Stage Write

Beef & Boards Dinner Theater kicks off its 45th season with “Greater Tuna”. The show is set in a small Texas town in the 1980s where a bevy of local rednecks live. Playing more than a dozen characters, Eddie Curry and Jeff Stockberger perform the entire show. The comedy relies heavily on the two actors donning dresses and wigs, rapid costume changes, and over-the-top accents. The problem is, nowadays there’s not much to laugh that when the joke is about censorship or a local gun salesperson touting the incredible killing properties of her wares. Instead of accentuating these stereotypes, it might help to start 2018 off highlighting our similarities with people who come from a different point of view.   The stage is simple; diner tables with a backdrop of cornfields and telephone poles. Audience members must use their imagination as Curry and Stockberger mime drinking a cup of coffee or answering an invisible telephone. The two actors are long-standing regulars at Be...

Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre is thrilled to announce its 2018 season. Greater Tuna (Dec. 28, 2017  – Jan. 28) On stage Great Tuna is a sidesplitting comedy about the Lone Star State's third-smallest town. All 20 of its wacky residents are played by just two actors: Beef & Boards' own comic duo of Eddie Curry and Jeff Stockberger. This hilarious send-up of small town morals and mores is on stage through Jan. 28, 2018. Mamma Mia! (Feb. 1 – April 8) On stage for the first time at Beef & Boards and the headliner of the 2018 Season, Mamma Mia!, opens Feb. 1 for performances through April 8. Nominated for five Tony Awards and set on a Greek island paradise, ABBA’s greatest hits tell the hilarious story of a bride’s search for her birth father. This sunny and funny tale includes the songs “Honey, Honey,” “Dancing Queen,” “Take A Chance on Me” and the incredible title tune. Singin’ In The Rain (April 12 – May 26)  It may get a bit cloudy starting...

The infamous "Man in Black" certainly has the legions of fans that merit a musical about his life, but you don't have to be a big Johnny Cash fan to love Ring of Fire. The show, onstage now at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, walks audiences through his life song by song; starting with his childhood in Arkansas all the way through the Grand Ole Opry days and then his struggle with substance abuse. The success of the show lies completely in the talent of the cast. While other productions can depend on flashy sets or costumes (though there are no lack of costume changes in this one), Ring of Fire is purely about the music. Each cast member must be able to carry their weight when it comes to singing and playing a wide range of instruments. This cast does not disappoint, with eight strong, though very different, versions of Johnny Cash taking the stage. Each one brings a unique tone and style to the performance. Featuring Allison Kelly, Tim Drake, Melody Allegra Berger,...

  Miranda is a CIA operative working in Yemen in the current upperstage production at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. Written by IRT's playwright-in-residence James Still, the show is the third play in a trilogy he created. The first play, The House that Jack Built premiered at the IRT in 2012. The second play, Appoggiatura, is part of the theatre's 2017/18 season. Each play works as a stand alone, but they deal with a single family and a tragedy that has shaped their lives.  At its heart Miranda is about identity. The titular character is strong-willed and stubborn. The only thing fluid about her is the constant shift in her public persona. She goes by four different names in the short time we have with her. Her identity is shaped by her work and family.When her faith in the identity she's created is shaken, she begins to question everything.  Jennifer Coombs embodies the broken but brash Miranda. Her layered performance captures the troubled spy's inner turm...

Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre is thrilled to announce its 2017 season.   Shear Madness (Dec. 29, 2016 – Jan. 29) The season starts Dec. 29 with the Beef & Boards debut of the hilarious hair-raising hit: Shear Madness. The longest-running play in American history, this madcap comedy takes place in a not-so-typical hair salon. When the old lady upstairs is mysteriously murdered, the audience combs through the clues, questions the suspects and determines “whodunnit” so the show is different every time it’s presented! On stage through Jan. 29, Shear Madness contains some innuendo and adult humor, and appropriate for ages 13 and above.   Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Feb. 2 – March 26)      Starting Feb. 2, the Bible meets Broadway in the first collaboration between Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The famous story about the trials and triumphs of Jacob’s favorite son is t...

South Pacific is a musical that’s been around long enough for most people to already know whether or not they love it. Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s latest production of the show hasn’t changed much since its last turn on the stage almost ten years ago. Deb Wims reprises her role as the naïve nurse from Arkansas, Jeff Stockberger is back as Luther Billis, and Cynthia Thomas returns as Bloody Mary. Lt. Joseph Cable and E mile de Becque are played by newcomers to Beef & Boards, Mickey Rafalski and Robert Wilde respectively. Both were excellent, and Rafalski’s voice brought a particularly beauty to numbers like “Younger Than Springtime”. There’s not much time to see the romances develop throughout the show. From the opening scene we learn that Nellie and a Frenchman, Emile de Becque, have met and fallen in love. Later Lt. Joseph Cable falls for a local Polynesian girl, Liat, in a matter of moments. It’s hard to root for relationships that seem to develop so sudden...