Trodding the Boards

Good Night, Oscar at Le Petit through January 26 Le Petit is currently presenting Doug Wright’s play Good Night, Oscar. Oscar who? Oscar Levant. Oscar Levant who? I suspect those under 30 or 40, or even 50, 60 or 70 might have difficulty answering that question. Even the show’s director, A.J. Allegra, writes in a program note, “If you had asked me two years ago who Oscar … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards January 13, 2025

The Year in Review I’ve been postponing writing this column and now, it seems, I’ve postponed it all the way into 2025. I’m actually quite good at procrastinating and, with all the holiday festivities that have been going on recently, it’s been quite easy to dilly-dally when there are cards to mail, presents to wrap, and parties to go to. But there’s been another reason … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards January 3, 2025

The Trojan Women at The New Marigny Theatre through December 13 Euripides’ The Trojan Women ranks as one of the most despairing plays in the canon. An unsparing portrait of victims of war, it does not offer cheery visions of sugarplum fairies or redemptions of scrooges; needless to say, it’s not your typical Holiday fare. Fat Squirrel’s production of it at The New Marigny … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards December 13, 2024

Pass Over at The New Orleans African American Museum The NOLA Project recently presented the regional premier of Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu's Pass Over at The New Orleans African American Museum (NOAAM). I was out of town during its first two weekends but caught it during its last week. I’m happy I did. In Pass Over, Nwandu riffs on Waiting for Godot, the Book of Exodus, … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards November 27, 2024

Songblazers--A Journey into Country Music touring through Feb. 2, 2025 Cirque du Soleil’s Songblazers--A Journey into Country Music played here at the Saenger Theatre last month but, as it’s touring the country, I thought it’s still worth writing about in case it turns up in a theater near you. Songblazers can be divided into three components: the music, the … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards October 24, 2024

Two of the wildest, most unique and entertaining shows play their last performances this weekend. If you want to see the quintessence of NOLA quirkiness, you'll want to catch them before they're gone! The Night Fiona Flawless Went Mad at The AllWays Lounge through October 14 Trey Ming's musical The Night Fiona Flawless Went Mad has triumphantly returned to The AllWays … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards October 11, 2024

School of Rock at Hammond’s Columbia Theatre on September 27 Cooper Andry, Merah Benoit, Blake Bosley, August Doussan, Waylon Hagale, Bailey Hall, Drago Han, Anna LaNasa, Andrew Letellier, Everly Materne, Annelise Perez, Parker Portera-Dufrene, Braiden Rome, Jane Sale, Basil Stanley, Laura Toomer, Olivia Yi, and Eleanor Zafirau. Study the foregoing names. For when one of … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards September 26, 2024

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