As Nixon, veteran actor Michael MacCauley may not look like the former president, but so flawlessly inhabits the essence of Nixon that you are transfixed by his every word and gesture.
Author: Jeff Messer
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Theater review: ‘Five Women Wearing the Same Dress’ at 35below
There’s a nimbleness to the writing that propels the play. It is the sort of script seasoned performers crave and can elevate.
Theater review: ‘In A Clearing’ at The Magnetic Theatre
The characters and plot in general make us think that this could all be happening in the next town over from the Cohen Brothers movie Fargo.
Theater review: ‘Talking With…’ by Attic Salt Theatre
Director Marci Bernstein takes the audience on 11 unrelated journeys in monologues by a who’s who of local talent. Each scene is its own story, and each actress holds the stage alone for those scenes.
Theater review: ‘Some Things You Should Know…’ at The Magnetic Theatre
The play was written by Larry Larson and Levi Lee nearly 40 years ago. Of course, the Cold War era of the early 1980s informs the anxiety of the world being left a smoldering heap with few surviving. And it still works well today.
Theater review: ‘Oliver!’ at Parkway Playhouse
As the titular Oliver, Faith Creech is exuberance and charm wrapped in a skilled young actor. She shines the minute she takes the stage.
Theater review: ‘Eleemosynary’ by Different Strokes
The play is told in confessional moments, directed at the audience. These give way to flashbacks that fill in gaps. The conclusion will leave the audience a little teary-eyed but also enriched
SART announces a new season and future plans
SART’s summer season is a full slate of diverse shows, kicking off with the raucous comedy ‘Don’t Dress For Dinner’ (May 31 – June 17).
Theater review: ‘Doll’ at The Magnetic Theatre
Created by Asheville-based playwright Brenda Lunsford Lilly, the production is a sly 1960s homage to Henrik Ibsen’s notable play, A Doll’s House. The show remains onstage through Saturday, May 5.
Theater review: ‘Failure, A Love Story’ by Asheville Creative Arts
The experience of Failure is one that transports the audience, and will cause more than a few lumps in the throat as viewers are show something akin to a Sam Shepard play adapted by Wes Anderson.
Theater review: ‘Luna Gale’ at The Magnetic Theatre
A meth-addicted couple have taken their sick baby to the hospital where Child Protective Services take custody of the endangered child. This sparks a spiral of conflicts that propels the play forward along an often harrowing path.
Theater review: ‘Madagascar Jr.’ at HART
Families with kids should not wait to make reservations as these shows are playing to capacity crowds and tickets are pretty scarce at the door.
Theater review: ‘Rumors’ at Hendersonville Community Theatre
The story is simple, yet becomes complicated when the titular rumors begin to fly. Deputy Mayor Charlie and his wife Moira are celebrating their 10th anniversary. They’ve invited four couples to their house for the party, but something is amiss.
Theater review: ‘9 to 5’ at Asheville Community Theatre
Is it possible that 9 to 5 is to the #MeToo movement what The Crucible was to ’50s-era McCarthy hearings? It comes close.
Theater review: ‘Jeeves Takes a Bow’ at N.C. Stage
In this installment, Bertie has come to New York to dodge familial obligations back in England, but his desire to get away from it all comes crashing down when his friend Nigel Bingham-Binkersteth, aka Binky, arrives with a madcap plan to win the heart of the actress Ruby LeRoy.
Theater review: ‘The Bald Soprano’ at HART
Plays like this one are typically confined to academic settings these days, but for those who love this sort of thing, I can’t imagine it being done any better than it is here.
Theater review: ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ at Asheville Community Theatre
Shouting, fighting and a 7-year-old smoking cigars in the bathroom, which leads to a visit from the fire department, before the chaos resolves into a happy and poignant ending.
Theater review: ‘Christmas Spectacular’ at Flat Rock Playhouse
A powerhouse chorus of all ages elevate songs like “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” to a goose-bump-inducing crescendo in the first half of the show. They are aided by the nimble musical direction of Ethan Andersen, who plays at a grand piano at center stage.
Theater review: ‘Red’ at 35below
At this phase in his career, Rothko believes that color is merely an instrument that informs emotion. As he ages, Rothko feels the same pressures that, a generation earlier, he proudly imposed upon the likes of Picasso.
Theater review: ‘Rapture, Blister, Burn’ at N.C. Stage
Theater shines best when it reflects the true lives and struggles of the audience members in a way that moves them and makes them think. N.C. Stage delivers just such an experience in this play.
Theater review: ‘The Midnight Area’ by Dark Horse Theatre
The vignettes are a tapestry of varied ideas that somehow mesh together to create a full show (it runs just under 70 minutes without intermission).