[MD Theatre Guide] Theatre Review: ‘Escape to Margaritaville’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts
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[MD Theatre Guide] Theatre Review: ‘Escape to Margaritaville’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts

Cast your line off the askew wooden dock, a distressed beach shack behind you, and dangling fairy lights overhead, and you’re sure to catch a nostalgic performance of the jukebox musical, “Escape to Margaritaville” at the Riverside Center for the Performing Arts. Showcasing a compendium of songs by Jimmy Buffet with a book by Greg Garcia and Mike O’Malley, this crew of Fredericksburg beach bums brings you dinner and a show like no other.

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[CURTAIN CALLS] Review: “Grease” – Rocks and Rolls at Riverside
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[CURTAIN CALLS] Review: “Grease” – Rocks and Rolls at Riverside

Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

Nearly half a century ago, a little show opened in Chicago that took the town by storm. Based on Jim Jacobs’ memories of his high school years, it plugged into the softening view of the Fifties, those Eisenhower years between WWII and Vietnam, as a time of benign stability. Named for the guys who slicked their hair into greased ducktails, “Grease” became a musical phenomenon.

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[Prince George's Sentinel] An Enchanted Evening with 'South Pacific'

[Prince George's Sentinel] An Enchanted Evening with 'South Pacific'

“I wish I could tell you about the South Pacific. The way it actually was. The endless ocean. The infinite specks of coral we called islands. Coconut palms nodding gracefully toward the ocean. Reefs upon which waves broke into spray, and inner lagoons, lovely beyond description.”

So begins James Michener’s “Tales of the South Pacific,” the book which was the inspirational source of  Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical “South Pacific.”

The challenge of this musical was to combine visual beauty with the horror of war while sprinkling in elements of romantic comedy.

The Riverside Center for the Performing Arts production, masterfully directed by and choreographed by Penny Ayn Maas and produced by Patrick A’Hearn, succeeds in weaving these delicate threads of the music together and is complemented with an outstanding cast and brilliant singing and musical numbers.

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[Culpeper Times] CURTAIN CALLS: Islands of delight dot 'South Pacific'

[Culpeper Times] CURTAIN CALLS: Islands of delight dot 'South Pacific'

One enchanted evening many years ago (seventy, to be exact) Messrs. Rodgers and Hammerstein opened their mint new musical, “South Pacific”, for its New Haven and Boston previews. The response was immediate and enthusiastic… Riverside Center’s just-opened production scores where it counts most in this tale of two non-traditional love affairs and war in the Pacific. Central to the conflict are one middle-aged Frenchman with the mysterious past, Emile de Becque, and his much younger love interest, the Arkansas-bred nurse, Ensign Nellie Forbush. Around them swirl issues of Japanese invasion, high jinks among the sailors, and a separate, doomed love affair with further racial implications.

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CURTAIN CALLS: Take a chance on ‘Mamma Mia’
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CURTAIN CALLS: Take a chance on ‘Mamma Mia’

One thing is certain about monster successes: they can’t be predicted. The best laid plans can run to naught as easily as an ordinary bright idea can become a shooting star. There’s no formula for it and no accounting for public reactions – which brings me to “Mamma Mia!”

Now playing at the Riverside Center in Fredericksburg, “Mamma Mia’s” stardust reputation has preceded it and is filling the house. Anyone who thinks today’s audiences are too jaded for feel-good rhythms and happy-but-improbable endings is betting on the wrong side.

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DCMetroTheaterArts Review: ‘Mamma Mia!’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts
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DCMetroTheaterArts Review: ‘Mamma Mia!’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts presents  Mamma Mia!, with music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus and book by Catherine Johnson, with some songs by Stig Andersson. Riverside Center is the first theater in the metropolitan area to be granted the rights to present this worldwide hit musical, and with their Broadway-quality productions, I couldn’t think of a better-deserved venue to handle its regional debut. Based on the hit songs written by ABBA, this fun-loving production is a must-see for musical lovers.

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Curtain Calls: Silver linings ‘On Golden Pond’
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Curtain Calls: Silver linings ‘On Golden Pond’

Humor and sadness and loons, memory of the past, defiance of the future, shadows of regret and fear.  All who have watched their parents grow old, who see themselves growing old, understand “On Golden Pond.”... Now a gold star on regional theatre circuits, “On Golden Pond” makes its first appearance at Riverside under the direction of Sherri Edelen.

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Riverside brings the touching story of 'On Golden Pond' to stage
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Riverside brings the touching story of 'On Golden Pond' to stage

It’s only appropriate that when “On Golden Pond” lands in Fredericksburg that a gold-star cast and crew come along with it.

Actress Joyce DeWitt—perhaps best known for portraying Janet Wood on the iconic sitcom “Three’s Company”—leads a stellar production at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts. The show owns the stage Wednesdays through Sundays through mid-November.

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