Friday, February 12, 2010

Unconventional

Hamlet

Production Company:
Drak Theatre

Premiered: March 16. 2004

Writer: William Shakespeare

Directors: Jiri Vysohlid and Vaclav Poul

Puppet Hamlet from the 2004 production of Hamlet at the Drak Theatre

http://www.draktheatre.cz/nahled.php?fid=54&gid=5


This production is unconventional because you see Hamlet as a puppet show rather than actors on stage. The reason behind this odd way of showing Hamlet is to help children learn the story.
The use of puppets also always a dark and serious play to become not as dark and serious.
Faust

Production Company: Jezek and Cizek theatre group

Performance Dates: Runs until August 29, 2007 (couldn't find opening)

Key Artisits: Homeless

"One of our fundamental ideas is combining different worlds, and different circles of people. For example, we have homeless people working with both professional artists and amateur artists in an auditorium with an underground rock band. And together it works."

This production is unconventional because it not only uses professional actors it also takes people off the streets and uses them in the production too. But not just anyone off the street, they take the homeless or people that have been homeless. I thought this was cool because it gives them an opportunity.


Steel Magnolias

Production Company: Phamaly

Performance Dates:
Preview: Fri January 9, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Opening Night: Sat January 10, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday: Sun January 11, 2009, 2 p.m.
Friday: Fri January 16, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday: Sat January 17, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday - ASL, AD & Talk Back: Sun January 18, 2009, 2 p.m.
Thursday: Thu January 22, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Friday: Fri January 23, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday: Sat January 24, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday: Sun January 25, 2009, 2 p.m.
Thursday: Thu January 29, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Friday: Fri January 30, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Closing Night: Sat January 31, 2009, 7:30 p.m.

Director: Nick Sugar

Playwright: Robert Harling

The cast of the Physically Handicapped Actors & Musical Artists League's "Steel Magnolias" at the Aurora Fox. (Michael Ensminger)Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/theater/ci_11473687#ixzz0g01Nt1kc

This production of Steel Magnolias is unconventional because the entire cast is made up of handicapped individuals. The company itself is made for those who have a disability and want to be in theatre because there aren’t many choices out there. It is unconventional because there usually is not physically handicapped people who are the actors.

Moliere's The Misanthrope

Mauckingbird Theatre Company

Directed: Peter Reynolds

Starring: Dito van Reigersberg as Alceste

Performace Dates: January 10 - February 2, 2008

"Our aim is to illuminate Moliere's text in a new way by transporting the artifice inherent in the French court to an equally pretentious world where gay men call all the shots," says director Reynolds. http://www.theatrealliance.org/news/2007/1231.html

This production of Moliere's The Misanthrope is unconventional because its an all male cast. The men are playing the female parts as well as the male parts. In this day and age females are allowed on stage and we don’t usually resort to the old times of the all male cast, when females were not allowed on stage.

Pippin

Production Company: Deaf West, Center Theatre Group

Performace Dates: January 15 - March 15, 2009

Center Theatre Group—Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director; Charles Dillingham, Managing Director; Gordon Davidson, Founding Artistic Director—and Deaf West Theatre—Ed Waterstreet, Artistic Director/CEO

Snap shot of actors from Pippin, the Musical

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/la/la287.html

This production on Pippin is considered unconventional because some of the cast if deaf. At parts they use sign language to communicate. With Pippin being a musical, the cast makes it to where audience members who also could be deaf fully enjoy the show.


Sunday, January 24, 2010

Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

The Great American Trailer Park Musical by David Nehls and Betsy Kelso (produced 2010)

"will not go down as one of the best musicals ever written"
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2008/may/22/theater-review-great-american-trailer-park-musical/

“musical comedy "
http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=3729

"farce and absurdity form a successful partnership..."
http://www.starksilvercreek.com/2009/05/review-great-american-trailer-park-musical-san-jose-stage-company.html


Miss Saigon by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil (produced 2010)

"If you like musicals, you'll probably like it."
http://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/reviews/theatre/miss-saigon2004.htm

"...daring pop opera that is universal..."
http://mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000156


Urinetown, the Musical music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis, and book by Kotis. (produced 2007)

“a terrific musical satire”
http://raleighlittletheatre.org/archives/reviews/urinetown-mcdowell.html

“For now there's little fear of that, with a cast nearly all new to the show slipping into its lumpen-prole-drama parodics perfectly.”
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117921338.html?categoryid=33&cs=1


I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change by Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts (produced 2002)

"hilarious musical comedy"
http://gonyc.about.com/cs/offbroadway/gr/loveperfect.htm

"brooding musical dramas"
http://www.broadwaytheatre.com/show_pgs/I_Love_You_You


Over the River and Through the Woods by Joe DiPietro's (produced 2000)

"family comedy"
http://jam.canoe.ca/Theatre/Reviews/O/Over_The_River/2001/02/19/742322.html

"'high comedy, and a story everyone can relate to.'"
http://www2.insidenova.com/isn/entertainment/attractions/article/theater_review_viennas_over_the_river_a_charming_production/23586/

Altar Boyz by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker and book by Kevin Del Aquila (produced 2008)

"fantastically entertaining satire"
http://community.nytimes.com/rate-review/theater.nytimes.com/show/23714/Altar-Boyz/overview#bozoanchor

