Downtown Jacksonville’s The 5 & Dime Theatre went back to 1970 – almost five decades ago – to present Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Company,” which opened on April 20th, 2018. Remarkably, this Tony Award winner is just as relevant today as when it first opened on Broadway. The production runs through May 6th, 2018, with evening performances on Fridays and Saturdays, a matinee on Sunday, April 29th, and both a matinee and an evening performance on Sunday, May 6th. See their Facebook page for tickets and additional information and tickets. “Company” revolves around Bobby, a New York man-about-town who is celebrating his …

The Douglas Anderson School of the Arts opened a splendid revival of the Pulitzer Prize winner (1953) Picnic by , which opened April 12th, 2018. The production will remain on stage though April 20. For additional information and tickets, visit datheatreboosters.org. William Inge’s career peaked in the 1950s as he wrote several successful plays about small-town life, earning the title of “Playwright of the Midwest.” His other well-known works include “Come Back Little Sheba,” “Bus Stop,” and “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.” This production is in at the school’s campus in San Marco. We are always excited …

The Providence School of Jacksonville, a private school with an enrollment of almost 1,400 students, presented its annual musical during April 12 -13, 2018 at the school campus on Hodges Boulevard. This year’s production of Cinderella was fantastic, and an admirable showcase for meticulously worked out performances filled with excitement. The production included eighty cast and crew members, and many other students, staff, and volunteers participated in other roles. We counted over fifty people who worked on building the set, which was designed by , and at least thirty student ushers who helped audience members find seating. Producer/Director was also the …

The Phase Eight Theater opened “Noises Off,” Michael Frayn’s 1982 play, on April 6th, 2018. The comedy, which runs through April 15th, is being staged at WJCT’s broadcasting facility in . “Noises Off” is about a second-rate company of American actors who are staging “Nothing On,” a touring British sex farce. Mercifully, they don’t even attempt British accents. It is the funniest show we have seen this year and we bet it will be the most hilarious show you will see this year. The play is structured as a play within a play. Act One begins late at night, during …

The Alhambra Theatre opened “Five Guys Named Moe” on April 4th, 2018. The musical, which was Tony nominated in 1992, runs through May 6th.  The theatre is located at 12000 Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville, Florida. Visit alhambrajax.com or call 904-641-1212 for reservations. The story concerns a young man named Nomax ()  who is experiencing relationship problems. He forgot his girlfriend’s birthday and she  walked out on him. He is lamenting his troubles while listening to music when five guys emerge from the radio to help him with his love life.  Their advice is delivered in songs which, just to name …

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW The Alhambra Theatre & Dining has been rocking March 28 — April 1, 2018, with “That’ll Be The Day — A Tribute to Buddy Holly and the Crickets” with Todd Meredith and The Rave-Ons. The production was a two-hour journey down a memory lane packed with over thirty songs that rocked the music world in the fifties and sixties, mixed with surprises along the way. These fantastic performers dressed in conservative suits, with white shirts and the skinny neckties that were so snazzy in bygone days. Their exuberant rendering of Buddy’s great songs soon had the …

ABET opened “Man of La Mancha,” winner of five Tony Awards, on March 9, 2018, which will remain on stage though March 25. The musical was written by Dale Wasserman, with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion. For reservations call (904) 249-7177 or visit abettheatre.com. Two separate sets of people are reading this review. The first set includes all those who have never seen the 1965 musical, which ran for over 2,300 performances after making its way to Broadway. You need to know a bit about the plot. The musical is based on a novel by Miguel …

By popular demand, “” is back at in Jacksonville, Florida after an absence of seven years. This campy Off-Broadway musical by and will be on stage at Players through March 24, 2018. For reservations, visit playersbythesea.org or call 249-0289. These are hot tickets; the first two performances were sold out. The setting is a tacky trailer park in Starke, Florida. Yes, there is such town, located on Route 301 between Jacksonville and Gainesville. When Gator town’s Hippodrome did the show several years ago, it set new attendance records, probably because most of Starke’s residents showed up. Repeatedly. Warnings: this is …

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW Theatre Jacksonville, now in its 98th season, has opened “Wolf Hall” for a run during March 2 – 18, 2018. Support for the production was provided by . The theatre is located at 2032 San Marco Boulevard. For reservations and additional information, call (904) 396-4425 or visit theatrejax.org. The drama is based on a historical novel by the same name written by English author , who has won numerous awards for her work, including Britain’s prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2009.   The BBC adapted the novel as a miniseries, which aired on PBS in 2015 and …

DUAL CRITICS REVIEW “Mrs. Warren’s Profession,” a social-issues play by George Bernard Shaw, opened on the Swisher Theatre Stage at Jacksonville University on February 15th, with additional shows scheduled February 22 and 24, at 7:30 PM.  The Irish playwright was a Nobel Prize winner, who wrote more than sixty plays during his lifetime. His best known works include “Man and Superman,” “Saint Joan,” “Major Barbara,” “Caesar and Cleopatra,” and “Pygmalion,” the basis for the ever- popular musical “My Fair Lady.” He died at age ninety-four, while in the process of writing still another play. “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” was written in …