I published several short stories this past week. I’ve been trying to reacquaint myself with my inner fiction writer and thought I should just go ahead and put these out into the world.
I’ve been listening to Penn Jillette’s podcast since it was a radio show. And it stopped being a radio show in 2007(!).
One constant of the show has been cohost Michael Goudeau. I always enjoyed Goudeau’s quick wit and generally happy attitude. What’s not to love about a juggler whose favorite song is “Tomorrow” from Annie?
Earlier this year (maybe it was this year? It’s so hard to remember anymore. 2020, amirite?) Goudeau said something on the podcast that really struck a chord for me, so I wrote it down.
Last week I started thinking about the quote again and it occurred to me that it contained a new resonance in this time of lockdown. So I wrote an article about it, published in the online magazine An Idea.
THE HEATH – another great production at the Warehouse, this of a new play by Lauren Gunderson.
BRIGHT STAR – I saw the original production of this Steve Martin/Edie Brickell musical when it was on Broadway. I incorporated that experience into my review of a terrific production by the Mill Town Players.
NEWSIES – This production at Greenville Theatre was top notch (and, disclaimer, my son was in it).
DEAR EVAN HANSEN – the touring company came to the Peace Center.
COME FROM AWAY – What a wonderful show! We saw the touring production. I interviewed Julie Johnson, who graduated a year or two ahead of me from Austin College (in Sherman, TX).
Bonus – Five Great Local Hikes, written for a tourist guide to our town, published by the Greenville News.
I’ve been listening to a book that’s been on my radar – and in my Hoopla queue – for years: Fosse by Sam Wasson.
It’s fantastic. I read (and wrote about) another book about Fosse many, many years ago, but this one’s even better.
I reached the section detailing the filming of Cabaret, and began thinking about the immersive, beautifully acted, and powerful production of the musical I saw at The Warehouse Theatre several years ago. I dare say it remains the definitive stage version of Cabaret for me.
There are dozens of shows that I’ve seen in local theatres that continue to stick with me, sometimes for the overall effect, sometimes simply for a few standout moments or images or performances or even just feelings. As much as I love bus and truck shows – and the touring production of Wicked remains the single most affecting theatrical experience I have ever had – there’s nothing like local theatre to stick with you for the long term.
Sadly, the review I wrote of that stellar production of Cabaret lived on a website that no longer exists. So I thought I’d dig it out of my archives and share it. Because that show was glorious.
CABARET REVIEW
What good is sitting alone in your room? Come to the Cabaret, old chum!
There. I had to say it, so I did.
The nice part is, I really mean it.
The Warehouse Theatre’s staging of the classic musical Cabaret opened this weekend, and it’s a rousing, gorgeous, thoughtful, and entrancing production.
Theatre review originally published November 30, 2016 in the Greenville News.
For those of a certain age, Miracle on 34th Street is one of a handful of beloved holiday films that played in regular rotation each December. Others were such classics as White Christmas, It’s A Wonderful Life, and various versions of A Christmas Carol. The dialogue and characters – and the actors who brought them to life – are as familiar as our own childhood living rooms.
Others may not have been so lucky. Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical, now playing at Greenville Little Theatre, tries to capture both audiences. It sticks close to the original screenplay, about a Macy’s Santa who may actually be the real thing, while adding a few songs to help give it a more theatrical appeal. Continue reading “GLT’s Miracle on 34th Street Affirms the Magic of Christmas”→
Produced for the college’s 50th anniversary, the book was released last night at a celebratory gala. I am co-author, having written many of the chapters and helped arrange the overall flow.
It was a fun project to work on and I’m proud of the result – it’s a great looking book. And I learned a lot about the huge effect Greenville Tech has had – and continues to have – on the community.
This interview was originally published in Creative Loafing.
“We have been doing magic together for twenty-five years, and are so sick of it we could spit. So, in the new show, we are moving into the field of religion and will be performing real miracles.”
Penn & Teller arrive in Greenville on January 18 for an evening at the Peace Center that promises, if not miracles, at least some brushes with death.
“There’s plenty of death,” Teller told me in a recent telephone interview. “Good, funny death.”
Teller is the shorter, usually silent half of the team. Penn, on the other hand, is tall and (as Teller puts it) “brilliantly articulate.” Together, they’ve been mystifying audiences for more than two decades. After catapulting to fame in the mid-eighties with fabled appearances on “Late Night With David Letterman” and their Obie award winning (“For Whatever It Is They Do”) Off-Broadway show, the pair have dabbled in books, television specials, their own movie (Penn & Teller Get Killed) and even an appearance in Walt Disney’s Fantasia 2000. But recently they’ve been focusing most of their attention on their live show.
This interview was originally published in Creative Loafing.
When a replacement was needed to play the lead in the Broadway musical Jekyll and Hyde, theatre execs decided to look for someone from the world of rock and roll in hopes of attracting a different audience to the play, then in its fourth year. They turned to Sebastian Bach, former lead singer of the hard rock band Skid Row (who scored with hits like their Slave to the Grind album and the singles “18 and Life” and “I Remember You”). New audiences came to the show, pleasing the producers and creating a new career path for a rock and roller who was tiring of life on the road. But now that he’s starring in a revival of the “rock opera” Jesus Christ Superstar, Bach comes full circle.
“Right before Broadway,” Bach recalled in a recent telephone conversation, “I was on the road with my solo band, doing 90 dates across the U.S., and I was like, man, wouldn’t it be great if I could just play in one place and the crowds could come to me instead of all this traveling. Then I got on Broadway, so that came true. Then when I was on Broadway, I was like, man, what a drag it is that this is only in one city, I’d love to take this around to all the other cities. And now that’s exactly what I get to do. I get to bring Jesus Christ Superstar, the Broadway show, to Greenville and I’m so excited about that.” Continue reading “From the Deep Archives – Sebastian Bach, Superstar: Former Skid Row lead singer plays Jesus at Peace Center”→
neil shurley 