Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, August, 2003 It doesn’t really matter what I say in this review because the Theater Barn’s production of Chicago will sell out (if it hasn’t already) anyway. That is because, as Artistic Director Bert Bernardi remarked in his curtain speech, America has Chicago fever. Cleverly timed to open the…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, August, 2003 I just loved this show! Of course, I know every line, lyric, and note of Gilbert & Sullivan’s 1878 operetta H.M.S. Pinafore – of which this 1945 George S. Kaufman opus is a clever parody – so I cannot imagine what entertainment value the show…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July, 2003 Ok, I confess, I just don’t get it. I don’t understand the current popularity of staged musical revues. To me they just aren’t theatre. They are concerts with costumes, and if that’s what you want why not spend the cash to see Elton…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July, 2003 The current production of his melodramatic parody The Mystery of Irma Vep at the Theater Barn undoubtedly has the late playwright Charles Ludlam (1943-1987) rolling in his grave. Rolling with laughter that is! Nay, more than just rolling. Probably thrashing violently in order to resurrect…
by Gail M. Burns, June, 2003 Two decades ago, as her youngest child approached high school graduation, Joan Phelps turned to her husband Abe and said, “Let’s mortgage the house and start a theatre.” You can imagine his response, but they took the plunge and 20 years and 160+ productions…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, June, 2003 You know how sometimes you attempt to relate something that really cracked you up to a friend who wasn’t there when it happened and you fail? You want SO MUCH to share the fun with this person who just doesn’t get it. And…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, September, 2002 The Complete History of America (Abridged) is a very silly show, which gallops smartly along for two hilarious hours in this delightfully sophomoric production at The Theater Barn. Do not go expecting high art, but prepare to revel in low comedy — about as…
eviewed by Gail M. Burns, September, 2002 The Country Club is an entertaining play, and one that is just the ideal size and shape for a production at the Theater Barn. A mostly able cast, many of them hold-overs from the Barn’s summer season, are put through their paces in a…
