Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, June 2005 Every year, usually early in the season, the Mac-Haydn treats local audiences to a gem from the canon of English operetta. These are memorable because, with the exception of a couple of the Savoy operas, operetta is seldom heard these days. In its…

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, September 2004 “If dogs could talk it would take a lot of the fun out of owning one.”– Andy Rooney Have you ever owned a dog? If so, you must go see Sylvia, playwright A.R. Gurney’s homage to his own beloved pet. It is a poignant…

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, June, 2004 Here’s the good news and the bad news, all in one sentence. The Theater Barn opened its 2004 season with a polished production of Yasmina Reza’s Tony-award winning play ART. The good news is that The Theater Barn is back for a 21st season…

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, May 2004 Twenty one years ago Dan Goggin opened Nunsense at a New York cabaret called the Duplex. The show was based, believe it or not, on a successful line of greeting cards Goggin had developed, and what was supposed to be a four weekend run lasted…

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, September, 2003 What is it about this corny, old-fashioned play that people love so much? Beats the heck out of me, but I thoroughly enjoyed this production of Bernard Slade’s Same Time, Next Year at the Theater Barn. So did my 14-year-old son and the mostly gray-haired…

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, July, 2002 Since The Fantasticks has closed its unprecedented 42-year run, I Love You, You’re Prefect, Now Change has assumed the throne as the longest running show currently playing off-Broadway. I understand that couples routinely become engaged on stage (hopefully not during the show itself but between acts or…

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, September, 1999 And the theatre critic said unto them, “Behold! I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be unto all theatre goers. For unto you is born this day, in the city of New Lebanon, a savior from theatrical withdrawl. And it shall…