352 stories by "Alan Smason"
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") Following the record setting production of The Producers, Mel Brooks set his sight on bringing another of his film classics from the s…
By ROY BERKO Former South Euclid resident and Brush High School graduate, Dr. Alan Wieder, is on a quest "to stem the time of forgetfulness." An oral historian, Wieder has been on the facult…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") When most people consider the macabre work of Stephen Sondheim and his delicious sense of dark humor, they typically point to Sweeney …
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") One of the most eagerly awaited new musicals in the country bowed recently in Milwaukee, not a typical launching place for such produc…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") Following his success with both Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Le Petit Theatre last s…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") (NEW ORLEANS) " A Wonderful World, sub-titled "A New Musical About the life and Loves of Louis Armstrong," made its bow in New Orleans…
By ROY BERKO The reconfigured The Wiz, as one of its major song's states, is easing down the road on its way to Broadway. Previews for that show begin on March 29, 2024, with the Big Appl…
By ANNE SIEGEL (Editor's note: This review appeared briefly on the website of Milwaukee's Shepherd Express, the city's alternative newspaper. However, due to pressure from Milwaukee Repertor…
By ROY BERKO When I saw the show in its Broadway run, I wrote in my review: "The total effect of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 is breathtaking. The traditional music, dress, st…
By ROY BERKO Thurgood Marshall, the subject of Thurgood, on stage at Cleveland Play House's Allen Theatre, was the grandson of slaves. He was born in segregated Baltimore and attended all-Bl…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") The Jefferson Performing Arts Society (JPAS) has returned to that old chestnut Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling, a fellow Louisianian…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") When MGM was giving itself a hearty pat on the back back in 1974 with the release of their tribute movie "That's Entertainment," t…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") With seven seasons under its belt, the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans, superintended by the diligence of producing …
By LOU HARRY A theater festival, a good one, is greater than the sum of its parts " even when its parts are very strong to begin with. Such is the case with the Stratford Festival, North Ame…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") Director Guy Nattiv uses the symbolism of birds throughout the movie "Golda." Birds show up at the very beginning, when the modern Sta…
By ROY BERKO Alison Bechdel is a cartoonist who came to national attention via her long-running comic strip "Dykes to Watch Out For." She combined her life story and her comic strip style in…
By ROY BERKO "Guilt, the gift that keeps giving." "Marriage has no guarantees. If that's what you're looking for, go live with a car battery." "Encourage independence in your children by reg…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") With its undercurrent of racism, statutory rape and threatened castration, Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth is not a play for t…
By EDWARD RUBIN OK, so they weren't exactly dancing in the aisles at the New World Stages the night that I attended The Rock & Roll Man. Forget that I said that. What the audience was do…
By ALAN SMASON Polish filmmaker Rafal Zielinski is finally seeing his independent film "Tiger Within" released in theaters today, Friday, July 7. The motion picture released through Menemsha…
By EDWARD RUBIN Little did Andrew Lloyd Webber know when he saddled his most recent musical with the ill-chosen name Bad Cinderella that he was handing theater critics here in New York a cud…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") Many fans of Tennessee Williams know of the feelings of anguish he experienced when dealing with his sister Rose Isabel Williams. Rose…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is a very funny work. That much has been clearly established in the decade…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") Meredith Wilson composed what may have been the most iconic of American musicals with his The Music Man that took home five Tony Award…
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic ("Steppin' Out") In a town famous for launching its most famous celebration on Twelfth Night, one might think the connection to the self-named Shak…
