Sunday Funday upside-down
That’s quite a box of toys. Rings and dishes in neon plastic, batons of varying length and heft, balls of all sizes, weights and colors — the stuff is a [...]
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Posted May 28, 2014in Center Stage
Posted May 21, 2014in Center Stage
‘Boeing Boeing’ is a much-needed farce
Half an hour into a late rehearsal for “Boeing Boeing,” after the cast had run through a couple of scenes, Des Moines Playhouse Director Kathy Pingel announced it was time [...]
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Posted May 14, 2014in Center Stage
‘Always… Patsy Cline’ is Winterset Main Stage debut
At his keynote address for the launch of the Des Moines Social Club, David Byrne called for “a network” of similar venues. DMSC couldn’t do it alone. The arts in [...]
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Posted May 07, 2014in Center Stage
Nostalgic and intergalactic
“The Intergalactic Nemesis” may be sci-fi fantasy, full of technobabble, but the real fun in it is watching people at play. In particular, Christopher Lee Gibson, who is one of [...]
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Posted April 30, 2014in Center Stage
Minnesota nice — and naughty
In show business, there’s an ancient quip about a dying actor. Colleagues gather at his bedside, grieving, and, with his last words, he tries to reassure them. “Dying is easy,” [...]
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Posted April 23, 2014in Center Stage
‘Extremities’ raises questions of violence and victim blaming
Lately, downtown theater has broken through to a new level at the Social Club, but some of this year’s most exciting work took place out west. The Tallgrass Theater Company [...]
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Posted April 16, 2014in Center Stage
‘The Crucible’ of witchery, tragedy and storm
Last Saturday night, midway into the second act, “The Crucible” brought the thunder. Set at the Salem courthouse, 1692, the witchcraft trials went from bad to worse. Innocent townsfolk found [...]
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Posted April 09, 2014in Center Stage
Hitchcock’s dark farce is funny but flat
Even before Alfred Hitchcock started to toy with it, “Dial M for Murder” was a dark farce. Frederick Knott, the playwright, whipped up some diabolical conniving, as Tony Wendice arranged [...]
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Posted April 02, 2014in Center Stage
‘Porgy and Bess,’ the legacy and the controversy
Did some heavenly theater professor set up Des Moines as a seminar on opera and musical theater lately? Over at the Playhouse we’ve got “Les Misèrables,” as close to opera [...]
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Posted March 26, 2014in Center Stage
Playhouse turned ‘Animal Farm’
“Four legs — woof! Two legs — ba-a-a!” Recognize the refrain? It’s from “Animal Farm,” by George Orwell, one of those books kids are supposed to read in middle school. [...]
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