THE THEATER MIRROR, New England's LIVE Theater Guide
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"Keely & Du"
* Also see REVIEWS
CURRENTLY RUNNING SHOWS
"Stones in His Pockets" *
* Also reviewed here in QUICK TAKES
CURRENTLY RUNNING SHOWS
Reviewed HERE in QUICK-TAKES
No more at The Moment
Reviewed in REVIEWS
"Adrift in Macao" 2
"The King And I" 2
"La Cage Aux Folles"
"The Mystery of Edwin Drood"
KEELY AND DU, by Jane Martin
Performances through March 15
Presented by Hovey Players, Waltham MA
Directed by Bill Doscher
Co-Producers: Jessie Olson & Kristin Hughes
Stage Manager: Mark Sickler
Cast: Philana Gnatowski, Ann Carpenter, Larry Lickteig, Robin Gabrielli
The judges who award outstanding performances around Boston need to get to Waltham by March 15 to see the Hovey Players' production of KEELY AND DU by Jane Martin. This drama with four actors is directed by Bill Doscher. Keely (Philana Gnatowski), a young woman pregnant by rape, is held captive by a militant anti-abortion cadre insistent that she deliver (and love) the fetus Keely is determined to abort. Du (Ann Carpenter), the group's grandmotherly nurse, is assigned to care for Keely in a locked basement for several months. The play is about their changing relationship, and both actresses hold the stage firmly the entire drama. Walter (Larry Lickteig), the zealous minister who leads the anti-abortionists, frequently visits Keely's prison to persuade her to follow their plan. They even bring in repentant rapist Cole (Robin Gabrielli), Keely's alcoholic ex-husband, who begs forgiveness.
These four actors are terrific, especially young Philana Gnatowski and stage veteran Ann Carpenter in their demanding, leading roles. Larry Lickteig and Robin Gabrielli make their unsympathetic characters fully understandable. All are convincing. In a program note Bill Doscher, whose directing awards include musical shows, thanks the Hovey Players for letting him do "serious stuff." Audiences and judges should be grateful as well.
Mathew Todd’s cheeky BLOWING WHISTLES (at Zeitgeist Stage through Feb 9th) starts off like a lightweight British sitcom. Picture, if you can, an even-more-gay-than-it-already-is ARE YOU BEING SERVED. Then something sweet happens. The titillating laughter gives way to some lovely sentiment as a sincere banker bloke and his less than honest lover celebrate their 10th anniversary.
The lover (a buff Christopher Michael Brophy) thinks he’s God’s gift. He’s the kind of guy who thinks a boy toy is an appropriate anniversary present. Brian Quint gives a heartbreaking performance as the banker who tries to please everyone, even at his own expense. Director Thomas Garvey mines some earnest emotion from the over the top script and classy performances from Quint and Joey Pelletier as the confused teenager who comes wrapped or should I say ‘unwrapped’ as a gift.
Marie Jones’ STONES IN HIS POCKETS (at Hovey Players through next weekend) is a vigorous workout for two actors. The duo gets to play over a dozen roles in this peculiar little comedy of bad movie manners. The premise brings an American film company to Ireland to shoot some local color and everyone in town wants in.
There’s an old coot whose claim to fame is that he’s the last surviving extra from John Wayne’s THE QUIET MAN. There’s the kid who abuses drugs to escape his dashed dreams and it wouldn’t be a Hollywood movie without a pompous director and a frazzled assistant, not to mention a haughty starlet who just can’t, for the life of her, master an Irish accent. Our entrée into this strange world of close-ups and wide shots filled with “downtrodden peasants” are two regular blokes, happy to be extras.
Often an actor in STONES will find himself playing a scene with himself as another character, so keeping each one distinct is of paramount importance. Director Leigh Berry’s cast does a good job of making each character unique and the brogues are surprisingly easy to understand (which sometimes isn’t the case with native Irish speakers). Bill Stambaugh and Michael Sean Corbett run a good race, transitioning smoothly from silly to sober and back again.
The NSMT’s LES MISERABLES is a must see and here’s why. No more dark, gloomy Broadway set. The brooding, plodding direction of the original production has been replaced with a clarity and vitality which infuses the show with freshness and excitement. NSMT plays their shows in the round and here’s the delightful paradox: The much ballyhooed circular staging (Think FORBIDDEN BROADWAY) that we’ve come to expect in LES MIZ is gone! Director and choreographer (and soon to be NSMT’s Artistic Director/Producer) Barry Ivan makes the action soar—and not once are you conscious of the sightlines. Now you’re conscious of the through line, and Victor Hugo’s sweeping story.
If all you remember about the novel is Jean Valjean’s imprisonment for stealing bread---and his escape through the Paris sewers---you’ll be enthralled by the heroics of Fred Inkley’s Valjean. He brings a strength of character to the role that few actors do. Devin Richards, too, makes an indelible mark as Javert, the policeman who dogs Valjean through the years. See it, as well, for Ron Wisniski as Thenardier, the scurrilous landlord who looks like he stepped out of a scathing Daumier caricature. Every aspect of the show makes a political impact. The French Revolution is only a memory to the students who arm the barricades in LES MIZ but the cause is the same. The poor are no better off--- and Ivan and company make you keenly aware of the stakes.
Hi Larry,
I went to see part I of the Kentucky cycle yesterday and was surprised that I didn't see you there; we seem to be hitting lots of shows at the same time. This is by far the best theatre I have seen in Boston in a long time. The action of the show was so well paced and riveting that I hardly noticed the time. I wasn't able to stay for the evening of part II but plan to go next weekend. I am urging everyone to get to see this amazing event.
Renee Miller
by all means put me on the reviewers' list - you are doing fantastic work at the Company Theater - I felt so good about the state of theater to see so many enthusiastic people in the audience - and you have a wonderful mix of actors on the stage. I loved seeing the orchestra play - that is a unique aspect to your production as well. Congratulations all around.
Kay Bourne
Sure, there’s the sweet story of the little girl from Allentown (Jessica Greeley) who steps out of the chorus and into the lead. There’s the handsome producer (John Anthony) who famously says “You’re going out there a youngster, but you have to come back a star.” But the big reason to see the Reagle production is the dancing: The New York City tapestry ballet—“where the underworld can meet the elite” on “bawdy, naughty, gawdy, sporty 42nd Street”---will lift you right out of your seat and send you tapping your way happily home.
Kudos, too, to Suellen Estey as the haughty star who breaks her leg and can’t go on. Her tough break, of course, leads to a lucky break for “Allentown.” You’ll remember that life has imitated art a couple of times. That’s how Shirley McLaine and Catherine Zeta-Jones, both got their starts.
It’s not often you get to see a huge-scale musical with all the bells and whistles. Reagle knows how to pull out all the stops and director Eileen Grace knows how to turn up the heat.
Any psychologist will tell you that a child’s play mimics the adult behavior (s)he experiences---so a “naughty” dolly might get a “time out” or maybe even a spanking, in some households. Playwright Noah Haidle drags this imaginative play toward the dark side in his creepy tale of latchkey kids called MR. MARMELADE (playing through Aug. 11th at the Boston Center for the Arts).
John Kuntz gives a downright scary performance as the sadistic, manipulative imaginary friend of an adorable, pigtailed four year old, portrayed in glorious, melt-in-your-mouth naiveté by Rachel Hunt. The Company One production, directed by Shawn LaCount, makes the sometimes hilarious, sometimes shocking material jump right off the stage. (Scene cards, like old silent movie exposition, even warn us that some of the action will be hard to take, for the squeamish.)
This dark comedy, nevertheless, has its bright side, in the pint-sized personage of a disturbed five year old, brilliantly played by Greg Maraio. He befriends the lonely little girl with an imagination as bizarre as his and together they keep evil at bay.
Larry,
I don't normally have the urge to write about shows I've seen (and i
see alot) but after last night's performance of Company One's Mr.
Marmalade, I couldn't resist.
All I can say is this is one of the funniest, smartest, and most interesting plays I've seen in a long time. Not only was it bitingly funny, but it had me thinking about just about everything well after the show was over.
The production itself was flawless and the cast was to die for. John Kuntz was in top form as always and it was a delight to see him as the smarmy and charming Mr. Marmalade. But the play belonged to Rachael Hunt as Lucy and Greg Maraio as Larry. It's always a minefield when an adult plays a child, and these two not only pulled it off but made me forget I was watching adult at all. Hunt, who spends the entire show onstage was simply mesmerizing to watch, the absolute heart of the play. As for Greg Maraio's adorable Larry, all I can say is that his performance was the funniest I've seen all year (or longer). Hilarious and touching, he stole every scene he was in.
Strong performances all around from the supporting cast Daniel Berger-Jones, Amanda Good- Hennesey, Mark Vanderzee, Danny Balel, and Tory Bullock.
Go see this play! Its not for children due to a lot of the racy
subject matter, but if you are over 18, you're sure to have a good
laugh, and it doesn't hurt if your sense of humor is on the darker
side
Erin Griffiths
Company One's Mr. Marmalade opened this past weekend at the BCA Plaza Theatre and I have a brief recommendation:
GO SEE IT!!
I saw it on opening night and it was polished and ready and absolutely hilarious. I feel like I need to see it again because we were all laughing so hard I missed some lines. I can pretty much guarantee that you'll enjoy it (unless you're offended easily, in which case: stay home).
Company One is taking a big step, hiring their first equity performer: local legend John Kuntz! John is fantastic as always and it's a fabulous cast all around, but to my mind the real standout is Greg Maraio as Larry. His physicality is so perfect that he didn't have to say a word to have me rolling in the aisles.
This is a high-energy summer play by a hot, young playwright, so bring some friends for the fun! The show deserves to be a big hit - kudos to Company One. (But please - no kids!!)
The Makeshift Theatre Co, has been doing theater for younger audiences, at ghodawful hours of the pre-dawn like 10 A M for a while, but until 15 July they'll be on the Durrell Stage at the Cambridge YMCA doing Everything Shakespeare wrote in a little over an hour, with lengthy asides and a Dramatic Intermission --- and all for a mere $15. The three guys in sneakers are Larry Leggett, Jonathan Overby, and Artistic Director Andrew Rhodes, and their high-energy high-jinks is quick, broad and subtle by turns, and a laugh riot. They are masters of a sort of sidelong glance and dying voice that implies Something Is Screwed Up Here, they throw themselves about the stage like dimented things (whether doing Ophelia or Juliet or Desdemona --- the shriek's the same), and they at least Mention 36 plays.
Well, Thirty SEVEN, actually, though Larry Leggett has this Thing about "Hamlet" that....
Ooop! NoNoNo, I'll be as mysterious about that as they are about some "Schottish Play" they want to do as a Step-Dancing Musical. (That is a lie, but so is a lot of this fun show. It's funny for everyone, but the more you know about Shagsberd, the funnier it gets.) And what d'ya expect for only Fifteen Bucks, huh? Check 'em out!
Love,
===Anon.
/H4>
I paid another visit to the improv comedy concert featuring a local band called Jim's Big Ego. My first review praised the concept, the band, and the audience participants, but criticized the performer who interpreted how the songs answered audience members' questions. See http://www.theatermirror.com/CBEte&tojtob.htm
Since then, the show has been polished, and there is a new "interpreter" -- a "medium" called Jenny G (Jenny Gutbezahl). Jenny G makes all the difference. She is completely comfortable with improv and has a rapid-reaction comic sense. She also gave an improved explantion about just what this offbeat entertainment aims to do.
The show is a clever vehicle for the band because you have to listen carefully to the lyrics if you want to know how they "answer" the audience questions, and the lyrics are a particular strength of Jim's Big Ego.
Although the show is temporarily closed, it will reopen at Jimmy Tingle's Off-Broadway Theater in Davis Square, Somerville, in July and may also run in August. A packed audience on June 17 got a big kick out of it, and I can now recommend warmly it for an evening of kooky fun. For more information, see http://www.theegoandtheoracle.com.
Caroline Burlingham Ellis
there is a new play in town that i highly recommend: THE TRIAL OF ONE SHORT SIGHTED BLACK WOMAN VS. MAMMY LOUISE AND SAFREETA MAE. written by karani marcia leslie, it is the inaugural production of the roxbury crossroads theatre (www.Roxburycrossroadstheatre.com). although it is billed as "a comedic courtroom drama that centers on the efforts of a successful black woman to sue two stereotypes of american black women", it is indeed more than that. it is, really, a scholarly, honest, and profoundly moving exploration of the legacy of slavery, african-american identity, and the perennial problem of the "color line" (as w.e.b. dubois termed it) in this country. it has very funny as well as very sad moments; its characters are richly developed. from writer to producer to director to actors, everyone gives his/her soul to this production.
reviewers have called it "a wickedly funny, thoughtfully provocative play, often funny but also deeply serious" and "a lightly rolllicking vehicle of wit, humor and history."
although i am not a frequent theatre goer, i have seen my share of plays over the years. i can tell you, without exaggeration, that this play moved me in ways that i had never been moved by a work of art, dramatic or otherwise. based on the reaction of very enthusiastic and appreciative fellow audience members, i don't think my reaction was atypical.
last but not least, as a bonus, you will get to see our own talaya freeman displaying her great thespian gifts in a magisterial role.
the venue is the boston center for the arts plaza theatre, 539 tremont st., in the south end. it will run through 6/10/07.
please do your soul a favor and go see this play.
-pedro
I have only a few minutes before going to be "ROASTed", and I have had a devastating Cold for ten debilitating days now, so I think I'll go, after tonight's show, to the Beth Israel Emergency Room to find out just what is wrong with me.
But these two plays, seen back-to-back last week-end, are beautifully written and acted and, yes, Surrealistic and in-your-face attacks on current affairs. The one with the longest title is at the BCA; the other is at Gloucester Stage Company --- and both must be seen to be believed.
"The Trial" puts not people, but IMAGES on trial --- noting the persistence of the "Aunt Jemima figure" and the younger, sexier Black prostitute as stereotypes. The suit is brought by a young and more-or-less upwardly-mobile Black woman in a business power-suit (Kortney Adams), who complains that the jokes of her peers at her expense are based on these demeaning character-studies in old movies. Since there is really no courtroom, the prosecutor (Valerie Lee) and defender (Marvelyn McFarlane) can summon any witnesses they want, real or imaginary, and get The WHOLE Truth from them. And it turns out that hardly Any of these witnesses (including Jeff Gill's hard-shelled slave-owner) is willing to Step Down after testimony ends. The judge (Talaya Freeman) is quite capricious in sustaining or denying objections, and her search for the Whole Truth changes several of the characters' minds about a lot of things. And that could be true of you in the audience as well.
This is a toe-to-toe battle about truths and mythologies, well worth everyone's attention. It is brilliantly directed by Jacqui Parker, written by Karani M. Leslie, and produced by Ed Bullins' new Roxbury Crossroads Theatre --- in their first full-length production.
Out in Gloucester, it's Heidi Dallin and Jacqueline Kristel playing two famous women; their fictitious collision supposedly takes place before Bill Clinton's dalliance became public. Yvette Heyliger, who not only wrote but directed this production, barges across genres from farce to stand-up to high drama to politiical gossip, with quips and malapropisms popping off in all directions. The scene here is a small display-room showing the table-crockery chosen by every First Lady --- some of which come close to turning out Intercontinental Ballistic Weapons as the conflicts escalate.
I can't remember how many (dozen?) times Mrs. Clinton hollered "Ah no, Little Girl, you're not sneeking out through that door yet!" at Lewinsky's guilty back, and Monica's stumbles ("I was gong to meet him in the Oral Office") and ignorance ("Woodward and Bernstein? Who are they?") are in serious need of editing. But these are both actresses of solid talent and experiences going at each other non-stop and no-quarter, drawing blood early and often.
Jeff Pierce makes a buzz-word/cliche walk-on as Bill Clinton, as well as another as a Secret Service Agent, and Vanessa Shaw plays a smarmy Betty Currie --- and both of them rush into other costumes as Woman Three, Man One --- but these turn out to be nearly irrelevent to the Title Bout that used both of them, but never ceases.
It's important to remember that, no matter what your politics, your memories of this national crisis, nor your interest in next year's presidential election, you will be surprised (repeatedly) by the playwright's store of detail, and her ability to make two shouting national icons into decidedly, passionately, believably human beings. I don't think I've ever watched two actresses work harder, or succeed more brilliantly.
The Huntington
Theatre Company's final production of their 25th
season is an excellent example of what this firmly
middle-brow theatre does best. Played on a sumptuous
Art Deco inspired set by Alexander Dodge, with
costumes by another longtime Huntington designer,
Mariann Verhegen, the show has a Broadway flair. The
casting is strong in most cases with a smattering of
locals, Nancy E. Carroll as the Swedish maid, Alice
Duffy as a matronly Lady Saltburn, and Richard Snee as
Henry Lypiatt, whose wife is pursuing the leading
man. That part is taken by Tony nominee Victor
Garber, whose more or less convincing as fading West
End star, Garry Essendine, if somewhat tame.
The women are
occasionally problematic. Sarah Hudnut, seen last
fall in "The Cherry Orchard" doesn't come across as
old enough to be Garry's private secretary. Lisa
Barnes is sufficient as Garry's former wife Liz and
Holly Fain is a good basic ingenue. As Joanna
Lypiatt's Pamela J. Gray's motivations are somewhat
unclear. Both Mark Victor and Brooks Ashmanskas seem
to equate volume with emotion, to which Ashmanskas
adds a level of physical comedy which doesn't suit the
show. James Joseph O'Nell makes the most of the
Cockney butler
But a good time is had by
all. "Present Laughter" sometimes feels like the
third act of "Design for Living" writ large and with
no agenda. HTC is doing a relatively complete script
of this three act "Bon Voyage" which was written on
the eve of WWII, with its opening delayed until 1942
after Coward his duties to Britain's propaganda
efforts. It toured along with "This Happy Breed" and
was joined in the canon by another evergreen, "Blithe
Spirit." The size of its cast has kept it mostly to
the community stage, so HTC's production is probably
the best chance to see a first-rate production of
Coward and his arch witticisms.
"Present Laughter" by Noel Coward, May 18 - June
17
Huntington Theatre Company at B.U. Theatre
264 Huntington Ave., (617) 266 - 0800-????
HTC
A suburban company of
young actors from the South Shore, the Gurnet Theatre
Project, has produced interesting several shows in the
last three years. This time, for a brief run at the
BCA, they've moved closer to the Fringe with a
production on Bert V. Royal's "Dog Sees God;
Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead" which brings the
Peanuts gang into high school. CB, played by Jonathan
Orsini, is still the same lost soul, his sister Sally,
played by Gillian Mackay-Smith, is trying to find
herself--this week she's a Wiccan, Linus, played by
Foster Johns, is now a stoner. You get the idea.
The script has seems to have been generated at least
partially from improvisation by its original cast of
young NY TV actors. The original production won an
award at the 2004 NY International Fringe
Festival.
Director Brian C. Fahey
pulls the show's rambling scenes together and the
result is a show with some of the heart of the
original. It could use some editing however. The
only actor seen much around town is busy Jonathan
Popp, who plays Matt. It may take a moment to figure
out which of the original characters he is. Lucy,
played by Danielle Baumann, is shows up briefly in a
rather peculiar situation. Gurnet is running the show
one more weekend, but it's liable to turn up on the
stages of local liberal highschools, especially those
with active GLTS support groups. If you can come in
out of the good weather--finally--this weekend, it's
worth a shot.
"Dog Sees God" by Bert V. Royal, May 18 - 26
Gurnet Theatre Project at BCA, Black Box
539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Gurnet
Hello Larry,
I wanted to tell you about an incredible theatrical experience that I had on
Saturday night in Gloucester.
Not many people know of the performances, the company have been very
specific and elusive ??
But I was so blown away that I am compelled to tell all.
I was invited by a close friend of mine to see The Maids, produced by The
Contemporary Theatre of Boston,
for those of you who might not know...it is an absurdist play by the
brilliant French playwright Jean Genet.
