Comments by Gail M. Burns, June 2007 “No matter how we rehearse our intention, the performance has its own accidents.” – M.C. Richards Every time you go to the theatre you have a unique experience. Even in a show with a carefully rehearsed script each performance is its own creature,…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, June 2007 Mere hours before leaving to see the Mill City production of “Pippin” I wrote the following:“The point of community theatre is not present slick professional perfection, but to give average men and women a chance to experience the joy of performing great theatre…
by Gail M. Burns, June 2007 The News in Revue is a political satire troupe who have been performing regularly in the Berkshires since 1994. The front cover of their program identifies them as “[The] New York Times Meets Saturday Night Live, The Musical” and that is a fairly accurate description. Under…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, June 2007 Richard Greenberg’s Three Days of Rain is a finely tuned character study of two families – the Janeways: Edmund “Ned,” his wife Lina and their children Nan and Walker; and the Wexlers: Theo, Margaret, and their son Philip “Pip.” The first group we meet are…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, June, 2007 “I never knew before how rotten a fellow could be outside his regular business…Every man is a foolishness when he’s out of his right place.” – Edgar Smith Writers, even great writers, have styles and forms at which they excel and others in…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, June 2007 For about twelve hours after leaving the Theater Barn I was convinced that I was losing it. What had I missed? Here was a highly touted, Tony-nominated comedy by a well known and well established playwright, and I didn’t get it. After watching…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, June 2007 Sometimes, especially at this time of year, it is hard to believe I ever write about anything but the theatre, but I actually spend a great deal of time doing other types of writing, much of it promotional – ad copy, press releases,…
by Gail M. Burns, June 2007 Ah, The Mikado. That wholesome, fun-filled family show about decapitation… You know, even though I know every note and every word of it and have directed it twice I still can’t tell you the plot off the top of my head. That is because a)…
