**** Recommended **** A good storyteller can hold the attention of his/her audience whether the story is simple or complicated, short or really, really long. Sometimes he/she even acts out the characters in the story. Jeffrey Baumgartner is a very good Storyteller in Dunes Summer Theatre’s final production of the 2018 season, “After Paul McCartney”, an amusing story about two friends on a crazy quest. I really enjoyed this show. 3 ½ Spotlights

**** Highly Recommended **** Casey Shuler absolutely sparkles in Paramount Theatre’s exuberant production of “Legally Blonde”. Her Elle Woods is fierce, caring and very, very smart as well as drop-dead gorgeous. Harvard Law never saw her coming! “Legally Blonde” is well-written, has clever songs and is downright funny. I loved “Legally Blonde” and I think you will too. 4 Spotlights

**** Highly Recommended **** Your sister is your sister forever. There’s all that history, after all. But what if you and your sister didn’t grow up together? What if you were separated – by distance and then by the war? How do you build sisterhood? In TimeLine Theatre's production of Barbara Lebow’s moving play, “A ShaynaMaidel”, the war is over and two sisters, one growing up safely in Brooklyn, the other surviving the horrors of the Holocaust in Poland, must try to find a way to connect. By the way, a shayna maidel is a pretty girl. 4 Spotlights

**** Recommended **** If you’re looking for ambiance with your theater experience, then the Waterfront Café & Summer Stages’ production of “El Grande de Coca-Cola” is the show for you. In addition to an uproariously funny slapstick comedy – which would be all you’d get at any other venue – you’ll get delicious food and the beauty of the lakefront before the show. Add “El Grande de Coca-Cola” to your must-see list. 4 Spotlights

**** Recommended **** Although it’s kind of an oldie, “Wait until Dark” is still one of the scariest plays I’ve ever seen, so I was looking forward to seeing the Dunes Summer Theatre production. I have to say, on my personal scale of scariness – ranging from not-at-all to ‘jump-out-of-your-seat’ – the DST production was pretty darn scary! The cast is terrific, the set looks authentic, and they played the scariest scene completely in the dark! 3 ½ Spotlights

**** Highly Recommended **** I’m so happy I went to see Music Theater Works’ new production of “Anything Goes”, it had me smiling from the very first number, “I Get a Kick Out of You”. Call me old-fashioned, but I love those old Broadway musicals with silly stories, catchy tunes and clever lyrics, the kind Cole Porter wrote. Obviously that means that one of my all-time favorites has to be “Anything Goes”, with its silly story with a ‘happily ever after’ and all those wonderful Cole Porter tunes. 4 BIG Spotlights

**** Highly Recommended **** I was absolutely Gobsmacked! Mark Toland “Mind Reader” is amazing. I have absolutely no idea how he did the things he did. I can guarantee you’ll be asking “How did he do that?” Hurry and order your tickets, you don’t want to miss “Mind Reader”! 4 BIG Spotlights

My apologies to Black Ensemble Theater. Since I thought this review had been posted, I moved on to other things. As I was posting another story, I noticed my error.

**** Recommended **** For all the blues aficionados out there, “Rick Stone the Blues Man” is the show for you! For this show, Black Ensemble Theatre has assembled an amazing cast of blues singers, led by Rick Stone himself. Since it is a review, in fact, almost a concert, I thought was really cool is that everyone in the cast sings in his/her own name. My toes were tapping from the very first song. 4 Spotlights