From the first moments of Red Herring, Florida Stage’s sly new comedy, you know something’s up: A billboard advertising kippers reads: “Put a Fish in Your Pocket.” Characters talk intensely into phones that have no cords. In this wacky 1950s of playwright Michael Hollinger’s imagination, what seems normal and straight-faced…

Heaven and hell have long been subjects for human speculation, but when it comes to fiction, let’s face it: Perfection isn’t very interesting, and hell wins hands down. Writers love going to hell; it’s dramatic, dangerous, and sometimes funny. Witness the production at Fort Lauderdale’s Sol Theatre of Hell on…

A positive sign in South Florida’s stage scene is the vitality of its fringe community, individual artists and tiny companies who create a range of intriguing, unique projects. But much of this flies under the radar of the major media and most theatergoers; searching out this kind of show takes…

In vino, veritas” goes the Latin saying: “In wine, truth” — the idea being that what may be suppressed in everyday life will come to light after a few drinks. The ancient Athenians went so far as to legalize this belief for a time: In critical votes, citizens voted twice,…

Now that the holidays have been dispensed with, the South Florida theater scene kicks back into gear with a flurry of new shows and openings. No fewer than 20 productions open this month, and behind them is another truckload of shows rolling up in February. Meanwhile, several intriguing, unique shows…

For many people at this time of year, all of the seasonal cheer and de rigueur bonhomie can get downright depressing. If you’re among this not-so-select group, GableStage may have a holiday show for you: James Joyce’s “The Dead,” a New Musical Play, which is based on the celebrated short…

Serious theater? In Broward County? Don’t chuckle. You’ve been asleep if you haven’t noticed some decided cultural shifts in what used to be the Land of Laughs and Musicals. Broward stage companies have long leaned toward the sweet and silly when programming their seasons, usually top-heavy with musical reviews and…

This is a busy time of the year, so let’s get to the point of this review fast. If you want to see a classic example of sitcom at its silliest, get over to Ray Cooney’s Caught in the Net at the Coconut Grove Playhouse. No, that’s not a sneer;…

In the peculiar little world of theater, there has always been and always will be an ongoing debate between the aficionados of art and those of entertainment. Aesthetes tend to roll their eyes at anything corny, sweet, or obvious, while fun-loving fans head for the door at the first sign…

Is the glass half empty or half full? Thoughtful theatergoers may rue what may be missing on the South Florida stage scene — classical productions, experimental theatricality, multimedia — but none can deny the area’s strengths, chief among them plenty of entertaining, vigorously produced musical offerings. Any number of musicals…

If high drama is your cup of tea, you should find what you’re looking for at theater companies all over South Florida. Just don’t look on the playbill. The off-stage news from several local theaters is as full of dire foreboding, narrow escapes, and last-minute miracles as The Perils of…

Think of modern Broadway comedies and Neil Simon immediately springs to mind. The prolific and popular playwright spans four decades of American theater with no fewer than 28 plays and musicals produced on Broadway. And at age 74, he shows no signs of letting up; his Forty-five Seconds from Broadway…

In the theater world as in society, a happy few are much more fortunate than the rest. Consider the prosperous and respected Florida Stage. Now entering its 15th season, the Stage is blessed with a lovely facility (a 250-seat thrust theater with excellent sightlines), critical acclaim (22 Carbonell nominations for…

Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl: the classic model for romantic comedy and drama. According to Rebecca Gilman, it’s also the prescription for obsessive stalking. Gilman, an up-and-coming playwright with a penchant for issue-oriented suspense, has served up a hy perrealistic portrait of one woman’s nightmare in…

In more than a few ways, producing live theater is akin to staging a military campaign, involving rapidly changing logistical considerations of time and personnel and never enough money. Generals must marshal their limited resources, placing assets where they will be the most effective. That is also the way it…

Where is the epicenter of live theater in South Florida? Several contenders vie for the t itle, but none can top Coral Gables, with five professional companies in residence. If you toss in the Coconut Grove Playhouse, just down the road, and City Stage, which books the University of Miami…

One of the toughest decisions in my job is choosing a show to cover. Given the amount of theatrical activity in South Florida, our publication just does not have enough room to review every show. This week, though, the choice was easy: I was going to New York. My long-time…

Amid warehouses and train tracks on NE Flagler Drive in Fort Lauderdale, the new Sol Theatre Project’s neon logo lights up the dark night as if the venue were a cheery inn. The interior space is disarming. With a bookcase crammed with scripts, a largemouth bass mounted over a window,…

Since the here and now has been so visceral these last few weeks, many South Floridians may have spent little time looking to the future. But eventually they should, when it comes to theater. The upcoming season looks promising; both established companies and upstarts have ambitious plans. As has been…

First the good news: GableStage’s new production of Killer Joe features smart staging and engaging performances, backed up by a terrific design team. South Florida theatergoers should consider themselves lucky to have this company in their midst. Now the not-so-good news: Despite the merits of this particular production, Killer Joe…