Kravis Center: Divorce Party The Musical (reviews)

Divorce Party the Musical opened at The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts  on January 27, 2012.

Still reeling from her divorce, Linda is rescued by her three friends who have come to turn her despair into a weekend of hilarity. Using popular songs with clever new lyrics, the ladies sing and dance their way through the wildest divorce party ever. From the Producer who brought you the off-Broadway hit Menopause the Musical, it’s the ultimate Girls’ Night Out, coupled with a healthy dose of comic mayhem and a touch of “naughty.”

Jay Falzone directed a cast that included Janna Cardia, Janet Dickenson, Felicia Finley, Soara-Joye Ross, Stacey Todd Holt, Scott Ahearn, Andrea Conte, and Samara Dunn.

Jan Sjostrom reviewed for the Palm Beach Daily News:

Granted, Divorce Party: The Musical is being performed for the first time at the Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse. There are bound to be wrinkles that need to be ironed out.

The first thing this show needs is a significant trim. It’s as though creators Mark Schwartz, Amy Botwinick and Jay Falzone, who’s also the show’s lyricist, director and choreographer, couldn’t figure out what to cut, so they left everything in.

The trouble is that there’s really not enough wit in this show to keep it from being kitschy and simple-minded. There are times when it’s downright crass — as when the male character appears dressed as a vibrator. To top it off, the show wanders off into discordant cheerleading about the value of sisterhood and self-worth. The performers, who are competent singers, dancers and actors, deserve better.

There are some bright moments. Oddly, both deal with ex-husbands, rather than the sisterhood. In one, Carolyn (Felicia Finley) imagines her ex-husband pouring out his heart to a pal to the tune Feelings. Ahearn plays that with just right touch of irony.

Hap Erstein reviewed for Palm Beach ArtsPaper;

Divorce Party The Musical seems cynically devised to attract the Menopause audience and cash in on that earlier show’s success. It too relies on parody lyrics to existing pop songs to celebrate female empowerment.

As with Menopause The Musical, director/lyricist Jay Falzone opts for fairly predictable rhymes and rarely develops anything past the single joke of the initial verse. In truth, none of the audience members I observed seemed to mind the uninspired writing.

Perhaps the most annoying thing about Divorce Party is that the audience appeared to be adequately entertained by it, so there is reason to believe it could become as successful as Menopause.

Divorce Party the Musical plays at The Kravis Center's Rinker Playhouse through February 19, 2012.

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The Scene for January 27, 2012

A lot of great shows closing this week;  if you've been putting off seeing them...see them now!  It'll be a while before you see The Effects of Gamma Rays  or Urinetown again; and while someone might do Cabaret in the next year or two, it won't be anywhere near what they've done with this one.

But there are also some exciting things opening, and a lot of great plays to see.

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opening...

Parade Productions launches itself into the theatre scene with Brooklyn Boy, its first production at The Studio at Mizner Park.

New Theatre opens its world premiere production of Winter at the Roxy Performing Arts Center.

The Stage Door opens Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers at its Coral Springs location.

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you still haven't missed...

The critics are raving about Next to Normal at Actors' Playhouse. It plays through February 12, 2012.

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity plays at the Caldwell Theatre Company through February 12, 2012.  Another favorite with the critics!

Snoopy! The Musical plays at Area Stage through February 5, 2012.

The GableStage's critically acclaimed production of The Motherfucker with the Hat plays through February 5, 2012.

Laffing Matterz plays the Broward Center's Abdo New River Room, for its third season of dinner and comedy.

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last chance to see...

The Slow Burn Theatre Company production of Urinetown plays at the West Boca Performing Arts Theater through January 29, 2012.

The Theatre Scene's current most-reviewed play is Palm Beach DramaWorks' critically lauded production of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-on-the-Moon Marigolds, which winds up its run this January 29.

The Prisoner of Second Avenue finishes at the Broward Stage Door Theatre on January 29, 2012.

Cabaret plays that the Maltz Jupiter Theatre through January 29, 2012.

Infinite Abyss Productions winds up its original production of Snow White Trash at Empire Stage on January 28, 2012. 

Infinite Abyss Productions other show, A Woman's World, also at Empire Stage, ends on January 29.

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passing through...

Shakespeare Miami offers up its yearly outdoor offering; A Midsummer Night's Dream.  It plays this weekend at Shell Lumber in Coconut Grove, and The Young Circle Amphitheater in Hollywood the following weekend. 

Soul Doctor: Journey of a Rock-Star Rabbi finishes at Fort Lauderdale's Parker Playhouse  January 29.

