THE THEATER MIRROR, Boston's LIVE Theater Guide
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Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 12:03:36 -0500 Hi. larry stark here. I didn't see RENT, so I'm glad to say this morning's program
was he first time theater here in Boston got a good, thorough,
impassioned discussion that taught me something. I think I learned
from all that, that were I to review the show, it would be a very
Mixed review indeed. I do wonder, though, how it was that the mere mention of the
word "theater" on the program did NOT provoke an immediate phone
call from Robert Brustein! I thank providence for small favors... I'm really sorry that the re-opening of the Shubert is regarded
as the thing that "has re-lit the Boston Theater District" --- as
though MASTER CLASS didn't exist; as though the one-woman show at
the Colonial was irrelevant history; as though CURLEY's run down
the block at DOM's wasn't important; as though the Wang has been
empty all year. If you look into THE THEATER MIRROR you will find material
about Rick Lombardo, the new Artistic Director of The New
Repertory Theatre === someone who should have been CONNECTed by
your show quite a long time ago. If you happen to see his
production of Phyllis Nagy's SCARLET LETTER adaptation, it will be
obvious why I say this. I've never called, because what I think I should say usually
occurrs to me during the 8 p m rollovers....so I bug Bruce
Gellerman via Email. This morning, I'd have called and quoted
Jamie's review to you, but a serious cold has made me all but
inaudible. But I rarely miss the show, unless I oversleep in the
morning and see a play the same night. I see LOTS of plays in and
around Boston, and usually I really like what I see. Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 15:04:09 -0500 Will you please post this notice at your earliest convenience.
Acting Workshop The Theatre Company of Saugus is offering a 2-day workshop for
the beginning actor, and for those who have some experience and
would like to improve and develop their technique. The workshop
will be conducted by local director and actor Paul D'Onofrio on
Saturday, January 18 and Saturday, January 25. Topics to be discussed will range from stage terms,
improvisation, scene study and monologues. For more information
please call (617) 231-0582. Class size will be limited to provide as much individual
attention as necessary.
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 12:36:09 -0800 Thanks for your speedy and complete reply. To tell you a bit
about myself (this is always fun): I grew up in Hawaii and became involved in Theater when I was
14. I moved my way up from props to stage managing by the time I
was 16. This was in a wonderful community theater that taught me
a lot. I continued to do shows (missed a year or so due to way to
much stress) and then in 1993 moved to Portland, Oregon. I
quickly started stage managing for some of the smaller companies
around town. Unfortunatly, personal life prevailed and I took
some time of in early 94. Then I got the brilliant idea that I
should go to school and learn what else besides stage managing
that was fun. So in Fall of 95 I started attended Portland State
University. Needless to say it was a very interesting education
in the politics of university theatre, and that was about it.
I learned how to run boards rather competently, and focused in on
Sound, because it fascinated me beyond belief. Then as if I hadn't
had enough things keep me away from what I love, I was injured in
an auto accident. This did not fit into my plans. I ended up
finishing the show that I was working on and moving home to the
parents (in Hawaii) and healing up. This was in January of 1996.