CTB from what I hear, is a new? edgy company who want to shake up our
rarely shaken Boston Theatre Scene.
And shake they did!
This was no ordinary performance in an ordinary
theater, this was 'site specific' and this specific site was a beautiful
home in Gloucester.
The audience were greeted at the door and served drinks and food for one
hour, pre performance. I LOVED this! There were about thirty guests, or
audience members
and almost all of them were dressed up in period clothing, or just dressed
up!
I recognized some Gloucester Stage veterans and some South End artists. A
truly eclectic group.
After about an hour of lovely drinks and munchies and period music from the 40's, we are ushered into a gorgeous room which for all intents and purposes is the living room of the "Madame" in which the story is based around.
The playing space and close proximity to the audience at first felt a bit too close, but within minutes we are transported back in time and I even found myself leaning in for some of the more intimate moments. The play itself is dark and I will get to the acting in a moment.
I first want to comment on the amazing level of detail, gothic candelabras, working period phones right down to a beautiful working victrola. Absolutely splendid.
The actresses were good almost bordering on brilliant at times.
British actress and Co- founder of CTB gave a terrific performance as
"Madame"
Nadia Delemeny gave a very pure absurdist performance and this character
suited her wonderfully
and her beauty and subtle humor made it even more of a pleasure to watch.
Molly Schreiber's portrayal of Claire was poetic and strong, and the
incredible transformation's that she makes
through the play actually gave me goose bumps!
Judith Kalora who played Solange ,well to put it plainly...SCARED THE CRAP
out of me!!
I have been a patron of the arts and a devoted theater go-er for more years than I can remember, and I have NEVER felt frightened by a stage play, but this actress actually made me flinch and I felt my stomach tighten up in to a ball for the duration of the show! Larry, this was one of the best productions I have ever seen.And I do not say this lightly.
The carefully crafted imagery, the poetry, intensity, etc. were breathtaking. I have seen The Maids in New York several years ago and I can promise you this, Chris Cavalier's vision and direction BLEW ME AWAY!!
SO PLEASE all of you who read this...
contact the CTB and book your tickets as soon as possible.They have been
touring for quite a few weeks so not sure how much longer they can go on.
I have no idea were they will go next, they do have a website, not easy to
find however.
And ACTORS...send your résumé's to this incredible company and lets hope
they stay in Boston for a very long time!!
Best Regards,
[S. L.]
PS...If at all possible, please do not publish my email address, I do not
have any way to contact the company
and do not want to be flooded with questions!
;-)
I hope your health is good.
Boston's senior
director, David Wheeler, one of the founders of the
seminal Theatre Company of Boston, is directing his
14th Pinter production, his third at the ART. Harold
Pinter's enigmatic 1975 "No Man's Land", an
exploration of the aging poet--among other things--is
a dense verbal structure, more lyrical than dramatic.
Wheeler has brought back TCB stalwart Paul Benedict
for the central role of Hirst, and set him opposite
veteran actor Max Wright as Spooner. The two spin
improbable histories for themselves in Hirst's
palatial sitting room, almost a temple to drink. Two
younger men, Hirst's flamboyant son Foster, played by
A.R.T./MXAT student Henry David Clarke and the
latter's rough companion, Briggs, played by Lewis D.
Wheeler take care of the old man and the house.
They're more recognizably "Pinteresque."
In the show's two acts, much
is said, little in fully illuminated. It's been
suggested that this piece is the author's response to
Eliot's "The Waste Land." Bleakness certainly
applies, J. Michael Grigg's elegant monumental set
emphasizes the fragility of the two old men and their
hermetic lives. But ultimately, the author has no
conclusion to draw. There's no play there for any of
the four. But they do it so well. And perhaps this
production signals the return of a favorite Boston
actor to our boards.
"No Man's Land" by Harold Pinter, May 12 - June
10
A.R.T at Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle St. Harvard Sq., (617) 547 - 8300
A.R.T.
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Parade" by Alfred Uhry and
Jason Robert Brown
Date: Mon, May 14, 11:12 PM
Quicktake on PARADE
Speakeasy is ending
their season with Boston's first professional
production of Uhry and Brown's Tony winning "Parade",
a large cast music drama based on Uhry's book. He's
better remembered for another modern classic, "Driving
Miss Daisy." Jason Robert Brown is better known for
whose quasi-autobiographical reversed order romance,
"The Last Five Years" which Speakeasy also produced
plus his revue, "Songs for a New World." Director Paul
Daigneault has assembled a impressive cast of 29
musical actors to recount the fate of Leo Frank, a
Jewish factory superintendent from Brooklyn, who
managed his father-in-law's factory in Atlanta in
1913. He was falsely accused of raping one of his
young female employees, sentenced to hang. When the
governor commuted this sentence, citing faults with
his trial, a mob lynched Frank. The real murderer,
presumed in this retelling to be a black janitor who
testified against Frank at his trail, was never
tried.
Produced at Lincoln Center
by Hal Prince, "Parade" had a disappointing first run,
but has since found a place in the ongoing development
of American Musical theatre. The principal cast
members are two Speakeasy favorites, Brendan McNab,
seen in "Kiss of the Spider Woman," as well as last
fall's "See What I Wanna See," and Norton winner
Bridget Beirne, who played Queenie in their production
of La Chieusa's "The Wild Party." Also prominent is
Timothy John Smith, recent IRNE winner from Lyric's
"1776." as a local reporter who seizes on the case as
his chance at fame. Paul D. Farwell plays both the
through character of a Confederate veteran, and sickly
Judge Roan. Austin Lesch, seen regularly locally and
just in from the national tour of "Altar Boys: opens
the show as the young confederate soldier, singing
"The Old Red Hills of Home," something of a theme for
the piece. Edward M. Barker is the rascally janitor.
There are also first rate performances from local
music theatre regulars. David Krinnit is the suave and
unpricipled prosecutor,Dorsey, while Terrence
O'Malley is the "dancing governor", Slaton. Gerald
Slattery doubles as the local barkeep and Frank's
"good old boy" lawyer, Luther Rosser. Tom Watson is a
local firebrand preacher and anti-Semite, who joins
forces with the prosecution. Speakeasy veteran Kerry
A. Dowling, seen this fall in "The Women" is affecting
as the victim's mother, Mrs. Phagan.
The show's design by Eric
Levenson is an elegant unit set which efficiently
suggests the various locales required. Stacy
Stephen's period costumes, including numerous changes,
give a real sense of pre-WWI Atlanta, trying to make
its way into the 20th century, still very much "olde
South." IRNE winner Karen Perlow provides the
necessary flexible lighting design. Changes of set
pieces and furniture are handled a vista by the
ensemble with admirable dispatch. Jose Delgado
conducts a an ample pit orchestra with fellow IRNE
winner Paul S. Katz at the keyboard. Don't let this
"Parade" pass you by.
"Parade" by Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown, May
12 - June 16
Speakeasy Stage Co. at Roberts Studio, Calderwood
BCA, 529 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Speakeasy
The Stoneham Theatre
end its regular season with a revival of Agatha
Cristies' classic thriller "And Then There Where
None." They've become adept at staging such plays.
This time the director is Caitlin Lowans, working on
an elegant Art Deco set by Katheryn Monthei from
Brandeis with excellent costumery by Rachel
Padula-Shufelt. They've assembled an excellent
regional cast who form a coherent ensemble as they're
bumped off one by one.
They're Anastasia Barnes as
Vera Claythorne, the hostess' social secretary and
Robert Najarian, last seen as Eisnstein in URT's
"Einstein's Dreams," as Captain Lombard, the romantic
leads, more or less. The rest of the victims included
Steve Barkhimer, who was Also in "Einstein's Dreams"
as Blore, a former copper turned P.I., Stoneham
veteran Shelley Bolman as Dr. Armstrong, a nervous
neurologist, Gene Fleming as retired General
MacKenzie, Colin Kiley as brass speeder Anthony
Marsten, director/playwright Jack Neary as Rogers the
butler with Eve Passeltiner as his wife, the cook,
Stephen Russell up from the Cape as imposing Justice
Wargrave, and Ann Marie Shea as disapproving Miss
Brent. All strangers to one another, these ten have
been invited for the weekend by the Owens, owners of a
palatial house which sits alone on an isolated island.
They've been delayed, no one in the cast has met them
either.
As the play winds through a
labyrinth of character revelations to a multiple
surprise ending, the ensemble draws the audience in to
their plight over its three acts, afternoon, evening,
and the next morn, as they're marooned with nine
companions, one of whom is killing them off. Even if
you remember who-dunnit, this production is worth the
short ride out to Stoneham.
"And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie, May 11
- 27
Stoneham Theatre
395 Main St. Stoneham, (782) 279 - 2200
Stoneham
Theatre
Add one more recently
formed company to the active Boston Fringe Theatre
scene. Darrren Evans' "Theatre On Fire" is finishing
their season over at Charlestown Working Theatre with
prolific playwright Lee Blessings' "Two Rooms." This
1980 play centers around the hostage crises in
Lebanon, but clearly shows how little the West has
learned about the situation in more than 25 years..
Presented with an elegiac air, this full-length work
concentrates on the wife of an American University
teacher waiting at home near Washington for her
husbands release. Jason Beals, seen in Molasses Tank's "Conquest of the South Pole" is the
blindfolded hostage. Kate Donnelly, seen in ToF's
last project, Jamie Pachino "Race," is his young wife
mourning for news. IRNE winner Michelle Dowd is Kate's
State Department liaison, clearly unable to do or say
much. And Craig Houk gets back into the theatre
scene to play a reporter seeking an exclusive to
Kate's story.
Director Evans maintains
the relentless pace of impending tragedy, which is a
valid interpretation of Blessing's uncomfortable
script. Even the impatient will be swept up in its
careful development. The set, designed by Prav
Menon-Johansson, the office in Kate's house, is
indicated by strip curtains and minimal furniture,
she's emptied it otherwise. It also functions as the
cell. Simple lighting and the director's ominous sound
design complete the technical support. Check out
Theatre on Fire's next season when it's announced.
They're yet another reason to find your way over to
CWT, which is only three blacks from the Sullivan Sq.
stop on the Orange Line, with sufficient street
parking.
"Two Rooms" by Lee Blessing, May 4 - 19
Theatre on Fire at Charlestown Working Theater
442 Bunker Hill Ave. Charlestown, 866 - 811 - 4111
Theatre On
Fire
Shaw’s “Arms and the
Man.” his first major play has been much produced
during the last 100 years. An enduring farce about the
excesses of romantic love and patriotism, the play is
closing out the Lyric’s season. Director Spiro
Veloudous has done the play with a light touch,
allowing his excellent cast to shape their stock
characters into recognizable human beings. There’s
still some fine tuning to do. Barlow Adamson as
Bruntschili, the Swiss professional soldier and
unlikely hero of the piece needs to play more of the
leading man while James Ryen, as Sergius, his apparent
rival for the heroine could use even more hauteur, for
example.
As Raina, Sergius’ fiance in
love with his dashing romantic image, Ellen Adair
plays the ingenue to the hilt, until the final
revelations, of course. The role of her mother is
another plum part for Bobbie Steinbach, And Ken
Baltin’s Major Petkoff, her father, is funny without
becoming ridiculous. The family's main servants,
Louka, played by Sarah Abrams, and Nikola, the butler,
played by Peter Carey, have much more realistic
attitudes than their employers—this is of course Shaw.
Their place in the finale presages later turnabouts
in his plays.
The whole show is handsomely
done on an airy Art Deco inspired set by Cristana
Tedesco with appropriate uniforms and Balkan dress by
Molly Trainer. John Cuff’s lighting helps keep things
light and airy. The production has original music
scored and recorded by Jonathan Goldberg. The whole
affair reveals how entertaining GBS could be even as
he tweaked the nose of the British Empire, which would
shortly be bloodied by WW1. Shavians will have a
chance to see this master much harder at work this
summer, when the Publick Theatre presents
“Misalliance” in repertory with “Romeo and Juliet.”
"Arms and the Man" by Bernard Shaw, May 4 - June
2
Lyric Stage at Copley YWCA
140 Clarendon, Copely Sq. (617) 585 - 5678
Lyric Stage
Those with fond
memories of Speakeasy's production of Michael John
LaChiusa's version of "The Wild Party" a few season's
back are liable to be slightly disappointed in Andrew
Lippa's approach to the same material. Not the New
Rep's current production just could be the sharpest
and most energetic small music theatre presentation of
the season, but that Lippa's one-man show (book,
music, and lyrics) seems something of a pastiche.
He's tried to meld the jazz and music theatre sounds
of the Roaring '20s with contemporary styles with
mixed results. He's also concentrated on four
principal characters, leaving the rest of Moncure's
menagerie mostly as background. None of the four are
particularly well motivated.
First there's Queenie,
the archetypical blonde nightclub dancer, played Marla
Mindelle, the center of most of the numbers, bored
after three years living with Burrs, a vaudeville
clown with a dark side. Burrs gives Todd Alan
Johnson, seen as Mac the Knife previously at the New
Rep a chance to play full-throttle. The other woman,
who shows up for the party is Kate, a nightclub singer
and old friend, played by Sarah Corey, who appeared in
"Caroline or Change" as Mother, with an agenda to
break things up. She's accompanied by Black, played
by Maurice E. Parent, seen last season as Coalhouse in
"Ragtime." He and Queenie hit it off, Sarah vamps
Burrs, and tragedy ensues. But the major motivation
behind it all seems to be terminal boredom, not a
particularly dramatic emotion.
The rest of the
characters are given somewhat short shrift, though
Leigh Barrett as Madeline True, Lesbian, has the
show's most memorable number, the solo "An Old
Fashioned Love Story." Jake Mosser and Ilyse Robbins
as Eddie the Prizefighter and Mae, his diminutive
partner, have their own musical hall number, "Two of a
Kind" but no plot, and Phil the Broadway producer,
played by Brian De Lorenzo, is really just part of the
ensemble. Director Rick Lombardo has assembled a fine
ensemble and choreographer Kelli Edwards generates a
lot of erotic heat from them, with the help of Betsy
Adkins and Ilyse Robbins as Dance Captains. One could
only wish that all this talent had stronger material
to work with, It's a show certainly worth watching,
there are effective and challenging musical moments,
masterfully handled by music director Todd C. Gordon,
but the aftermath isn't a hangover, but rather like a
large dinner of Chinese takeout where everyone ordered
their favorites, a lot got sampled, but the result
wasn't particularly satisfying. The ending is
typical. When Queenie, whose world has crashed around
her, should be waiting for the cops, she sings a
rather moralizing power ballad and exits into the
night. End of show.
The design for "The Wild
Party" is uniformly superb with a mirror filled set by
IRNE winner Janie E. Howland, spot-on period costumes
by IRNE winner Frances Nelson McSherry, and effective
contemporary lighting by Franklin Meissner, Jr.
Properties by Erik D. Diaz and a number of small
movable pieces, notably the brass bed and the bathroom
give a sense of Queenie and Burrs' hermetic world. All
that's lacking is the author's dramatic focus, despite
the best efforts of all involved. Sometimes you can't
have everything. Incidentally, the New Rep is adding a
summer show this year. Leigh Barrett, Andrew Giordano,
and Maryann Zschau are doing "Side by Side by
Sondheim" July 7 - 22 on the Arsenal Mainstage.
That'll be something.
"The Wild Party" by Andrew Lippa, April 25 - May
20
New Repertory Theatre at Arsenal Center for the
Arts
321 Arsenal St. Watertown MA, (617) 923 - 8487
New Rep
Whistler in the Dark,
which has performed previously at the Charlestown
Working Theater--and no doubt will do so again--is
currently presenting the Boston premiere of
post-modern playwright Will Eno's "The Flu Season."
over in Watertown. The Black Box space opened
officially last fall with the New Rep's production
of Eno's more recent "Thom Pain (based on nothing), a
monodrama performed by Diego Arciniegas. Eno's earlier
play has a cast of six, two omnipresent as the
Prologue and the Epilogue, whose commentary frames the
action. Prologue is Ed Hoopman, who recently completed
a run as Hamlet for the New Rep's school tour, while
the acerbic Epilogue is Jennifer O'Connor, one of
Whistler's Artistic Associates and Company Manager of
the Imaginary Beasts from Lynn for which she last
played a Dromio.
The storyline concerns the
Man, played by Nael Nacer and the Woman, done by
Meghan Newsmith. Both are newcomers at a residential
mental health facility, where they interact, barely,
with the Doctor, done by David LeBahn, and the Nurse,
Shelley Brown, two rather superficial professionals.
There's an air of autobiography about the situation,
which may simply be Eno's way with words and fervid
imagination. A somewhat predictable plot takes a
little too long to unfurl, but director Ben Fainstein
and the cast hold the audience's attention.
The various locales
around the sanitarium are indicated by a few movable
pieces of furniture and Andrew Dickey's area lighting.
The tragedy of the Woman is largely due to the lack
of affect on the part of the Man. No one's past is
really much explored; this is very much a play in the
present. Whistler in the Dark has previous presented
works from the world stage. With this effort by Eno
they come to these shores (Brooklyn), but will open
next fall with another Howard Barker enigma "A Hard
Heart." Before then we may see some local writing at
the second "Fever Fest," this time to be presented at
the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center Aug. 23 - 25.
Imaginary Beasts will be doing a show based Lorca's
puppet pieces about "Don Cristobal and Sena Rosita,"
Aug 9 through 18 at the Arsenal Black Box. Both
companies are outstanding examples of the new wave of
Boston's theatre Fringe. By the way, the title of
this piece may refer to the winter season during which
the action unfolds. Or it may not. With Will Eno you
never know.
"The Flu Season" by Will Eno, Apr. 27 - May 5
Whistler in the Dark at Downstage Black Box, Arsenal
Center for the Arts
321 Arsenal St. Watertown MA, (617) 923 - THTR
Whistler in
the Dark
Larry, I don't review the Concord Players because I am a longtime member,
and I feel like it's a conflict of interest. But I would like to say (with
that caveat) that I thought the current production of "She Loves Me,"
running for two more weekends, was just great--Sarah Consentino especially.
Barbara Cook better watch out. Her laurels are in danger.
Caroline Burlingham Ellis
Turtle Lane is
closing their season with one of the best shows the
company has done in a while. Director Michelle M.
Aguillon has assembled an ensemble of voices which can
handle Simon’s harmonies and Norman’s lyrics, and act
as well. Music director Wayne Ward gets the best out
of this well-trained group. The design team of
Michelle Boll and John MacKenzie has met the show’s
scenic requirements with a combination of well-painted
scenery and effective projected backgrounds. Robert
Itzcak’s costumes suit the period and mood, giving a
final touch to this Victorian Gothic romance.
While not a children’s show
“The Secret Garden” is family friendly, as the plucky
orphan, Mary Lennox peserveres against her uncle’s
depression and his brother’s frustration. Hannah Grace
Horsely captures the role and has enough of a voice
for the music. Likewise Benjamin Hirsh as her
supposedly sickly cousin, Colin. James Fitzpatrick is
convincing as his father, as is Michael Goodwin as his
doctor uncle. Elizabeth Robinson is luminous as his
mother Lily, who died bearing, while Anne Velthouse is
in good form as her sister, Mary’s mother, who died,
along with her father, in India. It should be noted
that more than half the cast are ghosts or “dreamers”
as the program has it. Among the living, Michelle
Mount makes a fine perky housemaid and Gary Ryan does
well as her fey brother. Both were coached in their
Yorkshire accents by James Tallach, who plays the old
gardener, Ben Weatherstaff.
Turtle Lane in Newton near
the pike has once again proved its worth to the local
music theatre community. The show runs through Jun.
3rd with some cast rotations.
