Musical Theater
Broadway Grand Rapids Returns After Nearly Two-Year Hiatus With Hairspray
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 01-13-2022 under OPINION
On January 12th, 2022, Broadway Grand Rapids returned in the best way possible: with a fast-paced, streamer-shooting, dance-filled show that offered, above all else, fun. It was a long time coming. Thanks to the pandemic, nearly two years have...
Grand Rapids Civic Theatre Stages The Sound Of Music
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 11-24-2021 under OPINION
"I don't want to be thought of as wholesome," Julie Andrews once said but it was too late. Mary Poppins (1964) instantly established her as a model of wholesomeness, and, a year later, The Sound of Music settled the...
Still Scary After All These Years: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Broadway Grand Rapids
by (John Kissane)
Submitted 03-12-2020 under OPINION
Let's be honest: Charlie might be in the title, but it's Willy Wonka that we love. Sure, he's a little crazy, maybe a lot crazy, and he could stand to be more responsible, in the sense that he doesn't appear to care much if the...
Civic Theatre's comical musical Bye, Bye Birdie to end this weekend
by (Laura Chittenden)
Submitted 03-15-2012 under OPINION
Bye, Bye Birdie is a rocking parody of Elvis Presley. Set in 1958, the musical centers on Conrad Birdie (Jacob Loader), a hip-revolving, twist-turning pop star who, like Elvis Presley, is going off to war. Albert Peterson (Matt Dixon) and Rosie...
Actors' Theatre wraps Tony Award-winning Spring Awakening with two sold out shows
by (alexfluegel)
Submitted 12-19-2011 under OPINION
Teen angst is timeless, and when done right can win a few Tony Awards (read: eight), as Spring Awakening, the rock musical by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, did in 2007. An adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s controversial 1892 “children...