2022 Gay Appreciation Critics’ Choice Award winners On behalf of my colleague Tony Leggio and myself, I am delighted to announce the winners of this year’s Gay Appreciation Critics’ Choice Awards-- Best Play--For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls (The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans) Best Musical--Head Over Heels (Loyola University's Department of Theatre … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards September 20, 2022
Trodding the Boards
Trodding the Boards August 23, 2022
Gay Appreciation Critics’ Choice Award Blame it on Covid brain or just because we got out of the routine after no Gay Appreciation Awards (GAAs) since 2019, but I and my colleague Tony Leggio neglected to bestow a Critics’ Choice Award on any production from the past year or so at the recent GAAs. To make up for that, we’d like to announce the following nominees, all of … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards August 23, 2022
Trodding the Boards August 15, 2022
Dusa, Fish, Stas & Vi at Bryant Park Nola through August 18 It’s always a good sign when a new company joins New Orleans’ theater scene, but especially so after the past couple of years of pandemic challenges. So, a hearty welcome to Artistic Director Andrea Watson’s Fat Squirrel whose initial season features a mix of new and classic plays. For its second outing, it’s … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards August 15, 2022
Trodding the Boards July 26, 2022
Henry IV, Part 1 at Tulane’s Lupin Theater through July 30 For the first time in its 29 year history, the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival is presenting Henry IV, Part 1, a tale of political infighting, warring battles on the fields of England, and interpersonal relationships that mutate throughout the course of the production’s two hours. This second installment of … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards July 26, 2022
Trodding the Boards July 12, 2022
Curtain Up As typically happens when the temperatures go up, theater activity goes down. Still, a goodly number of shows, from comedies to dramas to musicals to a drag extravaganza, will be playing in the greater New Orleans area in July and August. If you prefer your entertainment “live and in person” rather than on TVs, movie screens, cell phones, or computers, plan on … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards July 12, 2022
Trodding the Boards June 28, 2022
School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play at Loyola’s Marquette Theater thru July 1 (Full disclosure: I am the sponsor of The Carol Sutton Memorial Grant and I, along with Grant advisers Gwendolyne Foxworth and Wanda Rouzan, awarded The NOLA Project a 2022 grant to help offset some of the costs associated with the postponement, due to the Omicron Covid surge, of School … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards June 28, 2022
Trodding the Boards June 14, 2022
As You Like It at Tulane’s Lupin Theater through June 25 If you’ve never seen As You Like It before, the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival’s current production (running thru June 25 at Tulane's Lupin Theater) will serve as a good introduction to this pastoral comedy by the Bard. Directors Jon Greene & Torey Hayward have served up a straightforward rendering of it that … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards June 14, 2022
Trodding the Boards May 31, 2022
Porcupine at Bywater Wonderland through June 5 Michael Merino is a brave playwright. Inspired by an article in Cabinet Magazine, Merino wrote Porcupine in 2009 to commemorate the centenary of psychoanalysis’ arrival in America, via Sigmund Freud’s lectures at Clark University in Massachusetts. Author George Prochnick’s article explained why Freud had a bronze porcupine on … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards May 31, 2022
Trodding the Boards May 17, 2022
Curtain Up Given that, as I write this, the last four weeks have included Easter, French Quarter Fest and Jazzfest, local stages have been relatively quiet. With things now back to normal (or what passes for normal here), the boards have lit up with a variety of shows all over town including the West Bank and North Shore. Here’s an overview of the productions that will be … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards May 17, 2022
Trodding the Boards May 3, 2022
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
