has become a classic production. Producer Cameron Mackintosh seized that opportunity a few years ago to create a 25th anniversary production of Les Miz, which is now onstage [...]

No one chooses whom they fall in love with, and once they’ve fallen, it doesn’t mean perfect understanding of the object of their affections. That’s certainly the case with Luke and Adam, the couple at the center of Geoffrey Nauffts’ Next Fall, now onstage at Florida Studio Theatre. They’re both gay, but they’re very different [...]