Stage Write

A Beef & Boards Christmas  Luxurious sets and a whirlwind of costume changes are always hallmark elements of the annual Beef & Boards Christmas production. The variety show style offers up holiday favorites for crowds. There are familiar songs and faces from a quartet of singers that includes, Matt Branic, Peter Scharbrough, Heather Patterson King and Bobbi Bates.   Deb Wims and Kenny Shepard are back as well dancing across the stage together. There are also no shortage of Christmas icons in the cast, Frosty, Rudolph and the Grinch all make appearances. The show features half a dozen high-kicking dancers to jazz up most numbers.   The show mainly stumbles when it tries to do too much. There are times when Lucas, the quartet, co-hosts Wims and Shepard, Santa and six dancers are all vying for the audience’s attention on stage at the same time. The frantic nature of those numbers makes it hard to appreciate any single element, much less all of them at ...

“I'm just a sweet transvestite, from Transexual, Transylvania,” if you don’t immediately recognize those lyrics than this probably isn’t the show for you. This cult classic, the basis for the 1975 film, has a strange story. A young couple find themselves stranded when their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. They end up at the home of Dr. Frank-N-Furter and their bizarre night gets even weirder as they meet his devoted crew of miscreants. The elegant Athenaeum theatre is an oddly fitting setting for the musical. The set included a full catwalk and scaffolding that allows the cast to take advantage of the whole stage. There were some occasional audio issues and moments when the music overwhelmed the actors’ voices, but it was a minor issue. Zach Rosing Productions did an excellent job casting actors who were willing to throw themselves full force into the roles. Without their enthusiasm the show could have easily fallen flat, but instead the whole audience cau...