I got back to Portland in June, ran sound for a show and realized
that I needed to still take time to heal. So I am waiting till
after the New Year to start working again. And to sum up the
theatre part of it, I belong to no unions, and have learned most
of what I know by hands on work, which after experiencing PSU, I
think that digging in and learning on your own is much simpler and
quicker, of course it doesn't help when your looking for work and
people want to know what kind of education you have, but even that
problem is manageable. I do have a day job, and this is what I want
to the into the world of theater. I have worked in several
positions in offices. My parents (they show up a lot in my life
history) were self employed and by the time I was 13 I was highly
competent in book-keeping, and various tasks performed within a
business, then I became a Office Manager for a computer
technologies business, which taught me the daily running of a
company and bettered my people skills, and my current job is
rather odd, I work for two brothers who have more money than they
will ever be able to spend in 5 lifetimes. I manage there
properties, take care of loans that they give to people, handle
all the problems in their companies that are "trouble". I do
other tasks, running books for one of the companies, doing payroll
etc. It keeps me on my toes. So that sums up what I have done. I would like to take my
business skills and use them in the theater that way I could get
the best of both worlds. But I do realize that I may have to do the day job thing there
in Boston and keep my night life busy with theater, either stage
managing, doing sound, or most hopefully, doing some type of
business work for any theater that will have me. Thank you for your help. Feel free to pass this e-mail along
to anyone you know. Changing states is hard enough without making
a few friends before you get there. Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 09:20:37 -0500 Is this GREAT performance playing in Boston this Christmas
Season??? I can't seem to find anything about it. Thanks for your help. AND LARRY TRIED TO REPLY, but the return Email address
proved defective. This is what he said:
HI. I just collected this yesterday from NEW ENGLAND
ENTERTAINMENT DIGEST. It'll be part of the COMING ATTRACTIONS
roundup this week-end... or when Lee gets back from his
holiday/vacation/family wedding. Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 12:52:02 -0500 We'll be visiting Boston from Hawaii this Christmas and
planning on seeing RENT... especially after your reviews... LARRY STARK REPLIED: Hi Frank CAVEAT: I haven't seen RENT, but I've seen shows in that house. Say, when you DO see the show, will you send us a review?
Serious! I always like to know what PEOPLE think of shows, often
even moe than what mere reviewers thought. Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 08:17:49 -0800 Larry, I have finished checking out your web page for the first time.
Nice work! Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 14:26:49 -0800 November 19, 1996 Dear Mr. Click, I am planning on moving to Boston in August of next year. I
have been surfing the web and came across your page. I am very
much interested in learning all I can about the Theatre
Orginizations in Boston. I have been Stage Managing for several
years, have tried my had in most types of technical work and even
once took an acting class. I very quickly realized during that
class that I was most comfortable behind the scenes. I would like to move to Boston an become involved in the
administrative side of the Theatre. I have several years in the
field of business and feel very competent within the wonderful
world of theatre. I would like to combine both my worlds
(business and theatre). I was wondering if you could spare some time, I would love any
idea on how to go about learning more about Boston Theatre and if
you knew any contacts I might make to realize my goal. Thank you for your time and consideration, LARRY STARK REPLIES: I'm not as omniscient as I'd like to be, Shannon, but if I
knew more about what you've done and what you're looking for, I
might know people with better answers. Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 05:22:25 -0500 Hi Larry. Yes, I'm still alive. I just wanted you to know
that the link you have for the following: >> OUr web page (while still under construction) is up now and
I would love to link you to us and be linked to Theater
Mirror. is incorrect. What the link actually points to, instead of Just thought you might like to know. How have you been? I have, I'm happy to say, been insanely
busy. I was going to take the rest of the year off (after closing
Mastergate), but opportunity intervened. The day after the run
ended, I got an unsolicited job offer. I will be doing a
Christmas run of mystery dinner theater. It will be fun. And it is some of the best training you can
get! I'll send more information in a couple of days. E I'm an acter, a Quaker and a computer geek. How much queerer
can I get?! L.S. REPLIES: From: Edward Eck Hi Larry-- What a great webpage you've got! Lots of stuff to check out and
what look like some great links to stagecraft-related sites, too! I just put in a webpage for the Milford, Mass area--immediately
west of Walpole and roughly south of Worcester and the Southboro
Players (did you know Charlie Chan is buried across the street
from their theater?). The site is at: Again, you've got a nice page with some useful links. LARRY STARK AGAIN: Welcome to the InFoBahn, Ed! The new site is redolent with
ambiance and fun to read. And I do hope you'll have time to
highlight all those local community theater companies. I can't
remember if we caught the Millis "Lend Me A Tenor" or not. If not,
then your new site will really do ME a service by getting the mere
Existence of the company noticed. Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 19:34:20 -0500 Thanks for your review on RENT, hope you don't mind, I added
the link from my site- Jimbo35@cris.com White Plains, NY USA
============================================== Date: 5 Nov 1996 13:12:31 -0500 Are ther any Mass Hysteria perforamce in Boston in November? LARRY STARK REPLIES: Date: Sun, 10 Nov 1996 23:09:51 +0000 Good seeing you after all these years. Read your review.
