Thinking about it now still shatters my brain. Things make so much less sense when you watch real live people spin like violent cyclones one minute and then suddenly they’re gliding through the air like a wind-plucked dandelion tuft.

Our run-on sentence review: Appropriate and fun for the whole family with a magical set that conjures a world at turns wondrous and terrifying, Hansel and Gretel is an evening where a timeless fairy tale comes alive through the enchanting vehicle of narrative and emotion that is opera.

As part of RedRail the sketch comedy troupe The Pushers took over The Tide. Ahhh, sookie!

Virginia Stage Company’s electrifying production of Red, an intense and exciting drama by John Logan, is buoyed by brilliant performances, passionate direction, and exquisite design work.

I am now convinced: pop up art events are good for the soul.

I don’t think I was alone in my temptation to throw an undergarment or two at Mr. Glass, as slick at storytelling as Elvis was at hip-swiveling.

My first time on board was in support of RedRail, a two week long shin dig that showcases all types of art on the Tide. The first night showcased the Virginia Stage Company performing Julius Caesar as riders watched in wonder.

The big arts and culture institutions in Norfolk are coming together in hopes of growing the scene. Here are some ideas they should consider implementing.

Plus, an invitation’s to AltDaily’s Sneak Preview night, with ticket prices only $10 plus free hors d’oevres from Snapper’s.

As a matter of fact, I dare you to watch it and not fall madly in love with it.

A Public Service Announcement.

An Interview with Virginia Opera’s Lillian Groag and John Demain.

Affluent intellectuals are reduced to acting like children.

It is an ambitious undertaking. The nearly three-hour long musical is almost completely through-sung, and every role is both vocally and dramatically demanding.

It is set in 1997 and, like all of Wilson’s plays, provides a thoughtful examination of the African-American experience at a certain time in history.

Generally regarded as the opera most performed in the U.S., it was great to see such a well performed and innovative production right here in Norfolk.

Theater Preview: Hurrah Players’ The Little Mermaid

The production never really seems to find its focus and many moments are problematic, but the high energy approach keeps the two-and-a-half hours interesting.

Associate Artistic Director Patrick Mullins weaves excellent performances together with outstanding design work to create a riveting, all too brief, examination of the rise and fall of a marriage.

Oklahoma! may have had its debut performance on Broadway over 60 years ago, but the story is timeless. It is about the delights and the hardships in love, and in life, and how we help each other through them.

Misery. Two people intertwined in an extremely devastating situation; one wrestling with her own madness, the other fighting for his life.

Sitting in the Chrysler on Saturday night, I could have been in San Francisco or New York — or Paris or London, for that matter — that’s how good the performance was.

Philip Odango’s new production of John Pielmeier’s Agnes of God is maybe the best local production so far this season.

Chronicling a day in the life of members of a small Virginia community, SCKBSTD is really about the American culture of paranoia.

“If we’re successful, yes, but it’s not completely crazy. It’s not like Barack Obama is gonna show up and save the day… Shocking? Yeah, maybe something a little short of shocking, but close to that. Yeah.”

Little Theatre of Norfolk’s new production of Oscar Wilde’s divine comedy “The Importance of Being Earnest” contains many fine performances, and an ambitious (if overwhelming) concept, which confuses more than it clarifies.

Jeremiah’s top shows, including productions from Generic Theater, Virginia Musical Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, Hurrah Players, and more.

If you’re looking for a quick, one word review, this is what I’ll say: Awesome.

“A Few Good Men” genuinely works, and makes a great reason to visit the Little Theatre.

Some of the jokes carry a sharp edge (enough so to elicit groans rather than laughter), but in the main this fun, funny play should connect well with local audiences.

This production seems to have roots neither in 1950s B-movie sci-fi schlock or in American musical theater. That doesn’t mean, however, that it isn’t entertaining.

The issue here is not so much about the actors’ capabilities, as much as it’s about the natural struggle to find the comedic rhythm of this new work, which is being billed as “an implausible comedy.”

Beauty and the Beast was a rousing success, and if it is any indication of the rest of the Hurrah season, we are all in for a big treat.

A conversation with Jason Matney, a performer in Sesame Street Live. “[With children] it’s absolutely the most genuine response that you’ll ever get from an audience. If they’re excited, they’re excited. If they’re frightened, they’re frightened.”

“I often wonder whether I’m going too far, forcing myself to watch things to make myself cry,” said Amelia Pedlow, fresh out of Julliard, in town to play Anne in Virginia Stage Company’s The Diary of Anne Frank.

