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Maya Days

Avalona: A Musical Legend

March 9, 2025

"Avalona, A Musical Legend," created by Dina Fanai, with music and lyrics, is a concept album with elements of modern opera. While not a musical in the usual sense of that form, it fits in a class of shows with the feel of a musical, such as "Jesus Christ, Superstar," which in its original form was a concept album concert with some notable productions being in the form initially conceived by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, but many not. It is a show at the edge of being a spectacle in the best meaning of that word, and one to be experienced as if viewing oneself on an immersive journey of discovery and transformation. [more]

No Strings

March 3, 2020

Following its opening production of Cy Coleman’s equally rarely seen "Seesaw," J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company is presenting a fully staged version of "No Strings" as the second production of its inaugural season. While No Strings, set in the Paris world of high fashion and the French watering holes of the very rich, would need a much more lavish staging to do it justice, Deidre Goodwin’s production does have its charms though the show’s book by playwright Samuel Taylor seems particularly thin by today's standards. The songs are melodic and hummable though there is no breakout winner among the 14 musical numbers. [more]