Gordon Bolar

2 weeks ago | wmuk.org | Gordon Bolar

Farmers Alley Theatre recently opened its production of “A Jukebox for the Algonquin.” WMUK’s Gordon Bolar has this review. As a theatre reviewer in West Michigan for 25 years, I’ve been privileged to see and review outstanding directorial efforts and a few truly memorable comedies premier on local stages. In those 25 years I’ve never seen a theatre artist accomplish these two feats in one fell swoop.

2 months ago | wmuk.org | Gordon Bolar

Farmers Alley Theatre recently opened its production of Dial M for Murder. WMUK’s Gordon Bolar has this review. In anticipating a new adaptation of “Dial M for Murder” on stage, I spent some time thinking about what elements are needed to create compelling suspense in the theatre. And by suspense, I mean action that holds you in an excited state for two one-hour acts.

2 months ago | wmuk.org | Gordon Bolar

Western Michigan University Theatre recently opened its production of “All the Natalie Portmans," by C.A. Johnson. WMUK’s Gordon Bolar has this review. The curious title of C.A. Johnson’s script refers to the fantasy life of a black female high school student, Keyonna. She longs to escape the hand-to-mouth existence of her dysfunctional family, and the uncertainty of her alcoholic mother’s unpredictable nature.

Jan 21, 2025 | wmuk.org | Gordon Bolar

Face Off Theatre’s recent production of “Sunset Baby” was staged this past weekend in the Nelda Balch Theatre at Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse. WMUK’s Gordon Bolar has this review. Sunset Baby is the story of former Black Panther and released prisoner, Kenyatta, who, in later life attempts reconciliation with grown daughter, Nina, shortly after the loss of her drug-addicted mother.

Dec 10, 2024 | wmuk.org | Gordon Bolar

Face Off Theatre recently opened its production of “Crumbs from the Table of Joy.” WMUK’s Gordon Bolar has this review. The coming-of-age story of a young African American teen during the nineteen fifties is the focus of two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner Lynn Nottage’s script. The play’s central character is Ernestine Crump, who, along with her sister, Ermina, is thrown into city life in Brooklyn after being uprooted from a rural Florida community of relative innocence.