Category: Reviews

Director Nancy Rich Says A.R. Gurney’s Award-Winning 1995 Comedy, Sylvia, Is a Real Howler

Sylvia stars Clare Vestal (front) as Sylvia, with Jim O'Brien as Greg and Christine Rogers as Kate (photo by Nancy Rich)

In these trying days, we all could use a comedy, right? And this one is a real howler. Director Nancy Gardner Rich talks about the Holly Springs Community Theater’s production of A.R. Gurney’s Sylvia, a co-produced with the Holly Springs Cultural Center and the Fuquay-Varina Arts Center. Q: So Sylvia is a comedy? As a… Continue reading Director Nancy Rich Says A.R. Gurney’s Award-Winning 1995 Comedy, Sylvia, Is a Real Howler

Lydia R. Diamond’s Stick Fly at PlayMakers Rep Is Thought-Provoking and Entertaining

Stick Fly stars (from left) Jamar Jones, Tori Jewell, and Anthony August, Omolade Wey, and AhDream Smith (photo by HuthPhoto)

For New York audiences, Stick Fly is, perhaps, Lydia R. Diamond’s best-known play, thanks to its 2011-12 Broadway run, produced by singer-songwriter Alicia Keys. But how does this play about an affluent African-American family vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard stand up 10 years later, during a pandemic, and in the State of North Carolina? Quite well,… Continue reading Lydia R. Diamond’s Stick Fly at PlayMakers Rep Is Thought-Provoking and Entertaining

DPAC Proves Rent Still Packs a Powerful Punch

The Durham Performing Arts Center will present five performances of Rent: The 25th Anniversary Farewell Tour, directedby Evan Ensign and choreographed by Marlies Yearby and Owen Johnston II, on Jan. 28-30 (photo by Carol Rosegg)

Jonathan Larson’s Rent has been impacting audiences for over two decades now. And yet, Rent: The 25th Anniversary Farewell Tour, onstage now at Durham Performing Arts Center, proves that there are still new things to be discovered in this story about love, loss, and the power of living in the moment. Furthermore, the show still… Continue reading DPAC Proves Rent Still Packs a Powerful Punch

Rent Roars into the Durham Performing Arts Center for Five High-Octane Performances This Weekend

The Durham Performing Arts Center will present five performances of Rent: The 25th Anniversary Farewell Tour, directed by Evan Ensign and choreographed by Marlies Yearby and Owen Johnston, on Jan. 28-30 (photo by Carol Rosegg)

Summit, NJ-based Work Light Productions, LLC’s energetic 25th Anniversary Farewell Tour of Jonathan Larson’s multiple Tony Award®– and Pulitzer Prize-winning 1996 Off-Broadway and Broadway and 1998 West End rock opera Rent, which will play two high-octane performances today and two more tomorrow at the Durham Performing Arts Center as part of the WRAL Greatest Hits… Continue reading Rent Roars into the Durham Performing Arts Center for Five High-Octane Performances This Weekend

A Christmas Story: The Musical at the Durham Performing Arts Center Is a Real Crowd Pleaser

The cast includes Susannah Jones as Mother, Christopher Swan as The Old Man, Cal Alexander as Randy, and Colton Maurer as Ralphie (photo by Gary Emord Netzley)

Big League Productions, Inc.’s national tour of A Christmas Story: The Musical, staged with brio by director Matt Lenz and crisply choreographed by choreographer Warren Carlyle and associate choreographer Jason A. Sparks — especially the delightful tap-dance sequences — opened at the Durham Performing Arts Center the day after the day after the day after… Continue reading A Christmas Story: The Musical at the Durham Performing Arts Center Is a Real Crowd Pleaser