Mary Young

Last week, I watched the courageous and artful William Wyler film The Children’s Hour. Originally a play, it’s based on a true story from 1810 about two Edinburgh school teachers whose lives were destroyed when one of their students falsely accused them of engaging in an “unnatural” relationship. During the intro, I learned about how […]

Aida, a musical by Elton John and Tim Rice, revolves around a Nubian princess who is captured and enslaved after her kingdom is overrun by the Egyptian army. She is brought back to Egypt, where she is “gifted” to Amneris, Pharaoh’s daughter, to serve as another one of her many handmaids. Amneris’ betrothed and Aida’s […]

As the house lights went down, music from a favorite era filled the Hoogland’s Peggy Ryder Theatre. While the show is not a musical, the pre-show tunes like “Beautiful Girls,” “I’ve Got The World on a String” and “Goody Goody” had me singing along, filled with anticipation for this world-renowned play.  You Can’t Take It […]

An exceptionally well-written article – sorry, essay – about the suicide of a 16-year-old boy who jumped from the observation deck of a Las Vegas casino has the potential to breathe life into a struggling magazine. The demanding editor-in-chief hires a millennial fact-checker to verify the essay’s content before publishing. The deadline is very tight, […]

I’m guessing most people are familiar with some aspect of the show Mary Poppins: either the beloved children’s book by P.L. Travers, the iconic Walt Disney film, or at the very least, the fact that Dick Van Dyke is still alive and entertaining at 98 years old. The live production captivated Broadway audiences for over […]

When it debuted in 1964, Hello, Dolly! set a record for the most Tony Awards, which it held for the next 37 years. (The Producers moved into the top spot when it won 12 awards in 2001). The cast recording of the original Broadway production reached No. 1 on the Billboard album chart in 1964 […]

I didn’t know what to expect when I attended a tech rehearsal of Springfield Theatre Centre’s The Bridges of Madison County last week. I had seen the movie and remember finding it heartbreaking while loving the direction and the acting (it’s Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, so…). And knowing how the first night of tech […]

In partnership with the Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum, Westminster Presbyterian Church presents “Portraits of Peace,” a program featuring both music and drama celebrating the lives of civil rights leaders Rosa Parks and the Rev. Dr. C. T. Vivian. Dr. Sharon J. Willis of Atlanta, Georgia, a composer, playwright and actress, will […]

Adding to the list of edgy modern musicals hitting local theater stages in recent seasons comes a show about the challenges – as well as horrors and pleasant surprises – of the contemporary dating scene. The setting is New York City, though this story could play out anywhere. Nice guy Aaron has been set up on a blind date. He’s an […]

The UIS Performing Arts Center invites you on a collaborative journey into history with Outraged: Terror in Springfield 1908 by local playwright and 2023 UIS artist-in-residence, Tim Crawford. This play-in-progress, part of the Our Stage / Our Voices initiative, promises an evening of thought-provoking theater, audience engagement and a chance to contribute your voice to […]

Originally produced on Broadway in 1981 – flopping spectacularly and experiencing many rewrites and revisions since – Merrily We Roll Along, with music and lyrics by the late-great Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, is based on the 1934 play by the same name by the brilliant writing team of George S. Kaufman and […]