Stage Write

  The Indiana Repertory Theatre has announced its season for 2014/2015. The mix of shows include a Shakespearean comedy to celebrate the Bard's 450 th birthday, an award-winning Broadway play, and a few hidden gems from the regional theatre circuit.  To buy tickets or find out more information visit their site here . The season includes: Two Gentlemen of Verona – September 16 - October 19 The grass is always greener, especially in Milan. Best friends Valentine and Proteus are in love with the same woman: will it destroy their friendship or teach them a lesson? Join us for an adventure in laughter and frivolity as we meet a circus of outlaws, a cross-dressing heroine, a dog-loving clown and two friends who discover that love isn’t an easy game to play in Shakespeare's comedy. Red – October 14 - November 9 It’s 1958 and abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko had just landed the biggest commission in the history of modern art. With the help of his assi...

If a woman wants to hold on to her man she must do one of two things. Her first option is to ignore any cheating or bad behavior. He is a man; therefore he is expected and allowed to do what he wants. Her second option is to embrace her inner catty nature and lash out against the woman who is trying to steal her husband. Again, the man has committed no crime; he is helpless against in the irresistible charms of all local hussies. Above all, no matter what the woman decides to do, she must not trust her friends because they are all secretly out to ruin her life. That’s the basic message conveyed in “The Women” on stage now at the Buck Creek Players Theatre. To be clear, it’s the plot of the play, not the production itself that I’m criticizing. The performers do a good job flexing their claws and tossing off cheeky lines. Allison Reddick is particularly good as the troubled Mary Haines, tossed into an impossible situation. She is sincere and heartbroken as she tries to navigate...

“STELLA!” The infamous line from A Streetcar Named Desire was firmly cemented in the annals of pop culture when Marlon Brando first belted it out decades ago. That is all many people know about the show, but Tennessee Williams’ work has much more to offer. The play delves deep into the complicated lives of the very different DuBois sisters.   Blanche, played with an escalating level of tense cheerfulness by Carrie Schlatter, is a southern belle who has fallen on hard times. Her troubled past has made her leave the family mansion to join her sister, Stella Kowalski in a rowdy neighborhood in New Orleans. Schlatter captures Blanche’s fragile state, vacillating from childish enthusiasm in one moment to snooty disdain in the next. She is in a perpetual state of performing a role, but whether it’s for her or for others is hard to tell. Stella’s husband Stanley, played by Chris Saunders, is coarse and uncouth in Blanche’s eyes and the two immediately butt heads. His raw se...

“We all live with each other’s divergent truths.” As the Wyeth family gathers in California for the holidays tensions run high. Even in the midst of friendly banter there is a portentous air in the family’s relations. Things seem smooth on the surface, but a barrage of cutting remarks and shared dirty looks quickly pulls the curtain back on this “happy” family. Soon we learn that the daughter, Brooke, is a talented author whose latest highly anticipated novel is about to be published. No one in the family has been able to read it yet and when they learn that it’s about a traumatic event in their past all niceties fall away and the claws come out.   Other Desert Cities is in a similar vein as previous Indiana Repertory Theatre productions, The House that Jack Built and God of Carnage. It deals with tense verbal sparring and delicate family relationships. It presents the inevitable fact that when we return to our parents’ homes we revert to childhood personality types, the...

The latest in a string of movies turned musicals is Ghost the Musical. A Broadway Across America show based on the 1990 film of the same name, the production follows in the footsteps of The Wedding Singer, Grease, Once, Newsies, Sister Act, Flashdance and a few notable others, fleshing out the story from the movie with musical numbers. This popular trend works well with some movies, but feels forced with others; unfortunately Ghost is one of those others. The love story with a supernatural twist introduces us to Molly and Sam, a young couple whose devotion can only be challenged by Sam’s untimely death. The film was best known for Whoopi Goldberg’s sidekick sass and for making pottery wheels sexy. Carla R. Stewart plays the role of Oda Mae Brown, originated by Goldberg, and brings a much-needed levity to the show.    A cinematic opening sets the bar for a show that depends heavily on digital screens, flashing lights and other production gimmicks. Awkward choreograph...