Teal Wicks has it easy in Jekyll & Hyde — and not just because, unlike the musical’s star, she doesn’t have to fill two roles. No, playing Dr. Jekyll’s fiancée in the current national tour is a breeze because she’s not required to carry every scene. The actress spent the better part of 2011 being […]
musical
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‘Poppins’ pops
Disney’s national touring production of the Mary Poppins musical is great, fun and colorful. Its cast is excellent, too, with one strange exception: Mary Poppins herself. As Mary, the magical nanny, Madeline Trumble was the only one who seemed overly showy, clearly putting on a performance, whereas the rest of the actors were much more […]
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The Phynx
To review the movie, I need only tell you what it’s about. The dictator of communist Albania has swiped dozens of United States “world leaders,” including Butterfly McQueen, Johnny Weismuller, Maureen O’Sullivan, Dorothy Lamour, Xavier Cugat, Col. Sanders, Busby Berkeley, the Bowery Boys, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. (Mind you, all of them appear as […]
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Rock of Ages
Taking place in the hair-metal heyday of 1987, Rock of Ages jumps from Broadway to the big screen, and lands on its face with a thud. If it’s not the year’s most misbegotten big-studio project, I don’t wish to be exposed to what is. Talking and singing in a baby voice akin to nails on […]
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Little Shop of Horrors: The Director’s Cut
That’s one fun fact I learned, but the real draw of this release is the film’s Holy Grail: the 23-minute original ending in its entirety and in full-color — not the unfinished black-and-white version — and it’s Quite Something to See. As many Little Shop fans know, but thought they’d never view, the movie stayed […]
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Show ’nuff!
CARPENTER SQUARE THEATRE Sept. 7-29: God of Carnage Oct. 19-Nov. 10: Lady Nov. 30-Dec. 22: The Last Romance Jan. 11-Feb. 2: The Good Counselor Feb. 22-Mar. 16: Mrs. Mannerly April 5-27: My Name Is Asher Lev May 17-June 8: Something Intangible June 28-July 20: Out of Sterno CELEBRITY ATTRACTIONS Oct. 9-14: Les Misérables Nov. 6-11: […]
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Don’t Go in the Woods
The first feature as director for longtime fine actor Vincent D’Onofrio (Kill the Irishman), Woods is as ambling as the five young musicians — one of whom is blind — who drive their van to a forest for a songwriting retreat, where the following things are not allowed: booze, drugs, girls, phones and common sense. That […]
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No objection
You know you’re in for an evening of light entertainment when a musical opens with a number titled “Ohmigod You Guys,” sung by a bevy of University of California-Los Angeles Delta Nu sorority sisters. Legally Blonde: The Musical, based on an Amanda Brown novel and the 2001 motion picture, is now being given a modest […]
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‘Hair’ styles
Inspired by the 1988 film by camp cult icon John Waters, “Hairspray” was reborn in 2002 as a Tony-winning Broadway musical. Following in the footsteps of “The Producers” in an example of Ouroboros-like creative cannibalism, the Broadway adaptation of “Hairspray” was made into a fairly entertaining movie in 2007. Set in 1962 Baltimore, “Hairspray” follows […]
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‘Strange’ magic
Boy, where to start talking about The Pollard Theatre’s production of the “Passing Strange” musical? It’s the best work seen at Pollard in a long time, and when the theatrical year is tallied six months from now, if this does not get Best Musical, this will be one heck of a year for musicals. All […]