Fran Thomas

Florida

Author and Blogger at Freelance

Author of small town romances from right brain and educational self-help from left brain. Singer, watercolor dabbler. Occasional theater critic.

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Articles

Review: LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL at Broadway Palm

4 weeks ago | broadwayworld.com | Fran Thomas

Imagine, if you will, with an invisible posse having your back at all times. That is the state of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde: The Musical now playing at Broadway Palm. When Elle moves from Malibu to Harvard in pursuit of her man, the women of Delta Nu are right there with her, a Greek Chorus of the mind. We should all be so lucky. Legally Blonde is based on a 2001 novel by Amanda Brown and a subsequent movie. Adding songs and dances to this popular story was genius.
Review: VANITIES: THE MUSICAL at Players Circle Theater

1 month ago | broadwayworld.com | Fran Thomas

Have I mentioned how much I love Players Circle Theater? They consistently present entertaining yet thought-provoking shows. Their actors are multi-talented. And their small venue lends itself to the feeling of belonging to an exclusive club. Their current production is Vanities: The Musical. The songs playing as you take your seat clue you in to what’s to come. Girl groups from the 1960s sing about boyfriend troubles and coming of age in those turbulent times.
Previews: THE BUSINESS OF MURDER at Players Circle Theater

2 months ago | broadwayworld.com | Fran Thomas

Players Circle Theater presents one of London’s longest running murder mysteries, THE BUSINESS OF MURDER, running April 15th – May 11th, 2025. A critical and popular success in London, this psychological thriller about revenge centers on the interlocking triangular relationship between three people. In the tradition of Agatha Christie, nothing is as it seems and as the plot twists and turns, it becomes clear they are all in the same business… murder.
Review: FLATLANDERS at Players Circle Theater

Mar 23, 2025 | broadwayworld.com | Fran Thomas

Ever looked around a restaurant at the folks at nearby tables and marveled at how they spend their time together scrolling on their phones? Have they been together so long that they’re bored with each other? Do they even like each other anymore? These are some of the questions faced by a longtime couple in Flatlanders now on stage at Players Circle Theater. This is the Southeastern U.S. premiere of the work.
Review: MURDER FOR TWO at Music & Arts Community Center

Mar 2, 2025 | broadwayworld.com | Fran Thomas

Good actors spend a lot of time creating backstory and motivation for the character they are playing. Imagine how much work goes into doing this preparation to take on more than a half dozen roles. That is the task faced by Robbie Harrison in Murder for Two, a musical comedy/mystery now being offered by Southwest Florida Theatre Company in conjunction with Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre. This is the first collaboration between the two.
Review: CRAZY FOR YOU at Broadway Palm

Feb 22, 2025 | broadwayworld.com | Fran Thomas

I’ve never met a tap dance number I didn’t like. Thus, I had a silly grin pasted on my face throughout Crazy For You at Broadway Palm. Thank you, Ford Haeuser, for directing and choreographing this happy show. I’m also a Gershwin fan, so I must thank Music Director Loren Strickland and his orchestra, the unseen heroes behind every performance. The romantic leads Liv Pelton and Riley Wesson do full justice to those Great American Songbook numbers.
Review: BOCA at Florida Repertory Theatre

Feb 18, 2025 | broadwayworld.com | Fran Thomas

Given her photo in the program, playwright Jessica Provenz is far too young to know as much as she does about the life of a senior citizen in Florida. The packed audience at her play Boca was under no such limitation. Laughter, nay, guffaws of recognition greeted each scene. Five seasoned actors play eleven roles. Viki Boyle and William McNulty are familiar faces while Susan Cella, Susan J. Jacks, and Bruce Sabath are making their Florida Rep debuts, but you’ve seen their characters before.
Review: THE FANTASTICKS at Players Circle Theater

Feb 8, 2025 | broadwayworld.com | Fran Thomas

Valentine’s Day is not always what it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes it’s filled with sappy poetry written in cards covered in glitter. Other times, though, it’s high drama and shattered dreams. All of the above and more are part of The Fantasticks at Players Circle Theater.
Review: BLOOMSDAY at Florida Repertory Theatre

Feb 5, 2025 | broadwayworld.com | Fran Thomas

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. What could be more heartwarming than to watch two young folks fall in love right before your eyes? Bloomsday by Steven Dietz at Florida Rep will touch the heart of any romantic. Jessica Mosher as Caithleen and Braydie Aldrich as Robbie are awkward and charming twenty-year-olds who meet in Dublin on June 16, Bloomsday. Lynn Hawley and Duke Lafoon are the same couple now called Cait and Robert, older and wiser, who reunite thirty-five years later.
Review: LUCKY STIFF at Florida Rep

Jan 15, 2025 | broadwayworld.com | Fran Thomas

We’re in the midst of a cold snap. Los Angeles is burning to the ground. The US government is about to undergo a complete change. We all need a good laugh, and Florida Rep is there for us. If you can’t find something funny in the musical farce Lucky Stiff by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, you are as dead as poor Uncle Anthony. That gentleman has passed on in New Jersey, and he has willed six million dollars to his British nephew Harry Witherspoon, who has never even met him. There’s a catch though.