"Secret Garden" by Marsha Norman & Lucy Simon Apr
27-June 3
Turtle Lane Playhouse
263 Melrose St. Auburndale MA, (617) 244 - 0169
Turtle Lane
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:13:30 -0400
From: "Jeff Poulos" jpoulos@stagesource.org
Subject: The Flu Season
Hi:
I try to keep these appeals to a minimum, as I know you probably hear from many people about “must sees” all the time. However, occasionally I feel compelled to call your attention to a theatre production that I think is worthy. Whistler in the Dark’s “The Flu Season” by Will Eno is one of those occasions for me, and I encourage you and your friends to see it.
Written by Will Eno (author of “Thom Pain (based on nothing)”, produced earlier this season by New Rep), FLU SEASON is filled with beautiful language, dark humor and complex characters. A man and woman, each working thru complex emotional issues while institutionalized, develop a relationship, one which is somewhat mirrored by older characters Doctor and Nurse in the play (who themselves are in a much different point in their lives). The action of the play receives context and commentary from two narrator characters (Prologue and Epilogue), among the smartly written dialogue. Love, heartbreak, loneliness, humor, nuance and poetry permeate throughout. I loved the way characters articulate thought and action so very literally and make one think. I found it incredibly complicated and simple at the same time. And did I mention how much humor is written into the play?
Whistler in the Dark is a young company on the rise (in Whistler’s first year, we were impressed enough to invite them to participate in the Boston Theatre Conference last summer). The production is bare bones, with simple furniture, lighting, costumes and sound, don’t expect a lot of bells and whistles – but what is most impressive is the strength of this non-union cast and crisp direction. The performances all strong, tackling challenging language and issues with fully realized characters. Kudos to Whistler and the company for working hard and accomplishing much with such little resources.
The show runs Thursday-Sunday, through May 5, at Arsenal Center for the Arts, in the Black Box Theatre, in Watertown. You can buy tickets at 617-923-THTR or www.arsenalarts.org.
GO to see a new theatre company, and GO to see strong actors in a well-written, complicated play that honors language, love and humor.
If you haven’t been to a Whistler show yet, I suggest you try now. I’m all about encouraging promising new companies, and I hope you’ll do the same. Thanks.
Jeff
PS. Please feel free to forward this to your theatre-going co-workers, friends and family.
There's nothing like
a dose of Gershwin to start a season. North Shore's
opener this year is "Crazy for You," the revamped
version of "Girl Crazy" done by Ken Ludwig with
additional songs from the brother's canon. They've
assembled a sparkling cast headed by Broadway song
and dance man, Jeffry Denham, as Bobby Child. Opposite
him there's Amanda Watkins, just in from the "Sweet
Charity" tour, as Polly Baker, whose father (John
O'Creagh) owns the abandoned theatre in the defunct
gold rush town of Deadrock, Nevada. Bobby, a
erstwhile banker who wants to tap his way onto
Broadway, has been sent to foreclose. The rest is
predictable, as the two warble and dance from Gershwin
standard to standard.
NSMT favorite David Coffee
has the plum role of impresario Bela Zangler, with
hilarious drunken number, "What Causes That" near the
beginning of the second act. North Shore regular
Maureen Brennan plays Bobbie's domineering mother--she
owns the bank. Notable in the talented ensemble are
Dan Amboyer as Lank Hawkins, local saloon keeper, who
is sweet on Polly, Lyn Philistine, who starts out as
Bobbie's pushy fiance and winds up with Lank, Jayson
Eliot plays Moose and a mean bass while Kristen Beth
Williams is Tess the dance captain pursued by Bela.
This production was directed and choreographed by
Richard Stafford, who's redone the 1992 Tony winner
for NSMT's arena. He manages to combine song and
dance traditions, the look of the big revues of the
'30, are a gentle parody of the good old fashioned
musical comedy. Costumes are based on William Ivey
Long's original's. The settings were done by Campbell
Baird. "Crazy for You" is another fine start to a
North Shore season, which will end in November with
their production of "Les Miserables."
"Crazy For You" by Geo. & Ira Gershwin, new book by
Ken Ludwig, Apr.24 - May 13
North Shore Music Theatre at Dunham Woods
Beverly MA, (978) 232 -7200
NSMT
Paul Rudnick is perhaps
best known to the general theatre-goer as the author
of "I Hate Hamlet". Several of his more overtly
gay-themed plays has attracted notice. But
"Valhalla", a sprawling attempt to weave the tale of
mad Ludwig of Bavaria, whose monuments to history
(late 19th Century) are the fairty-tale castle which
inspired the one at Disneyland and funding Wagner's
Opera House at Bayreuth with the career of a
ne'er-do-well, James Avery from East Texas during the
'30s, is a misshapen farce burdened with a two and
one-half hour script with about one hour's too many
"laugh-riot" one-liners
The play doesn't create much
sympathy for any of its characters, who number almost
two dozen leaving the two leads, Ludwig (Brian Quint)
and James (Jon Ferreria) focused on themelves and
their pursuit of ineffable "beauty." The only
semi-rounded character is IRNE winner Christopher
Michael Brophy, as Henry Lee Stafford, James' sexually
confused friend. The rest of the six actor ensemble
includes Theater Coop veteran Maureen Adduci, who
plays mostly Ludwig's mother but ends the show as tour
leader, Natalie Kippelbaum, Elisa MacDonald who plays
most of the princesses and Henry's wife whom James
seduces (of course) and co-director Rick Park who
plays Ludwig's various functionaries.
The cast tries hard--often
to little avail--but when a character is onstage for
only a few minutes and the actor has to exit swiftly
to make the next costume change, there's no much hope
for more than a superficial sketch. Seth Bodie's
costume assembly does the job but has a certain
dress-up quality. Ci-director David J. Miller's set
is a bland unit with one end of the Black Box
indicating Bavarie, the other Texas, neither
particularly distinguished. The action thus has a lot
in common with a tennis match. Jeff Adelberg's
lighting helps and Walter Eduardo provides all the
cuts from Wagner selected by Reinhold Mahler. But a
play never really emerges.
"Valhalla" by Paul Rudnick, Apr.
Zeitgeist Stage Co. at BCA Black Box
539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Zeitgeist
As part of the
Cambridge Science Festival, MIT’s Catalyst
Collaborative and the Underground Railway Theatre are
presenting a new adaptation of Alan Lightman’s 1993
novel, “Einstein’s Dreams.” The script is newly
adapted by director Wesley Savick from a previous
effort by David Radford and Brian Niece. The title
role goes to Robert Najarian who gives the role of a
Chaplinesque quality as the young patent clerk
wrestles with his new concept of Time. The other two
actors, Debra Wise, artistic director of URT, and
Steven Barkhimer play colleagues in his office plus
all the rest of the characters in his “dreams.”
Savick has taken his three experienced professionals
and helped them create a tight physical ensemble
around the script’s various abstractions. He’s also
avoided incorporating recent gossip about Albert in
favor of trying to understand his philosphical
dilemmas.
Live music is provided by
world-music composer Evan Harlan, using themes from
which he improvises on the accordian. The simple set
concept of movable units was conceived by Cambridge
artist Wen Ti Tsen. The show’s being presented in the
round floor auditorium of the new museum of the Broad
Institute, part of Cambridge Center in Kendall Sq., on
Main St. next to the Whitehead Institute near Ames
St. There are six more performances next week as part
of the Festival. URT has announced the ground
breaking for their new Central Sq. Theatre for May 1,
5:15 - 7:30pm. The public is invited.
"Einstein’s Dreams" adapted from Alan Lightman by
Wesley Savick, Apr. 19 - Apr. 29
Underground Railway/Catalyst Collaborative at Broad
Museum & Institute, MIT/Harvard
321 Main St. Kendall Sq., tickets at door
Underground
Railway
TheatreZone is
finishing their season at Chelsea Theatre Works with a
production of Kathleen Tolan's naturalistic
mother/daughter play, "Memory House." The variation on
the predictable conflict is that Katia, played by
Becca A. Lewis was adopted from Russia as a child, and
is having trouble writing her college essay about her
memories. Add to that her mother, Maggie, is divorced
from her father, an liberal academic. Mother, an
orderly midwesterner, is played by Suzanne Ramcyck,
who manages to bake a blueberry pie onstage during the
show's taut 90 minutes. Director Danielle Fauteux
Jacques has concentrated on small details and everyday
behavior and the relationship between mother who's
coasting into middle age and daughter in an emotional
crisis is effective. Tolan's dialogue is
well-constructed, allowing the cast to build complex
characters. The play doesn't aim for any great
dramatic heights but resolves quite satisfactorily,
even though it raises far more questions than it
answers. Julia Noulin-Merat's realistic set
contributes a great deal to the believability of the
show.
"Memory House wraps up
next weekend. It's certainly worth the trip to
Chelsea, where street parking is not difficult. And
the Theatre Works has finally gotten their elevator
installed, so there's no more climb up to the third
floor lodge hall that serves as their rather elegant
theatre. Watch for their shows next fall, and keep an
eye out for their free outdoor production this summer.
"Memory House" by Kathleen Tolan", Mar. 30 -
Apr. 29
TheatreZone at Chelsea Theatre Works
189 Winnisimmet St, Chelsea Sq., (???) ???-????
TheatreZone
"Surviving the Nian"
(Chinese New Years), the winner in the 2007 Jonathan
Larson Award to facilitate its development. The
result, having its world premiere for Theatre
Offensive at the BCA, is very much a contemporary
piece of music theatre in the style of Larson ("Rent")
and other current practitioners. Much of the first
half is sung-through and informational. The music is
generally pleasant and relatively undemanding. None
of the six performers has what would be described as a
musical comedy voice, which adds their performances as
characters.
"Surviving the Nian" is
more of a domestic drama, along the lines of the
family-based TV serials popular in China, definitely
in the soap opera tradition. Director Patrick Wang
has paid careful attention of small details. Two
actresses, Megumi Haggerty and Abria Smith, play a
lesbian couple from Boston, Kaylin a Chinese exchange
student now working in real estate, Asha, a black
lawyer, her business and life partner. They've come
back to visit Kaylin's family; her mother played by
Judy Tan, her Uncle Tony, played by WFT regular Gary
Ng, her brother Vincent, played by Hyunsoo Moon, and
his fiance, Jessie, played by Mariko Kanto. Her mother
expects her to rejoin the family in Hong Kong and
contribute to its finances. The resulting conflicts
are predictable, but the denouement is pleasantly
appropriate for all concerned. Musical support in the
second act is still needs development. As a whole the
show is an impressive first outing, in need of pruning
and more thematic concentration.
Erik Diaz' set and
Nathaniel Packard's lighting provide attractive
support for the show, through Uncle Wu's acupuncture
office somewhat overwhelms the second half scenically.
It somehow should be retractable to make room for the
end of the show. Music director Juri Panda Jones gets
a professional sound from her ensemble, supporting
Li's lyrics and theme quite nicely. While there's
about half an hour too much of a good thing, this
premiere is worth the effort.
"Surviving the Nian" by Melissa Li & Abe Rybeck,
Apr.14 -
Theatre Offensive in Roberts Studio
BCA, 527 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Theatre Offensive
The Wheelock Family
Theatre is taking children of all ages back to the
Hundred Aker Wood for Spring break. Harold Withee,
last seen as George W. in Zeitgeist effective "Stuff
Happens," has the title role. Several other regulars,
including Ricardo Engermann as Rabbit, Mansur as
Eyore, marina Re as Owl, and Grace Napier as Kanga
complete the adult cast. Young Grace Brakeman is an
energetic Piglet and Sirena Abalian hops along as Roo.
A.Minh-Anh Day is Christopher Robin, who's the leader
of a group of Narrators who lead into the story. The
script is acceptable, but doesn't quite capture the
charm of A.A.Milne's work.
The stuffed animal costumes
by Charles Baldwin come closer but a very much
old-school children's theatre, as is Harwich's James
P. Byrne's direction. The large ensemble and the
leading players come together on his set and the show
is satisfatory for the younger set as an introduction
to live theatre. Incidentally, Tigger, [;ayed byW.
Yvonne Murphy bounced in the the finale.
"Winnie the Pooh" adapted from A.A.Milne by Kristin
Seigel, Apr. 13 - May 13
Wheelock Family Theatre
200 The Riverway , (617) 879 - 2300
WFT
The world premiere of
Noah Haidle's "Persephone", read last spring as part
of the HTC's Breaking Ground series owes its success
as much to the author's cleverness and Nicholas
Martin's apt direction as to a stunning performance by
Melinda Lopez as the statue of Demeter, the main
character in the piece. Through voice and very
limited movement, Lopez creates a witty and believAble
Earth-mother, mightily dismayed by the world from
which she cannot look away. The second half of the
play, set in a Manhattan park circa 2007, is full of
Durang-like non-sequitor and urban violence, the first
in a sculptors studio in 1507 Florence; both handsome
designs by David Korins.
All the various parts in
the piece are played by a trio of actors, led off by
Jeremiah Kissel, who appears as the sculptor's patron
in Act 1, plus a laid-back harpist and a starving
mouse. The sculptor, Guiseppe, is done by Seth
Fisher; his model is Mimi Lieber. Each actor then
plays innumerable walkons with Kissel memorable as a
art-loving Rat in Act 2. Their reappearence in
various guises underscores human--and
animal--transience against Demeter eternal marble
form. The play is full of surprizes, many of them
unpleasant, but overall, it comes off as a rather
dystopian and fantastic tragicomedy. Haidle has
revived a species of drama not seen much since
immediately after WWII and previously in the '20s.
Let's hope he doesn't become "the next big thing."
This summer, Company One will be mounting his "Mr.
Marmalade" which made quite a splash for Roundabout in
2005.
"Persephone" by Noah Haidle, Mar. 30 - May 6
Huntington Theatre Co. at BCA Wimberley
527 Tremont, (617) 266 - 0800
HTC
The full title of
Sonia Linden’s compelling documentary play, "I Have
Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me By a Young
Lady From Rwanda " is far too long to fit on a marque,
but does capture the special essence of her piece.
For while the subject of the story, Juliette, is a
survivor of the genocide, what’s staged is her
recovery from the ordeal by writing about her life as
a middle-class Rwandan, played by Dorcas Evelene Davis
from New York. This process is facilitated by Simon.
a British poet working with clients at a refugee
center, played by the ever-dependable Owen Doyle. His
life as a minor poet and frustrated novelist serves as
a foil for her larger tragedy.
Director Weylin Symes
presents the play with notable economy on a simple but
strong black and white set by Richard Chambers.
Stoneham has resisted adding multi-media details,
using sound by David Wilson to enhance some key
scenes. The play is easy to watch if not to listen to
as we are reminded of the horrific violence wrecked on
the Tutsi by their Hutu neighbors. But it’s a
lesson not to be forgotten even as the world watches
the barbarity currently savaging Darfur on the
opposite side of Africa. The small hope this play
offers for salvation somehow seems too little. Linden
approach to the subject, using only two actors whose
personal stories are revealed in a series of
monologues and simple scenes is a unique way to deal
with such a subject, however. This show is well worth
the short trip out to Stoneham.
"...Young Lady from Rwanda" by Sonja Linden, April 5
- 22
Stoneham Theatre
395 Main Street Stoneham, (781) 279-2200
Stoneham
Theatre
Molasses Tank, one of
CWT's resident Theatre's, has mounted a darkly comic
version of German filmmaker/playwright Manfred Karge's
"The Conquest of the South Pole," an allegorical romp
in the Brechtian tradition. This 90 minute play has a
small group of unemployed men, who all feel like
losers, reenacting Admundsen's epic journey in an
attic. Written before the fall of the Berlin Wall,
the play centers around one Slupianek, who's desperate
to release them from their round of pinball, snaps,
and trips to the unemployment office. This pivotal
role is played by versatile Jason Beals, last seen
playing Prospero in 11:11's under-rehearsed "Tempest."
He's also canoodling with the wife of his friend
Braukmann, played by George Saulnier III, the only one
of the group to have a job, albeit an unsatisfactory
one. La Braukman is done by Janelle Mills with
admirable energy. The rest of the motley crew
includes William McGregor as gruff Buscher, who
emigrates at he end of the play, and suicidal
Seiffert, played by quirky Bob Musset. There's also
Frankieboy (Mike Budwey) who thinks he's a dog.
The play is an excellent
example of contemporary Continental writing, which
blends heightened language, mixed metaphor, and
bravura style in an adventurous manner not practiced
much in the U.S. Director Steve Rotolo, who's also
doing a cameo opposite Ashley Kelly, gives it a
staccato interpretation on an interesting set by
Christopher Allison. Matt Breton's lighting is
appropriately non-realistic.
Molasses Tank has mastered this style, which is
worth the trip over to Charlestown. CWT is only three
blocks from the Sullivan Sq. T stop, with
street-parking a short ways down the hill.
"The Conquest of the South Pole" by Manfred Karge,
Mar. 29 - Apr. 14
Molasses Tank at Charlestown Working Theater
442 Bunker Hill St., Charlestown, (866) 811 - 4111
Molasses
Tank
Dear Larry,
The production of "Dancing at Lughnasa" at the BCA was a revelation to me. Having seen a
previous production in a much less intimate setting, I had an impression of an
uninteresting and unmoving play. This production was well-designed, well-cast,
well-directed, and both absorbing and moving. The cast uniformly impressed me
as real human beings with ranges of strengths and weaknesses of their
characters. A very rewarding theatrical experience. I highly recommend it.
Edwin
Edwin F. Beschler
The Bard’s first
credited tragedy, “Titus Andronicus”, a Senecan
gore-fest may have been reworked from a script by one
of the lesser University Wits, Geo. Peele. The play is
seldom done and appreciated mainly for some of its
verse. Peele is credited mainly with helping to
regularize the iambic pentameter mastered by his
compatriot, Christopher Marlowe. The storyline of the
play is probably his invention. Director/designer
David R. Gammons makes it as clear as possible with a
clean theatre-of-cruelty staging.
The ASPs production stylizes
much of the action. Gore is eliminated and symbolic
stones provide most of the props. Actor/director
Robert Walsh pulls out all the stops to play the title
role, while guest artist Joel Colodner anchors the
rest of the family as his older brother Marcus, a
senator. Dmetrius Conley-Williams plays the
arch-villain, Aaron the Moor, with real relish. The
main villain, Tamora, Queen of the Goths, is assayed
by John Kuntz as a mannered interpretation which
doesn’t rise to the level of energy needed. Likewise,
Paul Melendy as the much-brutalized Lavina, Titus’
daughter, doesn’t engage the audiences sympathy. The
concept of using an all-male cast founders slightly
with these two roles. The rest of the large ensemble
is generally up to the challenge of playing Titus’
remaining sons, assorted Romans, Goths, etc. Those
who don’t know the play should probably read a good
synopsis to keep track of who’s doing what horrible
deed to who and why. The revenge theme is sadly all
to familiar on the nightly news, in Iraq, and on the
streets of Dorchester.
"Titus Andronicus" by Wm. Shakespeare, Mar.29 - Apr.
22
Actors’ Shakespeare Project at The Garage, 38 JFK
Harvard Sq., (866) 111 -4111
ASP
Since "Sister Mary
Ignatius..." in 1981,Christopher Durang's fantastical
excursions , some more successful than others, have
incorporated religious satire. His recent Pulitzer
nominated whirlwind consideration of reincarnation,
"Miss Witherspoon," now running at the Lyric Stage,
harks back stylistically to "The Actor's Nightmare",
with a single character careening through a
metaphysical adventure. Director Scott Edmiston,
whose Fall production of "The Women" for Speakeasy
just won IRNEs for Best Play and Best Director,
couldn't have found a more ideal title player than
Paula Plum, who just picked up another Best Actress
award at this year's IRNEs for Lyric's "...The Goat."
Plum, who's created seven one woman shows as well as
appearing for the ART, the Huntington, the Gloucester
Stage, and the Lyric among other companies, easily
draws her audience into this fantasy which carries her
from suicide into Bardo, the Buddhist
equivalent of Purgatory, for a series of unwilling
reincarnations.
