Two Muses Ups The Ante With Taboo Issues, Contemporary Melodies
By Carolyn Hayes In terms of both subject matter and medium, the rock musical "Next to Normal" (music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey) easily [...]
To Be Or Not To Be - Uh, What Was The Question?
By John Quinn Some artists have a gift of finding inspiration in the most mundane of coincidence. In the case of playwright-novelist-screenwriter Paul [...]
Still Plenty Of Life In The Old Girls
By Michael H. Margolin In a career that lasted from 1965 ("Flora, the Red Menace") until 2010 ("The Scottsboro Boys"), John Kander and Fred Ebb made Broadway [...]
Comedy Hits The Right Notes (With Help From Mama Cass)
By Martin F. Kohn Night after night a woman camps out in a hospital waiting room, easing her mind with coffee and television, stretching high to reach the [...]
The Ringwald Packs A Picnic Basket And Heads To GPS
FERNDALE - The Ringwald Theatre is pleased to announce the fourth installment of its wildly popular Gay Play Series. Last year's outing was attended by [...]
Classic Musical Graces The Baldwin's Stage
ROYAL OAK – Stagecrafters doesn't repeat its productions very often – except for classics such as "The Sound of Music." Although Stagecrafters has mounted [...]
Detroit Rep Closes Season With 'Roaming Charges'
DETROIT – The world premiere of Ralph Accardo's "Roaming Charges," a playful story about two wandering women and a roaming 13-year-old girl, will have its [...]
Aida' Trumps An Already-Great Season At MOT
By Michael H. Margolin "Julius Caesar" brought brilliant singing to MOT's first Baroque opera production; "Fidelio's" musicianship and the great Christine [...]
Mission Impostor: Faker's Tale Brings Genuine Enjoyment
By Martin F. Kohn The actors bring their A game, the writers bring their B game; if we were dispensing grades this would work out to a B+ for "Catch Me If You [...]
Modern Morality Play Challenges Cast And Audience Alike
By John Quinn It is the nature of the job that theater critics work odd hours. At Encoremichigan, we also work an arbitrary "year," which ends today. I am [...]
A Family In Crisis, A Family Divided
By John Quinn "Life is very long" – T. S. Eliot "August: Osage County" is also very long and worth every minute. Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the [...]
What A Do Performance Soars In Portrayal Of Cruelty
By Bridgette M. Redman Few stories on stage have characters that are irredeemably evil. Most drama is about exploring why people do the things they do, [...]
