Tag Archives: Darnell Bennett

‘The Color Purple’ at Players by the Sea

“Like the color purple, where do it come from? Now my eyes are open – look what God has done.” An epic tale of a 40 years in the life of a family in rural Georgia unfolds tomorrow with the opening of The Color Purple at in . Based on the 1982 novel by Alice Walker, the heart of the story centers around 14-year old Celie, who is separated from all that she loves when she is forced by her abusive father to marry a cruel farmer called “Mister” played by Eugene Lindsey. Under the direction of Jereme Raickett, Celie …

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DUAL CRITICS REVIEW: ‘In The Heights’ at Players By The Sea Theatre

Over the years, Jacksonville Beach’s Players by the Sea community theatre has presented a number of outstanding summer musicals. This year’s selection, staged during July 20 – August 12, 2018 is noteworthy in many ways. In 2008, “” was nominated for 13 Tony awards and won 4, including Best Musical and Best Original Score; in 2009, it was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize Award for drama. The play presents a slice of life story in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. The community is ethnically diverse, with Hispanics being the largest group. The music and lyrics were …

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Have a love affair with “THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA”

THEATRE JACKSONVILLE REVIEW DICK KEREKES & LEISLA SANSOM [email protected] and the presented the first production of 2016 with the North Florida premier of the 2005 Tony Award Winning musical “.” Set in Florence, Italy in 1953, it is the first bilingual Broadway musical. Some of the songs are sung in Italian and a bit of the dialogue is also in that language. The story is based on a short novel by , which was adapted as a musical by (music and lyrics) with a book by playwright , whose previous works include “Prelude to a Kiss” and “Reckless.” A 1962 …

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“Hairspray” is loaded with great voices and zany characters

THEATRE JACKSONVILLE REVIEW and present the blockbuster musical “” on stage at 2032 San Marco Avenue in Jacksonville, Florida during June 12-27, 2015. For reservations, call 904-396-4425 or visit theatrejax.com. The musical, which is based on a 1988 film, debuted on Broadway in August, 2002 and was a big hit from the beginning, with audiences at 99% capacity for the first year. The story is based on events related to Baltimore’s real life “Buddy Dean Show,” a popular televised teen dance show that was on the air from 1957 to 1964. The play received eight Tonys, and had a six-year …

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