Ghosts, ghouls and puppy love
At a recent rehearsal for “The Addams Family,” the stage manager started things off with a weird warning. “Some of you,” he said, “have got to watch out for those [...]
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Posted May 27, 2015in Center Stage
Posted May 20, 2015in Center Stage
Young and full of promise
Most shows at the Civic Center require a ton of setup — “The Lion King” tours with an endless caravan of trucks — but none have put 30 high schools [...]
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Posted May 13, 2015in Center Stage
Silly, female-centric, a success
Ten minutes into a read-through of “Choices,” the latest from Des Moines playwright Karen Schaeffer, I found myself surprised by my own laughter. The way my chuckles kept erupting, I [...]
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Posted May 06, 2015in Center Stage
Roller-coaster to the heart
Even in rehearsal, the chemistry starts to percolate. No sooner do Jim Benda (as Vanya) and Ann Woldt (as Sonia) settle in over their coffee during the opening of “Vanya, [...]
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Posted April 29, 2015in Center Stage
More magic than math
Even as the U.S. tour of “The Lion King” is finishing its run in Cincinnati, it’ll start setting up in Des Moines. The show travels with “a dupe,” as Ken [...]
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Posted April 22, 2015in Center Stage
Chuckle-worthy gadgetry
John Viars, in his director’s notes for “Around the World in 80 Days,” says he’s sorry his show doesn’t have a balloon. The balloon was a feature of the 1956 [...]
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Posted April 15, 2015in Center Stage
Brightness in a blackout
Screens and shadows rarely matter so much as they do in “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The show takes place in cramped quarters where the Franks and other Jews survive [...]
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Posted April 08, 2015in Center Stage
Dream and nightmare
You can thank God you never had a mother like Mary Bricker. Her face set in a grim, seamy square like a box of drawers set with traps, Bricker continues [...]
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Posted March 31, 2015in Center Stage
Show me the money!
Hillary Clinton can wear a director out. The former Secretary of State, even in late rehearsal for the PAC-funded show at Stagewest, keeps quibbling over stage directions. “Stage left?” asked [...]
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Posted March 25, 2015in Center Stage
The war within
For a minute halfway into “My Name is Asher Lev,” nothing matters so much as a shadow. The dark profile of the title character, a budding artist, falls across a [...]
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