Annoyed by local radio stations that switch to 24 hours of holiday music on November 5, as well as stores that set up holiday displays before Halloween, I wasn't all that keen on seeing a Christmas musical in early November. However, Irving Berlin's White Christmas is my kind of holiday production: It's light on its emphasis on Christmas cheer, and plays out as a musical that just happens to take place ahead of the holidays.
Director Bryan Tank's production of Our Town fits the District Theatre's stage like a glove. Or rather, I should say Tank uses the stage so well - especially in his placement of actors and set pieces - that this play seems a perfect fit for the space. With its beautiful employment of backlighting (particularly when we first see the characters grouped together) and set designer/co-star Chris Causer's large, white pieces of fabric stretched over and draped across the back wall of the stage - and covering set pieces until they're being used - this production, aesthetically speaking, is breathtaking in its simplicity.
Female fans of princesses will likely enjoy the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's children's-theatre holiday offering A Fairy Tale Christmas. Thanks to the always-impressive costume designer Gregory Hiatt and actors Cara Chumbley and Kelly Ann Lohrenz, respectively, Cinderella and Snow White each bear striking resemblances to their characters' Disney designs. Despite slight variations in style, Hiatt's costumes are remarkable re-creations of the most well-known looks for the two princesses, and Chumbley and Lohrenz amusingly mimic the fluttery voices and laughs of the storybook ladies.
The strength of playwright Neil LaBute's writing skills was on full display in the District Theatre's equally stunning, Friday-night presentation of reasons to be pretty. LaBute's gritty drama about the demise of a couple after the guy is overheard describing his girl as having a "regular"-looking face is loaded with sharp banter and realistic relationships that are less than perfect, and the show's dark humor is not lost on director Bryan Tank's cast. The comicality is clear as the characters scream obscenities at each other, stab each other verbally, and behave in seriously ugly ways.
Would it be possible to get a cast recording of the District Theatre's Parade? Because the production is so well-sung by its cast members, I wouldn't mind listening to them perform composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown's songs over and over again. The solos are stirring, as characters sing about their relationships and roles in a Georgia town gripped by the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl. But some of the ensemble numbers gave me goosebumps during Saturday's performance - particularly the hauntingly sad "Funeral Sequence: There Is a Fountain / It Don't Make Sense," performed as the townsfolk remember the young lady whose body was found in the basement of a local pencil factory.
If you haven't yet attended a production of the show, Agatha Christie's murder mystery The Mousetrap - which has been running in London's West End for more than 56 years now - is definitely worth a look-see. Boasting ripe British caricatures and the author's signature brand of mordant wit, this clever, funny play is one of Christie's most enjoyably constructed contraptions.Subscribe & Listen to Reader Podcasts
On Stands Now
Tagged Content
Two Ways to Subscribe
1. Subscribe to free weekly e-mail content updates.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Amy Alkon Advice Goddess, Real Astrology, Red Meat cartoon and RCR Crossword every week?)
2. Get 12 monthly issues mailed first class for $48
Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!