By Ron Fassler Having seen my first Broadway musical as a child in 1967, I have always been sorry that I missed the 1968 musical The Happy Time. With a score by John Kander and Fred Ebb, its original cast album is one that makes you wonder why the show didn’t last...
Liz Robertson Sings ‘Lerner...
By Ron Fassler If a solo cabaret show is to be devoted to a lyricist who came out of what is now lovingly known as “Broadway’s Golden Age” (1943-1959), you can’t do much better than to craft such an evening on the works of Alan Jay Lerner. And when that soloist is a lovely...
Happy Birthday, Wanda June
By Ron Fassler Though mostly known as a novelist and short story writer, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr (1922-2007) wrote a few plays in his lifetime, one of which, Happy Birthday, Wanda June, had its premiere off-Broadway in the winter of 1970. Proving popular with audiences (as well...
The Lucky Ones
By Ron Fassler “Well hello” are the first words spoken by Abigail Bengson, co-host and narrator of The Lucky Ones, the world premiere musical she has written with her husband Shaun Bengson, and with whom she shares the stage the entire evening. The program lists the playwright...
Later Life
By Ron Fassler Some plays are written and some are constructed. If that doesn’t make perfect sense, seeing the Keen Company’s revival of A.R. Gurney’s 1993 comedy Later Life, might make the point clearer. Gurney, who died last June at age eighty-six, was a prolific...
Journey’s End
Opening in Theatres March 16 By Ron Fassler There isn’t a shot fired until seventy minutes into the war drama Journey’s End, British director Saul Dibb’s new film version of R.C. Sherriff’s old play. First produced ninety years ago in London, and then in New York, its...
