by Chris Rohmann | Jun 15, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Stage, Stagestruck
The “royal family” of Broadway in the early 20th century was the Barrymores – Ethel, “first lady of the American theater,” John the swashbuckling Shakespearean, and Lionel, best remembered now as mean old Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life. The hit Broadway comedy of...
by Chris Rohmann | Jun 13, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
A theater story: For three years in the mid-’70s, Anthony Perkins starred in the long-running Broadway production of Equus, playing the psychiatrist Dr. Dysart (pause for Psycho jokes). Just before one matinee came an announcement: “Anthony Perkins will not be...
by Chris Rohmann | Jun 13, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Stagestruck
Time was, summer theater was pretty predictable. Two comedies, a drama and a whodunit was the standard lineup when I was in summer stock way back in the day. Even the major venues — of which the Williamstown and Berkshire Theater Festivals were the grande dames —...
by Chris Rohmann | Jun 4, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Two plays now running in Hartford are framed by resistance movements against political and economic oppression, and both carry weighty metaphors. At TheaterWorks through June 23, a lesson in global economics is tucked into a torn-from-the-headlines thriller, and at...
by Chris Rohmann | Jun 1, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
I’m always excited as the summer-theater season approaches, even though it means I’ll be spending even more of my entertainment hours indoors than during the dark winter. In a brief three months, we theatergoers are treated to a greater variety of fare — not to...