Stage Write

  Slamming doors and mistaken identities, it must be time for Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s season opening show! For the past few years Beef & Boards has opened every season with a slapstick farce. This year’s selection is Lend Me A Tenor, a Ken Ludwig comedy. A famous tenor, Tito Merelli, is scheduled to sing in Cleveland when unexpected obstacles complicate things. His highly-anticipated performance puts pressure on everyone involved, including a young man named Max and his boss Saunders.   The set is a simple hotel suite with clean lines and countless doors. It works wonderfully for the whirlwind production, which has actors coming and going at break neck speeds. The costumes are also particularly fun. The characters are decked out in evening gowns and tuxes for the big night and the performers don purple tights.      Max, played by David Schmittou, is a bumbling good guy with Bryan Cranston’s looks and Clark Kent’s sweet charm. He fin...

Each years there are countless of great shows produced and there's no way to make it to all of them. Here are my top ten choices of shows I saw in 2013. Keep your eyes on these theatres in 2014 for more great shows!   1) Yellow Wallpaper at NoExit Performances 2) Next to Normal at the Phoenix Theatre 3) Hamlet at the American Players Theatre in Wisconsin 4) An Iliad at the Indiana Repertory Theatre 5) The Importance of Being Earnest performed by the EclecticPond Theatre Company   6) Les Misérables at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre 7) Wicked at the Old National Center performed by Broadway Across America 8) Love, Loss, and What I Wore at the Phoenix Theatre 9) Underneath the Lintel performed by Patrick O'Brien at iNDYFRINGE 10) The Crucible at the Indiana Repertory Theatre   Photos courtesy of the Phoenix, the American Players Theatre, Broadway Across America and the IRT

Beef & Boards is bursting at the seams with holiday cheer this month. Their annual Christmas show is back to help audiences celebrate the Christmas season. As always, it’s co-hosted by the ageless duo Deb Wims and Kenny Shepard. This is Shepard’s 20th year performing in the Christmas show. The production is a flurry of high kicking chorus lines and kid-friendly numbers. Four main performers take on most of the numbers while Kelly Teal Goyette belts out a few solo songs. Unlike previous years, there aren’t any standout performances that carry the show. Instead there’s a steady stream of Christmas carols and holiday standbys. The Beef & Boards Orchestra is excellent as always; highlighted center stage on the all-new set by Michael Layton. Dominic Sheahan-Stahl provides a fitting salute to the military with his rendition of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” You’d be hard pressed to find a more enthusiastic Christmas show in town this year. From the Grinch ...