March
is shaping up as a tantalizingly theatrical month with numerous productions
offering a diverse menu of theatrical entrees. (I hope you enjoyed my
feeble attempt at a theatrical homage to March’s restaurant week…)
Anyway, since there’s so much to cover, let’s great right
to it!
Openings this month include FALSETTOS at MusicalFare Theatre
on March 3rd. First performed by MusicalFare in 1995 at the old Pfeifer
Theatre downtown, FALSETTOS celebrates MusicalFare’s 20th Anniversary
season and is the Tony award winning musical about a family that somehow
manages to stay together by reinventing itself. Alternately comic and
moving, irreverent and insightful, FALSETTOS includes original MusicalFare
cast members John Fredo, Debbie Pappas and Pamela Rose Mangus in its seven
member ensemble. March 4th features the opening of BLACK PEARL SINGS at
O’Connell & Company. Starring Mary Kate O’Connell and
Mary Craig and directed by former Studio Arena Artistic Director, Kathleen
Gaffney, BLACK PEARL is a play with music that is an exploration of song,
race and culture in America. Also opening March 4th is BUFFALO QUICKIES,
a collection of one act world premieres at the Alleyway Theatre. March
5th introduces two more openings: SECRET ORDER at the Kavinoky Theatre
is a drama about the moral and ethical dilemmas involved in the high stakes
world of medical research. At Ujima Theatre, BELLE is a play about two
recently freed slaves journeying to the north in search of a new life.
BELLE has been hailed as “a massive achievement” and “a
beautiful and very important piece of theatre” by CBC Radio.
The following weekend includes more openings. At the Alt
Theatre EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL premieres on March 10th. This promises
to be a comedic send-up of the 1980s horror movie franchise. On March
11th The New Phoenix Theatre presents a new version of Shakespeare’s
MACBETH. This eight person adaptation is inspired by the world of physical
theatre and is directed by Kelli Bocock-Natale. Also opening on the 11th
is the American Repertory Theatre world premiere production of RED CLAY
by Thomas LaChiusa. RED CLAY follows the rise and fall of a proud Georgia
railroad company. Other productions in March include GREASE, starring
American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, opening March 23rd at Shea’s
Performing Arts Center and AMELIA EARHART, opening March 28th at Theatre
of Youth.
Productions that premiered in February and continue through
March include TONI MORRISON’S THE BLUEST EYE at the Paul Robeson
Theatre (through March 7th), THE CHRONICLES OF BEEBO BRINKER at Buffalo
United Artists (through March 13th), Langston Hughes’ HARVEST at
Subversive Theatre (through March 14th), SOME EXPLICIT POLAROIDS at Torn
Space (through March 21st), and Irish Classical Theatre’s production
of Martin McDonagh’s LONESOME WEST (through March 28th.)
Special events in March include the 16th annual Shakespeare
in Delaware Park FABULOUS FEAST fundraiser on March 20th at the imposingly
beautiful Connecticut Street Armory. This reasonably priced special event
($75 per person with a $65 rate for Shakespeare in Delaware Park members)
includes a five course banquet, beer, wine, dancing, swordfights, and
three different auctions.
That’s fifteen productions and one theatrical fundraiser
to attend in March. Better get busy filling up your date book…
See you in April!
Randall Kramer is the Vice President of the Theatre
Alliance of Buffalo (www.theatreallianceofbuffalo.com) and the Artistic
and Executive Director of MusicalFare Theatre, a leading musical theatre
company in the Northeast.
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