Like that 1997 film, Gangster Squad shares a real-life character in mob king Mickey Cohen. While briefly in the former, he’s the gangster (played by Sean Penn, The Tree of Life) around whom the squad circles. (He’s also explored at length in a William Devane-hosted documentary on the Blu-ray.) That squad is fronted by war […]
theater
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‘Side’ effects
So renowned is the Broadway musical West Side Story that, unlike its leading man, there’s a good chance you haven’t just met a girl named Maria. You likely know her very well, thanks to the ever-popular movie adaptation. That film won 10 Academy Awards in 1961 and hasn’t left living rooms since. However, the national […]
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Full ‘Glass’
In Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, Amanda Wingfield laments, “Things have a way of turning out so badly.” While that might be true for the Wingfields, things are turning out wonderfully for audiences at Lyric’s excellent production of this classic drama. Director Michael Baron stages with academic faithfulness to the script, and that’s meant as […]
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Triple play
We’re all for synergy, but the collaborative production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest by Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park and Oklahoma City University’s TheatreOCU makes one wonder why all that theatrical brainpower couldn’t come up with a better product. Director Lance Marsh’s cast operates with energy, but the […]
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Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXVI
Besides, fans of MST3K only need know that another collection exists, and they’re sold. The latest, Volume XXVI (aka 26, if you don’t like maths), may not have any classics among its four-ep offering, but any episode is worth owning. Among this batch, my favorite is the most recent: 1988’s Alien from L.A., a sci-fi […]
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Welcome pest
By: Emily Etherton Some strong acting highlights an uneven production of Tracy Letts’ drama Bug, a collaboration between OKC Theatre Company and Ghostlight Theatre Club. It takes a while to get going, but the show hits a thrill bump in the last scene, which is played under the eerie glow of real bug zappers. Directed […]
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Full of ‘Heart’
The Tempest 1. The theatrical event of the year was hardly a play and barely was produced. Nevertheless, Dustin Lance Black’s 8 boasted wonderful acting and able staging (by Stephen Hilton) at the Freede Little Theatre under the auspices of the Oklahoma Theatre Guild, a loosely formed coalition of state theater companies and individuals. The […]
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Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXV
While none are classics, the four episodes collected here make for a terrific representation of the comedy series’ range, as our host (Joel Hodgson or Mike Nelson, depending on the ep) and his trusty robot friends rip bad movies a new one from the corner of your screen. They can lampoon no-budget sci-fi (1986’s Robot […]
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‘Marley’ and me
Unable to resist the temptation to do something Yuletide-related, Oklahoma City Theatre Company has revived Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol. In it, playwright Tom Mula has adapted Charles Dickens’ tale from the perspective of Ebenezer Scrooge’s business partner, Jacob Marley. Already dead when A Christmas Carol begins, Marley finds himself in a kind of purgatory. Much […]
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Missed a ‘Step’
The Pollard Theatre currently presents The 39 Steps, Patrick Barlow’s adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film and John Buchan’s unreadable novel. Englishman Richard Hannay thinks he has stumbled upon a ring of Nazi spies who are trying to steal some vital state secret from the sceptered isle. But that’s only half of Hannay’s problem; the […]