By ALAN SMASON, Theatre Critic, WYES-TV (“Steppin’ Out”)
There is a bittersweet irony with the musical score of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” animated film. It is the first and only coupling of two of the greatest Jewish Broadway composers of recent times in Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. Yet,...
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By ALAN SMASON, Theatre Critic, WYES-TV (“Steppin’ Out”)
When ballet stars Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope began their roles as expatriate American artist Jerry Mulligan and native Parisian ballerina Lise Dassin, they had no way of knowing their performances would last for most of three years as they opened first...
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By ALAN SMASON, Theatre Critic, WYES-TV (“Steppin’ Out“)
There’s no doubt that this is a troubling time of year to be Jewish. With red and green ribbons festooning the sides of buildings and spectacular light displays at night dazzling the eyes, Jews are never more aware of how much a...
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By ALAN SMASON, Theatre Critic, WYES-TV (“Steppin’ Out”)
While the Jazz Age produced headlines that proved titillating and provocative, none captured the nation’s attention more than the thrill-seeking murder of an innocent 14-year-old by two Jewish college graduates, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. In the anything-goes period marked by the...
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By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“)
Composer and lyricist Jason Robert Brown has won multiple Tony Awards for his brilliant compositions and, most especially, for his tender ballads. First noted for his 1995 production of Songs for a New World, Brown later received critical acclaim for Parade, which...
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By ALAN SMASON, Theatre Critic, WYES-TV (“Steppin’ Out”)
There are many reasons why John Kander and Fred Ebb’s Chicago is the longest-running American Broadway show on the Great White Way. First of all, it is a thoroughly satisfying adult comedy with a remarkable book by the late Ebb and the...
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By ALAN SMASON, Exclusive to the CCJN
A fixture on TV and film screens for six decades, actor Ed Asner will be making a rare stop in New Orleans starring for two nights only in a one-man play “A Man and His Prostate” at Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré...
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By ALAN SMASON, Special to the CCJN
For the third year in a row the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbeine (NYTF) has presented a major theatrical production in Yiddish at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. This time out, it is “Amerike – The Golden Land,” a piece...
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By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“)
With the final production of its 50th anniversary year, Summer Lyric Theatre (SLT) at Tulane has pulled off an amazing series under the helm of artistic director Michael McKelvey and “Gypsy” is the cherry on top of its sweet confectionary of Broadway...
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By ALAN SMASON, Theatre Critic, WYES-TV (“Steppin’ Out“)
Near the beginning of Indecent, the one-act ensemble piece by Paula Vogel, which netted director Rebecca Taichman her first Tony Award, the character of Lemml, the Stage Manager (Richard Topol), peers into the darkness enveloping the theater audience and announces “Every night...
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