Dan Clancy’s Middletown is a very true-to-life rollercoaster ride involving two couples that befriend each other in the prime of their lives and remain friends through their senior years. They have dinner every Friday night for thirty-three years and share everything with each other – the good and the bad.…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 03 March 2020 18:21
PLANO: the imaginary “safe place” that’ll leave you feeling slightly disturbed
Written by Vika Lvova
Where’s Plano? I’m not sure, but it’s a place some characters of the namesake play like to visit often. Perhaps Plano doesn’t even exist. Presented as part of Steppenwolf’s LookOut Series and directed by Audrey Francis, this Will Arbery’s dark comedy is progressively more disturbing. All of its characters seem…
Published in
Theatre in Review
America was a different place in 1965. Jim Crow was alive and well in southern cities, American schools were still on the way to being integrated, African-Americans were getting their heads busted in trying to cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Alabama, there were race riots in major northern cities,…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 02 March 2020 14:51
The Writer and the Writer’s Brother – The Pillowman at Gift Theatre
Written by CJ Burroughs
Kids these days… I went into opening night of Gift Theatre’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman only knowing that my 16-year-old daughter was excited to be my date. “It’s dark, Dad,” she warned me. Boy, was she right. “But it’s amazing, Dad,” she also assured me. And boy, was…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Friday, 28 February 2020 08:35
Great Acting and Staging in Lifeline's Middle Passage
Written by Bill Esler
Set in 1830, Lifeline Theatre’s Middle Passage, beautifully directed by Ilesa Duncan, is an exciting show: absolutely entertaining, well-produced and well-acted. And yet, entertaining as it is, Middle Passage also recounts the horrific enslavement and transport of Africa’s Allmuseri people, their inhumane treatment by a cruel ship’s captain, and the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Wednesday, 26 February 2020 13:08
'Book of Moron' is a Fantastically Fresh and Funny Way to Get Your Brain Clean and Running Again!
Written by Kimberly Katz
It's been 24 hours since I enjoyed this play and I'm still reeling from the super intelligent "trance-formation" delivered with rapid fire accuracy by Robert Dubac's one man show Book of Moron. Dubac plays out the thought patterns of a man who has traumatically lost a portion of his memory and is…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Saturday, 22 February 2020 17:39
You be the detective: 'Shear Madness' returns to Chicago
Written by Ken Payne
There’s something about a good mystery that keeps us engrossed. Maybe it’s the colorful suspects, maybe it’s the dissecting of clues involved, maybe it’s our own morbid curiosity that comes with murder - after all isn’t Forensic Files still one of the most watched TV shows? We like the detective…
Published in
Theatre in Review
There is a saying among the Maasai people that if you do not give an elephant a proper burial, it will haunt you for days. Lynn Nottage’s play Mlima’s Tale is an elephant ghost story. And in it we learn, elephants never forget! Mlima is a legendary elephant on the savannas…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 18 February 2020 14:19
Theatre at the Center's 'Almost Heaven' a beautifully performed tribute to the late, great John Denver
Written by Ken Payne
When I remember John Denver, it’s hard not to think about crisp country air, clean rivers, pristine mountains and, well, just a healthy planet. John loved nature. It was abundantly clear in his music. His life was cut short at just 53 years old when a plane he was piloting…
Published in
Theatre in Review
More...
Wednesday, 19 February 2020 21:04
A Tough Hand To Play- The Queen of Spades at Lyric Opera
Written by Kendall Royzen
Some reviews are as easy to write as 1, 2, 3; an intro, a body, and a conclusion. Some reviews are more difficult to write, even when following that simple formula. Even time is broken into three parts: past, present, and future. Well, I cannot go into the past to…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
Saturday, 15 February 2020 22:19
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical Is Captivating and Poignant
Written by Bill Esler
Though I loved her music and her voice, I knew little about the celebrated Queen of Disco, Donna Summer - before seeing the Broadway in Chicago show about her. Summer: The Donna Summer Musical tells it all, an engaging narrative spiced with the diva’s great music, beautifully performed. Musically, Donna…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
We are rarely privy to the forthright conversations traded among the wealthy about class dynamics and privilege. Doubly so when they involve the rarified class of rich, well-borne African Americans. In Stickfly, playwright Lydia Diamond said she wanted to “write a play that talks about class and class strata within…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Raven Theater has a penchant for aptly timed revivals, and their production of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House is no exception. Published and set circa 1879 in Norway, the play offers a snapshot of domestic life at the time, reminding us how much progress has been made since then --…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Register
Login
Latest Articles
-
'Blue' Holds Mirror to Race in America
Written by Betsy SchmittWhen Francesca Zambello, director of The Glimmerglass Festival, commissioned an opera about race in America, the country was reeling from a spate of police shootings of young African-American men in Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. By the time the… -
Review: 'Falsettos' at Court Theatre
Written by John AccroccoEven 40 years later, the AIDS crisis continues to shape American life. Long before Hollywood brought AIDS stories to the cultural mainstream, the theatre was a safe place for actors and writers to explore their fears and sense of injustice… -
Delightful Send-up of 1930s Musicals, 'Dames at Sea' Nearly Sunk by Bad Sound
Written by Bill EslerOverall Citadel Theatre’s ‘Dames at Sea’ has a smashingly great cast of singers and dancers, perfect for a musical comedy satirizing the over-the-top 1930s movies and Broadway revues that were light on plot and heavy on costumes, dance routine, and… -
Disney's The Little Mermaid at Drury Lane: An Inspiring and Delightful Production Celebrating Girls' Unique Voices
Written by Kimberly KatzI thoroughly enjoyed Drury Lane's enchanting stage production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid from start to finish. While few are overly familiar with Hans Christian Andersen’s original, darker tale of ill-fated romance, the Disney animated film and this stage adaptation,…
Does your theatre company want to connect with Buzz Center Stage or would you like to reach out and say "hello"? Message us through facebook or shoot us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
*This disclaimer informs readers that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to Buzz Center Stage. Buzz Center Stage is a non-profit, volunteer-based platform that enables, and encourages, staff members to post their own honest thoughts on a particular production.