Things to do in Dayton | MostMetro.com
What's happening in Dayton - from downtown to the entire region
Russell Florence, Jr. is a member of The American Theatre Critics Association and The Drama League. In addition to his role as arts and culture editor of Dayton City Paper and theater critic for Dayton City Paper and Impact Weekly, he served as a Dayton Daily News freelance writer and editorial page contributor. He has also written features for such theater publications as Spotlight Ohio and The Sondheim Review.
Four months after the Dayton Playhouse elegantly saluted Rodgers and Hammerstein with the musical revue “A Grand Night for Singing,” the organization successfully closes its season with a very pleasant, emotionally honest production of the iconic duo’s final collaboration “The Sound of Music.” Despite the unmistakable schmaltz inherent in Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse’s strong… (continue…)
The regional collegiate premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1986 melodramatic megahit “The Phantom of the Opera,” which he co-adapted from the Gaston Leroux novel with Richard Stilgoe and Charles Hart, receives a strikingly designed yet off-kilter staging at Wright State University. Director W. Stuart McDowell’s knack for creating attractive stage pictures is evident once again,… (continue…)
The colorful Gordons of economically grim Harrison, Texas circa 1987 are torn between the importance of legacy and ensuring a viable monetary future in “Dividing the Estate,” Horton Foote’s 2008 Tony Award-nominated comedy having its local premiere at the Dayton Theatre Guild. In the midst of juicy gossip and seemingly trivial chitchat, Foote’s delightfully dysfunctional… (continue…)
Clark State Community College delivers a commendable production of librettist Jeffrey Lane (“Mad About You”) and composer David Yazbek’s (“The Full Monty”) funny, naughty 2005 Tony Award-nominated musical “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” a faithful adaptation of the 1988 film of the same name. Smoothly directed by Geoffrey D. Moss and set on the French Riviera, admirably… (continue…)
Carrie Fisher, daughter of crooner Eddie Fisher and screen legend Debbie Reynolds, humorously bears her wacky, wounded soul in her breezy 2009 one-woman play “Wishful Drinking,” a revealing look at her fractured childhood, rocky relationships and bouts with mental illness and drug addiction. Presented at the Victoria Theatre by the Victoria’s Premier Health Partners Broadway… (continue…)
Redemption and refuge permeates the home of Aunt Ester Tyler, the 285-year-old former slave and prophetess at the moral center of Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s deeply spiritual, beautifully poignant 2005 Tony Award-nominated drama “Gem of the Ocean,” set in 1904 Pittsburgh and marvelously presented in its local premiere by the Human Race Theatre Company.… (continue…)
GOING TO ST. IVES Lee Blessing’s thought-provoking 2000 two-hander “Going to St. Ives” receives a compelling local premiere at the Dayton Theatre Guild. Delicately directed by Greg Smith, “Ives” centers on the dueling agendas of two strong women, particularly the life-changing decision to rid the world of evil. At the titular England home of renowned… (continue…)
Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s friendship-themed musical “Merrily We Roll Along,” a 1981 flop adaptation of the play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart that has become a cult favorite in the Sondheim canon, receives an underwhelming revival at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park that has nothing to do with… (continue…)
CHILDREN OF EDEN Playhouse South’s purposeful, engaging, vocally strong presentation of composer Stephen Schwartz and librettist John Caird’s 1991 biblical musical “Children of Eden” clearly ranks among the organization’s finest productions. Staged with minimalist cohesiveness by Carrie Thurston and based on a concept by Charles Lisanby, “Children of Eden” puts a family-oriented, contemporary spin on… (continue…)
Love, in many forms and stages, permeates the mythical air of John Cariani’s tender comedy “Almost, Maine,” fluidly directed with a dash of whimsy by Kimberly Borst at Sinclair Community College. Transpiring on a wintry Friday evening in the sleepy titular town, excellently envisioned by scenic designer Terry Stump and lighting designer Gina Neuerer, “Almost,… (continue…)