Attempting to guide her is
perfectly cast Mala Bhattacharya, a true diva.
Marianna Bassham, last seen as Ymma in "Silence" over
at the New Rep, plays two entirely different mothers,
while Larry Coen, who just did Laura in "The Plexiglas
Menagerie" for Goldust, is the fathers, as well as
Gandalf in the finale. Fellow IRNE winner Jacqui
Parker (Best Play and Best Musical Actress) shows up
as a guidance counselor but steals the finale as a
really cool Jesus. The result, on a whimsical set by
Janie E. Howland, this year's Best Scenic Design IRNE
winner with a soundscape by Dewey Dellay, who got the
Sound Design IRNE, is something to behold, enjoy, and
possibly think about. Durang has zeroed in on
questions not normally raised in secular everyday
theatre, especially the big one; "What's next?" The
epiphany he ends on seems less pat and satirical than
more downbeat conclusions to his other works.
"Miss Witherspoon" by Christopher Durang, Mar. 23 -
April 21
Lyric Stage at Copley YWCA
140 Clarendon St., (617) 585 - 5678
Lyric Stage
By putting the
primary insult in his latest dyspeptic play "Fat
Pig," in the title, Neil LaBute opens the door for the
audience having sympathy with at least one of his
characters. The actress playing Helen, Lilane Klein,
builds on that possibility right up to the play's
potentially maudlin finish. As Tom, James Ryen, a
tall leading man with an interesting face last seen as
the prince in ASP's "Winter's Tale", has the opposite
problem. His character clearly doesn't live up to his
looks. In fact, if these parts were played by
different actors, say a more imposing Helen and a
shorter Tom, the heartache might be the same, but the
impact would be diminished.
Once again, LaBute focuses
on appearances in his story telling, while maintaining
has basic theme that essentially people are no damn
good. Even the best have unconquerable weaknesses,
the author included, who doesn't seem to be able to
get beyond his Calvinist worldview. The two other
people in this play, Jeanine, Tom's former girlfriend
who works in Accounting, and Carter, his buddy, the
office slacker, are much more one-dimensional
examples. Award-winning actress Laura Latreille makes
much more of Jeanine, as much through her physical
presentation as her staccato delivery, than Michael
Daniel Anderson does of Carter. He's underwritten to
the point of being a sitcom escapee. Neither of Tom's
office mates has much back story, and Carter's
complaint about having a fat mother seems imposed. Our
hero's background is also too much inferred, though
Ryen makes him likably plausible. Only Helen has
enough of a past to suggest a possible future after
the inevitable breakup. The play's end seems a bit
abrupt, but the performances and a lot of sharp
writing make this 100 some minute romance worth
watching.
"Fat Pig" by Neil LaBute, Mar.16 - April 7
Speakeasy Stage in Roberts' Studio
BCA Calderwoood, 529 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Speakeasy
The New Rep’s smaller
space opened last Fall with Diego Arciniegas
performing “Thom Paine (based on nothing)”, an avant
garde monodrama. Their last Downstage offering of the
season is a trio of interlocked monodramas by
J.T.Rogers entitled “White People” directed by
Arciniegas. This intense piece has three “white”
Americans, a corporate lawyer originally from Brooklyn
but now managing a branch office in St. Louis, an
idealistic young college instructor in lower
Manhattan. and a former highschool beauty queen in
North Carolina. The lawyer, Martin, played by Stephen
Russell, has a teenage son who’s become a sullen
skinhead, the teacher, Alan, done by Robert Knopf, is
struggling to relate to his student’s slang, and
Georgia Lyman’s Mara Lynn has an epileptic son.
The misery behind their lives
unfolds through direct address woven together on a
composite set by Harvard’s J. Michael Griggs. Stage
right is an office being packed up where Michael’s
tale unfolds. It stretches across to upstage left.
The center is a pigeon-spattered bench in Stuyvesant
Park where Alan describes his frustrations. Mara Lynn
is mostly stage left or down center, except when she
uses the office to remember visiting a Hindu doctor at
the hospital. Upstage right a row of chair indicates
a waiting room which unfortunately figures in each
story. The question remains, why “white people?”
It boils down to language,
most evidently for the teacher, but a stumbling block
for all concerned. Martin has lost all contact with
his son, Alan and his wife fall prey to street
violence, and Mara Lynn feels that everyone from her
husband to the doctor talks right through her. And
behind each character are unresolved issues concerning
race and class. It’s an unsettling show acted with
admirable intensity. No solutions are offered and
audience reaction could well depend on whether or not
they identify with the three characters. The technical
support, Charles Schoonmaker's well-chosen costumes,
David Kahn’s careful lighting, and Scott G. Nason's
sound design all contribute to the effect.
"White People" by J.T.Rogers, Mar. 9 - Apr. 1
Downstage at New Repertory Theatre
321 Arsenal St. Watertown, (617) 923 - 8487
New Rep
The distinction
between true allergic reaction and psychosomatic
response is as hard to pin down as the real nature of
Lisa Kron's Obie-winning Tony-nominated
quasi-autobiographical “theatrical exploration,”
Currently being recreated at the Huntington, at first
“Well” seems to be a one woman show starring Kron with
five extra characters, chief of which is her mother
played by theatre veteran Mary Pat Gleason. The other
four play multiple roles as the author attempts to
define wellness. In the course of two intermissionless
hours however this purpose becomes muddied and the
show becomes personalized and ultimately inconclusive,
more a commentary on itself.
The process of creating
a solo piece from elements of one’s own life is
certainly relevant to today’s theatre, but is not in
itself necessarily interesting, at least not for two
hours. The show has a pastiche quality, attempting to
correlate race relations in 1960s Lansing Michigan to
the minutia of a residential allergy clinic in
Chicago, combined with memories of growing up with a
mother whose life was limited by illness. The author
challenges her own veracity in the process which
leaves additional questions unanswered.
All of which is sporadically
amusing; Kron’s standup timing is impressive,
regularly garnering laughs at her own expense. Tony
Walton’s set, done for Broadway looms over the action
but seems more decorative than appropriate. The
conceit that all this is somehow an exploration with
no clear course, except on some notecards in the
author’s pocket, seems hollow and unfortunately true,
the sporadic effort of a skilled performance artist to
deal personal concerns working from contradictory
premises. The results are maudlin at best, and
probably much more compelling in Off-Broadway confines
than displayed on the Huntington’s vintage proscenium.
"Well" by Lisa Kron, mar. 9 - Apr.8
presented by Huntington Theatre Co. at BU Theatre
264 Huntington Ave., (617) 266 - 0800
HTC
The Stoneham Theatre
has produced several shows based on works of
literature, including John Steinbeck's “Of Mice and
Men” which the author adapted himself. His
masterwork. “The Grapes of Wrath” was however turned
into a film starring Henry Fonda, which is how most
audiences remember the story. Frank Galati's
adaptation of this epic for Steppenwolf won a Tony
award and introduced Gary Sinese to the Broadway
stage, but is a much more challenging piece. Director
Weylin Symes and his staff have made an honest effort
to
deal with this tale of the Joad's journey from the
Oklahoma dustbowl to California’s fruitlands.
With a large cast of
professional and local actors, an effective if
somewhat monochromatic unit set by Gianni Downs, and
live fiddle and banjo music chosen by Jim Warner, the
show does justice to the original, but doesn’t come to
life often enough. It’s hard to come up to the level
that a practiced ensemble can achieve. Susan Bigger
and Ed Peed inhabit the roles of Ma and Pa Joad, and
Jonathan Popp is believable as Tom Joad. Derek Stone
Nelson doesn’t rise to the mythic figure of Preacher
Jim Casey often enough. Richard Arum and Darius Omar
Williams turn in effective cameo roles as does Jim
Wryna as Grandpa. In the end, the production doesn’t
balance the grimness of Steinbeck’s tale with the
novels theme of the indominability of human spirit.
Galati’s adaptation does preserve his parable and
poetic ending unlike Hollywood’s effort.
"Grapes of Wrath" adapted from John Steinbeck by
Frank Galati, Dates, Mar.1 - 18
Stoneham Theatre
395 Main St. Stoneham, (781) 279 - 2200
Stoneham
Theatre
The season of
one-person shows continues. Behan’s back, or rather
Shay Duffin’s resurrected the man again, and his show
seems as fresh as ever. Duffin, who was last here in
Boston as part of the ensemble for “The Departed”,
first put his fellow South Dubliner onstage here at
the Charles Theatre about 20 years ago. He’s now older
than the writer was at his death aged 41, and brings a
depth to the sadness behind the banter. Material for
this piece comes from Behan’s various published
writing, including “The Borstal Boy”, but most of the
songs are traditional barroom tunes heard in his
best-known play, “The Hostage.” The intimate confines
of JTOB, with Guinness available in the lobby, make
this show seem like a homecoming. Maybe it’s time some
of our local theatres took a second look at his plays,
and the social criticism behind their antics.
"Brendan Behan" adapted by Shay Duffin, MAR.7 -
31
JIMMY TINGLES’ OFF-BROADWAY
255 Elm St. Davis Sq., (1-866) 811 - 4111
J T O B
The Imaginary Beasts,
a physical theatre resident at the Lynn Center for the
Arts, has opened their latest effort at the
Charlestown Working Theatre. “The Comedy of Errors”,
largely borrowed from Plautus’ Roman farce, “The Twin
Menachmi” is an early Shakespearean with a
complicated Italianate plot and various passages
intended to show off the author’s rhetorical skill,
including a solemn opening which sets for the
circumstances. Matthew Woods’ the group director
starts off with this static scene but quickly moves
into a commedia mode which suits the varied skills of
his company. Unfortunately these don’t include
consistent verse speaking and enunciation on the part
of all these young actors. He’s also emphasized the
confusion of identities in the plot by a lot of
cross-gender casting. Of the identical twin brothers,
Antipholus of Syracuse is played by Debra Mein, while
Antipholus of Ephesus is played by Daniel Balkin. The
latter’s wife is played by Rocky Graziano while her
sister is played by Elizabeth Olson. The two Dromios,
slaves both. are played by Jennifer O’Connor and
Caitlin Stewart-Swift, dressed in clown suits made
from over-sized long underwear.
The costumery in general much
of which is changed onstage behind a pair of rolling
racks which constitute the show’s only scenery, is an
imaginative hodgepodge with a period feel. The rest
of the ensemble. all women, play a variety of
characters with energy if some tendency to indicate.
The pace of the show would be improved by cutting some
of the obscure humor and an attempt to identify
locations. Better music choices would also help or
even an original score with identifiable themes.
Woods might do well to put this concept on the shelf
and revisit it when he had a stronger company. The
present production is however worth the short trip
over to Charlestown. The Working Theatre is after all
only two and a half blocks from the Sullivan Sq. stop
on the Orange Line and street parking is available.
The Imaginary Beasts will also be running the show at
the Lynn Center for the Arts.
"Comedy of Errors" by Wm. Shakespeare, Mar.1 -
10
The Imaginary Beasts at Charlestown Working Theatre
422 Bunker Hill St., Charlestown / (978) 500-5533
ImaginaryBeasts
At the center of this
faithful adaptation of Dickens best known novel is
Ned Eisenberg's scenery chewing performance as Fagin,
the mastermind of the gang of juvenile thieves. This
role, played as a version of Shylock, was a favorite
of Victorian actor/managers. Michael Wartella as the
title character, young Oliver, is convincing as the
eternal victim, good but very naive. ART regulars,
Remo Airaldi as the Beadle Mr. Bumble, Karen MacDonald
as the harridan who keeps the workhouse and marries
Mr. Bumble, Will LeBow as Mr. Brownlow, Oliver's
grandfather, and Thomas Derrah as Mr. Sowerberry, the
undertaker as well as Mr. Grimwig, Brownlow's cynical
friend perform up to their usual standard, and also
take a number of minor roles.
Notable visiting artists
include glowering Gregory Derelian as Bill Sykes (sans
dog) and Mrs. Sowerberry, Jennifer Ikea as doomed
Nancy, and Carson Elrod as the Artful Dodger, who
narrates the story up until his fateful meeting with
Oliver on the road to London. The rest of the cast
are uniformly convincing as they morph from character
to character, form a street band to play Gerald
McBurney's original score and join the ensemble in
musical interludes in which the cast sings short
setting of the author's prose commentary.
Rae Smith's set is a
unique combination of early Victorian popular
theatricals, penny dreadful tableaus, toy theatre, and
stylized grand guignol. Her costumes are drawn from
crude illustrations from the time. Neil Barrett's
direction is marvelously choreographed with moments of
mock solemnity and frozen violence. Lighting by
Scott Zielinski, who recently did Three Sisters and
Dido for the ART, and David Remedios' usual first-rate
sound design complete this revival of "Oliver Twist"
which will next move to NYC's Theatre for a New
Audience.
"Oliver Twist" by adapted from Charles Dickens by
Neil Barrett, Feb.17 - Mar. 24
A.R.T at Loeb Auditorium
64 Brattle St. Harvard SQL,, (617) 547 - 8300
A.R.T
This legendary tone-deaf soprano sold out her
last concert, at Carnegie Hall no less, in two hours
no less. The Boston premiere of Stephen Temperley�s
�Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster
Jenkins� might just be as fortunate. Starring
multiple-award winner Leigh Barrett as the diva and
IRNE winner Will McGarrahan as her faithful
accompanist Cosme McMoon, this bio fantasia weaves
their lives together from the time they meet. He�s
an aspiring composer and song-writer in the life;
Madame Jenkins is a socialite who lives at the
Ritz.
Despite her obvious musical failings, which are
skillfully demonstrated by Barrett, so well that one
might fear for her vocal chords, the audience finds
Madame Jenkins� obsession as endearing as Cosme
does. McGarrahan�s wry delivery and comic timing
match his role perfectly. David Costa-Cabral�s
period couture is impeccable, and his mock opera
getups for the final concert are a hoot. Skip
Curtis� elegant unit set and Robert Cordetta�s
effective lightimg show their familiarity with the
space. Well produced as usual, this engaging comedy
makes an interesting comment about artistic obsession.
or as FFJ once put it, �Some may say I couldn�t
sing. but no one can say that I didn�t sing.�
�Souvenir� by Stephen Temperley, Feb.16 -
Mar.17
Lyric Stage Co. at Copley YMCA
140 Clarendon, (617) 585 -5678
Company
John Patrick
Shanley's "Doubt" starts out with a homily on "doubt,"
preached by Father Flynn, the pastor of Saint
Nicholas, here played by actor/director Chris McGarry
in his fifth collaboration with the author. In a
sense, the play is Shanley's explication of the
conflict between doubt and faith, between faith and
"rules." The latter is personified by Sister
Aloysius, the principal of the convent school
associated with the parish, played by Cherry Jones,
who received a Tony for her performance in the role on
Broadway. The former is personified by Lisa Joyce as
Sister James, a young 8th grade teacher who becomes
Sister Aloysius's informant. The matter of the play
is a possible improper relationship between the
school's only black student and the pastor, who's also
the basketball coach. In the course of Sister
Aloysius' relentless pursuit of Father Flynn, whose
liberal ways she does not approve of, the fourth
member of the cast, the boy's mother, played by
Caroline Stefanie Clay, who appeared in the original
off-Broadway Manhattan Theatre Club production
Shanley's emotional and
intellectual puzzle involves various unseen characters
as well; the elderly monsignor who Sister Aloysius
avoids since she's sure he'd side with the pastor, the
boy himself, and in a sense, the world outside the
Church which she seeks to fend off by a firm
application of rules. This ninety minute piece is
very tightly constructed with measured revelations,
always leaving room for multiple interpretations,
which Doug Hughes Tony-winning direction evenhandedly
maintains. With scenes moving across on John Lee
Beatty's set, costumes by Catherine Zuber, and
effective lighting by Pat Collins, this is probably
the best mounted touring show the grace the Colonial's
venerable boards in a long time.
"Doubt" by John Patrick Shanley, Feb. 6 - 18
MTC, Jon B. Platt, etc at the Colonial
106 Boylston, (6i7) 931 - 2787
Colonial
For their annual
musical, the Wheelock Family Theatre has added to the
current crop of "Beauty and the Beast" productions.
The cast is made up from a number of returning
professionals, a variety of local theatre students,
and a few WFT participants, plus guest artist Douglas
Jabara as the Beast. Angela Williams, seen previously
in "The Sound of Music" plays Belle, while Christopher
Chew who sang Von Trapp gets to be comic as Gaston.
Mansur plays Belle's Father while Gary Ng gets knocked
about as LeFou. The magical inhabitants of the
Beast's castle include Robert Saoud as Lumiere the
Candlestick, Chip Phillips as Cogsworth the Clock,
Lisa Korak as Babette the Featherduster, Jeanine
Belcastro as the opera singing Wardrobe, and Gamalia
Pharms as Mrs. Potts, who gets to sing the title
song.
Director Jane Staab relies
on her professionals to develop the drama, while she
manages a large ensemble who play the villagers, the
magical dishes and tableware, etc. IRNE winning
choreographer Laurel Stachowicz puts them through
their paces for the Act I finale, "Be Our Guest,"
which might be more impressive with a bit of food.
She does pull off the final battle with plenty of
slapstick. Conductor Steven Bergman and a professional
ensemble provide strong support from the pit. Anita
Fuch's multilevel set on wagons is solves the complex
staging for the castle with three wagons but seems a
trifle under-decorated. Stony Cook's lighting creates
all the necessary moods. The production is definitely
a first-rate introduction to live music theatre, if a
mite too long for some of the younger set.
"Beauty and the Beast" by Woolverton, Menken, Ashman
& Rice, Feb. 2 - Mar, 4
Wheelock Family Theatre, 200 The Riverway
Boston, (617) 879 - 2300
Wheelock Family
Theatre
One of the Bard's
most produced comedies, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is
almost actor and concept proof. Even the ART's aerial
version had its moments, thanks to a strong group of
rude mechanicals. Director Daniel Elihu Kramer's
approach has had some less than intriguing publicity
concerning the gender-switching between Paula Plum and
Timothy John Smith. Plum plays Hippolyta and Oberon
while Smith plays Theseus and Titania. The conceit
works not because of insight but because of the skill
of these principals, but an impressive ensemble of
local Shakespeareans and fast paced direction.
The remaining six actors
double their way through the action. Robert Pemberton
is a stentorious Bottom assaying "Pyramus" and a
powerful Egeus. Shelley Bolman is Lysander, in love
with Egeus' daughter Hermia, and Peter Quince, the
author "Pyramus and Theseus." Angie Jepson is petite
Hermia, claimed by Risher Reddick's Demetrius, who
also does Francis Flute, who of course plays "Thisbe."
Jepson is a cute "Lion" as Snug the Joiner. Elizabeth
Hayes is taller Helena, desperately in love with
Demetrius, also plays Snout the tinker aka "Wall."
Finally Ben Lambert is lithe Puck, as well as
Starveling ("Moonshine"), and Philostrate. The four
young lovers become Titania's fairies. Very basic
costumes facilitate these character changes on a bare
set, covered with red flowers, which might suggest
field of poppies from Oz.
"A Midsummer Nights' Dream" by Wm.Shakespeare, Feb.
