Tag Archives: Gary Baker

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 …

The newly rebranded All Beaches Experimental Theatre launches its 27th season tomorrow at its new Neptune Beach home with the musical “James and the Giant Peach.” The show runs through Sept 30 (www.abettheatre.com). Director says the family-friendly musical based on the beloved children’s book by Roald Dahl was the perfect choice to christen ABET’s new stage. “I think the story really resonates because it talks about finding your family and finding your home,” he says. “And that’s really what ABET is doing right now. It’s finding its place and finding its home, so I think this story works well right …

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 …

THE 5 & DIME THEATRE COMPANY REVIEW A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW BY Dick Kerekes & Leisla Sansom   Jacksonville’s Downtown opened “” on October 13, 2017. It will run through October 28, and is sponsored by Vanity Furs and Jacksonville Chiropractic & Acupuncture. The musical, based on an earlier film series, debuted in Canada in 2003 and played Off-Broadway for three months during 2006-2007. Subsequent tours and productions by professional and community theatres throughout the states followed. The month of October was perfect timing for the 5 & Dime’s production, since we’re prepared to be mystified and terrified as Halloween …

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW Jacksonville’s answer to Saturday Night Live is Awkward Silence Jax, a comedy troupe that presented a new show called “Everything’s Fine” during September 22-23, 2017. Both performances played to a sold-out house at . The  was founded in 2014 by JU graduate who had been very active in local theatre during his student days. After graduation, he traveled to Chicago’s Second City to study improvisation techniques, and after returning to Jacksonville has shared his knowledge with very talented local performers. The program listed twenty sketches covering a wide assortment of topics. While several of the titles …

ABET THEATRE REVIEW DUAL CRITICS REVIEW BY DICK KEREKES & LEISLA SANSOM [email protected] The opened the Florida premier of the musical “” on September 9, 2016. The production will be onstage through September 26. The musical, which debuted on Broadway in 1981, is based on a 1934 play by and . It hasn’t been staged frequently, probably because it is so challenging for the actors, musicians, and directors. But as far as we know, director embraces challenging works, and this play was no exception. He was ably assisted by actor/director . The book is by , while the music and …

A DUAL CRITICS REVIEW by DICK KEREKES & LEISLA SANSOM [email protected] Awkward Silence JAX, a sketch comedy troupe founded in 2014, presented its latest Jacksonville performance during July 16-17, 2016 at to sold out audiences. They have previously performed in a number of shows in Northeast Florida, and branched out with an appearance at the 2015 Orlando Fringe Festival. For , they presented twenty-five skits of varied lengths on varied subjects; many were focused on political topics and seemed ripped directly from current news headlines. Of course, , Republican presumptive presidential nominee, received much of the attention (presumptive, as we …

MEIN TRUMP AWKWARD SILENCE JAX COMEDY TROUPE REVIEW DICK KEREKES & LEISLA SANSON [email protected] a comedy troupe based in Jacksonville, Florida, presented a two-performance show at on September 25, 26, 2015. The Dual Critics reviewed the troupe’s initial stage appearance last year, in November, 2014, at . After that successful and very funny production, they applied to the Orlando Fringe Festival and were awarded a performance spot. Their appearance was well received, they learned a lot about preparation and promotion, and hope to return this year, so they can bring share their talents with a wider audience. As you can …