Do you have a youngster between 10-17 who thinks they might want to tread the boards?  NEXT STOP BROADWAY may be just the ticket!  With no experience required, all with an interest in a glimpse of a Broadway process are welcome. Headed by Broadway veteran Tony Parise, NEXT STOP BROADWAY is an intensive five-day workshop designed to give participants a look at what it’s like to be an ensemble member of a Broadway show.  Over the course of five days, they will sing and dance from 9-5 with 30 minutes for lunch and a 10-minute break. Each day, in groups …

JERSEY BOYS, The Story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, is a bounce-in-your-seat, hum, or sing-along, fun evening.  Three of the four core members were interviewed to write the play, and the primary writing duo for the band did the music (Bob Gaudio) and lyrics (Bob Crewe).  The show incorporates music from the group, which is used to this day in advertising and film productions.  In fact, Frankie Valli is still touring with The Four Seasons at age 88 and is scheduled to be in Jacksonville Dec, 2023. The show is told from the standpoint of being four seasons, …

MEAN GIRLS is the story of Cady Heron (English Bernhardt), who has been raised in Kenya, Africa, and homeschooled all her life.  When her mother gets a job in Chicago, Cady’s in a very different jungle from the one she left.  It merits pointing out that Heather Ayers, who portrays Cady’s mother, Regina’s mother, and the AP Calculus teacher, manages to differentiate her characters so well that it’s easy to miss that they’re played by the same person. When the show first opens, Damian Hubbard (Eric Huffman) and Janis Sarkisian (Lindsay Heather Pearce), break the fourth wall to introduce Cady …

While theater critics are not necessarily a beloved breed, Mortimer Brewster (Shain Stroff) is hard not to love in ARSENIC AND OLD LACE as he discovers he lives in a house of lunatics.  The night he becomes engaged to the local Reverend’s daughter, Elaine Harper (Savannah Elam), he discovers a corpse in the window seat of his childhood home.  It is a Dick Van Dyke meets Judy Garland match-up with this pair. His aunts, Abby and Martha Brewster (Hillary Hickam, Patti Eyler), live in the house with one of Mortimer’s brothers, Teddy Brewster (Alec Hadden).  The sisters are well-loved members …

With Easter close at hand, the 50th Anniversary tour of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR comes to downtown Jacksonville.  This piece is an early work of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber with a timeless, classic score, at times flying into the stratosphere, other times scraping the bottom of the scale.  It’s a high-powered rock opera that takes the audience through the roller coaster of  ups and downs in Jesus’ final days as seen through the eyes of Judas. Never intended to be an accurate portrait of Christ’s passion, the story is lyricist Tim Rice’s idea of what Judas’s thoughts and motivations may have …

Looking for Valentine’s options?  Girls’ night out?  PRETTY WOMAN THE MUSICAL based on the 1990 highest-grossing RomCom for a decade – and the one that launched the career of a young Julia Roberts – opens in Jacksonville on 2/15.  The musical ran on Broadway until Covid brought it to an early close.  This company (with some shifts) has been on tour since September 2021. The story is based on the classic Pygmalion (which originates in Ovid’s Metamorphoses written over 2000 years ago).  Edward, a successful businessman, hires Vivian, a free-spirited prostitute, to be his escort to several functions over the …

Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show is a reinvention of the internationally beloved favorite.  It is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and step dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest featuring Irish dancing champions Jean Butler and Michael Flatley.  The 25th Anniversary North American Tour was shut down in March 2020 during a sold-out return engagement due to the pandemic. I had the opportunity to speak with Matthew Gardiner about Riverdance, Irish dance, life on the road, and what happened during the Covid pause.   Just …

Fun Facets:  Aladdin is one story from The Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern and Indian folk tales.  However, it did not appear in the original Arabic text.  It was added by a French translator, who compiled 12 volumes of stories in the 1700’s.  The original story is also set in China, and Aladdin is a lazy boy living with mom, not an orphaned street urchin. It’s hard not to compare this version of Aladdin with the 1992 animated film and the more recent 2019 live-action movie.  The animated version is fantastical, light, and one can only …

To kick off its 56th season, the FSCJ Artists Series has invaded the Center for the Performing Arts with a winter wonderland of Santa, Elves, and a Grinch of a dad.  Not to mention Buddy, who is caught between the two worlds as a human raised by Santa’s elves.  Parental warning:  Your children may wind up on the naughty list if they get ideas to use your shredders to make snow in Jacksonville! Based on the 2003 movie, ELF: The Musical first hit Broadway in 2010.  After a lackluster showing, the show was retooled, and has held a fairly solid community …

The only thing half-baked about WAITRESS is that it was only in Jacksonville one night!  Based on the movie written by Adrienne Shelly, the stage book was written by Jessie Nelson and features original music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner Sara Bareilles.  The whole mixture is to a delicious treat. The cast opens with, “What’s Inside,” a number to truly open a show.  Everything — lead performers, strong ensemble, sets, choreography, and practical effects — was heartwarming and hilarious.  The audience was applauding loudly after every song and laughing so loudly the cast had to pause numerous times.  Thank goodness I was …