RDJ + AI = A Compelling-If-Slighlty-Gap-Filled Night At LCTNovember 10, 2024
It’s no secret that AI is both a beneficial tool and the bane of many human workers’ existence. Personally, it’s hard for even me to find a gray area on the subject, probably because I’ve never felt a need to use it. Yet many people use it for writing purposes, but how does it fully benefit a writer in terms of telling a compelling story? It can draw ideas, mostly from other texts, but it won’t exactly be truly original. Come to think of it, nothing in the world of storytelling is completely original anymore; many plot structures and character archetypes/arcs get reused time and time again (I should know; I’m a writer and I’ve probably gone through a plethora of stock whatever). But what if a writer began to depend quite heavily on other stories and AI, and used it to manufacture almost an entire career? That here is a question examined in LCT’s premiere of “McNeal,” by Ayad Akhtar.
An All-Too-Familiar-Yet-Performance-Driven TropeOctober 1, 2024
To say I was quite surprised by this one is an overstatement. I was quite content with it is more the phrasing I would use in describing Jen Silverman’s “The Roommate.” This is a play that could likely be pulled out of an everyday sitcom or even the plays of the golden days of the theatre. While nostalgia is nice, it’s also nice to see things that are fresh and add something entirely new to an existing format. I didn’t quite feel that was the case with this one.
A "Shy" Revival? Not At All!October 1, 2024
Quirky, charming, and delightfully corny are the three descriptions I’d use in describing “Once Upon A Mattress.”
A Bloody, Spine-Tingling, And Personally Historic Homecoming Indeed!September 1, 2024
“The blood is the life! The blood is the life!” I think that sums up what my next project is about, don’t you think?
A Murder, A Green Man, & Forbidden Desire. Oh My!August 5, 2024
And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for. I’m proud to announce the 3 shows I’ll be taking part in this month for Shakespeare In The Valley/Theater Under The Stars 19th Season.
Come On! Feel The Illinoise!July 11, 2024
Wow. Wow, wow, wow. That was the only word Nick and I could muster up after leaving the St. James. But after a few days of post-show processing, let’s see if I can do more justice than simply “wow.”
Best Play Of The Year. Really?????July 1, 2024
Your patience for this one was much appreciated; I needed time gathering my thoughts and to let this one sit with me for a bit.
"Waterville Valley Tomorrow, Comedy Tonight!"May 11, 2024
In all the craziness of the last month, I never got the chance to share some exciting updates!!
Step Right Up! Step Right Up!May 1, 2024
The dark underbelly of the greatest show on earth is on full display here at “Water For Elephants,” a new musical that is the honest-to-god definition of what it means to perfectly find the balance between spectacle and gorgeous storytelling. Never read the book, never saw the film, and I still was enthralled for every single minute of it!
"Woman Is..." Leaving Audiences Divided And TalkingMay 1, 2024
If “Les Miz” and “Evita” were to conceive a musical child, with a little help being raised by “Cabaret” and “The Great Comet,” then presto! You’ve got yourself “Lempicka”: probably the most original musical, about a true original one should add, to have been birthed onto the Broadway stage this season. Now I wouldn’t call it a perfect musical, and I talk about that more in the sense of its book.
