Post Script

James DeVita is appearing in only one production this season at American Players Theatre—as Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge. But he’s been plenty busy behind the scenes, spending 18 months creating a new adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, and then directing the play up the hill. At a recent pre-show discussion, DeVita shared his personal connection to the play, his process for creating a new adaptation of the French classic, and why he feels the story continues to captivate audiences.

During the two weeks I spent at the O'Neill as part of the National Critics Institute, we saw a lot of theater. We attended professional productions at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and The Goodspeed Opera House, as well as readings of plays and musicals in development at the O'Neill itself. 

But if we learned anything in our conversations about the state of professional criticism, it was that theater reviewers would do well to diversify -- to apply our talents to other aspects of culture, including modern dance, food, and film. 

The essentials:

What: The public is invited to attend a staged reading of Karen Saari’s new play In a Clearing

When: 7:30 p.m. on July 27 and 28

Where: in the Diane Ballweg Theatre on the Edgewood College campus.

Who: Directed by David Pausch, the play features Madison-based actors Casem AbuLughod, Autumn Shiley, Jamie England, and Jess Schuknecht

How much? Free admission, with a suggested donation of $10 collected at the door

More info: Workshop Stage’s Facebook page

Why go? Be in the room where it happens. Seeing a play in progress is a fascinating experience. As an audience member you play a crucial role in shaping the work. Plus, it features some great actors and a compelling story. You may even get to talk to the playwright about things you liked in the play.

This July, I was one of 14 theater critics from across the country who participated in the 2017 National Critics Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. It was a great honor, and an even greater learning experience.

A few years ago Leda Hoffman went to Chicago's Theater Wit to see an edgy new production called Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play. During the second act of Anne Washburn's mash-up of "The Simpsons" and life after the apocalypse, Hoffman had already decided she would direct it in Milwaukee, putting her own spin on the material. 

In an early scene in Beautiful, struggling songwriter and 16 year-old college student Carole King meets handsome fellow student Gerry Goffin, who aspires to become a playwright. Dismissing her suggestion to collaborate by writing lyrics for pop songs, he asks, "What can you say in three minutes?" 

The same question could be posed, "How can you fit the life and career of one of the most prolific and successful female songwriters of the twentieth century into a 2 1/2 hour musical?" The answer is you can't. Instead, the touring production of Beautiful, on stage in Overture Hall through June 18, tells a compelling but simplified story of Carole King's evolution from an awkward teenage composer in Brooklyn in 1958, to a poised, accomplished singer/songwriter playing a triumphant solo concert at Carnegie Hall in 1971. The fast-paced, funny, and polished production showcases a very strong cast juxtaposing exuberant love songs with King's turbulent personal life as she rose to fame.