items tagged with Clinton Area Showboat Theatre

The Reader's chief theatre reviewer, Thom White, saw and wrote about 52 area stage productions in 2011. I saw 39 and reviewed 12. Obviously, during our second-annual breakfast chat on the Year in Theatre, there was a bit to talk about.

I want to start by saying that I enjoyed the tone of the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre’s presentation of Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus. I left Saturday’s performance with a warm feeling of Christmas cheer, which seems to me the point of the play, so... Christmas mission accomplished! Yet while there are some notable performances in the piece, it pains me to say that I also have a lot of minor issues with this Showboat production, and particularly with playwright Jamie Gorski’s script.

Director Tommy Iafrate beautifully bookends the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's Evita with scenes in which the actors acknowledge, or the staging makes clear, that the cast is performing specifically for an audience.

The Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's Annie feels like a show I've never seen before, even though I'd seen it many times prior to Thursday night’s performance. While the musical’s characters are portrayed in familiar ways, director Patrick Stinson's work seems new, mostly because of designer Kenneth Verdugo’s sets. As odd as that sounds – the idea that a set could change the feel of an entire show – it’s true, because the design not only affects the look of the production, but also how the stage space is used, and what elements are highlighted as a result.

The Clinton Area Showboat Theatre’s The Drowsy Chaperone is fantastically fun. Of course, it helps that the book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, and the music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, are filled with amusing lines, scenarios, and situations. It also helps that this summer’s Showboat cast is so talented, appearing in one impressive production after another, including Thursday night’s performance.