Guess what? I agree with you.--A right on review! Keep up the
faith! My best, Mort LARRY STARK REPLIES: Well, I think our first clue was that, at the end of
neither act did the audience realize it was over. And let me take this opportunity to admit that these are
the hardest reviews to write, because when Good Stuff doesn't
work, the initial impulse is just to damn the whole package,
instead of trying to figure out what went awry. It's easy to blast
an obvious failure, and the only thing I have to remember when I
see an obvious smash is to recognize the Director's input. (A hit
always looks as though the actors made it all up as they went
along!) Date: Thu, 07 Nov 1996 23:08:56 +0000 Would it make sense--&--are you able to divide the list
geographically to facilitate the search of your wonderful efforts?
-- LARRY'S ANSWER: Probably... Seriously, we're chasing a good search-engine that will
let you do exactly that. Part of our problem is that the part of
our vast organization that performs the miracles hasn't found the
free time to translate the simple magic phrase into "HTML"
yet! But we're trying... Date: Mon, 11 Nov 1996 23:16:20 -0500 Anthony, stumbled across your message wondering about seating
plans. My yellow pages phone book for the north shore contains
seating plans for Fenway, Foxboro, FleetCenter, Symphone Hall, the
Wang Center and the North Shore Music Theatre. Maybe a Boston one
would have more specific to downtown. LARRY STARK INTRODUCES: I ragged Dean O'Donnell, the CENTASTAGE webmaster, for
neglecting to announce their DARK NIGHT schedule in their web-
page. (Dean teaches at Worcester Polytech and runs the Centastage
Dark Night readings of original plays.) Then we had this dialog" From: dodo@world.std.com (Dean ODonnell) LARRY: DEAN: >> As you may have seen last night, I also pampered myself and
din't get to the Dark Night show as I had planned. We've got two more next Monday and Tuesday night at 7. I'm not
going to be able to make it because I'm teching a show in
Worcester, but Joe Antoun will be doing the discussions. Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 14:54:19 -0500 Hi Larry: We're looking at new ways to get it out there in 1997. We have been working on some new theme party and corporate
entertainment to pay the bills as the public shows trickle in.
OUr web page (while still under construction) is up now and I
would love to link you to us and be linked to Theater Mirror. Thanks for your help David LARRY STARK REPLIES: No problem, Dave; I recorded my question because you were
closed election-day, but my call the day after answered James
Tam's question --- as demonstrated earlier in The Greenroom. It's a great-looking page and we'll add it to our websites section. Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 16:05:37 -0800 Dear Larry: Great job! I am wondering if you have discovered any
definitive and centralized web sites that will be announcing
auditions for professional summer theaters. I am aware of the
NETC auditions but past experience seems to indicate that many
companies use this "cattle call" to find cheap labor. I'd be more
interested in equity and non-equity acting opportunities, ei.,
real opportunities for serious actors. Thanks for any information you might provide. As I mentioned in Email, if we could find one, you'd see
it here. And if YOU find one, get it to us! >Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 14:51:24 -0500 Dear Larry, Thank you for your submission to the Cape Cod Information
Center. We've added you to our Arts page. Have you got a special
section for Cape Cod for summer theatre down here? If so, I'll
add a 2nd listing for free to that page. AND LARRY STARK REPLIED: Well, Liz, why only Summer theater? We're looking into search-engines now, and if we can make it
work we can pull out of our all-over-New-England list ANY
particular area Every Week throughout the year. >Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 14:51:24 -0500 Hi Larry - You're right -- theatre is year-round! (and so is the Cape!) If you do get a search engine and are able to break out Cape-
based theatre, we might be interested in sponsoring that page (or
pages). Please keep it in mind! From: Starmiter@aol.com LARRY STARK REPLIES: Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 11:28:27 -0800 I am looking for a seating plan for the Shubert Theatre in
Boston. Could you please tell me where I can get one? Is it
available on the net? If you have one could you fax it to me at
(617) 440-0111? Thanks. At some point it would be useful to have access to seating
plans for all theaters available on the net. LARRY STARK REPLIES: Anthony, I'll bet the only way you can see the seating-
chart for any of the big downtown theatres is to go to the box-
office itself. Date: Fri, 01 Nov 1996 12:07:27 -0500 I have recently discovered your site and would love to have the
production I am currently involved with to be listed. I am
sending you the "electronic flyer" I sent out to some mailing
lists. If you have questions, feel free to contact me at
derek@riscman.com.
