A great review from Pittsburgh in the Round: Aided by Kirk Howe’s skillful musical direction, and the excellent instrumental work of Howe (Keyboard 1) Beth Minda (Keyboard 2), Dave Minda (Bass Guitar), and Jesse Wall (Percussion), the performers of Theatre Factory’s latest production dazzle and elate throughout the many silly twists and turns. Fantasticks is wonderfully…
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For Luisa, Jerz’s character, “the world is still a magical place, full of epic characters and situations and — above all — romance.” She says the audience should like Luisa and care about her, not wanting the world to hurt or change her. A fun show to perform “‘The Fantasticks’ music is uniquely beautiful, and…
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During Fall Break, I filmed my scenes for the horror indie The First Night of Summer. My character is a cheesy dad who’s trying too hard to engage with his sullen teenager — played by my daughter. While coaching us on the set, director Mark Sciubba described the dynamic he was looking for, and asked…
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Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. Riker accepts a temporary assignment as first officer of a Klingon vessel. “A Matter of Honor” offers a thoughtful, enjoyable dramatization of differences between Federation and Klingon culture, and a good B-plot in which Wesley helps a visiting officer adapt to routine operations on the Enterprise. It’s a nice touch…
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Turns out, getting a STEM education may help you get a good job early but if you want a good career, you’re better off in liberal arts lane. In other words, even if you’re only measuring money, a liberal arts education is probably worth a ton more than most people may think. […] [B]y the time…
Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation after a 20-year break. Tension mounts between Captain Picard and Dr. Pulaski as the Enterprise encounters a rapid-aging disease. I rather liked how Picard, who just last week quoted part of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, is in his ready room reading a book when Troi reminds him he wanted to…
Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation after a 20-year break. In his final hours, an arrogant, crotchety cybernetics genius takes a liking to Data. After the genius dies, Data starts acting arrogant and crotchety. Hmm. This early in the run of TNG, we’ve already seen the trope of a brilliant, older professional man supported and…
Saving for the next time I teach “Intro to English Study.” It’s all well and good to sing “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” to the tune of “Hallelujah,” but why can’t you do it the other way around? For that matter, why does it work only when you limit yourself to the first two lines…
Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation after a 20-year break. A mediator who communicates via a telepathic chorus is a warring planet’s only hope for peace. While the episode isn’t perfect, nothing made me want to facepalm. I cared about Riva (the mediator) and his romantic (but at the same time respectful and professionally empathetic) interest…
Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation after a 20-year break. A pony-tailed pirate-shirt-wearing pile of charisma steps out of a Renaissance Festival sideshow onto the Enterprise for a silly low-stakes caper. Meanwhile, Data tries stand-up comedy. I cringed when the guest star put the moves on the pretty transporter technician (played by a before-she-was-famous Teri…
A librarian at the University of Virginia kindly scanned and emailed the review I wrote, as an undergraduate student journalist, of the pre-Broadway tryout of A Few Good Men, in September 1989. I was prepared to cringe, but I was actually kind of proud of the lead, which applies equally to the professional production now…