Stage Write

Fairytales are familiar fare at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, but the darker stories in Into the Woods are not. The theatre is currently producing the Stephen Sondheim musical for the first time. The show explores the lives of Cinderella, Little Red Ridinghood, Rapunzel, etc. with a much more realistic twist. What happens after the happily ever after ?  Don Farrell and Meaghan Sands play the baker and his wife. The pair is the heart of the show. Their struggle with infidelity drives them into the woods to break a curse. The two work well as a married couple, frustrated with each other and loving in equal measure. Sands is particularly good, providing a grounded center in the midst of chaos. Her vocals are beautiful. Farrell finds his voice during the number “No More”. “Agony” sung by Cinderella’s Prince (Timothy Ford), and Rapunzel’s Prince (Mickey Rafalski), is one of the highlights of the show. For me it blends the production’s tongue-in-cheek humor, excellent singi...

Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre is thrilled to announce its 2016 season. Run for Your Wife It all kicks off Dec. 29 with the return of Run for Your Wife , the funniest show ever performed at Beef & Boards. In this uncanny comedy, a cab driver manages to maintain two marriages – keeping each wife a secret from the other – until one mishap leads to an unraveling of his precise schedule. His double life is in danger of being revealed as complications and hilarious situations pile up faster than he can handle them. This fast-paced farce is on stage through Feb. 7 and is rated PG-13 for adult humor. Sister Act Opening Feb. 11 is the first of two new shows in 2016, Sister Act . Based on the hit movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, this musical follows disco diva Deloris Van Cartier who witnesses a murder and is put in protective custody – in a convent! Disguised as a nun, Deloris breathes new life into the church with her disco moves and singing talent, but blows her cover ...

Into the Woods begins as any good story should with Once Upon a Time. The famous musical reintroduces us to well-known fairy tale characters. We meet Cinderella, Jack (and his bean stalk), Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood at the beginning of their stories. The second half takes a look at a different ending for those we left with their “happily ever after.” These are not the sanitized fairy tales found in Disney films. They are instead a dark picture of what might have happened when the story book closed and our characters were left to settle into their chosen lives. Our main character is a mild-mannered Baker. He and his clever wife, Susie Harloff, are childless after being cursed by a local witch. She tells them they can cure their state by going on a quest and gathering four strange items. This journey leads the baker to cross paths with the other fairy tale characters. Harloff is great as his frustrated partner in crime, helping him achieve his goals behind the scenes. ...

The Indianapolis Civic Theatre's 2012-2013 season from Artistic Director Robert J. Sorbera will include the following shows: A Chorus Line (Sept. 7 – 22, 2012): This award-winning musical, directed by Civic veteran Ron Morgan (The Drowsy Chaperone) gives the audience a glimpse into the lives of Broadway dancers as they audition for the chorus line. Set on a bare stage, the dancers reveal the secrets of their past and what shaped them into the dancers they are today. Featuring signature numbers “I Hope I Get It,” “What I Did for Love” and “One,” A Chorus Line is sure to be “one singular sensation.” The Woman in Black (Oct. 22 – Nov. 10, 2012): In this play within a play starring just two actors, Arthur Kipps retells his personal encounter with the mysterious Woman in Black. Traveling to a small village to sort through the estate of his diseased client, he slowly uncovers the secret of the haunting Woman in Black. This eerie tale is sure to spook and stun the audience from begin...