Thomas Dooney: January 2011 Archives

lifestyle January 22, 2011 9:49 AM
Every Man A King: I Am A Man
As taught in most schools, history is a drag.
 
However, once we've memorized dates and battles of the Civil War it is fascinating to read letters between soldiers on the battlefield and their families at homes, north or south. The joy of delving into history is discovering the stories that personalize the men and women who lived past times and were party to remarkable events. This is why so many are compelled by the stories of passengers on The Titanic than the accounts of the company that commissioned the ship.
 
Annette Daniels-Taylor understands this. As a playwright she engaged Buffalo audiences with her 2009 Artie Award winning play, A Little Bit Of Paradise. Using Buffalo history as a springboard, the story depicted political, racial and personal struggles during the administration of its then mayor, Francis X. Schwab, a racial reformer and anti-prohibitionist.
 
This month, Daniels-Taylor uses this inherent appreciation as director
lifestyle January 13, 2011 9:19 AM
January Marquee (Part 2): Upcoming Shows On Area Stages
Several shows opening this month are distinguished by authorship, from the most studied and popular dramatists to voices that tell deeply personal stories, some previously unspoken.
 
Jeffrey Hatcher, with little name recognition among even frequent theatergoers, is one of the most prolific dramatists writing today. He is the author of over fifty produced works, many of which have been performed in Buffalo at, for example, Irish Classical Theatre (Servant Of Two Masters), Artpark (Scotland Road) Theatre Of Youth (Miss Nelson Is Missing) and Kavinoky (A Picasso).
lifestyle January 10, 2011 12:00 AM
January Marquee (Part 1): Upcoming Shows On Area Stages
By Thomas Dooney:
 
The elf costumes are put on hangers and sent to stock for a few months. Sheet music for the carols can be filed away for a while. The snow effects mechanism moves from the flies and into storage. All those Scrooges and Cratchits and shepherds and angels can start learning lines for new shows.
 
Christmas theater in Buffalo, which gets more plentiful each holiday, is the hump in the local theater season. After a lull of a few weeks regular offerings resume. January will see the premiere of over a dozen shows tempting audiences to brave the

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