By PAM HARBAUGH It may be filled with esoteric Broadway humor, but Titusville Playhouse lets an entire audience in on the jokes in its laugh-a-minute 50th season opener, “The Producers.” Written by Mel Brooks, the stage musical is based on his original 1967 movie. It concerns unscrupulous Broadway producer Max Bialystock...
Review: ‘The History Boys’ at the Mad Cow
By PAM HARBAUGH The facts don’t add up to the truth nor do they insure success in life. That seductive current runs throughout Mad Cow Theatre’s engrossing production of Alan Bennett’s “The History Boys.” The 2006 Tony Award winner for best play concerns an academic tug-of-war over the hearts and minds...
Review: ‘Merrily We Roll Along’
By PAM HARBAUGH The Henegar Center for the Arts delivers a bonanza of talent in its production of the Stephen Sondheim musical “Merrily We Roll Along.” It is based on the 1934 George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart play, which has 91 characters; and its Broadway debut also had nine complete...
Review: ‘Hair’ at Mad Cow
By PAM HARBAUGH While pop culture remains agog with “Mad Men,” there is plenty to consider on opposite side of the 1960s coin — the counterculture that slapped a nation in its face. As the lyrics state “My eyes are open” and nothing remained the same. Yes, it’s the 1960s musical...
Review: ‘A Few Good Men’ at Titusville Playhouse
By PAM HARBAUGH The end does not justify the means, or so we think, in “A Few Good Men,” the courtroom drama currently on stage in a gripping production at Titusville Playhouse. Written in 1989 by Aaron Sorkin, it explores in part how easy it is to cross moral boundaries. Sorkin...
Review: ‘A Delicate Balance’ at Melbourne Civic Theatre
By PAM HARBAUGH Maintaining can be quite a balancing act. Emotions churned up by life can tilt us this way and that, tipping our sense of stability and threatening a slide into oblivion. This is one of the many important themes in Edward Albee’s three-act masterpiece, “A Delicate Balance,” currently engrossing...
Review: ‘La Cage aux Folles’
By BRUCE HICKMAN The fabulous female impersonators known as the Cagelles introduce us to the magical world of illusion as they invite us to enjoy the magical journey at La Cage aux Folles, a popular show bar. And this magic translates beautifully to Cocoa Village Playhouse’s production of “La Cage aux...
Review: “9 to 5” at the Henegar Center
By PAM HARBAUGH The Henegar Center sets the stage to showcase new and growing talent with its sleek production of “9 to 5 the musical.” The 2009 musical is written by Patricia Resnic with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton. It is a faithful musical retelling of the 1980 movie that...
Review: miR Theater’s ‘Jazz/Reade’
by PAM HARBAUGH Going to the newly formed miR Theater is turning into quite a refreshing adventure into the unusual side of the arts. And I like it. They promise “unusual pieces in unusual places” and so far that’s been the case. Their first production, “Cereus Moonlight,” brought us into the...
Review: Henegar Center’s ‘Stories My Grandmother Told Me’
By BRUCE HICKMAN “Stories My Grandmother Told Me” presents a premise that might suggest an evening of folksy tedium. Though family friendly with nary a coarse word to be heard, rest assured this is not front porch story time. And thanks to the honest writing and several performances by the Henegar...