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!”…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, May 2009 One of the things I get to do in my day job as a church secretary is help bereaved families design their loved one’s memorial service bulletin. It is not unusual for them to bring me a cherished old photo from 50 years…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July, 2007 Being my curmudgeonly self, I was less than thrilled with the announcement that the Mac-Haydn would bring me “Christmas in July” with a production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. It is my opinion that we get way too much Chistmas when it IS Christmas,…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, May, 2007 110 in the Shade is a little gem of a musical written by those masters of little musical gems – Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt – whose names are forever etched in musical theatre history as the creators of The Fantasticks. Like that phenomenally popular…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, August, 2006 When you say the name Gigi people usually have rapturous responses linked directly to their memories of the 1958 musical film starring Leslie Caron, Hermione Gingold, and Maurice Chevalier. The music is so lovely, the Parisian scenery is so beautiful, Leslie Caron is so charming,…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, August 2005 I have a soft spot in my heart for Brigadoon for two reasons. First, I am married to Robert Burns and therefore required to enjoy all things Scottish, and secondly it was the first musical I ever saw on Broadway. I had just turned six…
Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July 2005 Songs for a New World is basically a semi-staged concert of songs by Jason Robert Brown, an up-and-coming young composer and lyricist. In the decade since its brief 28 performance premiere at the WPA theatre in New York, the show has had over 300…
