Arts-Louisville.com Covers CenterStage Premiere of Curtains

[Review by Keith Waits]
Congratulations to CenterStage for being the first to deliver a production of Curtains to Louisville audiences. This entertaining send-up of backstage murder mysteries is a fun and engaging show, despite some clichéd plot lines and obvious humor. The show’s history was a difficult one, with two deaths among the creative team and a lukewarm reaction to the first production. But it overcame such adversity to become a success on Broadway, winning three Tony Awards.

But part of the lesson may be that making Curtains work requires top-notch staging and performances that embrace the broad and sometimes predictable humor. Many of the jokes play as if they should be followed by a rim shot, and the cast members who make it work the best are the ones who aren’t afraid to ham it up pretty good and give a wink and a nod to the audience. Jason Cooper as the over-the-top director and Carol Dines as a tough-as-nails producer get top honors on this score. But more about that later.

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