20
Sep
2010
There's a charming naïveté at the core of the Internet Players' debut production of The Tragedy of Sarah Klein, as the playwright's perspective seems to be one often observed in college students and recent graduates - a belief that "I am one of the very few who sees certain injustices in the world, and I, alone, can wake the world up to them." Wake-up calls of this sort are often attempted with protests, targeted vandalism, or, in the case of Sarah Klein, the stroke of a pen, yet while the Internet Players' Thursday-night performance was poetic in word and impressive in scope - particularly in playwright/director Nathan Porteshawver's staging - it was also pretentious and, at times, dull.
I have little doubt that many patrons of the Playcrafters Barn Theatre will enjoy its current production of Hard to Believe, as there's consistently an audience appetite for shows on themes of faith and God. The opening-night premiere of this locally written musical, however, reminded me too much of church performances of which I've seen or been a part. I'm not sure Hard to Believe will find a place in community theatres alongside other musicals, but it could very well find its place within many a church's walls.
I can't imagine anyone who likes the music of Patsy Cline not liking the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's current offering, A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. Personally, I don't much care for the mid-20th-Century country style of Cline's songs. However, I very much appreciated Friday night's performance for its staging and its remarkable singing, and therefore, enjoyed music I'd otherwise ignore were I to hear it on the radio.
There's one thing that appears missing from Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's Sunday in the Park with George: adequate rehearsal time. Actually, there are a number of things partially absent in this offering - polished performances, accurate notes, emotion - but they all stem from what seems to have been not enough time to adequately prepare the piece. To quote lyrics from the show, "art isn't easy," but it's certainly easier than prepping a Stephen Sondheim production in two weeks.
It is with great apprehension that I write this review of the Curtainbox Theatre Company's production of 
The Harrison Hilltop Theatre's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is both outrageously hilarious and poignantly touching. I laughed harder than I've laughed in a long time during Thursday's opening-night performance, and I wasn't alone in offering up hearty guffaws, with the capacity crowd cackling with delight throughout the evening's entertainment.
The audience at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's Saturday-night performance of Christmas Belles - 
Genesius Guild
