

What is your definitive ranking of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals that you have seen? That was the topic of conversation in our car as we drove through the southeast community of Newport News and pulled into the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center, where this year’s show is “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”. This was also…

In our family, we love a good “for entertainment purposes only” bet – we try to guess what configuration the stage will be at Generic Theater, place wagers on how many empty seats there will be when we go to LTVB (spoiler, it is always less than five), and try to prognosticate how the Green…

Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/) As I walked into the Generic Theater on Sunday afternoon, I had the same thought as Daniel on stage – so, where is the shock treatment equipment? We would soon find out that Daniel, played by the fast-rising and talented Lucas Guzzo, has indeed walked into a gay…

Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/) “Into the Breeches” begins and ends with only the ghost light burning on stage, a time honored tradition of leaving a single light on in a playhouse when nobody else is there (legend says this is to keep the ghosts away, although its real function may be more…

Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/) A forecast of snow wasn’t going to stop us from getting to the Little Theatre of Norfolk on Friday for the opening night of “Choir Boy,” a powerful story about a gay teenager at an all-boys boarding school written by Tarell Alvin McCraney (who also wrote the Oscar…

*Note: As per the performance eligibility requirements laid out here, this production is not up for HRACT Award consideration.* A fun newspaper-style Playbill was handed to us by a tiny elf as we entered Smithfield Little Theatre on Saturday night to see their holiday production of “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”. As I…

Bathed in the glow of holiday lights, we strolled through Newport News’ Hilton Village and into Peninsula Community Theatre for opening night of “Drinking Habits”. A simple but effective set sat on stage, evoking the life that you might imagine in a convent. We were about to find out, however, that nothing about life in…

We stepped into Generic Theater on Sunday afternoon to find a playing field/basketball court set up as the stage, complete with a press box and various high school fight songs blaring over the speakers – getting us hyped up for the battle to come. And boy was a battle brewing. You might not expect it,…

We here at the HRACT Awards love a good Sherman Brothers’ musical, so we were excited when Williamsburg Players announced their season included the old classic, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” We also knew that “Chitty” was going to be quite a challenge to bring to life – it is a big cast (half of which…