Before we plunge into the guts of
this review, let me offer an admission: I am not generally a fan of musicals.
That said, I am incredibly fond of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case
of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. I even reread it in preparation for reviewing
Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical, with book and lyrics by Leslie Briscusse
and music by Frank Wildhorn. I imagined that my affection for the source
material would,
The broken parts of a dead body will never heal. Sticks and
stones may break my bones but names— will scar me so deep that I just may never
recover. Good grief. When the iconic, albeit off-kilter, happiness of one’s
childhood, hits puberty and spirals off course with tough life lessons and
harrowing high-school truths, you get Bert V. Royal’s Dog Sees God. Fitting into the wheelhouse of Wolf Pack Theatre
Company productions,
Spring Awakening – Charity, Chastity, Choreography
Every generation thinks they invented sex. Spring Awakening is how they invented it under the Second Reich. Wolf Pack Theatre Company brings you this oft-censored 1890 play which was revamped as a musical in 2006 to win eight Tony Awards.
Co-director William Leary usually chooses dark and heavy adult subject matter, and continues to do so with Spring Awakening – this time with adolescents.
Having recently been introduced to members of Baton Rouge’s Red Hat Society, I… can’t remember who imitates who… but Life and Art are definitely happening in Wolf Pack Theatre Company’s Steel Magnolias. Set in 1980’s Chinquapin Parish, Robert Harling’s play revolves around a year in the life of six women in a gathering place where they can let their hair down.
Director Bill Leary did a marvelous job assembling a cast that is phenomenally strong across the board.
Deathtrap: A play of one set, two acts, five characters.
One Set: A writing den in a converted church. A typewriter. Walls decorated with posters from previous plays and various prop implements of persuasion and destruction.
Two Acts: Running an hour each with a 15-minute intermission.
Five Characters: The established writer. His wife. The new writer. The psychic neighbor. The lawyer.
Pardon my conceit as I continue the review by repeating this again with further variations,