REVIEW: “Leading Ladies” at The Theater Barn

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July 2009 Something is missing here, and my instinct is that the problem lies in the script, but from what I can gather Ken Ludwig’s Leading Ladies has been a big success in regional and community theatres around the world since it premiered at Houston’s Alley Theatre in 2004. Ludwig…

REVIEW: “Sleuth” at Barrington Stage Company

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July 2009 “To: Father Brown, Mr. Philip Trent, Mr. Max Carrados, Dr. Reginald Fortune, Mr. Roger Sheringham, Mr. Albert Campion, Mr. Nigel Strangeways, Lord Peter Wimsey, Dr. Gideon Fell, Monsieur Hercule Poirot, and all their omniscient, eccentric, amateur gentlemen colleagues, this play is dedicated with…

REVIEW: Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” at the Mac-Haydn Theatre

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July 2009 As I was leaving the Mac-Haydn after seeing their first public performance of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast I observed a child of about seven or eight leaping straight up and down in great glee exclaiming “I just loved that show! It was so exciting!”…

REVIEW: “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” at the Berkshire Theatre Festival

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July 2009 “Perhaps the secret to Simon’s success is his ability…to show us — between, in, and around the funny lines — the pain, aspiration, and sheer panic behind all those unforgettable characters.” – from the Kennedy Center Honors Biography of Neil Simon Batten down…

REVIEW: “The Einstein Project” at the Berkshire Theatre Festival

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July 2009 (Click HERE for production photos.) “The art of stage performance cannot be judged by how closely the actors can imitate or recreate ordinary, everyday life on stage. An actor uses his words and gestures to try to convince his audience of something profoundly true. It…

REVIEW: “Measure for Measure” at Shakespeare & Company

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July 2009 Click HERE to see production photos. Measure for Measure is one of Shakespeare’s Problem Plays. (Last year Shakespeare & Company presented another of the Problem Plays – All’s Well That Ends Well â€“ in the Founders’ Theatre, and trust me, it was a problem.) But when I was…