Brian Sands

Songblazers--A Journey into Country Music touring through Feb. 2, 2025 Cirque du Soleil’s Songblazers--A Journey into Country Music played here at the Saenger Theatre last month but, as it’s touring the country, I thought it’s still worth writing about in case it turns up in a theater near you. Songblazers can be divided into three components: the music, the … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards October 24, 2024

Two of the wildest, most unique and entertaining shows play their last performances this weekend. If you want to see the quintessence of NOLA quirkiness, you'll want to catch them before they're gone! The Night Fiona Flawless Went Mad at The AllWays Lounge through October 14 Trey Ming's musical The Night Fiona Flawless Went Mad has triumphantly returned to The AllWays … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards October 11, 2024

School of Rock at Hammond’s Columbia Theatre on September 27 Cooper Andry, Merah Benoit, Blake Bosley, August Doussan, Waylon Hagale, Bailey Hall, Drago Han, Anna LaNasa, Andrew Letellier, Everly Materne, Annelise Perez, Parker Portera-Dufrene, Braiden Rome, Jane Sale, Basil Stanley, Laura Toomer, Olivia Yi, and Eleanor Zafirau. Study the foregoing names. For when one of … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards September 26, 2024

2024 Critics’ Choice Gay Appreciation Award winner On behalf of Tony Leggio and myself, I am delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Critics’ Choice Gay Appreciation Award (GAA) is The NOLA Project's production of Dracula, Pete McElligott's fiercely intelligent adaptation of Bram Stoker's gothic-horror story. The award was presented as part of the 34th Gay … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards September 5, 2024

Curtain Up While a few shows will be running during the rest of this month (Tennessee Williams Theatre Company’s A Streetcar Named Desire at The Marigny Opera House thru Aug. 24; 30 by Ninety’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in Mandeville thru Aug. 25), one of our city’s biggest cultural events blows into town over Labor Day Weekend. The extravaganza known as … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards August 22, 2024

New in New York I rarely, if ever, begin a column with an exhortation to those who are in NYC or will be there before September 8, but here goes: Run, scamper or do whatever it takes to get a ticket to CATS: The Jellicle Ball, the most brilliant, exciting, magical “new” show in New York! It will take you to the Heaviside layer of musical theater!! Okay, a little … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards August 16, 2024

A Streetcar Named Desire at Marigny Opera House thru August 24 Shortly after I saw The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans’ (TWTC) production of A Streetcar Named Desire, I (and presumably the rest of the audience) received an email which said: We are aware of a first time technical glitch that happened tonight at the top of Act 2. One of our show operation … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards August 8, 2024

Critics’ Choice Gay Appreciation Award On behalf of Tony Leggio and myself, I am pleased to announce the nominees for the Critics’ Choice Award that will be presented as part of the 34th Gay Appreciation Awards (GAA). They are: Carrie: Blood in the Water produced by Aqua Mob (top) April Louise and Riga Ruby in The Colored Museum; (bottom) The cast of Carrie: Blood in … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards July 9, 2024

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)[Revised][Again] at Tulane’s Lupin Theater In the course of 90 minutes or so, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)[Revised][Again] serves up, in one form or another, all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays (38, if you count Two Noble Kinsmen), plus some sonnets. The comedies and histories are well-represented, the … [Read more...] about Trodding the Boards June 28, 2024