The 2015 Pulitzer Prizes were announced early this week and "Between Riverside and Crazy" by Stephen Adly Guirgis won for drama, a work written with Buffalo actor and UB teacher Stephen McKinley Henderson in mind. Henderson starred as a cranky retired policeman in the play described on the Pulitzer website as "a nuanced, beautifully written play about a retired police officer faced with eviction that uses dark comedy to confront questions of life and death."
Openings this week include: "Spring Awakening," a musical by Sheik & Sater presented by the UB Theatre and Dance Department, at the UBCFA through May 3. Using alternative rock music, it tells the story of adolescent sexual discovery.
Meanwhile, Niagara University has a more traditional musical, "Guys and Dolls" based on Damon Runyon characters, with memorable tunes by Frank Loesser, also through May 3. Also, "Kinky Boots" is at Shea's through the weekend.
The Jewish Repertory Theatre of WNY puts on a perennial favorite, "The Odd Couple," a comedy by Neil Simon, at the Maxine and Robert Seller Theatre in Getzville, through May 17, directed by Saul Elkin. The Springville Players present Mary Chase's "Harvey" at the Springville Center for the Arts. And, the Irish Classical Theatre Company pits Kristen Tripp Kelley as the daughter and Josephine Hogan as the mother against each other in a dark, dark play directed by Vincent O'Neill, "The Beauty Queen of Leenane," through May 17.
