10. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – Sand Lake Center for the Arts Sand Lake Center for the Arts’s fall production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee was impossible not to love. The adult cast portrayed the adolescent characters with humor and sincerity. Allison McArdle Avery’s…
by Jess Hoffman I have to admit I have no love for Rodgers and Hammerstein. I find their musicals boring and overly sentimental. My introduction to Rodgers and Hammerstein was, in fact, the 1955 film version of Oklahoma!, with which I was wholly unimpressed. That said, I am a big…
Fast-paced, fresh take on Broadway’s original classic will play in Albany’s Washington Park throughout July, with encore weekend at Guilderland’s Tawasentha Park.Albany, N.Y. (June 27, 2025) – Playhouse Stage Company continues its 37th Season this summer, as they welcome audiences to their venerable outdoor venue at Park Playhouse in Albany’s Washington…
by Paula Kaplan-Reiss I have never been inspired by Elvis Presley nor attracted to his music. However, the outstanding cast of the Mac-Haydn Theatre shakes their hips, sings their hearts out and absolutely dazzles in All Shook Up. Opening on Broadway in 2005 and loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night,…
by Lisa Jarisch This confession may very well get me drummed out of the musical theater corps of critics and aficionados alike, but in all fairness, it has to be said. I do not like Sondheim. I have never liked Sondheim. I KNOW Sondheim will never make it to my…
by Paula Kaplan-Reiss As someone privileged to see the original Broadway production of Something Rotten in 2015, starring Brian D’Arcy James and Tony winner Christian Borle, I was excited to have the chance to see this satirical musical again. Yet, I tempered my expectations for the outdoor production offered by…
