Milo Shapiro

SWEETLY PLAYFUL TREATMENT OF A COMPLICATED PLOT The prolific author Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was the creator of 66 novels, 14 volumes of short stories and 20 plays, ten of which have been published. Half of her novels involved a quirky, fussy little Belgian private detective named Hercule Poirot solving mysteries of murder. Ironically, Christie hated…

WHAT’S IN A NAME? A LOT WHEN IT’S “CLINTON” “Feelings are a terrible way to make decisions, Bill.” “Yes, but people don’t think you have any.” Reviewing this show is almost like reviewing two separate factors: the show itself and the experience they are creating. In the talkback afterward, Producing Artistic Director and Education Coordinator…

THESE WINGS ARE FLAMING IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE In our divided nation, there are still a few universals that bring us together. Puppies. Mother’s Day. Pizza. And, tagging close behind on the pizza bandwagon: the deep-fried delight known as “chicken wings.” But the folks at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo who first served them…

TRUE ZEST IN TRUE WEST As my sixtieth year on earth winds down, I’d like to believe those years have seasoned me with a strong degree of wisdom, patience, and finesse. As I said, I’d like to believe that, but there are two people who can reduce me to a furious, outrageous adolescent in a…

WE, THE THEATRE, IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION Heidi Schreck wrote this mostly-autobiographical play and starred in it when it played on Broadway, where it was Tony-nominated for Best Play in 2017. So when Heidi broke the fourth wall at the beginning by saying, “Hi everyone!  I’m Heidi!” she meant it. So when…

GANESHA GRANTS GRACE IN A GLORIOUSLY GRITTY JOURNEY The Hindu religion has multiple gods. Ganesha, also called Ganesh, is revered as the god of wisdom, luck, and beginnings. His beloved spirit is present in everything, and he is generally depicted as joyful, seeing the best in people and the world around him. He is easily…

THIS WILD RIDE SHOULD BE DOOLEY NOTED Francis Gercke—both the playwright and Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company‘s artistic director—welcomed the audience prior to the matinee. During his greeting, he remarked, “If at various points in the play you find yourself thinking, ‘I’m not sure I’m entirely following this,’ don’t worry. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to…

CONTINUOUSLY ENTERTAINING What’s most striking about the excellent we are continuous by Harrison David Rivers (The Bandaged Place, This Bitter Earth) is that it doesn’t just break the fourth wall occasionally—it shatters it entirely. The writing style is unlike anything I’ve seen in a multi-actor staging. It’s more akin to three-person storytelling, where the other two characters…

GOOD GOLLY, MISS DOLLY! Under Randy Slovacek’s direction for San Diego Musical Theatre, Hello, Dolly! festoons the theater with a cumulatively enchanting restoration of this infectious delight. So much that life fails to encourage, theater redeems—seldom more winningly than in  Hello, Dolly! Charismatic matchmaker Dolly Levi (Heidi Meyer) arrives in Yonkers in the late 1800s,…

IT’S WORTH WAITING UNTIL DARK Playwright Frederick Knott’s Wait Until Dark debuted on Broadway in 1966, set in the contemporary world of its time in Greenwich Village. Lamplighters is now presenting Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation, which moves the setting to 1944. Aside from this time shift and the removal of some minor characters, the storyline closely follows…

YOU’LL BUY THIS HEART In my ninth-grade English class, Mr. Rozran taught that a short story, versus a novel, should aim to capture a small slice of life, leaving much of what happened before and after to our imaginations. That perspective came to mind while watching The Heart Sellers, a play that offers a focused,…

THESE CREATURES ARE DEFINITELY STIRRING UP HOLIDAY SPIRT AT LAMPLIGHTERS Ken Ludwig’s story begins with a homey Uncle Brierly (Christopher T. Miller) wanting to read to us the famous poem that this play is named after. Unfortunately for the frustrated fellow, he is repeatedly interrupted by a mouse (Matt Sayre) named Amos who keeps questioning…

LITTLE WOMEN WITH A BIG PRESENCE Allen Knee took on a daunting task in creating a play from Louise Mae Alcott’s hefty 1868–69 two-volume novel, but he also cuts back the narrative for the musical version of Little Women with Jason Howland’s music and Mindi Dickstein’s lyrics, which opened on Broadway with Sutton Foster in…