by Lisa Jarisch At first glance, it almost seemed a cruel joke on the part of the Mac-Haydn Theatre management—choosing as the last show of the season The Marvelous Wonderettes, another jukebox musical, with “nothing” but a four-person all-female cast, following hard on the heels of the marvelous and wonderous…
by Lisa Jarisch I lied. I do confess it, and I beg forgiveness in the name of famed Broadway critic Walter Kerr, and perhaps with the indulgence of Saint Genesius, the patron saint of theater. My last review predicted that Godspell would be the stellar highlight of the Mac-Haydn Theatre‘s…
by Lisa Jarisch With the Mac-Haydn Theatre season’s 3rd offering, director John Saunders adds another gem to the collection of jewels in his directorial crown, as The Sound of Music fills the house of the theater, and the hills of Chatham, with a glorious production of this 60 year-old, multi…
by Lisa Jarisch Is there a better way to celebrate the first full day of summer than an evening spent at a theater putting on a show about putting on a show? Surely not, and in classic Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney “ Here’s a barn. Let’s put on a show!” fashion—complete…
by Lisa Jarisch Satire? Farce? Social Commentary? Political humor? Ecological & Environmental Propaganda ? Black comedy? Don’t bother trying to slot the Mac-Haydn‘s first-ever production of Urinetown into its “proper place” in musical theatre; it doesn’t have one. What it does have is a place as a show that checks…
by Lisa Jarisch “A Chorus Line” definitely holds a soft spot in my heart. To this day, it remains the first, last, and only show I have ever actually seen in its native habitat on Broadway. In 1977, as a freshman in college, on a bus trip during Winter Term,…
by Lisa Jarisch This is not as much a review as it is a thank-you note, Or, as my mother and grandmother would call it, a bread and butter note. In my youth, I was taught that whenever you were given a present, or were invited to share a meal,…
by Lisa Jarisch I have the softest of spots in my heart for Man of La Mancha, having stage- managed a production that will always remain as one of my most cherished memories. As a result, I have the highest of expectations for any production that dares to compete with…