2 - Mar.3
Boston Theatre Works at BCA Plaza
539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
BTW
__
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "States of Grace"
After more than two years of development, Underground Railway's Debra Wise and various collaborators are presenting the world premiere of "States of Grace," a monodrama featuring Wise as Faith, a stand-in for activist author Grace Paley. The rest of the cast includes versatile Owen Doyle in his first stint as a puppeteer/actor, UConn MFA Fay Dupras who fabricated most of the puppets, and Khalil Fleming a young actor seen at Boston Children's Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, and Stoneham as well as on PBS. The script combines several of Paley's unique stories with her political concerns and her frustrations as a writer, mother, and public citizen. The puppetry is incorporated into the realistic kitchen set designed by David Fichter and constructed by Will Cabell, who won IRNEs for their previous work on "Alice Underground", URT's last adult drama created in 1997-1998. "States of Grace" was directed by Greg Smucker, a longtime collaborator and lit by M.I.T.'s Karen Perlow, both of whom worked on "Alice..." The original score was created by world-music composer Evan Harlan, currently on the faculty of the New England Conservatory. Debra's performance is convincing and heartfelt, whether arguing with her father, a puppet who rises from a kitchen cabinet, talking with her spouse who appears from the refrigerator as a humanette, or dealing with a young black neighbor played by Khalil. At one point she morphs into a disgruntled retired druggist, conflicted over his black neighbors. Wise will next be seen at the New Rep in Austin Pendleton's "Orson's Shadow." "States of Grace" will have a special performance at Tufts on Mar. 5 before the show becomes part of URT's touring repertory. For tickets call the Underground Railway at (781) 643 - 6916 or go to their website, www.underground railway.org. This premiere runs through February 10th at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave. near B.U.'s Aganniss Arena.
The ASP's second offering of the season
is a brisk production of Shakespeare's late romance
"The Winter's Tale" played in the round. Veteran
actor/director Ricardo Pitts-Wiley from Rhode Island
makes a forceful Leontes, the King of Sicilia consumed
by jealousy. B.U.’s Paula Langton is a forceful and
extremely pregnant Hermione, his adoring wife.
Visiting artist Joel Colodner plays Polixenes, King
of Bohemia and Leontes boyhood friend who Leontes
imagines has cuckolded him. Veteran Boston actor
Richard Snee is Antigonus, Leontes loyal advisor,
forced to spirit away Hermione's newborn daughter.
IRNE winner Bobbie Steinbach is his strong willed wife
Paulena, who later saves the day. Almost all the
actors play at least two roles. Thus when exiting,
pursued by a bear, after depositing the child on the
coast of Bohemia Snee reappears moments later as the
Shepherd, herding members of the company who moments
before played the bear as a group mime. This is the
moment when the first sign is given that the play
isn’t merely a domestic tragedy.
In the second half, things lighten even further
when John Kuntz, noodling on his sax, appears as
Autolycus and demonstrates his roguish ways by
relieving Doug Lockwood who’s now playing the
Shepherd’s clownish son of his possessions by
pretending to be an Irish clergyman recently set upon
by robbers. The young lovers, played by James Ryen and
Cristi Miles, of contrasting heights but well-matched
playing Florizel and Perdita, recall couples from the
Bard's earlier romances. He's the Prince and she
doesn't know she's really Hermione's daughter. At the
festival which follows, just as they're about to be
engaged by her father, Polixenes, who's there in
disguise, halts the happy occasion and troubles loom.
The young lovers abscond with the help of Camillo,
Leontes' former adviser played by Doublas Theodore,
who previously helped Polixenes flee from Sicilia and
has been advising him these 16 years. The three
return to Leontes' court.
It's now up to visiting director, Curt L.
Tofteland from the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, to
sort out the finale. Through happy accident, the
Shepherd brings proofs left with Perdita when she was
abandoned. Autolycus has duped the two bumpkins into
bringing them to Polixenes who's pursuing his son--and
future daughter-in-law--to Sicilia. This goes
smoothly enough but the real challenge is when Paulena
leads Leontes et al to a supposed statue of Hermione
and brings it "to life." As with most of the show
this is accomplished with few frills. The acting area
is plain with an abstract motif suggesting a bare tree
on the floor, a design echoed on banners hung from the
balcony in the tall hall at CMAC. Costumes suggest
period garb but are largely utilitarian. It takes a
dozen adults and one child to carry off this show, but
ASP has added a fourth to their season, in which
director Ben Evett will use just six actors to mount
"Love's Labours' Lost". That should be worth seeing.
"The Winter's Tale" by Wm. Shakespeare, Jan. 25 -
Feb. 17
Actors' Shakespeare Project at Camb. Multicultural
Bullfinch Courthouse, 41 2nd St, E. Camb. (866) 811 -
4111 (TM)
ASP
Robert Woodruff's
final exercise for the ART as its Artistic Director is
a surprisingly coherent modern dress production of
Jean Racine's seldom seen "Britannicus"--if you
basically ignore the titillating dumbshow in the
shadows stage left and right and finally upstage.
While the text provides all the information needed for
the drama, the director seems to feel the audience
won't get understand how decadent things are unless
they see Nero taking a shower before the action while
two minor characters have a quickie on the set center
stage and his mother finishes dressing on the other
side of the set ignored by a man in a robe on the bed
nearby. C.H,Sisson's servicable prose translation is
well-acted in prime-time drama style by an experienced
New York and rep theatre cast, which includes Adrianne
Krstansky from the Brandeis faculty as Albina,
Agrippina's confidant. The poetic cast of the
original--which is in rhymed couplets--is large
missing but not essential to the drama
Joan McIntosh acts up a
storm as Agrippina, Nero's manipulative mother, the
center of the drama from first to last. Alfredo
Narisco is her dissolute son, ready to live up to the
huge motto at the back of the stage; "Empire creates
its own reality," the clearest expression of the
director's intent. The title character is played
rather monochromatically by Emerson grad Kevin
O'Donnell, while his fiance Junia, the focus of the
rivalry between him and his step half-brother the
emperor, is done by boyish Merritt Janson from the
Institute, who has the better part and deserves at
least one decent costume. John Serrios plays Burrhus,
Nero's Praetorian military adviser supplied by
Agrippina, who's ultimately unable to control his
Emperor while David Wilson Barnes is the duplicitous
Narcissus, who pretends to befriend Britannicus while
working for all the more powerful members of the
court. He and Krstansky have a thing going. The man on
the bed, who's never heard from, is Pallas, Nero's
tutor, played by Douglas Cochrane.
The historically minded
will note that Seneca, Nero's chief political advisor
is missing from the cast, though he is mentioned.
Racine probably thought that the recent death of
Mazarin, Louis XIV's eminence gris, made any attempt
to include such a role politically unwise.
"Britannicus" was intended as a morality play for the
Sun King; on today's stage it becomes a dynastic
thriller, a taut drama--the script of course maintains
the unities--which doesn't need the multimedia
signposts which clutter this production. Incidentally,
Nero's current wife, Octavia, Britannicus' sister,
done by Megan Roth, doesn't say a word, but does get
to sing a couple of arias--in French probably.
The entire show is miked
since the stage is cleared to the walls, the set is
predictably techno, and the lighting grid looms
overhead and out over the orchestra. Video projection
plays a peripheral and only occasionally distracting
role in the show. The costume plot is modern and
indicative, and would be appropriate for any daytime
soap. The result is more coherent that most recent ART
efforts and the cast manages to do the play quite
professionally despite the technical distractions.
"Britannicus" by Jean Racine, Jan. 20 - Feb. 11
American Repertory Theatre in Loeb Auditorium
64 Brattle, Harvard Sq. (617) 547 - 8300
A R T
When London
playwright Moira Buffini penned "Silence" in 1999,
she probably didn't consider that this dark comedy
about medieval times, roughly based on historical
personages and events, would have even more resonance
only eight years later. The script, which won the
Washburn Prize, was inspired by the unease over the
approaching millennium, but its freewheeling
gender-politics, odd anachronistic attitudes,
religious and political unrest now seems prophetic.
Rendered as a chase and set in the mythic Dark Ages, a
small cast of six raises some big questions about
power, religion, and loyalty.
The heroine of this
mini-saga is Ymma of Normandy, played by luminous
Marianna Bassham, seen last fall as Ophelia for the
ASP. Her nemesis is Lewis Wheeler's Anglo-Saxon king,
Ethelred, labeled by history as the Unready, whose
bullying petulance and religious mania turns lethal as
the action progresses. The King marries this
princess, exiled from Normandy by her brother, to his
ally, Silence of Cumbria, a small northwestern
kingdom, created by the dissolution of Northumbria
around 866 AD. Lord Silence, played by Emily Sproch,
is not the boy he seems to be, and therein hangs the
tale. Silence and Ymma flee north towards his homeland
after Ethelred decides to marry the lady himself for
his own salvation -- her mother was a saint. Ymma
also has a powerful effect on the King's enforcer,
Eadric Longshaft, a rough warrior played by IRNE
winner Christopher Michael Brophy, who played the
Thane for the New Rep's educational tour last spring.
The ensemble is rounded out by IRNE winner Anne
Gottlieb, seen this fall as the lead in "The Women" at
Speakeasy, as Ymma's companion, Agnes, and B.U.'s
Michael Hayes as Roger, a conflicted Catholic priest
who attempts to instruct Silence in the faith despite
his own urges.
This three-act drama takes
the cast from Dover to Kent through the midlands to
the north, through a mythic landscape played on an
impressive unit set by Cristina Todesco, constructed
by Wooden Kiwi, expertly lit by Christopher Ostrom.
IRNE winner Frances Nelson McSherry's period costumes
complete the picture, while providing a subtle
commentary on the action. Director Rick Lombardo, at
the top of his form, has also provided an impressive
original sound design. The play, which raises such
universal questions as Father Roger's "Is God going to
destroy us? And if he is, is he wrong?" could stand on
its own, but the New Rep's impressive production
values help sweep the audience along to the evening's
ironic conclusion.
"Silence" by Moira Buffini, Jan. 17 - Feb. 11
New Repertory Theatre at Arsenal Center for the
Arts
321 Arsenal, Watertown / 617 - 923 - 8487
New Rep
The Equity Members Project at Boston
Playwrights', which runs for one more week there,
before moving up for a weekend in Gloucester at the
West End, features senior actor June Lewin in two
compelling performances in two long one-acts. In
Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro's "Sailing Down the Amazon"
she holds the stage alone as Rima, a retired actress
recently diagnosed with Alzheimers, who decided to
take a exotic trip rather than have an MRI. It's the
turn of the Millennium after all.
In Kate Snodgrass' "Haiku" Lewin plays Nell,
the mother of an adult autistic woman, Louise, played
Emily Singara. She's become sure that her daughter
comprehends more than most people realize. Her older
daughter, Billie, played by Kippy Goldfarb, gave up on
that possibility long ago. But Nell, a writer, has
published two short books of haiku poetry which she
believes comes from Lulu and a crisis is looming as
she's slowly growing blind.
These two pieces paint effective and
contrasting portraits of mental illness with the help
of a simple but effective set by Lisa Pegnato and
careful lighting by Marc Olivere. Matt Otto did the
sound design, most important in "...Amazon." The
economy and elegance of the writing in each play is a
reminder of the serious work being done by Boston's
local playwrights.
"Amazon/Haiku" by Alfaro/Snodgrass, Jan.11-21, Jan.
26-28
JRV at Boston Playwrights & West End Theatre
949 Comm. Ave. Allston, 1 Wash.St, Gloucester (617)
661 - 7930
Company Website
The closest we're
liable to get to ice-fishing hereabouts this winter is
currently running at the Stoneham Theatre. The duo who
adapted "The Spitfire Grill" for the American Folklore
Theatre in Wisconsin, Fred Alley and James Kaplan,
turned their imaginations to this sedentary winter
sport to create an engaging show, light on plot and
folksy in demeanor. "Guys on Ice" is a day spent
fishing for working men Marvin and Lloyd, played by
Cory Scott and Bill Stambaugh, snug in a shanty out on
the lake, drinking Leinenkugel (Linie beer) and
singing about things like their snowmobile suits or
"Fish is de Miracle Food." They're waiting for the
arrival of Cubby from the cable TV fishing show, their
shot at local fame, and hiding their beer from Ernie
the Moocher, played by William Gardiner. He starts
the second half with a bit of audience participation
and a paean to "Linie" accompanied by the spoons.
"Guys on Ice" is an homage
to the homegrown musical shows which had their roots
in the Grange and the brief heyday of regional
playwriting which began after WWI and faded after
WWII. Its tunes echo lightweight country comedy with a
touch of the polka. The creative team, IRNE winners
director Jason Southerland from BTW, Jose Delgado, one
of Boston's busier music directors, and Ilyse Robbins,
eclectic choreographer, have let the material speak
for itself, moreso than more frantic treatment of
small town working class life seen in TV sit-coms.
Jenna MacFarland Lord's set is a revolving fishing hut
against a slanted drop of ice and sky, with an amazing
collection of props and decor assembled by Karla Sund.
Molly Trainer has dressed the cast in appropriately
well-worn winter gear. The show is an affectionate
portrait of small town Wisconsin which the American
Folklore Theatre has played since its creation in
1998, complete with regional accent ( vaguely
Scandanavian) and local slang and no particular
political message. See you on the ice.
"Guys on Ice" by Fred Alley and James Kaplan, Jan.
12 -28
Stoneham Theatre
395 Main St., (781) 279 - 2200
Stoneham
Theatre
Stephen Mallarat's adaptation of Susan
Hill's story, a long-running London favorite, has
once again surfaced hereabouts, this time as a "winter
tale" down in the Hovey Players' basement digs. "The
Woman in Black" is a Wilke Collins inspired thriller,
set at the beginning of the 20th century, which
involves a solicitor enlisting the aid of an actor to
tell the story of a haunting which changed his life.
Introverted Kipps, played by Randy Marquis, is coached
to become all the people in the recounting while Chuck
Swager who plays the bumptious actor takes over the
narration. Director Kristin Hughes has used the whole
small space to surround the audience with the
show.
The storytelling is enhanced by "the miracle
of recorded sound," a novelty on stage in pre-WWI
London. The show takes place in a shuttered theatre
as the pair rehearse the tale. A mysterious silent
woman in black joins in, played by Eden Land. Lighting
designer John MacKenzie does his best giving the
limitations of the Hovey's system and the spread of
the show. The script, which follows the format of the
original tale, seems a bit forced and could be
condensed into a long one-act for more dramatic
effect, but holds up well enough. The challenge of
using two actors to accomplish a journey to the bleak
shore of Northern England and the mysterious situation
which unfolds there is interesting in itself.
"The Woman in Black" by Stephen Mallarat, Jan. 12 -
27
Hovey Players in Abbott Theatre
9 Spring St. Waltham / (781) 983 - 9171
Hovey
Players
Wellesley Summer
Theatre is currently presenting the American premiere
of the third part of British playwright Polly Teale's
trilogy. This award winning ensemble has previously
presented her "Jane Eyre" and "After Mrs. Rochester,"
also directed by Nora Hussey. "Bronte" focuses on the
author Charlotte Bronte, the author of "Jane Eyre", as
well as her younger sisters; Emily, whose only
published novel was the controversial "Wuthering
Heights," and Anne who wrote "Agnes Grey" and "The
Tenant of Wildfell Hall," two somewhat sentimental
efforts. Alicia Kahn, one of WST founders, is back to
play Charlotte, while Wellesley grad Catherine
LeClair, who's been working in Maine but has relocated
to New York, has returned to play Emily. Wellesley
senior Kelly Galvin, with several WST credits, plays
Anne. WST veteran Melina McGrew, who appeared in both
of the earlier Teale productions recreates her role as
Rochester's first wife, Bertha, and also becomes
Heathcliff's Cathy. In several scenes, Kahn once
again plays Jane Eyre.
The men in this production
are John Gavin as Rev. Patrick Bronte (nee Brunty),
Dan Bolton as his curate, Arthur Bell Nichols, who
married Charlotte, and Derek Stone Nelson, who plays
the French schoolmaster who inspired Charlotte to
develop her innate writing skills and also recreates
his role as Rochester. Davin and Nelson also appeared
in "After Mrs. Rochester." The important part of
Branwell Bronte, the pampered son of the family, who
lead a dissolute life of failure, falls to Greg
Raposa, who also appears as Heathcliff. Branwell was
probably Emily's inspiration for that unfortunate free
spirit.
As in past productions, the
set and lights are in the expert hands of Ken Loewit,
while Nancy Stevens does another fine job of effective
period costuming. George Cook from BC's Robesham
Center has supplied an effective sound design of music
and sound effects. WST's production is up to their
usual standard. The author has supplied a timeline of
events in the lives of the Brontes which should be
scanned before the show for a fuller understanding of
their unique situation and achievements.
"Bronte" by Polly Teale, Jan. 10 - Feb. 3
Wellesley Summer Theatre in Ruth Nagel Jones
Theater
Alumni Hall, Wellesley, (781) 283 - 2000
Wellesley
Summer Theatre
Versatile Aimee
Doherty has had an interesting collection of roles in
recent seasons, starting with "Into the Woods" at the
New Rep's old Newton digs, one of Bobby's girlfriends
in Speakeasy's "Company" then onto the plain heroine
of Amimus' "Promises, Promises" opposite her husband,
Jeff Mahoney, followed by Evelyn Nesbit in the New
Rep's "Ragtime" over in Watertown. This fall she
played the youngest member of the "set" in Speakeasy's
"The Women" followed by strong ensemble work in their
"Bubbly Black Girl..." Now she's front and center as
the female lead for Michael John LaChiusa's twin music
theatre pieces in "See What I Wanna See" for the
Lyric, a show adapted from three short stories by
early 20th century Japanese writer, Ryonosuke
Akutagawa. Doherty plays the role of the role of Kesa,
created by Idina Menzel in the New York production,
opposite tenor Andrew Giordano as Morita. A BosCon
alum, he's back in town in a leading role this time.
The duo play a pair of lethal
lovers in Noh-like vignettes set in medieval Japan
used as preludes for the two longer sections, where
they play related roles. The first, more operatic
piece, is "R Shamon", another retelling of "In the
Grove", set in 1951 New York when Kurosawa's classic
version was bursting on the film scene. The second
more conventional music drama, a post 9/11 fable about
the endtime, is "Gloryday" based on "The Dragon".
The two halves are subtly connected, primarily through
Brendan McNab's movie theatre janitor who morphs into
disillusioned Catholic priest. The other two players
are June Babolan as the Medium who becomes the
priest's atheist Aunt Monica and Emerson grad Andrew
Schufman who first plays a knife-carrying hoodlum
named Mako, then a young television reporter. The
cast becomes a seamless ensemble under director
Stephen Terrell, with Doherty as the central focus in
"R Shamon" and McNab as the force behind "Gloryday."
in which she plays a rather wasted actress.
Music director Jonathan
Goldberg makes the most of his talented vocalists,
with himself at the keyboard, two reeds, and three
percussionists. The unit set is an architectural
creation reminiscent of origami by Brynna C. Bloomfied
backed by the suggestion of the famous gate, expertly
lit by Karen Perlow. Costumes were created by Rafael
Jaen and capture the three periods of the show.
LaChiusa's music, which has touches of Japanese
tradition, hovers somewhere between modern chamber
opera in the world of Weill, Sondheim, and other more
contemporary composers who're expanding the horizon of
the musical theatre..
"See What I Wanna See" by Michael John LaChiusa,
Jan. 5 - Feb. 3
Lyric Stage Co. at Copley YWCA
140 Clarendon, (617) 585 - 5678
Lyric Stage
Co.
Publick Theatre's
indoor debut at the BCA Plaza, Noel Coward's 1932
"Design for Living," is a stylish affair. Having
previously tackled "Private Lives", director Spiro
Veloudos, leaving Stephen Terrell to helm
LaChiusa's"See What I Wanna See" over at the Lyric,
has taken on shepherding Susanne Nitter and Diego
Arciniegas, the Directors of the Publick, along with
Gabriel Kuttner, last summer's Wil Shakspur, through
the comic emotional minefield of this Coward classic.
The complicated menage a trois of Gilda, Leo and Otto
is complimented by Nigel Gore as Gilda's friend then
husband Ernest, an essential part of this frothy mix.
Beth Gotha as Hodges her housekeeper, Richard Arum,
Janelle Mills, Jocelyn Parrrish, a trio of her New
York friends, and Paul Melendy complete their world of
art and hedonism. The three leads, in parts originally
written for the Lunts and the author, slip into their
high-class Bohemian roles as if born to play Coward.
Nitter is especially impressive in one of Lynn
Fontaine's signature roles.
