Music brings people together. I was in high school when Carole King’s Tapestry was released in 1971, and my chorus teacher, Pam Perry, took a group of us to see King in concert at the Arie Crowne Theater in Chicago. Almost 50 years later, Patricia Freeman and I saw King and James Taylor in concert […]
Phil Funkenbusch
Posted inArts & Culture
Fast-paced School of Rock finishes Muni season
Two shows opened last weekend in area outdoor theaters: the one-weekend-only run of Agatha Christie’s Murder On the Orient Express at New Salem’s Theatre in the Park and School of Rock at the Muni Opera (running Aug. 10 to Saturday, Aug. 12). Muni Opera’s production of School of Rock is a stage version of the popular […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A fine Fiddler at the Muni
Welcome to summer outdoor theater. We always ask ourselves why we perform outdoors (with challenges of mosquitos, heat, rain). We all admit, though, there is a kind of extra magic that goes with it. Summer outdoor theater has always been a festive addition and has been around for decades. For years, the major summer fare […]
Posted inArts & Culture
See The Mousetrap in London, New York, Springfield
“Murder isn’t all fun and games – or is it?” says a character in Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap, currently receiving a sprightly, elegant production by Spencer Theatre Company at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in downtown Springfield. The fact that this 70-year-old play is being performed here isn’t out of the ordinary, but […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Springfield Theatre Centre stages a powerful musical
This week a recent Broadway musical makes its Springfield debut as Fun Home opens Friday at the Hoogland Center for the Arts, running Friday-Sunday, Nov. 11-13, as well as next week, Nov. 18-20. Directors Joe-Michael Jackson and Ginny Racette began planning this even before the pandemic. The wait is well worth the time. Alison Bechdel […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Lincoln lore on stage
Summer’s end brings a new play to Springfield with the premiere of The Baltimore Plot, by local writer and director John Woodruff, playing in the newly renovated Peggy Ryder Theatre at Hoogland Center for the Arts, Sept. 2-4, and produced by MASS Media. Based on real characters and events, the play tells the almost-unbelievable story […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A classic comes to the New Salem stage
One of the plays that tends to be revived around the country through the years is the drama Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee based on the famous 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial about a young Tennessee man who taught a high school class about evolution, was fired and faced a trial […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Miss Daisy doesn’t get old
The 1988 Pulitzer Prize for drama was awarded to a small, three-character off-Broadway play, Driving Miss Daisy, a play that still has lessons for us today. The Pulitzer Prize is awarded to distinguished work by an American author, preferably original in its source, and dealing with American life. Driving Miss Daisy premiered 35 years ago, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A youngster suddenly alone
A Victorian-era novel is next on stage as Theatre in the Park at Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site is back producing outdoor theater after a two-summer absence. The show is A Little Princess, based on the 1905 children’s book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, opening this week, running June 10-12 and 16-18 at 8 p.m. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Spongebob celebrates Muni’s return
Springfield’s Muni Opera is back after two silent summers, and the first show is a celebratory musical, SpongeBob Squarepants, which opened last week and runs thru June 5. This 2017 musical is based on the popular children’s animated series that has been running since 1999. I asked my nine-year-old great-nephew, Archer Adkins, about the TV […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Mama’s Day a tribute to playwright’s mother
Springfield has long championed community-based and what’s known as grassroots theater. We are now seeing a resurgence of such theater performances after a long COVID pause. It has caused me to reflect and wonder, what is it about these community projects? What brings these people together? Donna Jefferson’s theater journey has been a long trajectory […]
Posted inArts & Culture
KEN BRADBURY
KEN BRADBURY Nov. 7, 1949 – Nov. 18, 2018He put central Illinois on stage In the late 80s I directed a play at Fulton County Playhouse near Bryant. I was away after the play opened and received a call from an actor: “Ken Bradbury came to the show this weekend!” Ken Bradbury’s fame in central […]
