Past Reviews
OCU’s School of Theatre presents the Intriguing Drama Arcadia
Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia is an intriguing and complex drama about the influences of science, nature, truth, time, and sex on our lives. The play is set in two time periods and centers on a grand English estate. In 1809, a young girl and her tutor are delving into deep issues, of the romantic and intellectual variety. In present day, two scholars seek to unlock the mysteries of the house and the secrets of those who lived there. Oklahoma City University’s production of Arcadia promises to be mysterious, deeply intricate… Continue reading
Lyric Theatre’s A Christmas Carol Honors the Holiday Season
A central theme of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol is honoring Christmas. Not just during the holiday season, but year-round. Shortly after the publication of the famous novella, it was adapted for the stage and began its first production run in 1844. The Victorian Era story of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and the transformation he undergoes one fateful Christmas Eve is ubiquitous during the holiday season. Lyric Theatre’s adaptation by Producing Artistic Director Michael Baron is now in its ninth consecutive year, and it’s… Continue reading
It’s a Wonderful Life is a Unique Holiday Experience at The Pollard
Christmas is a busy time for theatres. Everyone seems to get into a Dickens-y spirit this time of year, with ghosts and Humbugs in every theatrical production you can find. A welcome break from tired traditions is It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. This production heralds back to the days of yesteryear, before iPads and streaming services flooded our airwaves, and brainwaves, at a constant, break-neck pace. Radio plays featured casts reading scripts over the air, breaking for commercials… Continue reading
UCO Presents the Musical Revue There’s No Business Like Snow Business
It’s finally here! The holiday season hits hard and fast this week, with Christmas lights going up everywhere and early shopping already starting. Always in the holiday spirit, UCO’s musical theatre department presents another fun night of music with their latest themed revue. There’s No Business Like Snow Business features holiday songs, fun costumes, and a cheery, wintery show at the UCO Jazz Lab. Like their annual Halloween revue Macabret, Snow Business puts a Christmas… Continue reading
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play is a New Tradition at the Pollard
The Pollard Theatre’s new holiday tradition returns for the 2019 Christmas season. It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play tells the story of George Bailey, a business and family man who attempts to end his life on Christmas Eve. An unlikely visitor intervenes, and in turn shows George what life would be like had he never been born. It’s a Wonderful Life is the perfect Christmas movie, and it’s become a tradition in households everywhere to revisit it every holiday season. The live radio play adds a unique… Continue reading
Historic Jewel Box Theatre Ends 62nd Season with Entertaining “Little Old Ladies in Tennis Shoes”
Jewel Box Theatre ends Season 62 in conjunction with the end of this year, 2019, presenting “Little Old Ladies in Tennis Shoes”. It is an amusing tale of suburban life in the 80’s by Sandra Fenichel Asher. This cute comedy is directed by Deborah Franklin, familiar to Jewel Box audiences for many years. Franklin has assembled a delightful cast of gals… Continue reading
The Lyric Academy’s Marvel Spotlight Highlights Great Fun
The Thelma Gaylord Academy presents a fun set of One Act plays. Marvel Spotlight features superheroes, both known and somewhat unknown, in a new light. In Hammered: A Thor and Loki Play, a teenaged Thor is facing his exams. Not one to make things easy on him, Loki gets up to his usual antics and tricks Thor into getting, well, hammered. In Squirrel Girl Goes to College, a young Doreen Green is just trying to live a normal life and make normal friends, despite the ever-present Doctor Doom… Continue reading
Moore High School Fine Arts Presents a Rousing Les Mis
The ultimate tale of redemption, love, and loss comes to life on a high school stage. The students of Moore High School Fine Arts department present Les Misérables, known colloquially as Les Mis. Les Mis tells the story of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict who vows to rebuild himself. In the shadow of guilt and the French Revolution, Valjean’s story is a bleak one. Based on the epic historical novel by Victor Hugo, Les Mis was adapted into a musical for the stage and debuted in Paris in 1980. It… Continue reading
Artist Spotlight: Kristin Küns
Oklahoma City based artist Kristin Küns just closed out a hit run as Cheryl, the un-dead younger sister of Ashley Williams in The Pollard’s revival production of Evil Dead: The Musical. Evil Dead is a crowd pleasing bloodbath, complete with lowbrow, hilariously frightening humor throughout. The energy of a show this physical is so demanding and constant, it takes a performer as professional and energetic as Küns to pull it off! She was gracious enough to answer my questions about the show, and fill me… Continue reading
Fascinating, Funny and Fabulous is CityRep’s “A Doll’s House, Part 2”
A door slam heard round the world took place on stage at the Royal Copenhagen Theatre in Denmark in 1879. The date was December 21 and the occasion, the premiere of Henrik Ibsen’s new play, “A Doll’s House”. The tale concerns Nora, a typical housewife of that era, and her husband, Torvald. Nora discovers that marriage, in a man’s world, is based on a masculine conception of the ideal wife:… Continue reading