Reviews
‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ transforms the angst of adolescence into pure entertainment
A hardy group of theatergoers braved a snowstorm last Friday evening to attend the opening night of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ at TheatreWorks in New Milford. They were rewarded with a high-energy and thoroughly entertaining musical comedy that merits gold stars from A to Z. ‘Spelling Bee’ is a Tony-Award winning production…
‘Spelling Bee’ delights with words, words, words, and F-U-N
William Finn was onto something when he created the music and lyrics for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” — a show known as “Spelling Bee” for those of us who like to cut to the chase. His musical was nurtured in a workshop production at Barrington Stage Company and went on to Broadway due…
TheatreWorks Stages Spirited and Hilarious Holiday Comedy
December ’tis the season when even the nastiest of killjoys experiences a seasonal change of heart, when hearty refrains of “season’s greetings” roll easily past the lips. And it’s usually a time of year when theaters prepare themselves to either stage traditionally sentimental Christmas chestnuts, or go with a finger-in-the-eye mockery of schmaltziness under the…
Ayckbourn’s ‘Season’s Greetings’ Does Very Well in New Milford
NEW MILFORD — The prolific Alan Ayckbourn, often touted as the British Neil Simon, has written an unbelievable number of plays, generally situational farces populated by characters whose human complexity makes them more real, and more memorable than the general sitcom population. In his own production notes for Season’s Greetings, which is the current offering…
Christmas is chaos in New Milford comedy
You might not expect to hear Santa shouting “Ho, Ho, Ho — Schadenfreude for all!” as he circles over the rooftops on Christmas Eve, unless you’ve unfortunately been invited to drop by for a holiday drink at the home of Belinda and Neville, an English couple with more issues than a Kleenex box has tissues.…
Rolling in the Aisles with Ayckbourn: Season’s Greetings at New Milford’s TheatreWorks
Playwrights aren’t usually as prolific as Alan Ayckbourn. Nor are many of them as successful at the box office. Witness the comedies that seem to tumble out of the Brit’s output of over seventy plays, including Absurd Person Singular (1975), the popular trilogy The Norman Conquests (1973), Woman in Mind (1985), or the more recent Private Fears in Public Places (2004). Ayckbourn’s all…
A Comical ‘Kate’
You don’t have to “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” as the memorable song in the musical “Kiss Me, Kate” suggests, to enjoy the TheatreWorks New Milford production. With music and lyrics by the legendary Cole Porter and book by Bella and Samuel Spewack, “Kiss Me, Kate,” is a crafty and comical look at what happens behind…
The Thugs Steal the Show in New Milford’ “Kiss Me Kate”
Kiss Me Kate is frequently lauded as one of the all time great American musicals. The reason for this is simply the fact that Cole Porter wrote the words and music for the 18 numbers that mate the show. Porter was a genius, whose clever wit and catchy melodies pervade a wide range of songs. The…
‘Kate’ at TheatreWorks in New Milford
“Send in the clowns!” is what wise directors cry when their show – even a classic one – is looking listless. Luckily, Bradford Blake, the director of “Kiss Me, Kate” at TheatreWorks in New Milford, has Mark Feltch and Jeff Porper, two expert comedians, in his cast. They supply the oxygen in this otherwise workmanlike…
‘Doubt’ Is a Winner
There aren’t many local theaters brave enough to stage a play that became an Academy Award-nominated film starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman only a year ago. But TheatreWorks New Milford never shies away from a challenge, and any doubts about its decision were swept away when the lights came up opening night on…