Costumer Raphael Jaen from
Emerson, assisted by Stephanie Cluggish, gives the
cast truly elegant tailoring which Harvard's J.Michael
Griggs sets off perfectly on a Matisee-inspired set.
Upgrades in the furniture mark each act, from a Paris
studio, to a comfortable London flat, to an elegant
New York penthouse. Both artists use effective
palettes, bolstered by Scott Clyve's careful lighting.
The BCA's oldest theatre has seldom looked better. And
Sir Noel hasn't been better served.
“Design for Living” by Noel Coward, Jan 4 - Jan. 27
Publick Theatre. in Plaza Theatre, BCA
539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Publick
Theatre
Seen in part at last
Spring's "FeverFest 2006," this dramatic monologue,
addressed to the audience in the style of "Thom
Pain..." is coming along but still needs a meaningful
conclusion or at least a stronger crescendo. Steve
Johnson as "BB"does yeoman duty getting through "Bombs
& Manifestos" , an hour long piece broken into about
half a dozen episodes. Brian Polak, the author, gets
a bit of the sense of last year's group piece "PS Page
Me Later" which was constructed from "found" texts.
Daniel Bourque directs the piece cleanly and makes the
most of Johnson's slightly crazed appearance. The
actions is also segmented by Jeff Stern's videos which
are mostly abstracted shots taken in the subway. Kelly
Fitzpatricks's set provides a similarly abstracted
sense of being "down under" bolstered by John Tibbetts
sound design. Anyone who sees this piece over the next
several weeks won't look at the less talented subway
musicians the same way again.
"Bombs & Manifestos" by Brian Polak, Jan.5 - 20
Alarm Clock at BCA Black Box
539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Alarm Clock
Theatre
After all the
build-up, this example of Park’s recent year-long
playwriting effort was rather underwhelming.
TheatreZone’s diverse cadre was enthusiastic and
interesting to watch in an hour-long effort that
preceded their pre-New Years party. The nine pieces
done had echoes of Beckett and Shepard, with a touch
of Wilson in “The Key.” The show was engaging if
rather trivial as 20 some actors danced their way
through scene changes. Perhaps when the cross country
presentations of these "weeks" is over, the author and
one of her directors can get together and extract at
least one coherent evening of theatre from these rough
notes.
Other companies will be
trying other “weeks” worth of writing later in 2007
and Parks herself will be at MIT during the Spring
semester. The best news of the evening was that
construction of an elevator to reach TheatreZone’s
third-floor hall is under way. Now if something could
be done about public transportation and parking they’d
be all set.
"Xmas Week/365" by Suzan-Lori Parksr, Sat. Dec.30,
2006
TheatreZone at Chelsea Theatre Works
189 Winnisimmet St. Chelsea, (617) 887 - 2366
< A Href=”http://www.theatrezone.org/”>TheatreZone
The easiest
description of Ridiculusmus' "The Importance of Being
Earnest," a slight reduction of Oscar Wilde's most
popular play, is too clever by half. The comic
duo of David Woods and Jon Haynes play all nine
characters in the farce, using costume and voice
changes which become fragmented as the play picks up
pace and the farce heads for its coincidence-filled
conclusion. The most obvious laughs result from
costume incongruities though Wilde's famous epigrams
win their share. Audience members familiar with the
play will get the most out of this bravura
performance, but probably won't see it as the social
satire director Jude Kelly, OBE, and Ridiculusmus
hoped to create for their British audience. Americans
have always found the antics of Ernest Worthing and
Algernon Moncrief risible but distant.
The production is however a
solid entertainment even though the joke wears thin
from time to time given the necessary hiatuses created
by costume and scenery changes. The set has a jumble
shop air with props kept on shelves at the back and
anachronistic touches like a fridge hidden in the
credenza and a music system which the actors
ostensibly control using a remote to provide dramatic
background. The acting is generally broad, on par
with Monty Python, which keeps the focus on the
trivial, certainly the author's original intent. The
play has survived for more than a century not because
of its deep analysis of Victorian mores, but its
universal silliness. "The Importance of Being Earnest"
is first and foremost farce, focusing on human
fallibility, which comic writers have been puncturing
for at least 2500 years.
"The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde,
Dec.21 - Jan.14
Ridiculusmus at ART, Loeb Stage
64 Brattle St, Harvard Sq. (617) 547 - 8300
American Repertory
Theatre
When Dan Sullivan and
the Seattle Rep created "Inspecting Carol" back before
the turn of this century from a collision between an
annual production of the Dickens' classic and Gogol's
political farce "The Inspector General," the
resulting satire had personal meaning to the company
and their audience. Productions since have had
varying success; the Lyric Stage ran it a few seasons
ago for the holidays and got a lot of laughs but made
little impact. The show's since moved onto the
community theatre stage where it will no doubt last a
few years longer. Zero Point's current revival,
running this weekend and next at Durrell Hall is in
that class, and unfortunately not near the top.
The enthusiastic cast fills
the roles unevenly, with Michael Aveller coming
closest to the mark as Wayne, the computer geek who
wanders in for an audition and is mistaken for a
dreaded NEA inspector. Michael Di Loreto as MJ the
put-upon stage manager is also well-cast. The rest of
Emil Kreymer's motley crew are only fitfully
believable and occasionally unintelligible. The show
isn't helped by a sparse setting and uncoordinated
costumery. Zero Point previous revivals have included
"The Dinner Party" and "Moonchildren" with some of the
same actors, but these experiences haven't yet
generated the sense of ensemble needed for this
complicated comedy. "Inspecting Carol" operates on
several levels and styles of humor. The show's more of
a challenge than it may first appear.
"Inspecting Carol" by Dan Sullivan & Seattle Rep,
Dec. 21 - Dec.30
Zero Point at Durrell Hall
Camb YMCA, 820 Mass. Ave, Central Sq. /
www.theatremania.com
Zero Point
Theatre
Channeling his inner
elf once again, John Kuntz has returned to "The
Santaland Diaries" by David Sedaris, heard now and
again on NPR. Wesley Savick directed this current run
of Joe Mantello's adaptation in the New Rep's
Downstage black box theatre. The program starts with
two short pieces by Kuntz, first a riff on the
presents from the "12 Days"--in a two room flat,
followed by an interpretive "dance" audition-piece
based on Dickens' three ghosts requiring audience
participation. The action is backed by a large mural
of St. Nick's whiskers, the centerpiece of Cristina
Tedesco's design. Molly Trainer supplied John's elf
uniform.
Kuntz's approach to the piece
employs his range of quick characterizations, but
develops a strong central voice for the aspiring soap
opera actor at the center of it all. "The Santaland
Diaries" skewers the commercial excess of season
while retaining a whiff of nostalgia for its essential
charm. Extra late night shows have been added due to
demand for tickets. Contact the New Rep for details.
The next program in the company's second space will be
a series of New Voices play readings at the end of
January into February.
"Santaland Diaries" by David Sedaris, Dec. 20 -
Dec.31
New Repertory Theatre at Arsenal Center for the Arts,
Black Box
321 Arsenal, Watertown, (617) 921 - 8487
New Repertory
Theatre
With a title inspired
by a mention in chapter 42 of 1999 Nobel Prize winner
Gunter Grass' fable "The Tin Drum" and some creative
differences during its creation, the American
Repertory Theatre opened Amanda Palmer's "The Onion
Cellar" in their flexible space at Zero Arrow St.
This time this large black box space is set up as a
cabaret with tables and a bar along the side serving
beer and wine at the usual prices. A large circular
array of lights hangs over stage against one wall.
Opposite the stage the wall above the audience is
covered with memorabilia. The conceit is that
"Shmuh's Onion Cellar" is an establishment where
patrons chop onions for themselves to release tears
they've been holding back. Several interlocking
family tales, created with the help of a cast made up
from ART veterans and Institute students, are revealed
between songs written and musical numbers written and
performed by Palmer and her partner, Brian Viglione.
The musicians play themselves with younger doubles
from the ensemble.
Both Karen MacDonald and
Thomas Derrah appear in dual roles. MacDonald is the
Mother of the Girl in Blue, who died in a car crash
after her prom. Derrah is a probable Lunatic in a gray
suit bound in wide white tape with a phone handset
taped to his head. The pair also play the Louvers, a
childless older couple from Wisconsin who've driven
their RV to Cambridge to visit their nephew who
attends Harvard. Jeremy Geidt is the Father quietly
drinking himself into oblivion. Remo Airaldi is the
MC for the cabaret who tells of his childhood and
mimes to an aria sung by Caruso near the end of the
show. The program doesn't identify individual roles,
but two students appear as both Onion Boy and Mute
Girl, two peculiar lovers, as well as the Girl in the
Bear Suit and her friend, both of whom tend bar.
Kristen Frazier is the daughter. The ensemble includes
Claire Elizabeth Davies, Brian Farish, Merrit Janson,
and Neil P. Stewart. The final show was directed by
Marcus Stern, Associate Director at the ART, who
teaches at Harvard, the Institute, and Harvard
Extension.
The 90 minute show is
somewhere between a club concert, a theatrical
collage, and an incipient rock album. The Dresden
Dolls are frequently billed as Brechtian Punk Cabaret,
and their often loud alternative rock sound can
definitely alienate members of the audience from each
other. Earplugs are available on request. Palmer's
"Onion Cellar" performed at the opening sets out a
premise, but the piece which best catches their
essence is "Coin Operated Boy". Her lyrics when
audible show flashes of wit. Viglione gets an
impressive drum solo late in the show which lasts a
bit too long. Of the various routines in the collage,
MacDonald and Derrah's "Louvers" are the audience
favorites. The show's theme of love and loss, which is
of course universal, is only obliquely explored and
hardly revelatory. Of the ART's two shows adapted
from other mediums currently playing ("Wings of
Desire" closes this Sunday), the earnestness of "The
Onion Cellar" seems preferable.
"The Onion Cellar" by Amanda Palmer, Jonathan Marc
Sherman, Marcus Stern et al, Dec.9 - Jan. 13
ART in Zero Arrow St.
Arrow & Mass. Ave, Harvard Sq. (617) 547 - 8300
ART
The latest reading of
from MIT's Catalyst Collaborative was a drama based on
an intriguing question. "How does meat become mind?"
How does the complex collection of neurons which make
up the brain and the nervous system develop a sense of
awareness? The science fiction premise of the play and
the relationship between its characters moves it well
beyond dry theory. A neurologist who firmly believes
that the ego is merely a fiction is participating in
teleportation experiments with his physicist
father-in-law. During a demonstration, something goes
wrong. Instead of his original body being vaporized
in the process, a duplicate is created on the other
end where he's meeting his wife for an anniversary.
To complicate matters, his wife has just been
diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor which is
robbing her of portions of her memory. Protocol
demands that the original, which is indistinguishable
from the new copy, be destroyed.
The cast was two founders of
the Underground Railway Theater, Alice the wife,
played by their artistic director, Debra Wise, and
Derek, Alice's father, played by former artistic
director, Wes Sanders. The neurologist was played by
Stephen Russell, seen with various local companies
including WHAT where he produces WHAT for Kids! The
production was directed by Jon Lipsky, artistic
associate at the Vineyard Playhouse and professor of
theatre at BU. The script, called a "theatrical
essay" by London playwright, Mick Gordon, was written
in conjunction British neurologist Paul Broks, whose
nonfiction work "Into the Silent Land" was the play's
starting point. A complex multimedia piece as well,
the play is still in development.
"On Ego" by Mike Gordon & Paul Broks, Dec. 4-5
MITA & Underground Railway at Rm 10-250 & Durrell
Hall, Camb YMCA
(781) 643 - 6916 URT
MIT Office of the
Arts
This adaptation by
Carl Rossi of Victorian humorist Douglass William
Jerrold's popular series, what Mrs. Caudle, a
middleclass London housewife, said to her husband
before they went to sleep at night, is an effective
monodrama. He has edited some 20 of them, shortening
them effectively, providing a comic arc for the
incessant concerns of the title character. Joseph Zampereli,
Jr. directed a one-night only staged reading of
the piece at Boston Playwrights' for the Delvena
Theatre.
Lynne Moulton was a
redoubtable Mrs. Caudle, taking a taciturn Mr. Caudle,
played by a silent Rick Park, to task for everything
from loaning a friend his umbrella to the prospect of
her mother moving in with them. Narration identifying
each lecture was supplied by Hugh Metzler with stage
directions given by Justine Curley. These two figures
could well have more to say as the script develops. At
present it provides a short pleasant glance at a
bygone era, not all that different from more
conservative aspects of our own. In the right
setting, "Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures" could play
very well for the historical crowd.
"Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures" by Carl Rossi,
Dec.3
Delvena Theatre Co. at Boston Playwrights Theatre
949 Comm. Ave. Allston
Boston
Playwrights'
When this
dramatization played at Trinity in 2003 it was
questioned as being to focussed on the travails of the
author of the original book. Susan Lombardi -
Verticelli plays Barbara very matter of factly, which
helps shift attention to the workers who are of more
interest. Director Megan Orwig has assembled an
ensemble of five versatile actors to play the staff of
a “Kenny’s” Restaurant in Key West FL, a team of
“Magic Maids” in Portland ME, and associates at
MallMart in Minneapolis. Ehrenreich's conclusion is
remains true; you can’t make a living on minimum
wage., especially when Social services are less than
adequate, especially for women. These “workers” in
alphabetical order are Jordan Harrison—the only
guy—Jackie Heath, Ellen Lokos, Danielle Muehlenbein,
and Donna Spurlock.
South City has as part of its
mission to provoke the intellect and inspire change in
the human condition. Joan Holden’s adaptation, which
was done for the San Francisco Mime Troupe, has the
same goal. Unfortunately, there’s no prescription in
either the original book or this staging to suggest
how the working poor, subjected to “repetitive stress
of the spirit,” can really effect change. And even if
the new Congress raises the minimum wage, too little
too late, very little will change , particularly as
the cost of the situation in the Middle East comes
due. But maybe “Nickel & Dimed” will make a few
people better tippers and refold merchandise at
Target.
"Nickel and Dimed" by Joan Holden, Dec. 1 - Dec.
17
South City Theatre at Devanaughn
back of Piano Factory, (781) 874 - 9831
South City
Philip Grecian's
stage adaptation in 2000 of radio humorist Jean
Sheperd's 1983 film, "A Christmas Story" has become a
community theatre staple in the last few years. The
Stoneham Theatre's second professional production,
directed this year by veteran Massachusetts director
and playwright Jack Neary, has a depth and timing that
can be difficult to achieve. It also boasts a
different cast from last year, headed by Robert D.
Murphy who's been widely seen around the area as The
Old Man with Derek Santos, from Stoneham's Young
Company Summer Program, as his son, Ralphie, the third
grader who wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.
Lisa Tucker, a founding member of Beau Jest who was
seen last season in "A Prayer for Owen Meany", is
Mother. Seven year old Evan Robinson-Johnson
completes the Parker family as Randy, the little
brother who likes to hide.
All the other adults in
the show are played by Penny Benson, who appears as
Miss Shields and the Department Store Elf, and Michael
G. Dell'Orto who plays Santa, the Xmas tree salesman,
the Prize Deliveryman, and Black Bart. The narration
is handled by Mark S. Cartier, who brings a mature
quality to the role of Ralph, the grownup writer. The
rest of the kids include Zach Camenker as Scut the
bully, Adam Fisher as Flick whose tongue gets frozen,
Khalil Fleming as Schwartz, Ralphie friend, Gillian
Gordon as Helen the smart girl and Rebecca Stevens as
Esther Jane who likes Ralphie. Neary puts this
talented crew through their paces and myriad costume
changes on a two level set by Audra Avery. The
forties period clothes were collected by Molly
Trainer. Sheperd's functional if slightly eccentric
family still resonates as real, even half a century
past the period of the play. Parents and kids will
enjoy it will enjoy it.
"A Christmas Story" by Philip Grecian, Nov. 25 -
Dec. 23
Stoneham Theatre
395 Main St. Stoneham, (781) 279 - 2200
Stoneham
Theatre
Practice makes
perfect. Sometimes going back to an original concept
does too. This year, North Shore Music Theatre's
Artistic Director, Jon Kimbell, has taken the helm of
their perennial seasonal show he helped create
eighteen years ago. He's carefully reduced some of
the extras added to "A Christmas Carol - A Musical
Ghost Story" in recent years, and retained some old
favorites. IRNE winner David Coffee returns as the
area's most lovable Scrooge, IRNE winner Cheryl
McMahon is once again his Cockney housekeeper, and Tom
Staggs still soars overhead as the ghost of Jacob
Marley.
The score based on
traditional carols and songs has been tightened by
music director Brian Cimmet, and only drops the "Pig"
song from the final Stave. There's less DayGlo and a
somber scary Ghost of Christmas Future played by
Richard Gallagher, who also plays Young Scrooge.
Robert Jason Jackson seen at the Huntington last
season as Holofernes and on Broadway in "Aida" is a
new towering Ghost of Christmas Present--still on
stilts--and Teri Dale Hansen is a new Ghost of
Christmas Past and Mrs, Cratchit. The show is
narrated by Erik Grafton as grown up Timothy Cratchit,
in shirtsleeves, and Australian Benjamin Howes, seen
Off-Broadway in [title of the show] is Bob Cratchit.
Mark Aldrich is back for a second year as Scrooge's
nephew Fred and Briga Heelan, who started with NSMT's
Youth Academy, plays both Fred's new wife Meg and
young Scrooge's lost love Belle.
There's a bit more fog in
old London Town, but the setting is much the same as
previous productions.. The musician are again spread
between two raised platforms and a visible pit. The
ensemble is strong and the opening number includes the
children of the company playing handbells. All in all
the production emphasizes the humanity of the people
in Dicken's story and gets the audience singing along
with the curtain call's "We Wish You a Merry
Christmas."
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, Dates
North Shore Music Theatre at Dunham Woods
Beverly, MA , (978) 232-7200
North Shore Music
Theatre
Regular patrons of
the ART won't be surprised to be sitting through
another theatrical collage,again an effort with
international overtones. In 100 minutes the ART and
Toneelgroep Amsterdam wrestle with a disjointed
adaptaion of the filmscript for Wim Wenders' 1987 film
classic "Der Himmel uber Berlin" (released
internationAlly as "Wings of Desire"). The show opens
with two immortal beings aka "angels" atop a canteen
trailer at an outdoor cafe, somewhere. Fine sand
drifts down from the flies in thin streams, indicating
the passage of eternity. Mam Smith, a fine aerilaist,
periodically soars above the scene, much more angelic
than the show's two angels dressed in black and white
formal wear. Periodically, actors playing characters
address the audience. The only one who really makes
contact is Stephen Payne, playing the role of a former
angel done by Peter Falk in the original film. Loud
rock music played live by Jesse Lenat and Hadewych
Minis adds to the mix, especially as the action winds
up. (Ear plugs might be a good idea.)
The production is an
interesting set of glosses on the subject, but as live
theatre, "Wings of Desire" just doesn't add up. There
are a few memorable moments, but the text might as
well have been done in Dutch most of the time, perhaps
with the odd surtitle. Robin Young's presence as The
Newsreader adds little except brief local recognition.
The ideas behind the adaptation have potential but
lack of follow-through, of any real attempt to deal
with the diviseness in today's world, make for sterile
theatrical experimentalism. It's as if every "why
don't we?" though of during its creation was tossed
in, like the colorful furniture in the finale, without
ever asking "Why?"
"Wings of Desire" by Wenders & Handke, Nov. 25 -
Dec. 17
American Repertory Theatre & Toneelgroep Amsterdam at
the Loeb
64 Brattle St, Harvard Sq. (617) 547 - 8300
American Repertory
Theatre
As a critique of the
Church of Scientology, Kyle Jarrow's parody of a
children's holiday pageant is relatively mild and
probably funnier to those who've had a brush with this
20th Century attempt to emulate a 19th century
predecessor, Christian Science. "A Very Merry
Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant", which
got an Obie in 2003, is a rather weak brew compared
to the overwrought accusations found on various
websites. But as an hour long amusement performed by
nine local youngsters, AVMUSCSP does suggest how
contemporary religion continues to indoctrinate the
young or alternatively turns its practitioners into
children, sometimes with disastrous results.
