All stories by Ghoover on BroadwayStars

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Fringe Day 1: Passing Through and 5 Hams Fairy Tales by Ghoover

Friday April 15, the first night of Pittsburgh Fringe Festival took me to the James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy for Cup-A-Jo Productions, Passing Through.  A world premiere play which ta…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 01:13PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Local Theatre Group to Represent Pittsburgh in Edinburgh Fringe Festival by Ghoover

After being rejected from the Edinburgh International Festival in 1947, eight theatre companies decided to create their own edgy opportunity by conceiving the Fringe Festival. Fast forward 6…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 09:45AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 11, 2016

White Rabbit Red Rabbit by Ghoover

Two glasses of water sit on a table. One glass is pure, the other poisoned. Richard Keitel reads Nassim Soleimanpour’s words for the first time with revelation, by the end of this performa…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 12:13PM[SHARE]
Saturday, April 9, 2016

The Flick by Ghoover

On my way to the Pittsburgh Playhouse the other night a rare thing happened: I was late. My bus was behind schedule and I had to run down the street, making it to the studio theater at 8:01…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 05:27PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 8, 2016

Losing Our Heads Over Shakespeare, Part 1: Mrs. Shakespeare’s Four-Century Journey by Ghoover

Around the world this month, as the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s passing, thespians are especially recalling how they “met” Shakespeare. So, I’m now asking other Pittsb…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 03:11PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 31, 2016

Book of Will: Celebrate the First Folio by Ghoover

When giving tours as a docent at Folger Shakespeare Library on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, I gleefully relished showing off a digital copy of a 400-year-old book. The words in the book a…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 10:15AM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 24, 2016

Sister Act by Ghoover

As the third show of Pittsburgh Musical Theater (PMT)’s “Magnificent Movie Musicals” season this year, Sister Act is an excitingly soulful production filled with blessings, laughs, g…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 11:33PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 21, 2016

Sex with Strangers by Ghoover

Sex with Strangers is an examination of anatomy, not solely the physical intimacy that the two characters’ share, but also the anatomy of a writer’s work, how once purely exposed is some…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 12:29PM[SHARE]

The Drowsy Chaperone by Ghoover

Whether it’s movies, concerts, sporting events, or plays, everyone has their own form of escapism. Everyone has something they like to attend so they can forget about what’s going on in …

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 11:39AM[SHARE]
Saturday, March 19, 2016

Disgraced by Ghoover

A good play has a message and uses the plot to make that message known. It creates developed characters who go through (usually) trying times and they learn something about themselves by the…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 04:32PM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 6, 2016

Strindberg Inspired Play to Premiere at Pittsburgh Playwrights by Ghoover

Mark Clayton Southers experienced August Strindberg’s Miss Julie as translated by Irish playwright Frank McGinnis back in 2008. While attending the Dublin Theater Festival, Southers consid…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 08:23PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 1, 2016

The Bluest Eye by Ghoover

Last weekend, Point Park’s Conservatory Theatre Company opened its production of The Bluest Eye, adapted from Toni Morrison’s book by Lydia R. Diamond and directed by Monica Payne. This …

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 10:02PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Sister’s Easter Catechism by Ghoover

Last Saturday, February 20th, Kimberly Richards was back in Pittsburgh teaching her class titled Sister’s Easter Catechism: Will My Bunny Go To Heaven? and schooling the audience on where …

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 01:40PM[SHARE]
Monday, February 22, 2016

The Full Monty by Ghoover

To all eager readers, yes you get a glimpse of naked men, but the surprising strength of The Full Monty isn’t in the stripping of clothes, but rather in the stripping of the pride and dign…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 01:42PM[SHARE]
Saturday, February 20, 2016

First Date by Ghoover

A first date can be a living hell. Unless you’ve had very serious surgery or were a prisoner of war, you’ll probably agree first dates are hell. Two strangers who know absolutely nothing…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 12:04PM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 18, 2016

