On Stage

by DICK KEREKES The Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Theatre Department presented Lee Blessing’s play Patient A, in their Black Box Theatre for a four performance run last weekend. This play debuted in l993, but is very infrequently done probably because it concerns the subject of AIDS, which does not generally translate into good box office that most theatres need these days. The play is about the life and death of Kimberly Bergalis. Bergalis was a Florida resident who died in l991 from complications of AIDS, which she contracted from her dentist. She had some molars removed in l989 …

by ERIC STANIFORD       Lisa Lampanelli’s standup is hard-hitting, raw and brutally funny. Her appearances on Celebrity Roast and audience-jabbing standup earned her fast growing fame and an upcoming one-hour HBO special. Her newest tour brings her to the Florida Theatre on October 3. We were lucky enough to talk with Lisa before her arrival. EU: Thanks for taking time for this interview. LL: I guess we’ll see if it’s worth it. EU: So did you find this style of comedy or did it find you? LL: I think it finds you, but you have to listen and look for …

by Dick Kerekes The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and the Alhambra Dinner Theatre completed a four performance run of the 2nd joint venture of the season, with the Bernstein/Sondheim classic musical West Side Story. This excellent production was well received by enthusiastic audiences at all performances and I hope this means more of the same next season. The plot is well known to musical theatre fans since this show has been around since the l950s. This was a modern retelling of the Romeo and Juliet then, but unfortunately the story of hostile teen-age gangs still exists and in many more cities …

by Erin Thursby Nunsense is understandably popular. You’ve got to love a show that features a kick-line of nuns in the opening number. That’s just inherently funny. I’d seen it on the season lists before but I’d never seen the show. When I got the chance to review it at the Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre, I jumped at the opportunity to fill in this gap in my musical theatre education. If you love musical theatre you’ll certainly love Nunsense, which is rife with references to musical theatre from Fiddler on the Roof to Grease. There are also lots of references …

by Dick Kerekes Jacksonville playwright Ian Mairs’ new play, 7-7 completed a two weekend run at the Studio Theatre in FCCJ’s Wilson Center. Most plays in my opinion are written to entertain, some to further a cause and some to educate. 7-7 falls in the latter category and written with the intent to examine the struggles of patients and caregivers in a hospital setting. Ian Mairs certainly knows the subject. Twenty years ago, as he embarked on a career in theatre, he realized that he needed an income to get him through graduate school. He choose to enter the nursing …

by Dick Kerekes Just as you can’t judge a book by its cover it is true you can’t judge a play by its title. The Beaux’ Stratagem? You never heard of it? Well, its been around since playwright George Farquhar debuted it in 1707 and was popular for a few years. In fact three US Presidents have seen it. John Quincy Adams in London, George Washington in the city named after him in the mid l700s and Harry Truman saw it 58 years ago in Alexandria Virginia. In l938 Thornton Wilder began an adaptation but died before he finished. In …

by Dick Kerekes Orange Park Community Theatre opened its 38th season with the musical The 1940’s Radio Hour. The show will continue through September 27th, with performances on Friday and Saturday evenings. There is a matinee on Sept 21, and an additional Thursday performance on Sept 25. The theatre is located at 2900 Moody Road in Orange Park. Call 276-2599 for information and reservations. This musical by Walton Jones is a revue of l940s music and actually has a story surrounding the songs. It is set in a crowded WOV radio studio in the famous Hotel Astor in New York. …

by Dick Kerekes The Alhambra Dinner Theatre opened the funniest play this year last week with Ken Ludwig’s Moon Over Buffalo. I had seen this show twice previously but still I laughed myself to tears especially in the wild second act of this great farce. This play opened on Broadway in l995 with Carol Burnett in the leading role garnering a Tony Nomination and has been popular every since all over the USA. The plot is the story of an over the hill acting couple, who in l953 are on tour in Buffalo with a repertory of two plays, Noel …

by Dick Kerekes Gainesville’s Hippodrome Theatre opened its 36th season with the Southern Premier of Gutenberg! The Musical!, written by Scott and Brown and Anthony King. This new musical was originally produced in 2006 in London. It was produced Off-Broadway in 2007 after an American Premiere at the 2006 New York Musical Brigade Theatre. This show will run through September 28th. If you have ever wanted to write a musical, well specifically a successful Broadway musical, then this new musical is for you. This show has two actors, Doug (Kirt Bateman) and Bud (Jay Perry) who portray partners who want …

by Dick Kerekes Players by the Sea opened Stephen Sondheim’s dark masterpiece Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street last weekend to sold out audiences. The show will run through September 27th, and is sure to be one of the hottest tickets in town so call 249-0289 for information and reservations. Are you wondering why this l979 winner of two Tony Awards has only been done once before in this area in the past 29 years? Even though regarded as one of the best musicals, it is the most horrifying and dark musical ever written and most certainly the most …