Orlando Shakespeare Center’s ‘Best of Enemies’ l to r: Avis-Marie Barnes, Corey Allen and Richard B. Watson, photo by Tony Firriolo By PAM HARBAUGH Orlando — During the Vietnam War, Pres. Lyndon Baines Johnson often said the goal was to “win over the hearts and minds” of those who would be...
Review: Henegar’s ‘The Addams Family: The Musical’
The Henegar Center’s production of “The Addams Family,” photo by Dana Niemeier. By PAM HARBAUGH The affectionate undead gleefully haunt the Henegar’s spirited production of “The Addams Family: The Musical.” It begins during the overture when the familiar music from the 1960s television show starts. The audience immediately gets in on...
Review: MCT’s ‘The Game’s Afoot, or Holmes for the Holidays’
By PAM HARBAUGH High-style repartee, theater, murder and wit blend into Ken Ludwig’s glorious concoction called “The Game’s Afoot or Holmes for the Holidays.” And in the hands of Melbourne Civic Theatre talent, this farcical souffle rises to the comic sublime. Like he did in previous theatrical comedies, (“Lend Me a...
Review: ‘Miss Saigon’ at Cocoa Village Playhouse
By PAM HARBAUGH Big spectacle and big voices tell an epic story in Cocoa Village Playhouse’s potent and precise production of “Miss Saigon.” With music by Claude-Michel Schonberg and lyrics by Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr. (Schonberg and Boublil created “Les Miserables”), this remake of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” tells the...
Review: Henegar Center’s ‘Proof’
Rachel Greshes as ‘Catherine’ in the Henegar Center’s production of ‘Proof.’ Photo by Dana Niemeier. By PAM HARBAUGH How far will a brilliant mind wander before it leaves sanity behind? That’s one of the resonating questions explored in the Henegar Center’s terrific second stage production of “Proof.” The play won playwright...
An additional BREVARD CULTURE reviewer
I’d like to introduce you to Cathy Mathias, a wonderful writer who is most passionate about theater. I asked Cathy if she would be interested in helping me review theater for BREVARD CULTURE and she happily said “yes.” That means we’ll be able to get more reviews of more theater into...
“Anything Goes” a review
By Cathy Mathias The 2012 Summer High School Workshop Production of “Anything Goes” opened to a big crowd Friday night at The Henegar Center in downtown Melbourne. With a great orchestra and full lighting, this happy-go-lucky show features well-loved songs like “You’re The Top” and “I Get A Kick Out of...
In review: “The Elephant Man”
Melbourne Civic Theatre closes a wildly successful season with dramatic flair thanks to its handsome and artful production of “The Elephant Man.” Playwright Bernard Pomerance received the 1979 Tony and Drama Desk awards for his riveting, compelling depiction of the final years in the pitiful life of horribly disfigured John Merrick,...
Review: “Rent”
In “Rent,” Surfside Players delivers a show heavy on talent, theme and a lot of entertainment. Although it opened on Broadway just 16 years ago (where it ran for an astounding 5123 performances), “Rent” has a strong foothold in theater legend. Its creator, Jonathan Larson, reportedly worked seven years on his...
Review: “Bridge & Tunnel”
With its moving second stage production of the Tony and Obie Award winning “Bridge & Tunnel,” a politically and socially provocative one-woman play, Riverside Theatre takes a decided stretch. And, boy, does it feel good. Written by Sarah Jones, “Bridge & Tunnel” is a pastiche of the rich multiculturalism living and...