Followers of English murder mystery author Agatha Christie know the formula, and it works. A murder is committed; there’s a group of suspects in attendance; one of them, perhaps more, but usually the one, is the killer. And it’s up to a certain, colorful character – a detective inspector, a private detective, or maybe an […]

When those with only a passing interest in theatre (and film, for that matter) dismiss a production and state, “It’s only a play,” they have no clue how that sounds to a theatre lover. It’s like nails on a chalkboard; a fork scraping a plate, or worse: Styrofoam squeaking. In the world of showbiz, there’s […]

There’s a line of thought often quoted by students of Shakespeare. When an actor is mature enough to fully understand the emotions of either Romeo and Juliet, the teenage lovers of one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, they are too old to play them. Which is why, outside of Zeffirelli’s ‘68 film version, and that […]

From the stylized image of Liza Minnelli on the poster, you’d be forgiven for thinking that maybe the new and highly audacious production of the musical Cabaret at Spotlight Youth Theatre in Glendale had some connection with the ‘72 movie. There’s none, just the image. In fact, not only has the show little to do […]

It was the first of its kind. A play with music and song, where the songs propelled the plot instead of stopping it. So, in 1927, when the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein ll musical in two acts, Show Boat opened on Broadway, the course of the American musical theatre was changed forever. With that in mind, […]