The set for the show by
Jenna MacFarland-Lord uses cardboard cutouts like
those kids produce for middle-school productions with
a set of hired risers suggesting the same sort of
atmosphere. Costumes by Laura Perrault are very basic,
mostly choir robes, but include a cardboard box robot.
Music director Jose Delgado, who's next door doing
Speakeasy's "Bubbly Brown Girl..." has gotten the
young cast to sing out along with a taped score with
the same sort of synthetic pop quality as those
operations like Disney distribute for their "kids"
shows. Nathan Leigh did the orchestrations and sound
design. At worst, AVMUSCSP is a piece of offbeat
silliness for the holidays.
"A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant" by Kyle Jarrow, Nov. 24 - Dec. 16
Boston Theatre Works in Plaza Theatre
BCA , 539 Tremont (617) 933 - 8600
Boston
Theatre Works
If there’s any show
for the holiday season that can be described as pure
entertainment, the current edition of Avner the
Eccentric’s collection of timeless comic routines
fills that bill. Suitable for all ages, combining
slapstick humor, mime, audience interaction,
disceptively simple magic, and an unique attitude,
this 90 minute perambulation is an interesting
contrast to the intense one woman show which just
closed at the Lyric. Predictably unpredictable, every
new stunt seems to grow organically from Avner’s
persona, a serious clown, not so much sad as put upon
by reality. What’s coming next is unclear, but it
will be funny. See it soon, then take some friends
and see it again.
"Exceptions to Gravity" by Avner Eisenberg, Nov.
24 - Dec.23
Lyric Stage Co. at Copley YWCA
140 Clarendon (617) 585 -5678
Lyric Stage
Dear Larry,
You probably ( I hope) have heard about the extension of this play at the BCA and the great
reception it has had. Let me add my voice of encouragement to get out as many people as
possible to see it. Required attendance in anticipation oof the 2008 elections!!
Regards,
Edwin
Edwin F. Beschler
Oftentimes I wonder whether theater has any real power to shape the world or even a society. Even great works, I think, generally just provide us with escape from our present world and maybe a little reflection on the side.
David Hare's Stuff Happens, on the other hand, drags us kicking and screaming into our present world, sits us down and makes us listen. Which may be one of the reasons there aren't many productions of it currently playing. Boston can be that proud Zeitgeist Stage (www.zeitgeiststage.com) is among the first handful of companies in the world to mount it. This is relevant theater, and the fact that it's masterfully crafted and hugely entertaining (great design, great cast) is almost incidental. If you're fuzzy on how we got into Iraq (which many of us are), this is a stunning chronicle. And even if you know all the facts, seeing them lived out before you will kill stone dead any world-weariness or apathy you may have understandably developed.
Real people are presented on stage making real decisions. And at the end of the play, the real people in the audience have some real decisions of their own to make.
The show has been extended through December 2nd. It plays at the BCA Black Box. Go see it and make history.
Nathaniel Gundy
Kirsten Child’s
semi-autobiographical show, "The Bubbly Brown Girl
Sheds Her Chameleon Skin," is successful 100 minute
entertainment. In tracing how one ambitious black
girl from LA makes it in NY, the script doesn’t break
much new ground, but it does provide suggest that be
yourself requires admitting who you are. Under Jacqui
Parker’s steadying hand, Boscon Junior Stephanie Umoh,
who appeared in “Ragtime” at the new Rep carries the
show quite convincingly. from its slow start to a
somewhat sentimental conclusion. The ensemble, which
includes Anich D'Jae seen in "Caroline...", Aimee
Doherty seen in Animus' "Promises, ...", IRNE winner
Brian Richard Robinson, John King from "Kiss of..."
and peripetatic Jackie Comisar, sings and dances
through some thirty numbers which makes for a fast
paced show with a lot of costume changes. Eric
Levenson’s set is simple and effective. Seth Bodie’s
costumes catch the show’s periods from the early ‘60s
through the ‘80s. Music director Jose Delgado does
justice to Childs’ workmanlike tunes. The show’s
message should be appropriate to the approaching
season.
"The Bubbly Brown Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin",
Nov. 17 - Dec. 9
Speakeasy Stage Co. in Roberts Studio
BCA Calderwood (617) 933-8600
Speakeasy
The recent extension of Zeitgeist's "Stuff Happens" gives everyone who hasn't yet seen it the opportunity to go to one of the best shows running in town. In turns maddening, frustrating, hilarious and moving, it's a masterful marshalling of some wonderful talent. Breaking the rules (white set, some lights on the audience), the tight direction of this nearly 3 hour piece flies by in what seems like half that time. As angry and dumbfounded as the subject matter often made me, that Miller touch left me in tears at the end. GO SEE IT!
The Obie winning
troupe, Great Small Works, is having a short run this
week at the Charlestown Working Theatre. Company
members, John Bell, Trudi Cohen, Stephen Kaplin and
Jenny Romaine, joined by Shane Baker, Andrea Lomato
and Jessica Lorence, with original music composed and
performed by Jessica Lurie, present "The Rapture
Project." This political satire/fantasy is performed
using Sicilian-style marionettes made by the members
and Marsha Gildin with interludes by the troupe in
costume. As usual, Great Small Works material is drawn
from the current political situation set in its
historical context. The storyline follows
fundamentalist Christians pursued by Beelezbub and a
prominent feminist critic as they journey the Middle
East, with a puppet version of the Final Battle with
traditional results. The show will run in NYC at the
HERE Arts Center in Manhattan for three weeks in
January.
This production's not a
kids show. But John Bell and Trudi Cohen, and their
son Isacc, will perform "Lyzer the Miser", seen at
last June's Cambridge River Festival, and "Our
Kitchen", a toy theatre piece which results in
pancakes at 2pm on the 18th & the 19th for younger
audiences. "The Rapture Project" mixes humor,
mysticism, and the continuing disaster of the crusader
mentality in an oblique look at today's religious
strife. It has a folk art feel combined with
sophisticated 20th century graphics. Ir's
effectively bizarre.
"The Rapture Project" by Great Small Works, Nov.16
-18
Great Small Works at Charlestown Working Theater
442 Bunker Hill Ave, Charlestown (617) 242 - 8285
CWT
He's back. Paul
Zaloom, aka Beakman, or the Ringmaster from Bread &
Puppets legendary summer Circus, is also back to his
roots, using the traditional Karagoz shadow puppet
show for his latest political satire. Those who
caught his last touring extravaganza "Velvetville", an
attack on junk culture, may find this fable in the
folk tradition easier to take in. With direction from
Randee Trabitz and puppets made by Lynn Jefferies,
Zaloom uses his sarcastic insights to creat a
whirlwind tour of today's turbulent world. Definitely
not for kids, (he's did two Beakman shows for them
last weekend), his hero sets off to find a place where
he can marry has friend, Henry, and adopt some kids.
The show, which premiered at the Orlando Puppet
Festival in 2004, is quite tourable, and will no doubt
evolve as social concerns continue to stew. It was
interesting to watch the day after The Election, at
the same time the marriage debate was being "recessed"
up at the State House. The performer's breezy style
is definitely on a roll. Watch for an independent
"puppet" film of "Faust" he's got coming out.
"Mother of All Enemies" by Paul Zaloom, Nov.8 -
11
Out on the Edge, Theatre Offensive at Roberts
Studio
BCA Calderwood, 529 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Theatre
Offensive
There's no White
Rabbit in David Lindsay-Abaire's "Rabbit Hole" or any
of the fantasy audiences have come to expect from the
author of "Fuddy Meers,", "Wonder of the World," or
"Kimberly Akimbo." There is, however, the same
insightful view of human nature, this time at a
suburban housewife and her stock broker husband try to
come to grips with the loss of their four-year old
son. Of course, her younger sister, Izzy (short for
Isabel) opens the play by telling her that she's
pregnant by a "real" musician, her tipsy mother can't
forget her brother who died of a heroine overdose, and
her husband misses the dog. The setting is
realistic, all their actions are predictable, though
Becca, the heroine, played by Donna Bullock, does
punch a woman in the supermarket. That unfortunate was
ignoring her own child. Geneva Carr's Izzy is not as
flighty as her wardrobe would suggest, and Maureen
Anderman as their Natalie has unexpected depths. Even
Howie, the husband, played by Jordan Lage, starts to
relate to his wife on a more hopeful level by the end
of the evening. It's a play, like most of the
author's work,that works up slowly to its point, this time
with far fewer mirrors and almost no smoke.
Predictably, the setting
by James Noone is a monument to stagecraft, with three
meticulous interiors that roll on and off. A two
level unit set would have been less distracting and
possibly more evocative. John Tillinger's low-key
directing, and the cast's contemporary ensemble style
are sufficient to establish the characters and their
situation. The interior decoration is extraneous.
Costumes, props, lighting, and sound are firstrate and
more appropriate. Bullock leads the show with the
same kind of detailed work that won Cynthia Nixon a
Tony for her role. We know her and the rest of the
cast quite well by the end of the play; where they've
been, what they are, and where they might be going.
Lindsay-Abaire's used everyday elements to tell a
simple and moving tale, ending not with "happily ever
after," but "they lived."
"Rabbit Hole" by David Lindsay-Abaire, Nov.3 -
Dec.3
Huntington Theatre Co. at B.U.Theatre
264 Huntington Ave, (617) 266 - 0800
HTC
If you've avoided
this musical satire for one reason or another, the
current production at Beatrice Hereford's Vokes
Playhouse out in Wayland on Rt. 20 would be a good
place to catch what's become one of the most produced
musicals across the country--if you can get a ticket.
The Newton Country Player's just had a success with
Tony winner "Urinetown" over at Lasell, the Lyric
opened last year's season with it, and Newton South
High's doing the show in the spring.
Directed by Donnie
Baillargeon, the show gets off to a good start with
Vokes' stalwart David Berti as Officer Lockstock the
narrator and his sidekick Little Sally the urchin,
done by Peri Chouteau. The ensemble is in fine voice,
the story which centers around a public revolt against
having to pay to pee rings ludicrously true. The music
and lyrics by Mark Hollman start off with echoes of
Brecht and Weill and evolve into a sendup of
contemporary musical theatre. The love story between
Bobby Strong public facility attendant, sung by
Kendall Hodder, and Hope Cladwell daughter of the
urinal magnate, sung by Sarah Consentino, pushes all
the right buttons. Supporting roles such as
Lockstock's partner, Officer Barrel and Penelope
Pennywise, Bobby's boss, done by Bill Stambaugh and
Janet Ferreri are edgy. Ferreri's opening number,
"It's a Privilege to Pee" sets the tone for the
evening. The energetic ensemble, who play both the
downtrodden masses and Cladwell's flunkies, have
moments to shine, like Mark Soucy's demented thug, Hot
Blades Harry.
Steven McGonagle has done
another outstanding set for the company with echoes of
the original, Mario Cruz conducts the small musical
ensemble--out of sight in this production--with the
required flair, and Jennifer Condon's choreography
sends up all the usual suspects, from Robbins to Fosse
to Twarp. It's a goodtime show with serious digs at
the potential disaster of overpopulation, depletion of
resources, and public indifference. Or as author Greg
Kotis, trained in political economy, ends the show,
"Hail Malthus."
"Urinetown" by Mark Hollman & Greg Kotis, Oct. 26 -
Nov. 17(shows added)
Vokes Players at Vokes Theater
RT.20, Wayland (508) 358 - 4034
Vokes Players
Works by Nobel
Laureate Dario Fo have been scarce on the American
Stage since his injudicious remarks made after 9/11.
Whistler in the Dark, who've previously been seen
mostly at the Charlestown Working Theatre, have
prepared four monodramas by the old clown and his
wife/partner, Franca Rame, and taken them on the road.
They're performing in various venues in Boston and
Cambridge. The translations are by Gillian Hanna and
Amy Nora Long. Meg Taintor directs three actors, two
seen previously with Whistler in the Dark, Lorna
McKenzie and Jennifer O'Connor, and Nikki Carroll, an
Aussie who toured last year for Shakespeare & Co.
Each woman does one solo piece, the trio combines for
the final piece, "All Women Have the Same Story," a
surrealistic fairy tale.
The first monodrama,
"Rise and Shine" features O'Carroll as a woman so
frazzled by work, an infant, and an inconsiderate
husband that she feels she's going mad as she hurries
to get ready for work. The second, "A Woman Alone" is
an entire domestic melodrama with Lorna McKenzie,
really going mad cooped up in her apartment with a
crying baby and an invalid brother-in-law, being
stared at by a pervert with binoculars, badgered by
obscene phone calls, and pursued by an unwanted lover.
Jennifer O'Connor is "Alice in Wonderless Land"
succumbing to temptations and the modern world in ways
which have made Lewis Carroll faint. Costumes are
mainly lingerie and few accouterments chosen by Kelly
Leigh David, the set is two translucent screen which
can be used for shadows, and the interlude sounds are
a danceable mixtrack. The show works surprisingly
well in the informal atmosphere of a nightspot. Fo
would approve. Be sure to check the group's website
for directions to venues and any schedule changes.
The tour wraps up Friday the 10th at the Charlestown
Working Theatre.
"All This Flying, All This Tumbling Down" by Dario
Fo & Franca Rame, Oct.24 - Nov. 9
Whistler in the Dark at Charles Playhouse Lounge,
Midway Cafe (JP), Zeigeist (Camb), Art&Soul (Camb.),
The Vault(Lynn Arts), and Charlestown WT
check website for directions; (866) 811- 4111
Whistler In
The Dark
I just saw the Zeitgeist production of "Stuff Happens" at the Boston Center for the Arts. It is an extremely timely production and an excellent play.
The play is a historical account of how we got ourselves into the Iraq mess, using actual public statements (plus imaginary closed door conversations). In particular, it illustrates how people got drawn in whom you would think would know better. The heart of it is about the exercise of power, those seduced by the proximity of power, and those conditioned to defer to power. Unavoidably, you experience the danger of insularity in power. Both Colin Powell and Tony Blair are portrayed as sympathetic and somewhat tragic characters.
Various features stand out. The dialogue is sharp and fast, the power play subtle and transparent all at once. The play is staged in a very intimate theater, with a large ensemble cast. This intimacy gives the viewer a sense of immediacy, the feeling of viewing large events close up, and is very effective. It costs $30 but is definitely worth the money. I hope you all go see it as soon as possible.
More details at: www.zeitgeiststage.com
Eva Ng
Fans of Louis Sachar
popular juvenile adventure will enjoy seeing such
colorful characters as X-Ray, Armpit. ZigZag, and Zero
brought to life. Fan’s of the author’s movie
adaptation will recognize the script, which is largely
a sage adaptation of his screenplay. There in lies
some difficulty for those coming to the tale for the
first time. The action is fast and furious as it gets
the hero, Stanley Yelnats IV, wrongly accused of
theft, from juvenile court to Camp Green Lake, a
sinister private rehabiltation facility in the desert.
The program is to dig a large hole everyday for no
apparent reason. Armando-Carlos Gonzalez, seen last
year about this time of year in “The Lord of the
Flies.” His best friend, Hector Zeroni, aka Zero, is
played by Dan Reulbach, also in “...Flies.” The core
of the show is fellow WFT students, including Cyrus
Akeem Brooks, Nicholas Carter, Shauday Johnson-
Jones, David M. Kalm, and Tadesh Inagaki. The adult,
mostly Equity cast includes Whitney Avalon as Kissing
Kate Barlow, WST regular Shelley Bolman as Mr.
Pendanski. Neil Gustafson as Mr.Sir. Monique Nichole
McIntyre, Ed Peed as the Sheriff, Marina Re as the
mysterious Warden, Darius Omar Williams as Onion Sam,
and WST General Manager Jane Staab is madame Zeroni,
whose curse on Stanley’s pig-stealing great great
grandfather just may be the reason for his troubles.
Additional grown-ups include tall Kevin Ashworth as
nasty Trout Walker, Wheelock grad Chris Burcato as
Stanley’s dad (III) and Rydia Q. Vielehr as Zero’s
mom. Most double in other small roles as well. It’s
a really big show.
Director Susan Kosoff, WST’s
producer keeps the fragmented action moving, but the
result isn’t especially dramatic. Sachar’s dilemma
in creating this script was to continue an already
successful franchise. He might have been advised to
let a more skilled playwright adapt his work to make
it less linear, to make the melodrama more consistent,
getting all the plot elements better foreshadowed in
the first half. The result is still engaging most of
the time, though Danila Korogodsky’s modernist unit
set somewhat overdoes the “hole” motif and doesn’t
capture the feeling of the desert very well. It’s
still far better family entertainment than the
expensive arena shows which blow into the Wang or the
Paramount Opera House.
"Holes" by Louis Sachar, Oct.27 - November 26
Wheelock Family Theare
200 The Riverway, Boston, (617) 879 - 2300
Wheelock
Family Theatre
Hollywood veteran
David Rambo's "The Ice-Breaker", originally
commissioned for the Geffen in L.A. is having part of
its National New Play Network's "rolling national
premiere" at the New Rep over at the Arsenal Center
for the Arts. The piece has the feel of a treatment
intended for development in a small film being tried
out as a play. As a concept, comparing the immensity
of an incipient ice-age to a December/May (June)
relationship between an older male scientist in
seclusion and a brash young grad student is intriguing
if inconclusive. The resulting pedestrian script is
however isn't and ultimately banal with a weak
payoff.
Will Lyman, the voice of
Frontline and Boston's best underworked actor, seen
recently as Claudius on the Common, makes a convincing
senior scientist, driven to a desert hideaway by
academic politics over his controversial ideas and a
family tragedy. Amy Russ plays the perennial student
of indeterminate years, juvenile because of her lowly
academic position. Unfortunately her underwritten
role becomes monotonous, dependent on superficial
charm and bumptiousness. While Lyman has a deliberate
depth to his performance, her's becomes tedious and
not very believable. The two sometimes seem to be in
two different plays not written by the same author.
Too many of her actions are plot devices, from finding
his diary in Antartica while there on an punitive
Outward Bound visit to finally "getting" the
significance of his research. Director David Zoffoli
from Merrimack keeps the action going through some
fairly dubious passages but ultimately the climax is
unconvincing being delivered by mail with a final
spotlit scene.
The New Rep production is
good-looking with an effective realistic set by
architect Alan Joslin, well lit by David Parichy who's
worked with Zoffoli in Lowell. Molly Trainer's
costumes done for two people in one setting suggest
their academic lack of concern for fashion. David
Kahn's passing thunder storm and incidental
Southwestern local radio cuts add to the
verisimilitude. Supporting new scripts is an important
though risky part of today's regional theatre. This o's Magic Theatre and
at the Phoenix in Indianapolis. The New Rep presented
Philadelphian Thomas Gibbon's "Permanant Collection"
in 2004 also under the auspices of the same National
New Play initiative. They'll present Austin
Pendleton's "Orson's Shadow", which they read
successfully in 2003 later this season. It's been seen
in NYC and its suburbs.
"The Ice Breaker" by David Rambo, Oct. 25 - Nov.
19
New Repertory Theatre at Arsenal Center for the
Arts
321 Arsenal St. Watertown , (617) 923 - 8487
New Repertory
Theatre
Greetings:
I was told if I sent my few words on Stuff Happens to you, you could post them in the Theater Mirror.
Thanks.
Francis Conneely
Stuff Happens, currently playing at the BCA, is frightening play. Frightening because if one quarter of it is true, then it leaves you wondering what our current administration is doing or has done...The play is very well written and well performed. The actors that play both Bush and Powell put forth a convincing performance worth the price of admission alone, but the entire ensemble also gives a full and robust performance. SEE THIS PLAY.
