Dick Kerekes & Leisla Sansom

The Dual Critics of EU Jacksonville have been reviewing plays together for the past nine years. Dick Kerekes has been a critic since 1980, starting with The First Coast Entertainer and continuing as the paper morphed into EU Jacksonville. Leisla Sansom wrote reviews from time to time in the early 80s, but was otherwise occupied in the business world. As a writing team, they have attended almost thirty Humana Festivals of New America Plays at Actors Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky, and many of the annual conferences sponsored by the American Theatre Critics Association, which are held in cities throughout the country. They have reviewed plays in Cincinnati, Chicago, Miami, Sarasota, Minneapolis, Orlando, New York, Philadelphia, Sarasota, San Francisco, Shepherdstown, and The Eugene O’Neill Center in Waterford, Massachusetts. They currently review about one hundred plays annually in the North Florida area theaters, which include community, college, university, and professional productions.
Take a Two-Hour Trip to Greece with Alhambra Dinner Theatre's 'Mamma Mia!'

Take a Two-Hour Trip to Greece with Alhambra Dinner Theatre’s ‘Mama Mia!’

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW: MAMA MIA! AT ALHAMBRA THEATRE & DINING  Jacksonville’s has opened one of the most successful jukebox musicals ever with Mama Mia! featuring over twenty songs composed by Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. ABBA-SOLUTELY FABULOUS FUN awaits ticket holders! This show marks the tenth year of the venue’s purchase by Managing Partner and Partners Bill Barnett, Fraser Bruns, and E. Karl Frisch.  The musical, which premiered in London in 1999, has been wildly popular, having played to a worldwide audience of sixty million theatre goers. After making it to Broadway in 2001, it remained for almost six thousand performances before …

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Photo by Josh Andrews, Socially Relevant Drama "Sweat" Depicts American Working Life at The 5 & Dime Theatre

Socially Relevant Drama “Sweat” Depicts American Working Life at The 5 & Dime Theatre

A DUAL CRITICS THEATRE REVIEW The 5 & Dime, Jacksonville’s theatre company, , which will remain on stage through August 18, 2019. The production was made possible by the financial support of . The play, written by Lynn Nottage, debuted at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015, was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and opened on Broadway in 2017, where it received three Tony nominations, which included Best Play. The story is that of factory workers facing unforeseen and unimaginable changes in what Nottage has described as the American de-industrial revolution. The script is based on two years …

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Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine, Fun Home

A Heart-Gripping Musical at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre: Fun Home

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW St. Augustine’s has opened the Florida debut of Fun Home, a moving, heart-gripping musical (July 26 – August 25, 2019), on the Matuza Mainstage. The story has an unusual origin: it was adapted from a graphic true-life memoir written and illustrated by American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, titled “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic.”  The book, which took over seven years to complete, was well-received after publication in 2006; both Time Magazine and the New York Times listed it as one of the best books of the year.  The musical adaptation, developed through a number of readings and …

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High School Summer Musical Theatre Experience with the Newsies, The Musical by Disney, Newsies, FSCJ Summer Theatre

High School Summer Musical Theatre Experience with the Newsies, The Musical by Disney

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW The and the are presenting the 14th annual with the staging of Disney’s Newsies during July 19 – 28, 2019. This wonderful summer program was created by , Director of the Wilson Center and Managing Producer of the Summer Musical. The center is located at 11901 Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville, Florida.  Newsies began as a musical film in 1992, was adapted for the stage in 2011, and debuted on Broadway in 2012, winning Tonys for Best Original Score and Best Choreography. The extravaganza is filled with energetic singing and dancing combined with history.  The story is based …

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Shrek The Musical at PBTS, Photos by Maxie Lamont Coleman III, Players By The Sea Theatre, Jacksonville Beach, Florida