The smash hit Jersey Boys plays on in the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts through January 29, 2012.

Divorce Party: The Musical plays at the Kravis Center's Rinker Playhouse through February 19, 2012.

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for kids...

Actors' Playhouse offers Alexander, Who's Not Not Not Not Not Going to Move! through March 9, 2012.

Sol Children's Theatre Troupe presents Narnia the Musical through February 5.

Snow White: An Enchanting Musical plays at Showtime Dance and Performing Arts Theatre through March 10.

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Mondays are Dark

We've been busy collating all the reviews that have been pouring in all week, but we still managed to pull together your Monday reading list.

On Brooklyn Boy in Boca
The Palm Beach Post talks with actor Avi Hoffman and director Kim St. Leon about the upcoming Broadway Boy, which launches Parade Productions in a couple of weeks.

Speaking of Avi
TheatreMania reports that Boynton Beach Club: A New Musical in Concert is set to play at the Park Vista Theatre next month.  It took us a few moments to realize that this is the theater at Park Vista High School that was home to Avi Hoffman's late New Vista Theatre Company.

New Tour
Broadway World tells us about the national tour of Miss Abigails Guide to Dating, Mating, and Marriage!, which started in Rochester NY and makes its first stop at The Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

South Florida Represents I
Miami Children's Theater headed up to Atlanta to participate in The Junior Theater Festival, and Groundlings was in their company.

On Friday (the 13th of course) a bunch of MCT kids, directors and chaperones got on a morning flight to Atlanta for the Junior Theater Festival.  JTF is an awesome yearly event that's sponsored by MTI, the amazing agency that licenses all kinds of shows including the growing Broadway Junior Collection. 

South Florida Represents II
The Drama Queen tells us about some other South Floridians heading out of state; Dave Barry has a musical opening on Broadway (we are not making this up!), and the legendary Barbara Lowery is being honored at The Sundance Film Festival.

South Florida Collaborates
The Roxy Theatre Blog talks about how the Roxy Theatre Group is working with the Greater Miami Youth Symphony to present How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

A Kwiat Moment
Miami Artzine shares some of the poetry of David Kwiat, actor, theatre professor, writer, and, well, poet.

A Tale of Two Plays
Palm Beach Arts Paper examines two plays that opened last week (Love, Loss and What I Wore at Parker Playhouse, and Divorce Party The Musical at Kravis Center), and comes to a not-so-startling conclusion:

‘Love, Loss’ minor, but it’s Shakespeare compared to ‘Divorce Party.’

Ouch.

South Florida Gay News talks with Divorce Party's creator, Jay Falzone

Falzone describe the show as a parody about a phenomenon that has swept the country in recent years, divorce parties. In this new show, three women throw their own divorce party for a longtime friend who recently divorced...
The result is a show packed with plenty of comic mayhem and even a touch of “naughty,” as the characters, including one who is a lesbian, go through this new ritual to move forward with their lives.

Back with Broadway, Soon In Broward
BroadwayWorld.com reports that Seth Rudetsky's Broadway Chatterbox is back with all new interviews with Broadway celebrities.  Rudetsky is coming to the Broward Center with his Big Fat 70's Show in April, where he'll also give a master class on auditioning.

A List of its Own
South Florida Theatre News seems to have started a reading list of its own, the Actors' Blog Watch.

Meanwhile...
...in Miami, the Coconut Grove Playhouse is still closed.  Miami Today reports that it will be discussed by the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners on February 7.

According to Jorge Luis Lopez, an attorney representing the playhouse, the state has asked the county to work to expedite renovations on the theater. It asked that the county transfer ownership to the state, the former owner of the playhouse, should delays continue. Before the county can assume control of the playhouse and begin renovations it must agree to appropriate $20 million in existing designated funds toward the project and settle outstanding title issues

...in Palm Beach, the Royal Poinciana Playhouse is still closed.  The Palm Beach Daily News reports that an inspection of the property, carried out by order of the Landmarks Preservation Commission two weeks ago, may not have been legal.

Trouble is, commissioners stepped on shaky ground when they authorized such an interior inspection, because there was no prior evidence that neglect was taking its toll, Town Attorney John “Skip” Randolph told the board this week. That would typically involve a code-inspection officer or, perhaps, another official observing evidence that a structural problem likely exists.

“Structural” is a key word here, Mr. Randolph warned. Whether or not any problem inside the building might prevent it from being reopened as a theater — a question of the building’s “use” — is beyond the commission’s purview.

I hope they sell peanuts at the commission meetings, because it sounds like it's a real circus up there.

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