http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/wendy_rosenfield RSS Feed for Inq Col Wendy Rosenfield en-us Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:02:24 GMT http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20091116_Peek_at__70s_is_quite_a_romp.html Montgomery Theater, like many area houses, just opened its winter musical, I Love My Wife. Like most of the others, this show deals with a very special Christmas Eve, when gifts are offered and dreams come true. Unlike the others, those gifts and dreams mostly involve getting undressed and swapping spouses. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20091116_I_Love_My_Wife.html Playing at: Montgomery Theater, 124 Main St., Souderton. Through Sat., Dec. 5. Tickets: $23 to $35. Information: 215-723-9984 or www.MontgomeryTheater.org http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20091110_Or_perhaps_one_could_call_them__narcissicals_.html I've got it! The proper name for those plotless musical melanges - Bristol Riverside Theatre's production of Joe DiPietro's I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change being approximately the fifth such show to roll through this year - is the "yousical." http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20091110__John_Henry___a_legend-busting_play.html The refrain "A man ain't nothin' but a man" shows up in several variations of John Henry's legend. It's also the theme of Iron Age Theatre's world premiere of Chris Braak's The Life of John Henry. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20091109__Angels_in_America__features_talented_cast__terrible_venue.html It's true that if you're an HBO subscriber, you can watch the televised version of Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes in Two Parts on demand right now, from the comfort of your living room. But why would you ever do that when you could have the privilege - that's right, the privilege - of seeing Bckseet Production's ambitious staging of Tony Kushner's entire epic alive and breathing, with both parts back-to-back, in repertory, performed by a ferociously talented cast? http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/Feeling_like_a_puppet_at_Christmastime.html http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20091107_Puppets_find_humanity_in_Christmas_bleakness.html Playing at: Drexel University's Mandell Theater, 33d and Chestnut Streets. Through Nov. 15. Tickets: $15 to $25. Information: 215-733-0255 or www.AzukaTheatre.org. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20091103_Temple_s__Shot___mostly_hits_the_target.html The format of Temple Theaters' new original production, Shot!, will be familiar to those who recall the school's 2007 success, In Conflict. While the latter, which had a well-received Off-Broadway run, addressed the physical and psychic wounds suffered by young Iraq war veterans in their own words, Shot! gauges the effects of violence on residents of Beirut. Except here, "Beirut" refers to the area around 12th and Huntingdon Streets, the backyard of Temple's main campus. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20091102_Preparing_for_a_big_bang_that_fizzles.html As one might imagine, explosions figure heavily in Flashpoint Theatre's production of Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's boom, though as its lowercase title indicates, there ultimately will be less bang, more whimper. There are plenty of explosions to worry about: explosions that created us and will end us, explosions psychic and sexual, and each - from the galactic to the individual - beyond our control. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20091028_Buffalo_boys_in_the_buff.html The Ritz Theatre was wise to go with a production of The Full Monty, based on the 1997 British film of the same name; this is simply an irrepressible musical. It has a blue-collar background that allows for roughness around the edges, and a book by Terrence McNally that gets beneath the well-worn skin of its formerly hard-working, currently hardly working subjects. Even David Yazbek's songs practically challenge you not to cheer on the six boys from Buffalo.