On Stage

by DICK KEREKES & LEISLA SANSOM The Artist Series Broadway in Jacksonville presents the Blue Man Group on stage at the Moran Theatre/Times Union Center, through January 26th, with matinee and evening performances on the 25th and 26th. The Blue Man Group started in the 1980S on the streets of New York, created by Chris Wink, Phil Stanton, and Matt Goldman. After a few years on the road, they established permanent year-round productions in cities like New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, and in 2007, at Universal Studios in Orlando. We know some our readers have seen the commercials for the …

by DICK KEREKES & LEISLA SANSOM Gainesville’s Hippodrome Theatre opened its first production of 2014 with the Tony Award nominated play “GOOD PEOPLE.” Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, his work is not unfamiliar to North Florida audiences. Theatre Jacksonville produced the acclaimed “Rabbit Hole,” and Players by the Sea did the quirky “Fuddy Mears” a couple of seasons back.”Good People” will be on stage in downtown Gainesville through February 2. Call (352) 375-4477 for reservations or visit thehipp.org. The central character of this play is Margaret (SARA MORSEY) who is pushing fifty, and lives in Southie, the Boston …

by DICK KEREKES & LEISLA SANSOM Players by the Sea started 2014 by staging a trip back in time with “Beehive,” a musical revue of the music of the 1960’s and the launching of “girl groups.” The title refers to the domed lacquered hairstyle of the era, a style forgotten in today’s fashion world. Do The Angels, The Chiffons, The Shangri-Las or The Supremes ring a bell in your vault of musical knowledge? How about names like Patti LaBelle, Lesley Gore, Brenda Lee, Petula Clark and Tina Turner? Got you humming? If you remember even a few of those names, …

by DICK KEREKES AND LEISLA SANSOM Theatre Jacksonville’s Guerilla Show Series is a supplement to their regular season’s lineup and is usually presented twice each season during a weekend between their main stage shows. On January 17 and 18, Theatre Jacksonville will present The Year of Magical Thinking, a highly acclaimed and award-winning one-person show by Joan Didion. Coming to Jacksonville to perform is Broadway actress, film, and television star Linda Purl. Ms. Purl may be a familiar face to you if you are a television fan, having appeared in Matlock, HBO’s True Blood, and the CBS show Reckless, as …

by ALEX RENDON Northeast Florida is brimming with talented local artists, but oftentimes they lack the right platform to display their skills. Jacksonville native and playwright Ian Mairs hopes to change all that with Swamp Radio. This podcast/live performance show is a fulfillment of Mairs’ artistic vision. With this vaudevillian spectacle of sorts, Mairs, Swamp Radio‘s producer and creative director, hopes to shed light on all aspects of Jacksonville’s artistic merit. On Swamp Radio’s website (swampradiojax.com) he declares Swamp Radio’s mission statement: to give River City residents a “banquet table,” of “artist’s words and music” which, as he states “will …

by DICK KEREKES & LEISLA SANSON Jacksonville’s Alhambra Theatre opened the 2014 season with “Pump Boys & Dinettes,” a 1982 Tony best musical nominee. It is unique in musical history in that the six members of a performance group known as the Pump Boys and Dinettes not only wrote the musical, but starred in it on Broadway. The production opens a new year with a musical trip down memory lane and a humorous and nostalgic look back at the 1950s. The setting is a gas station with an adjacent diner somewhere in North Carolina near Smyrna and Frog Level. Remember …

by LIZA MITCHELL As a master illusionist, Kevin Spencer understands the value of presentation. But even more important than focusing on the art of entertaining, Spencer is developing ways to use magic to help promote healing and improve the quality of life for the developmentally disabled in our community. The Spencer Illusionists will bring their masterful showcase to the Florida Theatre January 17. In addition to the live show, Kevin Spencer will be working January 15 at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and January 16 at Alden Road School as part of their Healing of Magic and Hocus Focus programs. Spencer takes …

by DICK KEREKES & LEISLA SANSOM St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre opened a new comedy farce that is Christmas themed with the title “The Games Afoot or Holmes for the Holidays.” It will be on the Matuza Mainstage at 11 Old Mission Avenue until January 5, 2014, with a special New Year’s Eve party showing. Call 904-825-1164 for information and reservations or visit limelight-theatre.org. With this play, the winner of the 2012 Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Play, Limelight is presenting a present for all you fans of playwright Ken Ludwig. Not sure if you are a fan? Well, if …

by DICK KEREKES & LEISLA SANSOM Stage Aurora gives Jacksonville audiences a rare opportunity to see an early work by the great American writer James Baldwin. “The Amen Corner” will be on stage at 5188 Norwood Ave inside Gateway Town Center, until December 13. For tickets call (904) 756-7372 or visit ticketleap.com. Baldwin wrote only one other play, “Blues for Mr. Charlie,” and we cannot recall either being done locally. Of course, his many novels are available at the library and can be ordered at any bookstore. Baldwin is on several lists of the 100 Greatest African Americans. Baldwin also …