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Intimate Walker Farm brings new life to classic musical 'Singin' in the Rain'

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

‘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

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

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

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

‘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

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

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

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

‘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'

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

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

‘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

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'

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 […]

Fresh creativity flows through 'The Fantasticks'

Fresh creativity flows through ‘The Fantasticks’

By David Lampe-Wilson ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston Playhouse has kicked off its 83rd season with a reimagined production of The Fantasticks. This classic and charming musical fable has been given a fresh, breezy take by director Susanna Gellert, who also serves as the theater’s new executive artistic director. A new creativity flows through this […]

A fun ride through 'Phantom Tollbooth'

A fun ride through ‘Phantom Tollbooth’ Talented cast, direction, choreography keep trip exciting

By David Lampe-Wilson ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston Playhouse kicks off its 2019 season with a production of The Phantom Tollbooth, performed by members of the Weston Playhouse Young Company at the new Walker Farm venue, and the performers of this summer-long program give it their all in this musical version of Norton Juster’s classic […]

'Two Trains' heartrending end to Weston season

‘Two Trains’ heartrending end to Weston season

By Bob Behr ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Theater-goers at Weston Playhouse at Walker Farm are getting a huge treat this month, with August Wilson’s heartrending, heartwarming drama Two Trains Running. The play is the latest in Weston’s American Masters series. And, yes, this is the work of a master. Two Trains Running is a compelling, […]

Vibrant cast of 'Million Dollar Quartet' worth it

Vibrant cast of ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ worth it Talented Weston performers put on 'toe-tapping music fest'

By David Lampe-Wilson ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Early rock ‘n ‘ roll rears its pompadoured head in the high-octane jukebox musical Million Dollar Quartet at Weston Playhouse. Over two intermission-less hours we are treated to a music catalog of early rock, R&B and gospel music performed by a talented and vibrant cast that handles two […]

'A Doll's House Part 2' another theater gem

‘A Doll’s House Part 2’ another theater gem 'Hilarious and bold,' sequel stands perfectly on its own

By David Lampe-Wilson ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston Playhouse at Walker Farm offers up another gem of a production with A Doll’s House, Part 2, a follow-up to Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 controversial masterwork . In playwright Lucas Hnath’s sequel, it is 15 years after Nora Helmer rejected her domestic life and now returns to the […]