Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, December 2007 Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is both an attempt to present the beloved 1954 film musical “live on stage” – an effort that is doomed to failure because film and theatre are two completely different art forms – and an excuse to sing and dance to…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, October 2007 The tragic story of the oriental woman wronged by an occidental service man is usually told on a grand scale. Giacomo Puccini’s 1904 grand opera Madama Butterfly tops Opera America’s list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America. The genesis of this tale is…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, April 2007 You would never, ever know that this production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum was a last-minute effort, but it was. When problems arose with the rights to Chicago, which was supposed to close Cohoes’ 2006-2007 season, …Forum was hastily announced, cast, and…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, March 2007 C-R Productions has mounted another rip-snorting musical at the Cohoes Music Hall, this time Frank Wildhorn’s Jekyll and Hyde, a huge hunk of faux-Victorian balderdash if there ever was one, but in this fast-paced and engaging presentation directed by Jim Charles the foolishness is overshadowed…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, December 2006 People often ask me: “Is it hard to review the same shows over and over again? What more is there to say about your twenty-third production of The Sound of Music?” The answer is simple: You never see the same show twice. I could…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, October 2006 Ragtime is an amazing musical. You may never have heard of it or may have glanced at the title and dismissed it as one more revue-sical of historic music, but trust me, it is one of the great musicals of the 20th century and…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, September 2006 I was ten when the film Thoroughly Modern Millie was released and I remember enjoying it very much. Like every other little girl in the world at that time I had been lugged to see The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins over and over again by well-meaning elderly…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, May 2006 Fabulous! Wonderful! Excellent! Go! That was an easy review to write. But I will elaborate, for my own enjoyment in reliving the fun as well as to encourage you to do the only sensible thing and buy tickets NOW! I was under the…
