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Tag: ACT
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Theater review: ‘Rabbit Hole’ at Asheville Community Theatre
As in ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ things aren’t always what they seem.
Theater review: ‘The Full Monty’ at Asheville Community Theatre
Jerry, played by Corey Link, and his best friend Dave (Michael Crosa) must find new jobs in a rust-belt town with few options. Lurking beneath their tough exteriors, these unemployed steel mill workers fear being losers.
Smart bets: Seussical
The Dr. Seuss-inspired musical runs on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m., until Sunday, March 6.
ACT ends 69th season with ’60s farce
The British farce Not Now, Darling, written by by John Chapman and Ray Cooney, seems so fabulously retro now. In reality, it was just another modern play of the era. But these days, thanks to TV shows like “Mad Men,” “Pan Am,” “The Astronaut Wives Club,” and the subsequent wave of nostalgia, audiences are getting a whole new look at that bygone era.
Conscious Party: High-end drama
Born from Asheville Community Theatre’s desire to attract a wider audience, this competitive runway show sees 40 local designers vying for titles in four zany categories: tape, nature, inflatables and Christmas in July.
Theater review: A Chorus Line
The musical A Chorus Line ran on Broadway from 1975 to 1990 and won practically every award that existed for theater during its run. Asheville Community Theatre’s production is presented by Aloft, and runs through Sunday, March 1. It’s directed by Chanda Calentine with musical direction by Gary Mitchell and choreography by Tina Pisano-Foor. Mother-daughter […]
Smart bets: A Chorus Line
“A Chorus Line is a brilliantly complex fusion of dance, song and compellingly authentic drama,” reads a press release for the forthcoming Asheville Community Theatre production. Directed by Chanda Calentine and originally created by Michael Bennett, this Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical affords audiences “a behind-the-scenes look at an audition process as well as […]
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 […]
The Addams Family legacy lives on in an ACT musical
A curious cartoon by Charles Addams appeared in The New Yorker on April 6, 1938. In the single-panel drawing, a witchy woman in a low-cut, Gothic black dress and a tall butler resembling a Cro-Magnon man listened to a traveling vacuum salesman’s pitch in a crumbling, cobwebbed house. Over the years, Addams grew the cast […]
Smart bets: Listen to This
Gather ’round, folks — it’s story time. Asheville Community Theatre’s monthly storytelling series, Listen to This: Stories in Performance, closes its fourth season this week.
She said, She said: Asheville Community Theatre’s Steel Magnolias
Dramady “Steel Magnolias” was first staged in ’87. The story, about a group of women in Natchitoches, La., was written by playwright Robert Harling around the death of his sister. The local production at Asheville Community Theatre is directed by Michael Lilly and runs through Sunday, Aug. 18. Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.. Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Mother-daughter reviewers Becky Upham and Cicely Upham discuss.
Costume Drama recap
The inaugural fashion show, a fundraiser for ACT, brought in 25 designers, over $7,000 and a little mystery as well. Read about who won and watch a slide show.
“Last Stop, Old” kicks off ACT’s DramaRama
The week-long fundraiser begins this Saturday with the 2:30 p.m. staged reading of a play by Patsy Clarke and Ellen Landau. Clarke has a long local history, including performing in Asheville Community Theatre’s first play in 1946. This is not only a world premiere for “Last Stop, Old,” but a homecoming for Clarke. Photo by Rob Storrs.
Wardrobe department
Mark your calendar: Asheville Community Theatre holds a costume sale on March 17. Photo by Ewa Skowska.
Full speed ahead: a review of Dashing Through the Snow
This year’s holiday offering (by playwright trio Jones Hope Wooten) opens on the lobby of the Snowflake Inn in Tinsel, Texas where it’s Christmas 365 days a year. (The premise is that year-round Christmas is a good thing, FYI.) The show runs at ACT through Sunday, Dec. 4.
Arsenic and Old Lace at ACT
A 14-member cast, a fantastic set and a 70-year-old play are just part of what make ACT’s production of Arsenic and Old Lace both delightful and (at times) chaotic.
Review of Noises Off
The play is smart, and this production is good fun. But you see the challenge: how does one play a character well who is himself playing a character but doing it badly? Or what’s the difference between terrible acting and acting terrible?