Wednesday, February 1,2012

Finding her 'Courage'

Leslie Hull bids farewell to MSU by taking on Bertolt Brecht's 'Mother'

by Paul Wozniak

The Michigan State University Theatre production of Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children” utilizes the same English translation by Tony Kushner (“Angels in America”) as the 2006 Shakespeare in the Park production starring Meryl Streep (yes, that Meryl Streep).

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Wednesday, January 25,2012

Head games

'The Boy in the Bathroom' simply doesn't wash, despite sweet love story

by Paul Wozniak

Imagine the question “to be or not to be?” stretched into a 90-minute musical, and you have the essence of “The Boy in the Bathroom.”

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Wednesday, December 28,2011

Theater: Riverwalk's 'Conspiracy' electrified

by Paul Wozniak

Community theaters, particularly in small towns, often rely on the tried and true. However, theater is far more exciting when companies take risks. New and daring works can turn into overambitious fiascos, but they can also soar higher than old standards when they succeed.

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Wednesday, November 9,2011

Will’s wit

Kevin McKillip ropes you in as the wisecracking, lasso-twirling Will Rogers

by Paul Wozniak

As the late humorist/cow- boy/actor and all-around celebrity, Kevin McKillip pays tribute to Rogers in his self-com- posed one-man show, Will Rogers: An American Original at Stormfield Theatre. Rogers blends puns, political commentary and rope tricks into a polished portrait of an American archetype.

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Wednesday, October 19,2011

From fascination to collaboration

Writer-director James Houska works with ‘Conspiracy’ author Loring Mandel to turn an award-winning HBO movie into Riverwalk’s world premiere stage drama

by Paul Wozniak

Based on a lone surviving document, “Conspiracy” dramatically reconstructs the 1942 Wannsee Conference, a meeting of 15 high-ranking Nazis who discussed the practical implementation of the Final Solution.

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Wednesday, October 19,2011

Meet Loring Mandel

by Paul Wozniak

Chicago native Loring Mandel never imagined his profession might be writing for television. Mandel, 83, wrote his first closedcircuit radio productions for fun when he was 6 years old; when he needed money for graduate courses in music at Northwestern University, Mandel discovered he could make a living from fun.

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Wednesday, October 12,2011

The biggest loser

‘The Dead Guy’ is a spotty spoof of reality TV

by Paul Wozniak

If he did, “The Dead Guy,” now at Williamston Theatre, might be a sharper satire in the vein of “Network” or “The Truman Show.” But the show’s very concept suggests that Coble cannot appreciate his topic on its own terms, resulting in flawed premises and shallow characters that make “Guy” feel cynical instead of comically cerebral.

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Wednesday, September 28,2011

The remains of the day

MSU's strong double bill of dramas examines the aftermath of Sept. 11

by Paul Wozniak

Remember Sept. 11, 2001? Not the divisive rhetoric that tirelessly evoked the date for political evasion or justification, or the shameless merchandising that recently reached new lows (9/11 Merlot, anyone? Just $19.11), but where you were when you first heard the tragic news.

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Wednesday, September 21,2011

Intense 'Blackbird' looks at the dark language of love

Broken hearts, shattered lives and fractured dialogue combine in Peppermint Creek's two-character drama

by Paul Wozniak

That staccato style blended with the thematic, twisted love story intrigued director Lela Ivey back when Chad Badgero first presented her with the script.

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Wednesday, September 21,2011

Not quite heavenly

Naughty nuns kick the habit in salacious spoof 'Divine Sister'

by Paul Wozniak

Audiences be warned: Lansing Civic Player’s season opener “The Divine Sister” is a perverse, expletive-laden, alacritous satire of sisters from stage and cinema.

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