LTN boasts a new floor, new bright blue curtain, wider seats, and rebuffed bathroom and box office. All will be ready for Friday’s opening performance of ‘Forbidden Broadway.’

“Ever seen a human heart? It’s a fist covered in blood.” Generic Theater explores the battle between companionship and passion in Closer.

Sex in the City meets Fiddler on the Roof

Standout performances in Generic Theater’s emotionally-devastating “Tuesdays with Morrie” breathe life lessons on death and unconditional love.

Whoa, Nellie. The latest offering at Generic Theater, a revival of Peter Shaffer’s psychological thriller Equus, directed by Philip Odango, is an embarrassing spectacle.

We talked to the cast about the important stuff. Best food in Norfolk, tweaking the jokes to fit the audience (ie: military hassling—even in fun—may not be the way to go), and most importantly—we settled the Beatles vs. Stones debate.

At the conclusion of director Lee Smith’s new adaptation of August Strindberg’s A Dream Play, currently running at ODU, the friend with whom I saw the show said, “That was weird and delightful!” I couldn’t say it better myself.

Creative and compelling in everything from lighting and set design to acting, Porgy and Bess concluded the Virginia Opera season on a high note.

Virginia Stage Company’s production of Lorraine Hansberry’s classic A Raisin in the Sun is one of the finest theatrical offerings of this season.

The stage is set for a very witty, sometimes controversial, but always very smart rehash of the old debate about the Big Questions.

The performers on the stage are so talented, so poised, so confident, and so professional that I almost forget they are high school students.

A preview of the entire spring season, by our theater editor Jeremiah Albers.

The Civil War plays at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts through Sunday, March 21.

The live-action stage version of the beloved film classic The Wizard of Oz, currently playing at Chrysler Hall, is either a delightful and enchanting musical for families or a tremendous waste of time, depending on your point of view.

Despite an attractive physical production and exceptionally clever staging, Virginia Stage Company’s production of the Jules Verne classic Around the World in 80 Days emerges as a surprisingly dull evening.

It’s always amazed me how I can openly cry during a musical number, but have a heart of stone when it comes to movies such as Marley and Me or My Sister’s Keeper.

‘Fragments’ is a studied meditation on one of the more important humanitarian issues of our time, and it is sure to resonate with people who are close to military life.

Mozart’s 18th century opera is often called a comedy, but if so, it’s a twisted one.

‘Letters for a Young Girl’, a new play by Philip Odango, is wholly compelling, utterly frustrating, totally fascinating, completely bizarre, and absolutely heartbreaking.

It was like watching Wii come to life, but with sex, drugs, and politics.

We are fortunate to be introduced to such a fascinating figure in so handsome and inspired a production as is currently on offer at the Wells Theatre.

Miep Gies, last surviving protector of the Frank family, died yesterday. Writer/director Philip Odango talks about Gies, the connection between the Holocaust and Darfur, and channeling real life heroes into characters.

Healed after a life-threatening illness, a veteran Norfolk-based actor takes on the role of Scrooge with new vigor.

A review of Virginia Opera’s ‘The Daughter of the Regiment’ from an expert in literature, but a novice in opera.

Most of the actors in the Virginia Stage Co’s Romeo & Juliet are just in town for six weeks, discovering the city as they discover their inner Montagues and Capulets.

You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll pull brains through a hole in a zombie baby’s skull.

Five ways to learn to love it, as experienced through Virginia Opera’s “La Boheme.”

Behind the scenes at the first cast and crew meeting of Virginia Stage Company’s //romeo&juliet/.

Click on images for an expanded view of illustrations.

Jackie Kennedy has just finished restoring the White House. A few former first ladies stop by to give their thoughts. (Uh-oh.)

Patrick Mullins, Associate Artistic Director of Virginia Stage Company, shares his tenderest Hampton Roads theatre moment and his picks of upcoming productions.

  Self-evaluation: “Virginia Stage Company, a not-for-profit, professional resident theater company, enriches, educates and entertains the region by creating and producing theatrical art of the highest quality and worthy of national prominence.” Click here for AltDaily Sneak Preview Nights with the VSC. 110 East Tazewell Street | (757) 627-1234 | Contact Virginia Stage Company for [...]

  Self-evaluation: “To experience opera in Norfolk is to savor it in surroundings of grand elegance. Once a World War II USO theater, this historic venue was lavishly renovated in 1993. With 1,632 seats, the stunning Edythe C. and Stanley L. Harrison Opera House retains an intimate ambience, but one adorned by the beauty of [...]