All Entries in the "Reviews" Category
Shrouded in mystery, Weston’s ‘Woman in Black’ twists time and reality
By Cara Philbin ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Weston Theater Company’s final theatrical offering of the season, The Woman in Black, has all the trappings of an old fashioned ghost story to get you in the mood for a spine-tingling Halloween. Set on the melancholy shores of Victorian England, a settling of matters compels a […]
‘The Porch on Windy Hill:’ Playing music to banish misunderstandings and prejudice
By Lorien Strange ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC As the pace picks up and the bow of the fiddle sways a little more violently, I can feel the vibrations of the players tapping to the tempo through the floor. Joy radiates from the stage as the cast spins through a tipsy do-si-do, accompanying themselves with […]
Weston’s ‘Pippin’ a thrilling production with a delightful audience
By Lorien Strange ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Unlike many in the audience at Walker Farm last Saturday, I had no idea what to expect from Pippin. As my friend and I tried to puzzle it out between ourselves based on what we’d read about the show, conversations erupted around us about previous productions and hopes […]
Spunky ‘Junie B. Jones: The Musical’ views first-grade angst through purple-colored glasses
By Lorien Strange ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Bursting off the page and off the oversized pop-up book version of a first-grader’s journal that forms the set, Junie B. Jones: The Musical follows its sensitive and spunky character as she navigates the social challenges of first grade. The 60-minute Weston Theater Company production is being performed […]
‘Jersey Boys:’ Hitting the high notes in intimate venue at Walker Farm Tony winning jukebox musical dives into rock history
By Lorien Strange ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC I’m sitting 15 feet from Tommy DeVito as he’s riffing on how he’s gotten little Frankie Valli to start singing with his group, but it feels as though we’re much closer as the cozy glow of neon signs in the background nudge the scene forward. Because the Weston […]
Intimate Walker Farm brings new life to classic musical ‘Singin’ in the Rain’
By Bob Behr ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC It was raining outside as we ran from the car into Walker Farm to see Singin’ in the Rain. Later on and deep into the show, rain fell at the rear of the stage near a door open to the outside – and for a moment I believed […]
‘Buddy Holly Story’ a snappy return to roots of rock ‘n’ roll at the Weston Playhouse
By Bob Behr ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC You can count on the Weston Theater Company for solid, entertaining musicals, but with this production of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story the folks at Weston have definitely hit the jackpot. Buddy is the story of three exciting years: a young man’s fast-lane path to rock ‘n’ roll […]
Weston’s ‘Charlie Brown’ delivers ‘happy vibe’ kids love Free Young Company performances through July 9
By Bob Behr, with help from Cleo and Felix ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC What’s the recipe for a successful musical play for children? Cleo, my 8½-year-old granddaughter swears by the following ingredients: “lots of action, funny songs, dancing and some sad parts. But mostly a happy vibe.” Me: “So, Cleo, did You’re a Good Man, […]
Woody Sez – beautifully crafted blend of song and story
By Bob Behr ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, Weston Theater Company’s final offering of the 2022 season, is a beautifully crafted blend of song, storytelling, and musicianship. At Weston’s Walker Farm this week, the happy crowd was toe-tapping, clapping, and singing along to the songs of Woody […]
Weston’s nostalgic ‘Steel Magnolias:’ a slow start, a rousing finish
By Bob Behr ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC As if a time capsule had plopped down on Weston’s Village Green — suddenly, it’s the 1980s in Louisiana and we’re in a small-town beauty salon, complete with a wallphone, boombox, Mr. Coffee, helmet hairdryers, and lots and lots of hairspray. Contemporary audiences might need to work hard […]
‘Hair:’ A new Age of Aquarius dawns at Weston Theater
By Bob Behr ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC For the first time in many months, the Weston Theater Company has opened the doors of the historic playhouse overlooking the village green. It’s a new beginning for the lovely old playhouse, and the iconic ’60s musical Hair is a perfect choice to celebrate the occasion. Hair is […]
Marry Me A Little: Sondheim’s ‘songs that got away’ shine at Walker Farm
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC At first blush, the idea of spending an evening of theater consisting of songs that were cut from eight musicals might give one pause. But in this case it shouldn’t. Marry Me A Little, now being performed on the Weston Theater Company’s Walker Farm stage, is made up […]
Powerful ‘Mountaintop’ built on sterling performances
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Mountaintop – now running at Weston’s Walker Farm stage – is a fantasy that imagines the last night of Martin Luther King’s life set in Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis during a thunderstorm. It is April 3, 1968. King has just delivered his […]
Hard-driving ‘Ring of Fire’ burns brightly on Weston stage
By Bob Behr ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston Playhouse’s latest offering is a musical roller-coaster, a rollicking, hard-driving and soulful portrait of country music icon Johnny Cash. Adapted from the Broadway production conceived by William Meade and created by Richard Maltby Jr., Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash is a unique animal. It’s […]
‘An Iliad’ an intense, engaging play kicks off return of live theater to southern Vermont
By Bob Behr ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Imagine this. The world you see is not all there is. Your world is really one of gods, goddesses, human men and women, and half-human/half-gods, all with big hearts, big egos, and a tendency to throw temper tantrums. Everyone’s got baggage, stories, agendas. It’s enough to make your […]
Joyous, tragic, exuberance of WPTC’s ‘Indecent’
By David Lampe-Wilson 2019 © Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston Playhouse finishes its season with Paula Vogel’s Indecent and it is safe to say that they have saved the best for last. Indecent is a gem of a play that encompasses a host of ideas as it challenges its audience to keep up with diverse themes. […]
Weston’s ‘Virginia Woolf’ challenges actors, audience
By David Lampe-Wilson ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston Playhouse closes its mainstage summer season with Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning black comedy/drama Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. This is a marathon evening; opening night ran three-plus hours. It is an endurance test that challenges four actors to create larger-than-life characters out of reams of Albee’s caustic […]
‘Always … Patsy Cline’ fine musical entertainment Seibert as Cline delivers amazing and effortless singing
By David Lampe-Wilson ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston Playhouse at Walker Farm goes Country with Always … Patsy Cline, not so much a play as a two-volume tribute album of greatest hits. While the music is great and the vocals are stellar, Ted Swindley’s book for this jukebox jamboree is as emotionally empty as the […]
New ‘Oklahoma!’ saved from quaint old self
By David Lampe-Wilson ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first musical together was Oklahoma!, a celebration of America as seen through the transformation of the Oklahoma Territory into our 46th state. As staged at Weston Playhouse, Oklahoma!, is less an historic marker than a call for inclusion in our current socially fractured times. This […]
Curious hearts, complicated lives come alive in ‘I and You’
By Bob Behr ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston Playhouse’s newest offering, Lauren Gunderson’s I and You, is a beautifully written — and beautifully presented — story of two young people at a critical moment. If you go (and you should), your first impression will be scenic designer Tim Mackabee’s spectacular stage set, which remains in […]
