Rotimi Agbabiaka Triumphs as Electric, Elegant Emcee by Barry David Horwitz If you see one musical this year, Center REP’s “Cabaret” would be the one. There’s no bigger thrill than seeing masterful Rotimi Agbabiaka dancing, singing, gyrating in brilliant costumes, playing the emcee in a 1931 Berlin café. He drains every note for its…
Jonathan Larson’s Musical Blossoms with Youthful, 90s Passions by Barry David Horwitz “tick…. tick…. Boom!” is more than the origin story of “Rent.” It’s a witty and brilliant commentary on how artists are treated in the U.S. What happens to the young composer when he refuses to submit to the corporate machine? Larson’s premature…
Strong, Weiner, Sarnak’s New Musical Faces Mighty Challenges by Mary Lou Herlihy & Barry David Horwitz “Galileo” bursts onto the stage like a grand gold-wrapped gift with a big expensive bow, promising a spectacle of cosmic proportions. This production—BIG, LOUD, COLORFUL—sparkles with glittering maps of the universe, raucous songs and dances, stunning projected images,…
Amy Freed Adapts Shakespeare for Modern Times by Robert M. Gardner At the opening of African American Shakespeare Company’s “Taming of the Shrew,” I expected a retelling of Shakespeare’s famous battle of the sexes comedy. But I got a blast from the past, based in San Francisco’s 1967 Summer of Love. Shakespeare’s words still…