Nancy Salz |

Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance at Barrington Stage

July 26, 2016Nancy Salz

John Rando and Joshua Bergasse are ingenious at moving ensembles around a stage—be they orphan pirates, lovelorn young ladies or frivolous policemen. Pirates leap onto rope nets strung down from the top of the theater; they crawl down the aisles at our feet, swords in hand. Young ladies sidestep closely together as they pine in song for young men to be their husbands. Uniformed policemen hop onto each other’s backs or fall down onto the stage dominos style all the while delighting the audience into non-stop grins.

Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd at Glimmerglass

July 23, 2016July 23, 2016Nancy Salz

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is dark, dark musical theatre. A vengeful barber returns to Victorian London, slits the throats of those who have wronged him and with his accomplice turns their bodies into the stuffing of meat pies. Todd’s London is as menacing as he is …

“There’s a hole in the world
Like a great black pit
And it’s filled with people
Who are filled with shit
And the vermin of the world inhabit it …”

A Scene from "The Little Shop of Horrors" by the Berkshire Theatre Group. Photo Tyler H. First.

Little Shop of Horrors Meets Kinky Boots at the Berkshire Theatre Group

July 20, 2016July 23, 2016Nancy Salz 1 Comment

Something rather curious happens in the middle of Little Shop of Horrors now at the Colonial Theatre. Audrey II, the ultimate diva of human-eating plants, turns into a real-life drag queen.

Bells Are Ringing. Photo 2015 Michelle McGrady .

Bells Are Ringing—A Berkshire Theatre Group Production at The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield through July 26.

July 21, 2015July 23, 2016Nancy Salz

Before there was texting, emails, voicemails, and answering machines, there were telephone answering services. An extension of a telephone number was connected to a switchboard in an office where it was answered by an operator. Of course, whoever took the messages learned maybe a little too much about the customers lives, loves and foibles.

Man of La Mancha at Barrington Stage Company. L to R: Tom Alan Robbins and Jeff McCarthy. Photo Kevin Sprague.

Man of La Mancha—Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield MA, June 10—July 11, 2015

June 19, 2015July 23, 2016Nancy Salz

Man of La Mancha is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. Since its premiere at a Greenwich Village theatre in 1965, when it won a Tony for Best Musical, it has had four Broadway revivals and numerous productions all over the world. Its endurance is based on its gorgeous score and its 400 year-old classic story of the dreamer, Don Quixote, who imagines only good and gallantry in a dark, ugly world.

Kander and Ebb’s The Visit at the Williamstown Theatre Festival

August 8, 2014July 23, 2016Nancy Salz

Will the town kill him for the money? The townspeople initially proclaim that it’s not right but are too quickly seduced by the promise of riches and do the woman’s bidding. They rationalize it in the name of justice.

Berkshire Theatre Group in A Little Night Music. Photo by Reid Thompson.

Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music at the Berkshire Theatre Group

July 11, 2014July 23, 2016Nancy Salz

It has been said that the sign of a good musical is when the audience leaves the theatre humming a tune from the show. Not so with Stephen Sondheim. His ability to dazzle us with his lyrics, his verbal brilliance and wit, causes us to ponder his lyrics on the way up the aisle and wonder how he pulls it all off.

Elizabeth Stanley and Paul Anthony Stewart with the cast of Kiss Me, Kate. Photo by Kevin Sprague.

Kiss Me Kate at the Barrington Stage Company

June 19, 2014July 23, 2016Nancy Salz

Just reading the program builds anticipation for the Barrington Stage Company production of Kiss Me Kate. The songs listed—“So In Love,” “I Hate Men,” “Wunderbar,” “Too Darn Hot”—are among the best from Broadway’s golden age. The first number, “Another Op’nin’, Another Show” adds more anticipation. Then the show builds and builds and builds until it is, unfortunately, way over the top. Barrington Stage Company, always so reliable for exceptional musical theatre, this year embellished a Cole Porter gem. They shouldn’t have. Kiss Me Kate gleams on its own.