If you want an evening of heaps with laughter, this is the show for you. Magnetic takes a few dashes of comedy spice and ladles on the special sauce that is this talented ensemble.
Author: Jeff Messer
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The best of 2014 in local theater
There’s an old saying that goes, “Theater has been failing for thousands of years.” The mid-2000s saw some lean times for the arts, and many theater organizations have struggled to maintain, reinvent and grow new audiences. But 2014 felt like a page had turned for the better on most counts. The arts in general (and […]
Theater review: Hendersonville Little Theatre’s “Little Women”
In a holiday season filled with the expected shows around the local theater scene, Little Women might seem like a strange choice. However, it was the popular audience choice for Hendersonville Little Theatre‘s Christmastime show. Plus, act 1 begins just days before Christmas, and act 3 closes the show a year later, so there are […]
Theater review: Flat Rock Downtown’s “A Motown Christmas”
Flat Rock Playhouse‘s new production, A Motown Christmas, is a tight two-hour show. It covers a number of predictable holiday classics — “Jingle Bells,” “Frosty The Snowman,” “Santa Clause is Coming To Town” and religious standards like “Go Tell It On The Mountain,” “Silent Night” and “Joy To The World.” The show features the vocal […]
Theater Review: Don’t Dress For Dinner at NC Stage Company
When it comes to guaranteed laughs, the comedy team of Charlie Flynn-McIver and Scott Treadway has become something of the Hope and Crosby, or perhaps the Bill Murray and Harold Ramis of Western North Carolina. Nowhere is this more evident than in Don’t Dress For Dinner, currently onstage at NC Stage Company. One of the […]
Theater Review: “Next Fall” by Different Strokes Performing Arts Collective
Asheville is filled with great theater. So much so, that it is somewhat surprising when something exceeds expectations. Different Strokes Performing Arts Collective‘s new production of the Geoffrey Naufft’s play Next Fall does just that. The show is funny, tragic and will cause viewers to challenge many preconceived notions about religion, homosexuality, family and death. […]
Theatre Review: Macbeth at HART
There is no play with more of a reputation than Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In fact, it is the root of the most legendary of all theater superstitions. Somewhere along the lines it was deemed that Macbeth the play (much like Macbeth the man) was cursed, and that anyone who says the name aloud in a theater […]
Theater review: “Waiting For Godot” by Knights of Allentown
Knights of Allentown have chosen one of the most revered plays of the 20th century, if not of all of theater, in the company’s current production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot. The meaning of the 1953 absurdist play has been something of constant speculation since the play was first performed. The production opens with […]
Theater review: “The Winter’s Tale” by Montford Park Players and Warren Wilson College
The collaboration between Montford Park Players and the Warren Wilson College theater department of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale is part Shakespeare and part wild Gypsy bazaar. It’s also all fun and totally enthralling, making this the second successful team up Montford has done in the past few months (after teaming up with The Magnetic Theatre […]
Theater review: “Impossibilities” at NC Stage
After seeing the show Impossibilities: An Intimate Evening of Magic, Mind Reading and Mayhem, I am firmly convinced that Asheville’s arts scene is missing exactly this type of show. A big tip of the magician’s hat to NC Stage Co. for bringing this dynamic duo and their warm, friendly and all around dazzling show to […]
Theater review: “Urinetown” at HART
Water shutoffs in Detroit, the recent takeover attempt of Asheville’s water system by the State of North Carolina: Haywood Arts Regional Theatre’s staging of the oddball musical smash Urinetown is timely. The show is all about people living under a public utilities nightmare scenario where water is restricted to levels of personal discomfort and hygiene. […]
Theater review: Parkway Playhouse’s “Treasure Island”
There’s a reason some works have stood the test of time to become classics. Treasure Island is one of the titles that rises to the top of the little boy inside of every man’s list of tales that define the word to its fullest. The new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s definitive swashbuckling adventure is […]
Theater review: Hendersonville Little Theatre stages “Little Shop Of Horrors”
When bringing a beloved stage production like Little Shop Or Horrors (based on a B-movie from Roger Corman) to life, you have to have a good balance of humor, thrills and chills. You also need more than a little creative pizzazz to make it work without coming across as cheap or amateurish. As the underdog […]
Theater review: Different Strokes’ “Sisters”
Internal racism in the African-American community is not something that very many people would be comfortable talking about, much less seeing unfold on stage in front of them. Yet the new production by the unflinchingly brave Different Strokes Performing Arts Collective delivers as many laughs as it does thought-provoking moments. Sisters, by Marsha Jackson, isn’t […]
Theater Review: Anam Cara’s “Titus Andronicus”
The inventive new Anam Cara Theatre production of the bloodiest of all of Shakespeare’s plays, Titus Andronicus, owes more than a slight nod to HBO’s Game of Thrones, and may hold the secrets to that show’s origins. Indeed, I spent a good part of the evening wondering if, perhaps, George R. R. Martin saw a […]
Theater review: “Promises” at SART
The old adage “don’t make promises you can’t keep” resonates throughout the profession premiere of Promises (the play was staged as a student production at Appalachian State University in 2013). It is the 65th such premiere in Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre’s 40 years. Written by Appalachian State professor Joel Williams and directed by Screen Artists […]
Theater review: Asheville Creative Arts presents Charlotte’s Web
Charlotte’s Web, the E. B. White classic tale of friendship, sacrifice and veganism before its time, is so well known you would think it would be hard to effectively present it on stage for contemporary audiences. In its sophomore season, Asheville Creative Arts easily overcame that concern. The company’s current version of the show, performed […]
Theater review: Teatro Del Gusto launches at The Orange Peel
The group behind Teatro del Gusto calls the cabaret circus a “feast for the senses.” The new series, which premiered at The Orange Peel on July 13, included vaudeville, burlesque, and classic circus entertainment. Local rockers Red Honey opened the show with a set of half a dozen tunes — some original and some covers. […]
Theater review: Montford Park Players’ “Tartuffe” is magic under the moonlight
There’s magic in the theater of the Montford Park Players. Perhaps it’s because the group has been doing Shakespeare in the park for over 40 years, making it the oldest in the state, and the third longest running outdoor Shakespeare theater in the nation. Or perhaps it is the perfection of a surprisingly cool summer’s […]
Theater review: Stardust Super Club at SART
On a magical night — Oscar night in 1952 — the sounds of Hoagy Carmichael’s smooth song stylings fill the tiny Stardust Super Club in Bloomington, Ind. The joint is named for one of Carmichael’s biggest tunes, and the owners have a special connection to the Oscar-nominated superstar. Tony was a close pal, back in […]
Theater review: “Ghost Riders” is a haunting time-traveling tale
Sharyn McCrumb’s best-selling novel, Ghost Riders, comes to life (and after-life) onstage at Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville as its summer season moves into high gear. The tale, the characters and the mood of the play creep like an eerie fog moving along the ridgelines of the Appalachian Mountains.