Brian Sands

Varla Jean Merman's Little Prick at Café Istanbul Varla Jean Merman returned to Café Istanbul recently and I'm calling the police! Why? Because her new show assaulted me! After her Little Prick performance, my face hurt, literally, from grinning for 90 minutes. Oh Officer! Accurately dubbing herself a “Superspreader of good cheer”, Varla (I’d refer to her as “Ms. Merman” … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards May 3, 2022

Fairykind at The AllWays Lounge’s Twilight Room through May 2 As New Orleans’ theatrical landscape comes back to life, for those of us who love musicals in particular, it is heartening that we’ve had not only such regional premieres as Head Over Heels (at Loyola) and Shaina Taub’s Twelfth Night (Hahnville High School), but the world premiere of a new “Musical … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards April 19, 2022

For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls at Loyola's Lower Depths Theater through April 9 In March 2020, The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans (TWTC) had been just about to open its production of Williams’ In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel when the world changed and things shut down. They then hoped to return to the stage that fall with For Whom the Southern Belle … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards April 5, 2022

One Night with Billie & Ella at the WWII Museum’s Stage Door Canteen through March 27 If you want to enjoy 75 minutes of music from the Great American Songbook performed by a pair of local songstresses channeling two of America’s musical icons, then head to the WWII Museum’s Stage Door Canteen before One Night with Billie & Ella finishes its run on Sunday, March … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards March 22, 2022

Curtain Up With 2022's marvelous Mardi Gras now a happy memory and Covid slowly but surely being brought under control, New Orleans’ spring theater season will get to blossom fully for the first time in three years. Here are some of the shows that will be opening between now and Jazzfest. I hope you’ll get to see some -- or all -- of them! The venerable Le Petit Théâtre … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards March 8, 2022

Frozen at the Saenger Theatre I was a frozen virgin, um, I was a Frozen virgin until this Disney musical’s national touring company played at the Saenger Theatre recently. Sure, I had seen a few seconds from the movie's Let It Go video but that was it. Now that I've experienced it, I have a few questions: Why is Elsa dangerous? What did the satyr-looking guy do to her … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards February 22, 2022

Blue at Slidell Little Theatre through February 13 If you want to see a young actress who, though she’s just making her stage debut, sparkles with a talent many with far more experience can only aspire to, then head to Slidell Little Theatre (SLT) this weekend for its production of Blue. And be ready when Asia Sylvas enters the stage. Sylvas plays LaTonya Dinkins, a high … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards February 8, 2022

World's Greatest Johnny Cash Experience at the WWII Museum’s Stage Door Canteen through Jan. 30 Fans of Johnny Cash ought to head to the WWII Museum this weekend as, if you close your eyes, you’ll think that the “The Man in Black” has come back from beyond. That’s because Terry Lee Goffee, with his rumbly bass-baritone and twang to his singing voice, sounds incredibly … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards January 25, 2022

Year in Review As 2021 began, with its promises of a vaccine, things continued much as they had in 2020 with live performances occurring at Jefferson Performing Arts Society (JPAS), Rivertown Theaters, on the North Shore, and at university theaters, along with zoomed productions from some Orleans Parish theater companies. Slowly, other theaters returned to in-person … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards December 28, 2021