BWW Interview: Producing Artistic Director Sandy Robbins of UD REPMay 4, 2020This is the 3rd of Aisle Say's interviews with local arts professionals. Each organization has similar overarching concerns of cancellations, lost revenues, refunds, donations, personnel anxiety and the preposterous nightmare of rescheduling in uncertainty. On the other hand, each have specific issues relevant to their own procedures and organizational structures.
BWW Interview: Greer Firestone: STEPS TO OVERCOME CRISIS for Every Performing Arts GroupMay 4, 2020When Shakespeare's career was interrupted by the Black Plague, the Bard and his colleagues did three things: a?oeThey made plans for what they were going to do when theatres reopened. They toured the provinces, sold props, costumes, bundled plays and sold thema?"that's how the First Folio got made. And they went to the King and said, 'Help! History shows how confidence and point of view served Shakespeare and his company well.
BWW Interview: Kristina Kambalov of FIRST STATE BALLET THEATRE at Grand Opera HouseApril 20, 2020With no performing arts to review, Aisle Say has taken to interviewing arts professionals. Here is a conversation with Kristina Kambalov, co-founder and ED of First State Ballet Theatre. (Go the bottom of the column for previous chats).
In March Aisle Say celebrated' his 63rd year in Delaware performing arts as actor, producer, director, playwright and theatre critic. An organization that has a sweet spot in my heart is First State Ballet Theatre.
BWW Review: OUTSIDE MULLINGAR at Delaware Theatre CompanyFebruary 20, 2020For those of us who have visited Ireland and basked in the bountiful love and generosity of its people, the plays of its most famous authors are striking in contrast. There are no strangers when one visits the Emerald Isle. However, the plays of Brian Friel, Sean O'Casey and John Millington Synge are rife with meditation, mourning and melancholy. (The latter author's 'Playboy of the Western Worlda?? caused riots in Dublin when initially staged in 1907. When the actors came to America in 1911, they were jailed).
BWW Review: STARTER PISTOL at UD Rep EnsembleFebruary 3, 2020For 11 years The Resident Ensemble Players of UD has produced plays of global renown. The majority of the actors have been there since the inception. Aisle Say has been privileged to attend most of them. Generally, the classics are performed; Shakespeare, Shaw, August Wilson, Alan Ayckbourn, Moliere, Tennessee Williams and the like.
BWW Review: CABARET at Candlelight TheatreFebruary 10, 2020Candlelight's stunning production on CABARET forces Aisle Say to ponder if he has ever seen a more polished and thoroughly professional production at this venerable Arden barn.
BWW Review: PASSING STRANGE at City-Theater CoDecember 23, 2019Founded in 1993 - and now under the artistic and musical leadership of Kerry Kristine and Joe Trainor a?" City-Theatre says close to its roots to take risks and eschew redundancy in staging PASSING STRANGE at Opera Delaware's Black Box on the Riverfront.
BWW Review: INTO THE WOODS at Resident Theatre CoDecember 20, 2019Resident Theatre Company of West Chester, in its 2nd year under the direction of Kristin McLaughlin Mitchell, staged a vibrant, harmonious and poignant rendition of one of Sondheim's most difficult to stage, INTO THE WOODS.
BWW Feature: GRACE FIELD IN CONCERT at Milton TheatreDecember 9, 2019race Field, member of the Broadway Inspirational Voices, 'graced' the stage at Milton Theatre last month. Appearing in a one-woman show with music director Charlie Alterman, she of the soaring, ethereal voice and Greek Goddess hair, Field had the packed house swooning over her Best of Broadway list of songs.
BWW Review: CHRISTMAS BY CANDLELIGHT at Candlelight TheatreNovember 26, 2019Candlelight welcomes in the season with CHRISTMAS BY CANDLELIGHT, showcasing a variety of familiar 'chestnuts' and some not frequently heard. It is a nostalgic look at Christmas, focusing on family, friendship, community, children, and loved ones who are especially missed during the holidays.
BWW Review: SHREK, THE MUSICAL at Walnut Street TheatreNovember 25, 2019SHREK, THE MUSICAL may not be the (self-described) greatest fairy tale ever told, but it is one of the most joyous, cheerful and animated musicals I've seen in years. (I say animated for it is taken from the DreamWorks film SHREK). The cast, the costumes, the sets and the music make this #1 in my years of reviewing Walnut Street.
BWW Review: MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS at UD Rep EnsembleNovember 15, 2019What has Sandy Robbins accomplished in two decades at UD? Our state has a theatre group equal to The Guthrie in Minneapolis, the Arena Stage in DC and the McCarter Stage in Princeton, among others; venues renown as the greatest of American performance stages.
BWW Previews: BEAUTIFUL THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL at The PlayhouseNovember 7, 2019The year is 1960. The place is Aldersgate Church Canteen on a Saturday night. Springer Jr. High student Greer Firestone is in attendance along with most of his classmates. #1. The DJ intones 'ladies choice' and spins a?oeWill You Still Love Me Tomorrowa?? by The Shirelles. #2. The girls swarm to form a line in front of Firestone in faint hopes of being enraptured by his rakish, boyish charm.
BWW Feature: HOUSEMAN AWARD TO SANDY ROBBINS at UD Rep EnsembleOctober 31, 2019Readers.
This article below appeared in UD Daily. As a theatre critic for the past 35 years, I have had the singular privilege of attending perhaps 90% of the productions since 2008 at The Roselle Center. UD Rep Ensemble's quality in both onstage and technical aspects rivals and contends with ANY professional company in America.
BWW Previews: DRACULA at First State Ballet TheatreOctober 7, 2019First State Ballet Theatre stages a completely original DRACULA at the baby grand October 18 - 20.
Choreography is by Viktor Plotnikov, a longtime collaborator of Artistic Director Pasha Kambalov. Their friendship goes back to 1987, when the two were dancers with Donetsk Ballet Company in Ukraine (A nation in the news presently. You may have hearda??).
BWW Review: DE ROCK N ROLL HALL OF FAME at The Baby GrandSeptember 30, 2019Paula and George Wolkind's dream of a Delaware Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is now a bonafied institution. A sellout crowd at the baby grand on September 22 welcomed not only musical legends but also historians, DJ's and promoters who have had and continue to have a profound influence on the music scene.
BWW Review: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN at Candlelight TheatreSeptember 24, 2019Based on the hit film and the incredible true story, Candlelight's CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is the high-flying musical comedy about chasing your dreams and not getting caught. If you're gonna fake, fake til you make it!