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
Author: Jeff Messer
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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).
Theater review: ‘Zombie Prom’ at HART
With decaying tongue placed firmly in rotting cheek, the play delights from first notes to final bows.
Theater review: ‘Amadeus’ at Flat Rock Playhouse
Amadeus is actually more about Salieri, the exalted musician who finds Mozart’s rapid rise to fame as a personal affront to his more measured success. Salieri is a skilled musician, but the revolutionary spirit of Mozart threatens to overshadow him.
Theater review: ‘Unnecessary Farce’ at HART
This production is designed to make audiences howl with laughter, and it more than delivers, including a curtain call with all seven actors racing in and out of doors, chasing each other wildly until the all emerge for a well-earned bow.
Theater review: ‘The Rainmaker’ by Brevard Little Theatre
Brevard Little Theatre is still something of a well-kept secret within the Western North Carolina theater scene, though its been around since the 1930s. Perhaps quality shows like this one will change all that.
Theater review: ‘Peter Pan’ by Montford Park Players
Under the stars feels right for such a show, making Montford Park Players’ open air summer location a well-suited venue.
Theater review: ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ by Flat Rock Playhouse
All of the parts come together in a magical, mystical feat of precision that, while expected from Flat Rock, still amazes.