Brian Sands

2024 Critics’ Choice Gay Appreciation Award winner On behalf of Tony Leggio and myself, I am delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Critics’ Choice Gay Appreciation Award (GAA) is The NOLA Project's production of Dracula, Pete McElligott's fiercely intelligent adaptation of Bram Stoker's gothic-horror story. The award was presented as part of the 34th Gay … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards September 5, 2024

Curtain Up While a few shows will be running during the rest of this month (Tennessee Williams Theatre Company’s A Streetcar Named Desire at The Marigny Opera House thru Aug. 24; 30 by Ninety’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in Mandeville thru Aug. 25), one of our city’s biggest cultural events blows into town over Labor Day Weekend. The extravaganza known as … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards August 22, 2024

New in New York I rarely, if ever, begin a column with an exhortation to those who are in NYC or will be there before September 8, but here goes: Run, scamper or do whatever it takes to get a ticket to CATS: The Jellicle Ball, the most brilliant, exciting, magical “new” show in New York! It will take you to the Heaviside layer of musical theater!! Okay, a little … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards August 16, 2024

A Streetcar Named Desire at Marigny Opera House thru August 24 Shortly after I saw The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans’ (TWTC) production of A Streetcar Named Desire, I (and presumably the rest of the audience) received an email which said: We are aware of a first time technical glitch that happened tonight at the top of Act 2. One of our show operation … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards August 8, 2024

Critics’ Choice Gay Appreciation Award On behalf of Tony Leggio and myself, I am pleased to announce the nominees for the Critics’ Choice Award that will be presented as part of the 34th Gay Appreciation Awards (GAA). They are: Carrie: Blood in the Water produced by Aqua Mob (top) April Louise and Riga Ruby in The Colored Museum; (bottom) The cast of Carrie: Blood in … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards July 9, 2024

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)[Revised][Again] at Tulane’s Lupin Theater In the course of 90 minutes or so, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)[Revised][Again] serves up, in one form or another, all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays (38, if you count Two Noble Kinsmen), plus some sonnets. The comedies and histories are well-represented, the … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards June 28, 2024

New in New York I love musicals, especially of the Broadway variety. And there are a lot of new productions on Broadway now, including revivals, about 13 in all. But none of them are grabbing me, though I have heard good things about The Outsiders and Water for Elephants, and great things about Merrily We Roll Along (which I recently tried to get a ticket to but couldn’t, at … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards June 17, 2024

Two Elizas at Hermann-Grima House I didn't know quite what to expect as I approached Two Elizas at Hermann-Grima House on the last day of its too brief, four-day run. Purposefully, that is, as I like to encounter new works knowing as little about them as possible. I did know it was written and performed by Jenny Mercein who I’m acquainted with from Tulane's theater … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards May 31, 2024

Shakespeare's Tempest Reimagined at the Lafitte Greenway Station through May 25 Magic Shakespeare employs magic in The Tempest, his autumnal dramedy, to move his plot along and serve as a metaphor for the spells he had cast with words in all his previous works. Those who go to The NOLA Project's Shakespeare's Tempest Reimagined at the Lafitte Greenway Station will … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards May 20, 2024

Bianca Del Rio’s Dead Inside at the Mahalia Jackson Theater Bianca Del Rio recently brought her Dead Inside Comedy Tour to the Mahalia Jackson Theater. It was boring, unfunny, tedious, uninspired, slow-moving, and witty as a rock. I have no idea why so many people paid their hard-earned money to see such schlock. Bianca Del Rio and Sherry Vine (It's well known that … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards May 7, 2024