Top Provocative Theatre Picks for January 2023

Broadway has delivered another hit jukebox musical that will explode onto the Broward Center stage Jan. 17-29. This North American touring production of “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” includes a cast led by Naomi Rodgers and Zurin Villanueva, who will evenly share the role of Tina Turner, each playing four (of eight) performances a week. Also starring are Garrett Turner as Ike Turner, Roz White as Zelma Bullock, Ann Nesby as Gran Georgeanna, and Lael Van Keuren as Rhonda.

While “Jersey Boys” and “Beautiful” expertly weave storyline and music, the biggest criticism of “Tina” is that the rock queen’s hit songs are frequently misplaced, presented at moments in the musical that don’t fit the timeline of her life story. This is particularly surprising because Turner herself was involved in the show’s development, which opened on Broadway in 2019. But if you are willing to ignore these faux pas, expect a fast-paced, roof-raising musical that begins with Anna Mae Bullock’s childhood in Nutbush Tennessee, and takes us through her stage-persona transformation at the hands of her abusive husband, and her post-Ike success as the Tina Turner we know and love.  

Tickets range from $41.75 - $155.75 and are available at BrowardCenter.org and Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 954.468.0222 or at the theatre box office at 201 SW Fifth Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.

A Nilo Cruz Classic Turns 20

The Pulitzer-Prize winning “Ana in the Tropics” by playwright Nilo Cruz is back, presented this time by Miami New Drama at Miami Beach’s Colony Theatre from Jan. 12 – Feb. 5 to commemorate the play’s 20th anniversary. Set in Ybor City, Tampa in 1929, the romantic drama centers on a family of Cuban cigar makers whose loves and lives are changed by the arrival of a lector, a historically well-dressed and well-spoken man, who reads to cigar rollers while they toil away in the factory. When the lector chooses to read aloud Tolstoy's “Anna Karenina,” the lives of the workers suddenly begin to parallel the novel.

I was not privileged to see the original, commissioned production when it premiered at the intimate New Theatre in 2002 but experienced Cruz’s directorial debut of the play two years later at the much larger Coconut Grove Playhouse (both theatres now closed) and subsequently at Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre. Nilo Cruz's style has been compared to that of a young Tennessee Williams because of Cruz’s use of poetic imagery. One thing is for sure, “Ana in the Tropics” leaves a lasting impression.

Tickets range from $46.50 - $76.50 and may be purchased at miaminewdrama.org.

 Courage and Justice Explored

"We Will Not Be Silent"‎ tells the true story of Sophie Scholl, a German college student who led the only known act of public resistance to the Nazis during the Second World War. It runs at GableStage in Coral Gables, Jan. 7 – 29, with the 3-person cast of Meredith Casey, Bobby Eddy and Jason Peck and will be directed by the theatre’s producing artistic director, Bari Newport.

This provocative work by playwright David Meyers, which debuted professionally in 2017, portrays how Scholl’s moral strength is tested while being interrogated for her crimes, leading her to question whether to save her own life or continue her righteous crusade. At a time when totalitarianism and admirers of fascism are on the rise around the globe, "We Will Not Be Silent" examines the inner fortitude that is needed to fight for social justice when the stakes are high.

Tickets range from $35 - $65 and may be purchased at gablestage.org.