author: Chris Pence
Do Not Be Stingy With The Blintzes: You Can’t Take It With You at Spotlighters Theatre
Now, stop me if you’ve heard this one: What do you get when you cross a tax-evading retiree, a wannabe playwright, a fireworks-obsessed husband and his best friend, a dancer, a xylophonist, a jealous housekeeper, a drunken actor, two Russians, a Scot, a Wall Street bigwig and his wife, some star-crossed lovers,
Everything is so outside of our control. Statement about life as we currently live it or direct quote from a Durang play that premiered in 1983? Why not both? And in case you weren’t satisfied with the level of absurdity pervading the daily news and the generalized existence of this country, The Audrey Herman Spotlighters’ theatre gives you even more absurdity with the penultimate play of their 62nd season. Baby With the Bathwater,
Some people were born to speak, others just to listen. And occasionally those of us that listen will report back on what we hear. Form an opinion, as it were. It’s me. I’m a listening opinion-former. And I’m forming an opinion on the current production of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, now playing at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre through February 4th 2024. The midway point of their 61st season,
In a modern context, the production of William Shakespeare’s works largely hangs upon the performers’ ability to voice these verses in such a way that the audience not only instantly and instinctually understands their meaning, but may also benefit from their specific notes of humor, tragedy, etc. In this sense, Spotlighters Theatre’s Twelfth Night – the classic gender-bending romantic comedy – is a decidedly mixed bag.
The older generation of performers seem to know exactly what they’re doing here,
War! Huh! Good God! What is it good for? The age old question that is as relevant now as it was 2400 years ago when Aristophanes took words to parchment and penned Lysistrata. The classic Greek comedy where women hole themselves up in the Acropolis and refuse sex to the men until they end the war finds a retooling with a new translation by Sarah Ruden. Opening the 57th Season— A Season of Strong Voices— at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre,
It was a white dress with pink floral patterns all over it, A-frame and 50’s vintage style cut with a singular crinoline layer that peaked out from the bottom. I wore it with a pink hat dotted in flowers and pearls, the hat that my partner calls “…that flower bucket on your head…” I got the dress in Vegas, at a retro-chic wannabe vintage shop called Rockin’ Betty’s over in the Arts District— that’s off the strip— on the last Sunday of our family trip there.
Let’s not talk about anything else but love! It’s worth repeating, let’s not talk about anything else but love? Why? Life is fleeting, because pleasures come, pleasures go, love can come and go in one throw! Let’s not talk about anything else but love! Love that launched a thousand ships! Love that causes war and famine! Love is love is love is love is love. Love of the theatre— is certainly what The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre has going on with their unexpected production of I Love You,