To: connection@wbur.bu.edu
From: The Theater Mirror
Jamie McGonnigal sent this review to THE THEATER MIRROR
( http://northshore.shore.net/~greenrm )
He's 21, and as a reviewer he's no Jonath-- no John Lahr.
He does seem, though, to be the audience the show is looking for.
(I asked him what the difference was between RENT and a Rock
Concert, and he replied "RENT has a plot," though he didn't
elaborate.)
And Then there is the Emerson Majestic, the Huntington, the Lyric,
the New Rep, Beatrice Herford's Vokes Theatre, the Boston Center
for The Arts, and, yes, even Robert B. and his Sothern carpet-
baggers across the river in my beloved Loeb Drama Center.
"But I am a strange old man."
(Okay, Chris, who'm I quoting from what Nobel Prize-winning
novel?)
Break a leg all...
Love,
===Anon.
(a k a larry stark greenrm@shore.net
Here's Jamie's 21-year-old review: "RENT" Review by Jamie McGonnigal
From: "Carolyn D'Onofrio"
Organization: John Hancock Financial Services
Subject: Acting Workshop
From: sparnell@spiretech.com (Shannon Parnell)
Subject: Thank you..
Have a wonderful day.
Aloha-
Shannon D Parnell
sparnell@spiretech.com
14345 SW 112th Ave. #6
Tigard, Oregon 97224
From: Linda Bruning
Subject: Black Nativity
Love,
===Anon.
From: franka@pixi.com
Subject: Shubert Theatre in Boston
My question is if the first row balcony seats are any good...
they're only $26 bucks!!! Please advise ...
Aloha, Frank
In My Opinion (Jamie will disagree), you have the best seats in
the house for this show.
The first few rows --- where Jamie sat --- are enclosed by the
action, but you'd be looking UP at the stage, probably would have
a hard time seeing feet or the back of the stage, and that close
it would be hard to see the whole action.
When I was reviewing professionally, my preferred seats were 15th
row, on an aisle. From there I could take in the whole of the
show, and there were people in front of me whose reactions could
temper my own reactions.
But when I used to go to ballet performances at the City Center,
my favorite seats were first-row balcony. The whole big stage is
important in a show like RENT, or in any musical really. There's
spectacle involved, and you'll be able to take all of it in from
the balcony in a way you probably wouldn't close-in. The six entra
bucks means You Win.
Love,
===Anon.
From: Brian Grochowski
Subject: Theatre Works in Woonsocket
A few months back I put together a web-site for Theatre Works in
Woonsocket and I noticed it wasn't on your list for sites. Could
you please add it.
The URL is;
www.ultranet.com/~briang/tworks
Thanks and keep up the good work.
Bg
From: Shannon D Parnell
Subject: Boston Theatre
Shannon D Parnell
In general, there's a lot of pure luck, a lot of determined
insistence, and a lot of looking around involved in getting Any
theater positions --- and decently-paying full-time jobs are
probably permanently filled. I know a lot of unpaid and low-paid
and part-time theater people; the few professionals I've met seem
to have had their jobs for years. And some of them had to join
unions to keep those jobs at all.
