By: Play off the Page on January 29, 2012 - 5:38pm - Add new comment

Don Darryl Rivera wrote and stars in this musical version of "Harold and the Purple Crayon." I was thrilled to be invited to attend and review this show at the Children's Theatre in Minneapolis. This is one of my favorite children's books. I read it over and over as a child. Well, I suppose my mom had to read it over and over. Then, I did. And, I shared it with my own kids. I loved that purple crayon. I wanted to take my big box of crayons and have as many grand adventures as Harold.

By: Play off the Page on October 15, 2012 - 7:31am - Add new comment

On my writer's blog this morning, I have a guest post by an author publishing under the name Sophia Stone. In her memoir, "Mormon Diaries," Stone examines her life, her relationships, and her faith. She writes with honesty and bravery as she dares to face and question what she once thought of as truth.

To read the interview with Sophia Stone, go to my writer's blog, Play off the Page, www.maryaalgaard.blogspot.com. If you're reading this at a later date, find the tab under my picture header for Book Reviews.

The first comment of this morning:

By: Play off the Page on September 24, 2012 - 4:43pm - Add new comment

In "Tales from Hollywood" the exiled writers who fled Nazi Germany form a community in Los Angelos. They're trying to write in a foreign country using a foreign language with foreign ideals and concepts. And, all the while they're trying to make sense of this cruel world and eek out an existence. Bertolt Brecht questions why he is writing for the screen when he is a playwright in a medium where there is no interaction with the audience. In an interesting use of light and sound, the creative team at The Guthrie Theater projects scenes from the play onto screens as the backdrop.

By: Play off the Page on February 6, 2012 - 4:02pm - Add new comment

"Julius Caesar", performed by The Acting Company, is a unique theatrical experience. You can catch a performance at CLC this Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 7:30. I attended a performance at the Guthrie with my 14-year-old son and young adult niece. We all enjoyed it. We all understood what was happening, and we agreed, it was a fascinating performance. The use of screens as a backdrop give us visual cues as to what is happening. From the moment we enter the theater, we see numerous tv screens with various news reporters. The screens change throughout the performance.