Now Showing
In Talley's Folly, by Lanford "American Theater Icon" Wilson, it's July 4, 1944, and middle-aged St. Louis accountant Matt Friedman has driven under cover of night to woo spinster Sally Talley on her family farm in bucolic Lebanon, Missouri. Matt lures Sally down to the family's elaborate, decaying, Victorian boathouse -- the eccentric "folly" built by Sally's ancestors. As crickets chirp this Independence Day, what are an aggressive suitor and his reluctant girl to do? Chatter for an hour and a half, of course, about regrets, secret pasts, and pessimistic visions of their future. However, by the time the mysteries behind Matt's existence as a refugee Jew and Sally's spinsterhood are dropped in the last 20 minutes, you just don't care anymore. The production's actors don't fully occupy their roles in the way this "waltz" of a play requires and are mired in a play perhaps only a true Lanford Wilson lover will appreciate. (Through August 28 at Stage Door Theatre, 8036 W. Sample Rd., Coral Springs. Call 954-344-7765.)
Sisters of Swing: The Andrews Sisters, who rose to megastardom during the World War II Big Band era, were the Dixie Chicks of their time. During their long career, the three recorded more than 700 songs and sold more than 90 million records. Getting behind the home-front-girl iconography is the musical's well-realized intention. Among the production's many surprises -- besides an excellent supporting six-piece band, a retro Big Band orchestra set, and clever musical arrangements -- is the ambitious legwork of the play's two male costar Everymen. Whatever energy created the Andrews Sisters phenomenon is also rabidly contagious. The talented cast and crew of this play have caught that energy and are having as much fun giving good show as the real Andrews Sisters certainly had. (Through August 28 at the Florida Stage, 262 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan. Call 561-585-3433.)