"acclaimed musical comedy"
http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Alter_Boyz_to_Take_Final_Bow_20010101


Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story by Alan Janes and Rob Bettinson, and music and lyrics by a variety of songwriters. (produced 1999)

"The Buddy Holly Story currently playing at the Lyric Theatre, Darling Harbour, Sydney and shortly to tour the country, is of the type, cabaret."
http://www.australianstage.com.au/reviews/sydney/buddy-the-buddy-holly-story-2457.html

"This dynamic, heart-rending and unforgettable musical immortalises Buddy Holly's all too brief life and tells the story of the three years in which he became one of the world's top recording artists."
http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/event_view.php?uid=975


Communicating Doors by Alan Ayckbourn (produced 2000)

"Director Michael Tonner tweaks the farce, plays up the sweet ending, and heightens the suspense..."
http://www.theatermirror.com/cdhpbev.htm

"time-traveling comic thriller"
http://calendar.dailycamera.com/longmont-co/events/show/89037907-communicating-doors


Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice(produced 2000)

"a middling musical..."
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=276589

"High-energy musical"
http://centerstagechicago.com/theatre/shows/6820.html


1776 by Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards (produced 2008)

"musical will likely forever stand the test of time..."
http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/showpage.php?t=seve8185

"compelling drama"
http://mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000066

Friday, January 22, 2010

Miami University

Hamlet By William Shakespeare (produced 2009)

"Michael Grandage expertly guides a talented cast, dressed in oh-so-appropriate, but elegant funereal black through the tragedy that unfolds in the walls of a grand, but bleak castle set (Christopher Oram, set and costume design)."
http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/2009/10/theater-review-hamlet-with-jude-law.html

"Hamlet is an absolutely cracking psychological thriller"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/charlesspencer/5442250/Hamlet-at-Wyndhams-Theatre---review.html


Some Enchanted Evening: The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein Concept by Jeffrey B. Moss for Jerry Kravat Entertainment (produced 2009)

"this is truly a jukebox musical"
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=235407

"... you're enjoying yourself as you hear the classics from the Golden Age of the Musical."
http://huntsville.about.com/library/blenchantedevening.htm

“It would be nice to say that the show lives up to its title, but the lackluster cabaret concept, developed by Jeffrey B. Moss, trips over the sheer volume of material.” http://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/29/nyregion/theater-review-pastiche-of-rodgers-and-hammerstein.html?pagewanted=1


Almost, Maine By John Cariani (produced 2010)

"a gentle comedy"
http://jam.canoe.ca/Theatre/Reviews/A/Almost_Maine/2007/10/20/4590905-sun.html

"A comedy comprising almost a dozen two-character vignettes exploring the sudden thunderclap of love and the scorched earth that sometimes follows, John Cariani's play will evoke either awww's or ick's, depending on your affection for its whimsical approach to the joys and perils of romance."
http://theater.nytimes.com/2006/01/16/theater/reviews/16main.html

"a romantic comedy"
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/02/06/review_almost_maine.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=101


Baby with the Bathwater By Christopher Durang (produced 2010)

"surreal satire"
http://inkpot.com/theatre/99reviews/99revbabybath.html

"a dark comedy"
http://www.sandiegoplaybill.com/reviews/reviews_babywiththebathwater_nonsense.html


Rent Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson (produced 2010)

"a landmark rock opera"
http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N29/Theater-_Rent.29a.html

"an average musical."
http://www.londontheatre.co.uk/londontheatre/reviews/rent01.htm


The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare (produced 2008)

“But with his late dramas like The Winter's Tale, now at BAM as part of The Bridge Project, Shakespeare entered his own maturity, promoting forgiveness.”
http://www.theatermania.com/off-broadway/reviews/02-2009/the-winters-tale_17640.html

"It begins as a stark tragedy, morphs into a bucolic comedy..."
http://jam.canoe.ca/Theatre/Reviews/W/The_Winters_Tale/2007/07/05/4314331.html


You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown by Clark Gesner (produced 2009)

"the most-performed musical in the history of American theater"
http://www.cadytech.com/chanticleers/review/1992/youre_a_good_man_charlie_brown.php

"whimsical musical"
http://tenttheatre.missouristate.edu/news/id=6.html


Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead by Bert V. Royal (produced 2009)

"satirical comedy"
http://www.showbizradio.net/2009/11/30/review-lta-dog-sees-god/

"commits the cardinal sin of parodies"
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/ob/12_14_05.html


Hello, Dolly! by Jerry Herman (produced 2009)

"A musical that traded on nostalgia when it was new..."
http://theater.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/theater/reviews/13doll.html

"I am not usually a fan of musicals but there is something irresistible about Tim Sheader’s production of this erstwhile Broadway favourite about an irrepressible widow turned matchmaker."
http://www.artshub.co.uk/uk/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/theatre-review-hello-dolly-open-air-theatre-178923


The Fantasticks book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt. (produced 2007)

"In a small Off-Broadway theatre a musical opened that would set the record as the longest-running show in New York."
http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/theatre-review-la-the-fantasticks-by/

"... the world's longest running musical"
http://fresnobeehive.com/2009/03/theater_review_87.html

"a smash-hit micromusical"
http://dctheatrescene.com/2009/12/02/the-fantasticks-3/