蜜柚直播

蜜柚直播 companies found ways to keep theater alive despite a raging pandemic and audiences reluctant to gather.

Live Theatre Workshop set up a stage in its parking lot and you tuned your radio into a frequency that allowed you to hear the play while sitting in your car. The Rogue Theatre had casts in masks and pre-recorded dialogue. 蜜柚直播 Theatre Company had weekly podcasts with play readings and discussions with actors and directors and playwrights.

And through it all, some breathtaking theater was made.

Since 2000, the Star has traditionally given Mac Awards for excellence in theater. We skipped 2020 because theaters closed down in March of that year. And theaters were dark for most of 2021. In addition, COVID meant we were kept away from performances that we wanted to attend.

So, no Mac Awards this year. But we can鈥檛 let 2021 get too far behind without acknowledging some of the shows that stood out to us.

Invisible Theatre

We loved Invisible Theatre鈥檚 June production of 鈥淭iny Beautiful Things,鈥� a poignant and often funny story about an advice columnist. Susan Cookie Baker played the columnist with authority, and director Samantha Cormier saw to it that a piece that could have been schmaltzy never became that.

鈥淟ooped,鈥� at IT in September, was a funny and insightful look into the life of Hollywood icon Tallulah Bankhead. And it鈥檚 hard to imagine anyone other than Betsy Kruse Craig in the role of the foul-mouthed, hard-drinking, promiscuous stage and screen actor from Hollywood鈥檚 golden age. She commanded and kept our attention.

Southern 蜜柚直播 Performing Arts Company

In August, the young musical theater company showed courage and excellence with its production of the rock musical 鈥淣ext to Normal,鈥� directed with a sure hand by Annette Hillman. Liz Cracchiolo gave the grief-stricken, mentally ill mother humanity and courage even in the midst of despair.

蜜柚直播 Theatre Company

ATC opened its season in October with the very funny one-person show, 鈥淢y 80-year-old Boyfriend,鈥� written by and starring the immensely talented Charissa Bertels. It鈥檚 not surprising the production, directed by Sean Daniels, is headed to off-Broadway.

In November, ATC greeted the holiday season with 鈥淢iss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,鈥� which brought Jane Austen鈥檚 Bennet sisters together a few years after 鈥淧ride and Prejudice.鈥� Playwrights Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon nailed the Austen sensibility, and Sean Daniels directed with a light-hearted hand. There were pristine performances all around, but we were especially taken with Jessica Jain who played the mousy Mary and Seth Tucker, who played her nerdy suitor.

The Rogue Theatre

In September, Rogue opened its moving adaptation of Kate Chopin鈥檚 19th century novella, 鈥淭he Awakening,鈥� adapted and directed by Christopher Johnson. Bryn Booth played the mother trapped in a loveless marriage with a fierce determination that broke through the character鈥檚 fragility.

The Rogue was determined to make audiences giddy with its November production of Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淭welfth Night鈥� and it did just that. Cynthia Meier directed a strong cast that included a hysterical performance by Carley Elizabeth Preston, who played the haughty Olivia.

Live Theatre Workshop

Lori Hunt owned the part of the fast-talking, no-nonsense Jenny in LTW鈥檚 November production of 鈥淒ry Powder.鈥� The Sarah Burgess play, directed by Sam Rush, was a peek into the world of high finance. Sure, it sounds, well, dry. It was not; it was a hoot.