Theater in South Florida was once the realm of musicals and light comedies, with dramas mighty scarce. Now the scene features theater of all kinds — fierce as well as frothy. But what remains rare are plays with immediate, topical subjects. Despite the disturbing real-life drama in contemporary America, most…

The last time I dropped by the Mosaic Theatre in Plantation last season, the company was presenting Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, a three-man hostage drama, to an audience of six in a bare, uninviting auditorium. Flash-forward to this month as the Mosaic presents another three-person show, The Complete Works…

I know. Life is a struggle sometimes: You’re faced with traffic gridlock, work overload, relationship limbo. But cheer up: At least you’re not Baby Doll Gibbons. Not only is her on-again, off-again romance off again; her roommates are furious that she trashed their apartment in a fit of jealous pique…

In Tom Walker, a new play at the New Theatre, a very old story is given a modern twist. The devil appears to the title character, dupes same into a hellish bargain, and runs off with poor Tom’s soul. Playwright John Strand has performed a similar act of piracy: He…

For most South Floridians, late summer means numbing heat, hurricanes, and back-to-school specials. But for those astute and lucky New Times readers, the dog days of August also herald a revived arts scene. Within a month or so, dozens of theater companies up and down the tricounty coast will be…

After two months in chilly London, I must say that sultry Florida feels good. And propelled by a notebook full of observations from UK theater, it also seems a good time, before the fall season, for me to reflect on the good and the bad in our own scene. First…

Anyone looking for the theatrical capital of the world will unquestionably end that search here in London, where a strong theatrical tradition has been nurtured, almost unbroken, for well over 400 years. The city is looking more prosperous and confident than it has in many decades, choked with new construction…

Beware of backhanded compliments. If you heed the critics and the advance press, you might have heard that the Stage Door Theatre’s Our Sinatra, the long-running musical imported from New York City, is a stylish cabaret revue. This is true, and that’s good, and it’s also not so good. Our…

In the end is a beginning, as the saying goes. And so it is with Apartment 3A, a romantic comedy with a Hollywood ending that marks a Hollywood beginning: the Acting Studio Stage Company’s new space on Hollywood Boulevard. While there are certain drawbacks to this production, plenty of encouraging…

What a difference a week makes. In the last issue of New Times, Florida Stage in Manalapan was lauded as the Best Theater in South Florida. Now along comes its final show of the season, Women Who Steal, which is, to be blunt, the worst show of the stage’s season…

Murder mystery alert: Some devilish scheming and startling plot twists are lying in wait for unsuspecting audiences in Murderer, which opened recently at the Actors’ Playhouse in Coral Gables. Theatergoers may also be surprised by some rough language as well as explicit violence and nudity, decidedly a departure from the…

At first glance, you wouldn’t think there’s much in common between the ragtag Mad Cat Theatre Company in dirty downtown Miami and the stylish Dreamers Theatre in restaurant-infested Coral Gables. Mad Cat goes for in-your-face gonzo drama and aims for a pierced, punk crowd, while Dreamers opts for more elegant,…

Most everyone knows the two masks of the theater: the sorrowful mask of tragedy and the gleeful one of comedy. Tragedy (or at least drama) is usually serious and “elevated” and therefore tends toward social acceptability: Because drama is serious, the society it portrays is to be taken seriously. Comedy…

What’s your pleasure, the sizzle or the steak? The Coconut Grove Playhouse offers both in its latest production, a musical revue called The Soul of George Gershwin: The Musical Journey of an American Klezmer. It’s a studious, educational show that also happens to offer some outstanding vocal and instrumental artistry…

Bee-luther-hatchee (noun, African-American slang, 1920s-1940s): a far away, damnable place, the next station after the stop for Hell. They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. But in Florida Stage’s intriguing new production, Bee-luther-hatchee, hell isn’t the final destination. There’s another torment ahead, so dreadful it doesn’t…

Here’s a question for you: When does a theater company become “significant”? Is it a question of the number of seats in the auditorium? If so, your average high school produces “significant” theater. Is it a question of the company’s annual budget? Or the number of shows produced? In the…

If you’re a fan of feel-good, upbeat musical theater, you have to like what Barbara S. Stein and the Actors Playhouse have been doing for lo these many years. Stein and her artistic director, David Arisco, regularly serve up well-produced, tightly staged shows that could more than hold their own…

Some theaters, like some people, have a clearer sense of self-identity than others. The New Theatre and its artistic director, Rafael de Acha, certainly know what they are about, presenting plays with emotional texture, poetic resonance, and often a welcome dose of sociopolitical thought. Such is the case with Mario…

What’s South Florida’s most overlooked cultural resource? I’d vote for the variety and depth of children’s theater on the local scene. With little public notice and less media fanfare, a number of busy stage companies are finding a huge audience base hungry for live entertainment suitable for the younger set…

At first glance there is much to celebrate in Out of Season, Elinor Jones’s new comedy now receiving its world premiere at the Caldwell Theatre. The play itself gives voice to five mature female characters, a welcome counterpoint to the general scarcity of roles for women, even in this so-called…

When I think of Edward Albee, two particularly pungent quotes come to mind: “I have a fine sense of the ridiculous,” says American theater’s perennial bad boy, “but no sense of humor.” If you catch Albee’s witty, challenging The Play About the Baby, which is receiving its Florida premiere at…

Theater comes in all shapes and sizes, from loud, lavish, traditional musicals to small-cast, single-set dramas. The most intimate of all, the solo performance, offers a chance for direct audience/actor connection and an opportunity to take on material that might be too risky for a larger venture. Two such shows…