Category: Musicals
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There’s More Than One Way to Crack An Egg and There’s More Than One Way to Peel An Orange, But There’s Only One Place in Hampton Roads to Catch “Purlie” (And That’s Downing-Gross)
When we got home from “Purlie”, playing now at Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center, our cat Pepper was up in arms. “How offensive that they would do a song called ‘Skinnin’ a Cat’! Unbelievable!” she meowed at us. When we finally got her settled down enough to listen, and explained to her that it was just…
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Shakespeare Goes West! Check Out “Desperate Measures” at Generic Theater
Photo courtesy of Donald Campbell (https://www.instagram.com/duck.duck.soup/). Things I knew about “Desperate Measures”, currently playing at Generic Theater, when I walked in… The rest was a mystery, including the fact that it is a musical, only discovered upon opening the program and seeing a list of musical numbers. (I was also thrilled to see a cat…
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The Winter Wonderettes Headline Harper’s Hardware Holiday Happenings at Smithfield Little Theatre
*Note: As per the performance eligibility requirements laid out here, this production is not up for HRACT Award consideration.* Smithfield Little Theatre loves a four woman show, and this year, they filled their two weekend-only holiday spot with “Winter Wonderettes”, a show sprinkled with classic Christmas songs tied together with a loose plotline wherein the audience…
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Little Theatre of Virginia Beach Taps the Night Away with “Crazy For You”
A quirk in the scheduling of HRACT-Award eligible shows this year meant that it had been over two months since we’d seen a musical – “much too long” I said to my wife as we walked toward the Little Theatre of Virginia Beach to see “Crazy For You”. I do love a play, but there…
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Information and Reminders for those Attending the Awards Ceremony
The 2024-2025 Hampton Roads Achievement in Community Theater Awards is almost here! If you are planning to attend, here are some reminders and information: If you are a NAMED NOMINEE (i.e., your name individually appears on our nomination announcement here): Finally, if you are part of a nomination for Best Performance of a Song (Ensemble),…
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Come See the “Cabaret” at Williamsburg Players, and Wonder – What Would You Do?
Four doors, two staircases, and curtains all around – the stage at Williamsburg Players for their production of “Cabaret” has many ways on and off, both inviting and haunting, an appropriate backdrop for the show about to play out before your eyes. Before you know it, the stage is filled with the cast of the…
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A Roller Coaster Crash, a Fortune Telling Machine, and an Incredible Cast – “Ride the Cyclone” is a Whirlwind of Spooky Fun at LTN
Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/) We live out in the Ocean View area of Norfolk, a part of town that grew up on the back of a (no longer standing) trolley company amusement park. So we were intrigued walking into the Little Theatre of Norfolk with a sold out crowd to see a…
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Relive Eva Perón’s Rainbow Tour at PCT’s Production of “Evita”
I have a complicated relationship with Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. From my perspective: “Evita”, currently playing at Peninsula Community Theatre, is my absolute favorite of the group. Being introduced to the Madonna/Antonio Banderas movie version by my uncles a few years ago, the music continues to live rent-free in my head (I’ll often wake up…
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A Flop? Nowhere to be Found at LTVB’s “The Producers”
Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/) Is there a story that Americans like more than one in which a chained-to-his-desk worker chases big dreams by committing a white collar crime, finds friendship (and maybe even love) along the way, and then faces the consequences of his actions? Throw a couple big musical numbers in…
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The 2024-25 HRACT Awards Nominees
We can’t believe that the second season of the HRACT Awards has already come to a close. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the shows this year, and really struggled to narrow down the list of deserving nominees to the requisite number for each category. The winners will be announced at our awards ceremony on October…
HRACT Awards 