A Summer Musical For Kids and Adults! Shrek at Players By The Sea Theatre

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW Jacksonville Beach’s opened Shrek, The Musical, its summer fun-time production on July 19 for a run through August 11, 2019. Players is located at 106 6th Street North in . For reservations call 904-249-0289 or visit playersbythesea.orgthe-musical.  Shrek was a notably successful animated film adapted as a stage musical by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire. The musical debuted on Broadway in 2008, ran for twelve months, and toured afterward. The opening cost was twenty-five million dollars and it was one of the most expensive shows staged at that time. It received eight Tony Award nominations including …

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The Young Creative Artist Series, The Pillowman at Players By The Sea, Photo by Darvin Nelson

Players By The Sea Gives Stage to The Young Creative Artist Series For Dramatic Thriller Summer Project

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW    in staged “The Pillowman” during July 11-13, 2019 under the auspices of The Young Creative Artist Series (YCAS), an educational program which offers a theatre mentorship by the creative team at Players for high school theatre students who would like to take on a project from start to finish. The program is sponsored by Florida Blue.  The play was presented by a group of students from , who were responsible for everything – directing, casting, stage management, technical, and marketing. They had studied “Pillowman” in class but did not consider it suitable for production at …

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‘The Centre Cannot Hold’ Another Outstanding Performance by Playwright, Poet, Journalist, Actor and Nationally Known Personality Al Letson

A Dual Critics Review On July 5th 2019 the Dual Critics attended an outstanding performance by playwright, poet, journalist, actor and nationally known personality at . He was smartly dressed in a red tee shirt with the letters “get smart” across the front. We won’t even try to list all the accomplishments of this forty-seven-year old renaissance man; that would require a separate review. He wrote The Centre Cannot Hold, a reflection on mob violence in modern life. And he appeared as himself, along with multiple other characters.  He has written several plays, many of which we have reviewed. The …

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TALK TO ME LIKE THE RAIN AND LET ME LISTEN by Tennessee Williams_Christopher Watson, Photo by Caryl Butterly, All Beaches Experimental Theatre, Actors Collective, ABET

New Theatre Group, Actors Collective, Partners with All Beaches Experimental Theatre for a Unique Experience

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW  The has joined in partnership with Actors Collective, one of Jacksonville’s newest theatre groups, to present a unique theatre experience during June 29 – July 7, 2019. The full name of the production is One by Tenn Plus Eight: Short Stories for the Stage, and brings multiple theatrical stories to life. Actors Collective (www.ActorsCollective.com) was founded by , who directed the show. Of note, she spent over twenty years immersed in New York’s theatre scene in roles that included producer, director, and actor. She returned to Jacksonville several years ago and has directed a number of …

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The Vintage Players Theatre Group for Seniors, Jacksonville, Florida

Vintage Players of Jacksonville Offers Theatre for Both Seasoned and New Actors Alike

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW The Vintage Players is one of North Florida’s most unique theatre groups. The actors are all volunteers with varied theatre experience, and they are all fifty years old – or older. Sometimes much older. Interestingly, acting experience is not a requirement to become a member of the group, and participants are not required to appear on stage until ready to do so. Weekly acting classes are offered to members every Friday morning at 10:00 am at Jacksonville’s Church of the Redeemer. Instruction is provided by Gary Baker, the group’s Artistic Director. He is a graduate, and …

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The 5 & Dime, Falsettos, Maya Adkins Photography

‘Falsettos’ on The 5 & Dime’s Intimate Stage is an Unusual Love Story, Heart-Rending Masterpiece

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW Downtown Jacksonville’s has opened Falsettos, an award-winning musical. The production opened June 14, and will remain on stage through June 30, 2019. The theatre is located at 112 East Adams Street; additional information is available on the company’s Facebook page. For reservations, call (904) 637-5100 or visit www.The5andDime.org. Falsettos opened on Broadway in 1992, was nominated for seven Tonys, and won Best Book and Best Original Score; a 2016 revival was nominated for five Tonys. The play toured throughout the county during February 2018 -June 2019. The book is by James Lapine, with music, lyrics, and book …

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