But there ARE people who know more than I do; I'll mention a
few in Email, but I'll probably need to know more about your
experiences and abilities and aspirations before I do.
Break a leg, though.
Love,
===Anon.
From: E Noonan
Subject: bad URL
>> It's www.comedytheater.com.
>>Thanks for your help
>>David
http://www.comedytheater.com is
http://northshore.shore.net/~greenrm/www.comedytheater.com
Editor's note: Now corrected, thanks.
--
E Grace Noonan
enoonan@hloexc1.hlo.dec.com
Good actErs will probably always be busy, E Grace!
The URL for Comedy Theater, so far, hasn't been "lit"; there are
several new URLs that we should Link properly. Matter of fact,
here's one now:
Subject: Nice page, guy!
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 96 21:52:56 PST
My page will cover the towns of Franklin, Medway (the Medway
Community Theater--I see you've listed their upcoming production
of Brewster's Best), Millis (the Millis Theater Group just ended a
run of Lend Me a Tenor; they're a new group and this was their
third production; I did sound), Milford (with [believe it or not]
THREE major theater groups, The Masque Theater, the Milford
Theater Guild, and the Center for Performing Arts), Upton (the
Online Players, doing musicals), and a number of other weird and
assorted goings-ons, including The Awsome Convict Players (a group
of lifers at Norfolk Prison who put on dramas and musicals...it's
a long story...) and points west...Uxbridge...Southbridge...and
after that you fall off the edge of the world, don't you?
http://www.kersur.net/~edeck
I'll put in a link to the Theater Mirror with the next revision.
As time goes on I'll try to work in more details about the groups
themselves.
Regards,
Ed Eck
And let me ask you, as I try to ask anyone in areas I can't
travel to, please to look for someone in your area who would like
to REVIEW those local productions for The Theater Mirror. I really
want more input about what's Going On!
We will add the new URL as soon as Lee finds a free hour.
Break a leg!
Love,
===Anon.
From: Jimbo
Subject: "Rent"
Jim
PS My site will soon be moving to
http://www.lifecafe.com
WWW http://www.concentric.net/~jimbo35/index1.htm
How Do You Leave The Past Behind When It Keeps
Finding Ways To Get To Your Heart?
Jonathan Larson's RENT, 1996
==============================================
From: "James Tam"
Subject: Mass Hysteria
Thanks,
James Tam
No. I called the number in the listings, and they said
they're re-opening out in Saugus.
From: Mort Kaplan
Subject: Thankx for coming
But the show you Really Want To Like, but can't --- that's
the one the poor slobs with a deadline to meet and finite space to
fill really eviscerate. And that's the one that really needs time
and attention and thought to review accurately.
And it doesn't help when old friends are intimately involved
with the making.
It's good to know you have enough free time to schmooze,
though. Keep me and The Mirror aware of your work!
Love,
===Anon.
From: Syd Parlow
Subject: Great Service
Peace, Syd
From: J Tormey <70511.1513@compuserve.com>
Subject: seating plans
To: Anthony Garramone
Subject: Web pages, darknight, and others...
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 01:48:52 -0500 (EST)
>> I DO think the people who do the shows and ignore the Net are
doing the right thing; I also wish keeping a web-site current
didn't take so much damn time.
Yup, I went a little nuts in late August, early September and
totally redid all the Centastage pages, then school started and,
well...
Speaking of which, out at Worcester Polytechnic Institute we're
doing a production of _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_ November
21-23. It's a college show and it's only that one weekend, so
reviews are kinda moot, but we're doing something a little
innovative-- I've been researching/experimenting with using
virtual reality in a performance situation. We're going to be
projecting virtual worlds during Chief Bromden's monologues. The
students have made the worlds, and they're starting to look pretty
nifty.
This is really a baby step towards what I want to do, but all big
journeys...
So if you want to head out to Worcester and check it out-- maybe
write something about it (because the vr stuff is part of a
larger, ongoing project) I'd be happy to give you directions and
arrange for a comp.
