Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, receiving a striking production at Hartford Stage, is a work that still resonates today, even though it was written over 75 years ago.  The play succeeds on multiple levels.  There are thorny family dynamics that are examined.  Questions of truth, greed and loyalty are raised.  All of this is wrapped around characters reaching for the American Dream. Michael Gaston and Marsha Mason in All My Sons.  Photo by T. Charles Erickson. Elevating the staging are two consummate performances – Marsha Mason as the family matriarch, Kate Kel ..read more

Charles Dickens’ last, unfinished, novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, seems like unlikely fodder for a musical, but in 1985 Rupert (“Pina Colada Song”) Holmes created such a theatrical piece that won multiple Tony Awards, including Best Musical.   The Cast of Goodspeed's The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Photo by Diane Sobolewski Instead of a straightforward murder mystery, with Holmes creating his own ending, the playwright (as well as composer) came up with the fun-filled idea of letting the audience decide the culprit.  So, Act I is the set-up, following the pages of the hal ..read more

EVERLY – the Music of the Everly Brothers, playing at the Ivoryton Playhouse through April 28, is more of a concert than a jukebox musical.  There is no libretto or any assemblance of a book.  Instead, the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famer’s lives and career – the high’s and low’s – are presented with snippets interspersed between the rollicking tunes and somber ballads. The Everly Brothers – Don and Phil – were pioneers of country rock and influenced a who’s who of musical legends, including Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and John Lennon.  The two actors in the show, Eric Anthony and Ben ..read more

The characters in playwright Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City are undocumented immigrants seeking to secure their American dream.  High school students, each with their own set of parental issues, live and work, mostly in the shadows to avoid detection and possible deportation.  Their names are never mentioned.  In the program, they are simply referred to as G (female character) and B (male character).  In a way, they are representative of all who have come before them and will come after them. Grant Kennedy Lewis and Sara Gutierrez in Sanctuary City. The first part ..read more

The pleasures of attending an Off-Broadway production is seeing something different, maybe a little more weighty or quirkier than the fare uptown on Broadway.  Dead Outlaw, is on the idiosyncratic side.  It’s an off-beat musical, based on a true tale, that is a rollicking good time.  Strange.  Outlandish.  Weird.  Yes.  But this tale of the Old West, which eventually spans over 60 years, is nothing short of entertaining.   The creative force behind Dead Outlaw reunites the team from the multi-Tony Award winning musical The Band’s Visit.  The score ..read more

In the past 25 years there have been a number of potentially catastrophic events for the planet (and I’m not even counting climate change).  Remember as the clocks slowly ticked to the year 2000?  Y2K and its possible disastrous ramifications gripped the world.  The COVID crises produced devastating effects across the globe.  Today?  Wars in Gaza.  The Ukraine.  Hot spots in North Korea.  The China Sea.  The Red Sea.  Yet, through the chaos, there is normalcy.  People still went or go about their everyday routines.  It is this juxtapo ..read more

The key to a successful jukebox musical is the songbook of the production.  For the new Off-Broadway show, the lightweight, easygoing A Sign of the Times, the musical numbers are its strength.  The over two dozen songs include such timeless classics as “I Only Want to be With You,” “Color My World,” “These Boots are Made for Walking,” “Last Train to Clarksville,” “Society’s Child,” and “Don’t Sleep on the Subway.”  They are presented by a cast of engaging and appealing performers under the sure-handed direction of Gabriel Barre, who has helmed the musical since its premiere at t ..read more

Days of Wine and Roses is one of the best musicals to appear on Broadway the last few seasons.  The show is a powerful production that is not always easy to watch as a couple spirals through alcohol addiction.  The musical is anchored by the virtuoso performances of Kelli O’Hara and Brian D’Arcy James, who both are almost constantly on stage during the 100 minute, intermission-less production.  It is an event when either of these consummate actors appear on a Broadway stage.  Having both of them perform together is an absolute thrill.   Director Michael Grief reveals ..read more

On December 4, 1956 one of the great impromptu jam sessions in music history took place at the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, TN.  Gathered were Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash.  This once-in-a-lifetime gathering of legendary musicians is the basis for the jukebox musical, Million Dollar Quartet.  A production is rockin’ and rollin’ at ACT in Ridgefield, CT through March 23.   The plot, devised by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, is thin with small dramatic morsels.  Sam Phillips, the owner of the label, has invited Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee ..read more

Poor Casey, a so-so Elvis impersonator plying his trade at a rundown bar on the Florida panhandle.  The audience is sparse, the money negligible, and the sudden need to support a growing family is a pressing concern.  His luck suddenly changes when, due to unforeseen circumstances, he is literally thrust on stage in a drag show revue with a new guise and attitude.   Thus begins The Legend of Georgia McBride, a diverting, slender offering from playwright Matthew Lopez.  The show runs through March 3 at the Music Theatre of Connecticut (MTC).    There are moments of ..read more