Saturday Night Fever by Ghoover

Stunning designs. Electrifying dance moves. And your classic 70’s disco. Yes, I am talking about the show that made the world fell in love with John Travolta. No I’m not talking about Gr…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 07:22AM[SHARE]
Saturday, February 13, 2016

Guys and Dolls by Ghoover

The time is 1950. You are in New York City. And you’ve got a lady friend to flatter. What do you do? Fast forward to 2016. You are now in the Steel City. Same situation. How can you win ov…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 07:22PM[SHARE]
Saturday, January 30, 2016

Ciara by Ghoover

After the lights go down in the spacious Javo Studios in upper Lawrenceville, a woman walks onstage with a glass of wine and a deck of cards. She sits at a table and begins to deal out a gam…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 01:24PM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 13, 2015

Oliver Twist by Ghoover

“I want some more!” Having just reviewed Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s newest production of Oliver in October, this was the first line popped into my head when I first heard the news th…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 09:28PM[SHARE]
Saturday, December 12, 2015

Danny and the Deep Blue Sea by Ghoover

Danny and the Deep Blue Sea by John Patrick Shanley is a torrent of frustration, confusion, and kindness as two socially bereft characters make an awkward attempt at finding happiness. Adrif…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 02:37PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Macbeth by Ghoover

Red is the color of passion, energy, and action. Macbeth is fueled by these same psychological elements on his prophetic and treacherous path to the throne of Scotland. The Pittsburgh Classi…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 11:11AM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 6, 2015

Yinz’r Scrooged by Ghoover

For my second big show in Pittsburgh I had the great fortune to see Bricolage Production Company’s Yinz’r Scrooged Friday night, which is part of their Midnight Radio series. I don’t t…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 12:23PM[SHARE]
Monday, November 23, 2015

Chickens in the Yard by Ghoover

Walking in to see my first Quantum Theatre production ever I had no idea what to expect. Chickens in the Yard by playwright Paul Kruse has given me a unique style to continue to look forward…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 01:31PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Sunset Baby by Ghoover

A couple of months ago I saddled up to my Netflix and watched the documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? For an hour or so I absorbed the story of singer/activist Nina Simone and got teary …

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 01:56PM[SHARE]
Sunday, November 15, 2015

A Servant to Two Masters by Ghoover

Some shows you just hear the name of or see a poster for and they scream “Comedy!” or “Tragedy!” or “Musical!”. In the case of A Servant to Two Masters at the Pittsburgh Public, …

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 04:36PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 11, 2015

The Wild Duck by Ghoover

Sight is arguably one of the most essential senses. With sight, one is able to perceive texture, color, and light. The Conservatory Theater Company at Point Park University brings each aspec…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 04:09PM[SHARE]
Saturday, October 31, 2015

1984 (Midnight Radio) by Ghoover

Thanks to my public school system I was never made to read 1984, the classic dystopian novel by George Orwell. I was instead subjected to The Scarlet Letter and The Great Gatsby, neither of …

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 06:37PM[SHARE]
Friday, October 30, 2015

Oliver by Ghoover

“Consider yourself, at home! Consider yourself, one of the family!” As the young actors and actresses sing and dance away on Byham Theater’s stage in the fabulous tunes of Lionel Bart…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 12:47PM[SHARE]
Monday, October 26, 2015

Brainpeople by Ghoover

If given the choice of eating tiger meat to receive $20,000 or not, I’d eat the meat. In José Rivera’sBrainpeople brought to you by Throughline Theatre however, the characters at a dinn…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 06:47PM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 22, 2015

Into the Woods by Ghoover

“Perhaps nothing touches our imagination more deeply than a story that begins with those four magic words—‘once upon a time’”, said Angela Lansbury at the 1988 Tony Awards, introdu…

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 08:28AM[SHARE]
Monday, October 19, 2015

The Night Alive by Ghoover

Last Friday was opening night for City Theatre’s production of Connor McPherson’sThe Night Alive, directed by Tracy Brigden. This is a tale about a group of Dubliners scraping by in the …

SOURCE: onstagepittsburgh.com at 02:14PM[SHARE]