Which reminds me, the wpi pages are woefully out of date...
(sigh)
Dean
From: YOUR REAL NAME
Subject: Apologies for not returning call
Sorry I didn't get back to you regarding Mass. Hysteria in Boston
in November. The show is still going...just like real theater -
a labor of love. It is not in Boston right now except for private
shows.
It's www.comedytheater.com.
Love,
===Anon.
From: Jane Quincy
JQ
Love,
===Anon.,
From: "'liz. miller"
Subject: Re: CCIC: ADD URL
-- 'liz.
elizabeth c. miller http://www.oneweb.com/maxm/
maxm consulting ecm@oneweb.com
Effective Internet Marketing 508 362-5886
We list whatever happens on stage all year long, and we have
listed plays on the Cape --- I think there are one or two there
NOW!
At this moment, though, we don't have the time/manpower/program to
make breakdowns.
If we can get a program to handle it, it might be best to give you
a URL that will jump to The Mirror at the engine, with
instructions about how to get Cape-Only listings prominently
displayed.
But, of course, we wouldn't do that ONLY during the summer!
Theater happens all the time, after all.
Thank you for the listing!
Love,
===Anon.
From: "'liz. miller"
Subject: Re: CCIC: ADD URL
I really enjoyed your site -- one of these days we'll head back
over the bridge and up to the big city to see something...
-- 'liz.
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 19:17:29 -0500
Subject: Assassins review
P>>Dear Mr. Stark,
I just wanted to thank you for the review that was posted
concerning the Vokes production of Assassins. I just wanted to
point out that there was a bit of a mix-up in the body of the
review in that it is Brian Woods who plays John Hinckley while
Brian Turner only plays Leon Czolgosz. If you could correct that,
I'd be very happy. I realize that with two Brians, it was tough
to keep up. I can only imagine how much fun 5 Davids were to keep
track of. Again, thanks for posting that review!
Corrected. I must have been remembering the show instead of
paying attention to the matter at hand. It was a memorable
experience, and thanks for the correction.
Love,
===Anon.
From: ajg2@ix.netcom.com (ANTHONY GARRAMONE )
Subject: shubert theatre seating plan
They're certainly not on the Internet anywhere, because none
of the downtown theatres even has a web-site! A.R.T. has a web-
site, and the Shubert Theatre down in NEW HAVEN has a very good
one. But I don't think either of them has put up seating charts.
That may have something to do with the "no refunds" policy
most theater companies operate under. I mean, if you submit a
series of date/location choices and they're filled by a computer-
program, you could easily get the worst seats on your list despite
the fact that better choices went unsold --- because you can't
discuss the problem with a computer-program.
But we would like to put seating charts up in The Mirror. I
only wonder how many people like you would really take advantage
of them.
Love,
===Anon.
From: Derek Clark
Subject: Listing for the Theater Mirror: Pygmalion
Thanks,
Derek Clark
Theatre At Old South
**************************************************************
THEATRE AT OLD SOUTH PRESENTS
**************************************************************
###############
### ###
### PYGMALION ###
### ###
###############
a comedy by
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
The Classic Inspiration For
MY FAIR LADY
**************************************************************
Henry Higgins...Eliza Doolittle...Colonel Pickering...
All the unforgettable characters are here!
**************************************************************
Performance Dates: November 8,9,15,16 at 8 pm
November 17 at 2 pm
Old South Church
Corner of Boylston and Dartmouth Streets
Copley Square, Boston
(T accessible)
**************************************************************
On Opening night, November 8, we invite our audience
members to participate in our re-creation of Golden Era
opening nights by "dressing for the occasion."
**************************************************************
For more info or reservations, please contact:
Old South Church
617-536-1970
or E-mail me at: derek@riscman.com
**************************************************************
THE THEATER MIRROR, Boston's LIVE Theater Guide
|
MARQUEE | USHER | SEATS |
INTERMISSION | CURTAIN |