Spotlight on Reviews

*** Recommended *** If you’ve read Louisa May Alcott’s "Little Women", you know that the March sisters, particularly Jo, spent their free time in the attic, so I loved that director Melanie Keller chose to set First Folio’s production of Heather Chrisler’s new adaptation of "Little Women" in the attic.  On the whole I enjoyed the production, but sitting in the last row I had some difficulty hearing the cast at certain times.  3 Spotlights

**** Highly Recommended **** Watching “Dear Evan Hansen” is a gut-wrenching experience.  It’s like watching a train wreck – you know it’s coming so you just sit back and wait for the fall out.  On the other hand, it’s a hauntingly beautiful musical about a troubled teen complete with redemption in the end.  In case you haven’t figured it out, I thought it was magnificent, and I’ll even admit to a tear or two, too.  4 BIG Spotlights 

***** Highly Recommended ***** I’m a Jane Austen fan.  I’ve read and reread all of her books, wry commentaries on the courtship rituals of the English gentry.  The Bennett family, described so well in Pride and Prejudice, is dear to me.  While I loved the first two installments in the Pemberley trilogy by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcom,"Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley" and "The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley", I think "Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley" is the best of the three.  Everything is exactly as it should be – the costumes, the hairstyles, the setting, the accents – the feminist slant.  Fresh and witty, Georgiana and Kitty fits right into Jane Austen’s world.  4 BIG Spotlights

*** Recommended *** The Buttcracker: A Nutcracker Burlesque opened with a flourish recently, moving from short runs at tiny out-of-the-way venues into the ‘big time’ with a month-long run at the Greenhouse Theater Center.  The opening night audience was full of 30-somethings who were having a great time whooping and hollering all through the cocktail hour and then the show.  My friend and I had no idea we’d be seeing a bawdy, risqué, colorful, burlesque/boylesque version of the famous ballet. 3 Spotlights