Stephanie Moeller, Sydney Dexter, and Karrie McLaughlin in Mama Won't FlyFrom the moment you step foot into the Playcrafters Barn Theatre for its production of Mama Won’t Fly – a comedy by the popular team of Jamie Wooten, Jessie Jones, and Nicholas Hope – you’ll hear Route 66 cruising music that gets you in the mood to take a road trip. The show itself subsequently delivers that trip, plus a few extra surprises.

Ashley Hoskins, Lisa Kahn, and Sarah Ade Wallace in The Red Velvet Cake WarTwo of the things I miss most about reviewing theatre with greater frequency are raving about area artists whose talents I'm quite familiar with, and raving about area artists whose talents are brand-spanking-new to me. Happily, regarding the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's The Red Velvet Cake War, I get to do both. And that's especially gratifying because one of the things I absolutely do not miss is explaining why certain well-meaning, lighthearted endeavors designed solely to entertain simply don't work for me, and it looks like I have to do that, too.

Carrie SaLoutos, Rachelle Walljasper, Serena Vesper, Autumn O'Ryan, and Lora Adams in The Dixie Swim ClubGiven its "sorority" sort of feel, the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's The Dixie Swim Club - which concerns the annual, beach-cabin gatherings of five former members of a college swim team - will likely appeal to the women in the audience. However, not being a woman myself, I can also say that I quite enjoyed Friday's performance of the show for the chemistry between the actors, the stunning set, and the humor that playwrights Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten put into their comedy.

 


Diane Greenwood and Eugenia Giebel in Christmas BellesThe audience at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's Saturday-night performance of Christmas Belles - a sequel to Dearly Beloved, which the theatre staged in 2008 - seemed to really want to enjoy this second visit with the eccentric Texans of the Futrelle family. Yet with its dull, predictable punchlines, the first act was filled with polite chuckles, but only peppered with honest laughs.