See NSMT do the first
regional theatre production of "Hairspray", A Tony
Award winning musical based on John Waters' 1988 film.
Listen to an affectionate parody of a not so
affectionate parody, book by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas
Meehan, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman
and Shaiman. Watch a large energetic cast in costumes
originally designed by William Ivey Long, on a set by
Howard C. Jones, who's done a dozen or more shows for
NSMT. Catch Boscon grad Bridie Carroll as Tracy
Turnblad, appropriately padded out and madTV
personality Paul C. Vogt as her mother Edna, augmented
for and aft. He did the role in the Las Vegas
production as well.
Joining them are Inga
Ballard as Motormouth Maybelle, the Black D.J. —once a
month—on the TV show based on American Bandstand. Todd
DuBail is Corny Collins the M.C. of 20 or so. North
Shore favorite . IRNE winner David Coffee plays the
show's sponsor, Tracy's high school principal, and Mr.
Pinky, who hires her—once she's become a local
celebrity—to be a spokesman for his boutique for large
women. Tracy's true love, a budding rock & roll
singer, Link Larkin is David Larsen, seen in NSMT's
"West Side Story" in 2003. The other pair of
lovebirds is Sarah Elizabeth Nischwitz as Penny
Pingleton, Tracy's best friend and Dashaun Young, as
Seaweed J. Stubbs, Maybelle's son.
The rest of
director/choreographer Barry Ivan's integrated
ensemble is equally talented and ready to dance the
night away. Music director Dale Reiling doesn't stop
the beat, except when a ballad is called for.
Lighting, sound support, and effects are as usual
top-drawer and really cool. The show's message "Can't
we all dance together?" is welcome as ever, given the
divisiveness in today's society, even when delivered
as a modern fairy tale with almost cartoon characters.
Welcome to the EARLY '60s.
"Hairspray" by O'Donnell & Meehan, Shaiman & Wittman,
Oct.24 - Nov. 19
Nortth Shore Music Theatre at Dunham Woods
Dunham Rd., Beverly MA, (978) - 232 -7200
North Shore Music Theatre
Ben Evett's Actors
Shakespeare Project continues to find new ways to look
at the canon, without resorting to adaptation or
techical trickery. This time they've put the play on
the stage of the Strand Theatre, the renovated silent
movie palace in Dorchester at Upham's Corner. Evett
himself takes the title role under the direction of
the New Rep's Rick Lombardo who he's worked with
before. The usually eclectic ASP cast is bolstered by
Johnny Lee Davenport, who's appeared with S&C and many
other Shakespeare companies, as Claudius. He's joined
by several other African Americans, including Willie
E. Teacher as Horatio and Edward O'Blenis as Laertes.
Marya Lowry as Gertrude, Robert Walsh as Polonius,
plus Ken Cheeseman as The Ghost, the Player King, and
the Gravedigger and Sara Newhouse as both Rosenkrantz
and Osric—the first played as a man, the second as a
woman—have all appeared previously with ASP. Marianna
Bassham, seen at the New Rep and the Lyric, is a
heart-wrenching Ophelia. Actors with other
Shakespeare credits fill out the 16 member ensemble,
including composer Bill Barclay, who performs onstage
during "The Mousetrap" and plays the steel cello under
it throughout.
In what may become a regular
part of their programme, the company hosted a
discussion moderated by Harvard's Steven Greenblatt,
with Tina Packer, her husband Dennis Krausnik, and son
Jason Asprey from the S&C "family" production of
"Hamlet" this summer and Bassham, Davenport, Lowry,
Walsh & Evett representing ASP's current effort.
Joining them was assistant director Per Jensen from
Trinity, where the play was done last season with an
"Upstairs/Downstairs" motif plus Steven Maler, who
helmed Commonwealth Shakespeare's version on the
Common two summer's ago. The points under discussion
were illustrated by short scenes performed by members
of S&C and ASP to appreciative applause. Maybe next
time, the Publick Theatre and Shakespeare Now! can
join the fray.
""Hamlet" by Wm. Shakespeare, Oct. 19 - Nov. 12
Actors Shakespeare Project at The Strand, Upham's
Corner
543 Columbia Rd. Dorchester, 1 (866) 811 - 4111
A.S.P
Go see STUFF HAPPENS. The acting is organic, the directing inspired, and the piece is mandatory for anyone who has thought about politics in the past three years.
Dr. Susan Corso
You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Heather Raffo's "9
Parts of Desire" is a unique sole show based of
interviews with Iraqi women, composited down into 9
distinct characters. While Raffo performs her
award-winning piece in Washington DC, Lanna Joffrey
takes up the headscarf and burka on the Lyric Stage
in Copley Sq. Award-winning director Carmel O'Reilly
helps her conjure up these troubled women on a unique
thrust unit set created by her frequent collaborator,
J. Michael Griggs from Harvard, well lit by the
Lyric's own Rob Cordella. Rafael Jaen from Emerson
provides a range costume accessories to distinguish
between the several woman. There are definite elements
of tragedy in this theatrical collage, but these woman
forge on, seeking love, seeking security for their
families and their country. They range from a elderly
leftist exile in London to a Baghdad teenager confined
to her house. They all blend into a powerful
indictment of the foreign policy blunders which led to
the current endless occupation without getting into
politics, but concentrating on individual human
consequences.
"9 Parts of Desire" by Heather Raffo, Oct.20 - Nov.
8
Lyric Stage Co. at Copley YWCA
140 Clarendon, (617) 585 - 5678
Lyric Stage
Co.
Jules Verne's "Around
the World in 80 Days" was first adapted to the stage
by the author himself for a spectacular production in
Paris around the turn of the 19th century This breezy
novel is best remembered for Mike Todd's blockbuster
film done about 50 years ago. Mark Brown's recent
adaptation, seen around the country, is having its
first outing in the Boston area at the Stoneham
Theatre for the next three weeks. With only five cast
members, a lot of simple costume changes, and enough
props, it probably won't be the last time this amiable
adventure/farce is seen in these parts.
The story revolves around
an eccentrically orderly English gentleman, played
with his usual aplomb by IRNE winner Steven Barkhimer,
one Phileas Fogg, Esq., who makes a bet with members
of his club that he can circumnavigate the globe in 80
days. His main companion on this exciting journey is
his new valet, Passepartout, played by Christopher
Brophy, first seen locally at Stoneham. Brophy won his
IRNE for the role of Shane Muggitt in Speakeasy/BTW's
award-winning "Take Me Out." All the rest of the parts
are taken by three actors. Petite Eve Kagan, seen
last spring in Sugan's "Talking with Terrorists,"
plays various servants and supernumeraries, but by the
middle of the first act has taken on the role of
Aouda, the Indian beauty Passepartout and Fogg rescue
from suttee. Antic Victor Warren, who was seen last
seaon in the title role of Margulies "Brooklyn Boy"
for Speakeasy, is persistent Detective Fix, when he's
not playing everything from a member of the Reform
Club to the driver of a train in the Old West.
Veteran comedian Robert Saoud, seen in the season
opener "You Never Know," plays so many parts, from
ship captains, several pukka sahibs, various
authorities and even a U.S.Cavalry colonel, that he's
designated as Actor 1 in this story theatre ensemble.
Director Weylin Symes keeps his solid cast scurrying
up and down the complex levels or zipping offstage to
change into their next costume while Barkhimer forges
serenely on.
The effective unit set is
another architectural creation by Cristina Todesco,
backed by a projection screen which alternately
displays backgrounds or a world map. This changing
backdrop is flanked by signs for the major cities Fogg
passes through on his journey which are illuminated in
sequence. Rachel Padula Shufelt has provided an array
of costume pieces which allow the ensemble to create
about 40 characters during this two hour show. Sound
designer Nathan Leigh and lighting designer Mark Lanks
help keep the whirlwind trip going. Once again the
short trip out to Stoneham is worth taking.
"Around the World in 80 Days" by Mark Brown, Oct.19
- Nov. 8
Stoneham Theatre
395 Main St. Stoneham, (781) 279 - 2200
Stoneham
Theatre
Theresa Rebeck's new play
" Mauritius" is receiving a powerhouse world premiere
on the Huntington Theatre Co.s Wimberley stage at the
BCA. The script, which was developed at Lark in NYC
was read last spring during HTC's Breaking Ground
series. It's since under gone further rewrites and is
being directed by Woolly Mammoth's Rebecca Bayla
Taichman , who's also continuing her collaboration
with Rebeck in a remounting of "The Scene" at Second
Stage in NYC. That show ran at last year's Humana
Festival. Rebeck will also open another new play, "The
Water's Edge" at Second Stage later in the season.
"Mauritius" is a modern
melodrama with humorous overtones involving sibling
rivalry and stamp collecting. The latter obsession
allows for the plot complication, the former defines
the character development. The excellent five actor
ensemble centers around wild child Jackie played by
Obie winner Marin Ireland and prim Mary, her older
half-sister, played by Boston's favorite Canadian
actress, Norton winner and Brandeis MFA, Laura
Latreille. Their struggle is over Mary's
grandfather's stamp collection which has been in their
mother's possession since his death. Jackie wants to
sell, Mary claims sentimental attachment and rightful
ownership, even though she's not been around for a
long time. Jackie, who took care of their mother
during her long decline due to cancer has already
started trying to find out what the collection's
worth.
The album contains two legendary
very early "error" stamps from the British colony of
Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. She's met with seeming
indifference from seedy stamp dealer, Peter, played by
Robert Dorfman and been romanced by slick young
operator, Dennis, played by Michael Aronov, who she
meets at the stamp shop. Dennis ultimately makes a
deal for her with a wealthy collector, belligerent
Sterling, a shady Brit played by James Gale. And
that;s just the start of the plot.
While the show is predicated on
past relations between Jackie and Mary leading to
their present situation, between hanger-on Dennis and
Peter, which seems somehow paternal, and some sort of
prior incident between Peter and Sterling, the play,
like most melodramas is about present actions. The
ensemble does somehow seem like a tight dysfunctional
family however, given to extended monologues,
simultaneous arguments at crosspurposes, and devious
often farcical personal confrontations. Jackie is the
primary focus but Mary comes on strong in the pinch.
Dennis is less a villain than a trickster, looking for
excitement in the main chance. Further tweaking, when
and if the show finds a future production, will
heighten the intrigue.
HTC as usual hasn't stinted on
production values. Trinity's Eugene Lee, whose last
Obie was for "Wicked," who got an IRNE for "Top
Dog..." has created a very detailed shabby office as
the main scene, with wagons which come out of the
walls for alternate locations. Costumes chosen by
peripetatic Miranda Hoffman and jarring original music
by Martin Desjardins add unique touches. The script
may undergo further development to tie up loose ends
but is a crackling show at the moment.
" Mauritius" by Theresa Rebeck, Oct. 6 -
Nov.12
Huntington Theatre Co. in Wimberley Theatre
BCA Calderwood, 539 Tremont, Boston / (617) 933 -
8600
HTC
BU 2006 graduate
playwright Amy Adler's "First Blush", running at the
BPT in preparation for another foray to the ACTF at
the Kennedy Center, is a contemporary drama of the 20
somethings, sort of a "Sex in the City" for two
couples, with a hint of Margulies. It might be better
served by a slightly older, slightly more experienced
cast though the student actors do well enough. The
two women are better written and Meghan Bradley's Emma
is well-realized. Katy Rubin's Gwen grew up, to a
point, in college and shows only traces of character
beyond that period in her life.. But their future as
posited by playwright Adler is really more of the
same "living in the city" fantasy. The two men,
Katy's sometime husband Paul, played by Jared Craig,
and his feckless friend, Ian, played by Michael
Peterson, are college-boy cliches, whose solution to
life is to go back to school.. The fact that none of
these four really have last names is typical of this
sort of rather superficial drama, sufficient to the
times but not very satisfying. At least the author
hasn't tied her 80+ minute plus intermissionless work
to any specific events, so should Adler decide to find
some more significant relevance for these characters,
she could develop them into a full-length play.
Faculty director Eve Muson, BU BFA/MFA has given the
current script a fair outing.
The several scenes are
defined by ingenious sliding panels which with the
current light plot give the stage hands a chance to
appear in a shadow show. The backdrop is a black and
white abstract while the modern furniture is
sufficiently nondescript to serve the unit set. which
starts as an apartment, but must serve as an office, a
bar, etc. Downstage center is occupied by a coffee
table as per usual. The background sound is
suggestive but not distinctive as are the
contemporary costumes, which work well enough for the
women, but don't help the men gain any substance.
Still, this show is probably good enough to bring home
the bacon for BU once again.
"First Blush" by Amy Adler Oct.12 - 22
Playwrights' Theatre at B.U.
949 Comm. Ave. Allston, (866) 881 - 4111
Company Website
The mystical art of
the shannachie is alive and kicking at Jimmy Tingle's
Off-Broadway in Davis Sq. Somerville through
Thanksgiving. Award-winning actor Marty Maguire,
using a one-man comedy written by Marie Jones, brings
Kenneth Norman McAllister, a Belfast Protestant, and
some forty of his countrymen--and women--to uproarious
life. More than that, he and the author turn
Kenneth's mid-life crisis into what could be taken for
a religious conversion, from a thoughtless bigot into
a bona fide Irishman, in a show which swoops from
laughter to tears as a real story should.
Jones, whose "Stones in
His Pockets" was an instant classic, starts this tale,
once upon a time, on "A Night in November" when
Kenneth begins to realize how hollow his lower-middle
class existence as a dole-clerk has become when he
takes his nicotine-fiend father-in-law to a crucial
soccer match between Northern Ireland and the
Republic, and is ashamed at how completely prejudiced
the old hooligan is. His frustration mounts with his
wife, his job, his social friends and the dismal
political stalemate under which he lives. The comic
absurdity of it all becomes maddening. There's no way
out. But of course there is. Jones sends him on an
impulse off to New York the next April to be close to
the World Cup competition. The result is even more
hilarious and ultimately uplifting. Like any good
fable there's a chance McAllister might just live
happier when he goes back to Belfast.
This energetic one-man
show is perfectly suited for JTOB, which is set up
cabaret style. The only set is a stack of boxes, red
white and blue at first, representing McAllister's
Unionist background. A suit coat, a red cardigan, and
a football supporters T-shirt are Maguire's sole
costume changes/props. The backdrop is an
out-of-focus mural of soccer fans in the stands.
Minimal lighting effects help change the scene,
particularly for our man's inner monologues. Maguire
first appeared in one of Marie Jones plays in Ireland
in 1986 and this script could well have been written
with this versatile actor in mind. He first presented
"A Night in November" in L.A. , then at the 2002
Edinburgh Festival, followed by two soldout runs at
the Tricycle in London, two runs in Dublin, and back
to L.A. where it won two Ovation Awards in 2005.
Recently Maguire appeared at the Edinburgh Festival
in Jones latest play, "The Blind Fiddler."
Many impressive shows
from the contemporary Irish theatre have been seen in
Boston, and this comic jewel, directed by Tim Byron
Owen, is up with the best of them. JTOB in Davis Sq.
is easy to get to on the Red Line, there are dinner
packages available, and the Burren just next door
upstairs. Guiness and Harp are available at the
refreshment stand as well. Shows start at 7:30 pm
evenings, Sunday matinees at 3pm. Come early for the
best seats and something before the show.
"A Night In November" by Marie Jones, Oct.11 - Nov.
26
at Jimmy Tingle's Off-Broadway
255 Elm St. Davis Sq, Somerville (866) 811-4111
JTOB
Marina's Carr's
country tragedy, "By the Bog of Cats," owes a bit of
its inevitability to Euripides, but at least as much
to J.M.Synge. The violence in the show marks it as
contemporary while its poetic diction plus touches of
the supernatural make piece unmistakably Irish. The
Devanaughn Theatre, under Rose Carlson's direction,
manages to make a complex and ingrown plot come
together in the confines of their brick box in the
basement of the Piano Factory. More extensive scenic
background and less cumbersome changes would help
create a stronger air of magic realism, though the
full-sized "caravan" stage left is impressive.
The ensemble cast
revolves around Hester Swane, the daughter of the
Travelin' People, played by Abbey Theatre veteran Dani
Duggan, who's the current producing artistic director
of the company. Hester's been thrown over by Carthage
Kilbride, a local lad, played by Charles Hess. They
have a young daughter, Josie, named for her
grandmother, played on alternate nights by Holly
Payne-Strange and Sarah Smith. Carthage believes he
has bought Hester off and is marrying the daughter of
a rich neighbor, Xavier Cassidy, played by Phil
Thompson. His new love is Caroline, played by Ellen
Adair, The source of this basic tale is of course
"Medea". But Hester first appears carrying a dead
black swan, an old friend which she buries, but not
before being accosted by a mysterious Ghost Fancier,
played by Jordan Harrison, and engaging in gossipy
exposition with her oldest friend Monica, played by
Jean Sheikh. She also gets a visit from the Catwoman,
a blind seer, played quite spookily by Liz Robbins.
Jordan shows up in act two as a waiter and the ghost
of Hester's brother. Fred Robbins also appears
briefly in the second act as dotty old Father Willow,
the parish priest.
The cast manages
acceptable Irish accents, though Duggan's more
accurate Midlands brogue is not always immediately
comprehensible amidst the Americanized sound. Nothing
important gets lost however. Within scenes the action
makes good use of the limited space. The lighting is
servicable, though a more elaborate plot would support
the varied scenes more fully. The original music by
Katie McDonnell adds an appropriate touch. There's a
sense of commitment to the play which definitely helps
the show.
"By the Bog of Cats" by Marina Carr, Oct. 12 - 29
Devanaughn, back of the Piano Factory
791 Tremont, (617) 247 - 9777
Devanaughn
Theatre
The most important
character in Ashman And Menken's first hit show is
Audrey II, a "strange and unusual plant" usually done
with puppets, from a small sock type to a giant body
puppet. For their "Little Shop of Horrors", John
Ambrosino and his Animus Ensemble are trying something
different. Veteran Boston rocker Neil Chapman,
dressed in a green Capitol Records T-shirt is the
villainous talking and singing vegetable. He's first
rolled onstage in a little red wagon, but soon stands
tall and as A2 grows gets three dancers, Melissa
Ham-Ellis, Christin Fagone, and Maria Larossa as
tendrils. Choreographers Josie Bray, the group's other
Artistic Director, gets the whole cast dancing as part
of the plant by the end, except of course by the girl
group, Chiffon, Crystal, and Ronette aka Heather Fry,
Emilie Battle, and Sehri Wickliffe. The latter two
are both music theatre students at BosCon while
Princeton grad Fry will be directing Geo. C. Wolfe's
"The Colored Museum," Animus' show next April.
The show, as everyone will
remember, takes place in a Skid Row flower shop. The
owner, Mr. Mushnik is done by Eric Ruben, seen last
spring in the company's "Once Upon a Mattress" as the
King, and at the New Rep in "Into the Woods." the year
before. His clerk, Audrey (1) is Erin Tchoukaleff, who
was Lady Larkin last spring and Sylvia midseason in
"Promises, Promises," bringing her distinctive soprano
to the role. Audrey's boyfriend Orin, the evil
dentist, is Turtle Lane regular Jim Jordan, who was
also in Animus' "...Mattress" and "Promises..."
Jordan also essays a variety of walkons. His
counterpart, who does the rest of them and the
doorbell is Perri Lauren. And at the center of it all
as Seymour the orphan is Christian Kiley, who's done
shows with Reagle. His naive sound blends well with
the other voices in the show. Music director Robert
Mollicone at the keyboard, backed by electric bass and
drums keeps the score hopping along and is well served
by the ensemble. This show rocks! "Little Shop..."
has two more weekends to go. Real fans will also want
to catch Turtle Lane's version which plays from
mid-November through the holidays.
"Little Shop of Horrors", book & lyrics by Howard
Ashman, music - Alan Menken, Oct. 6-21
Animus Ensemble at BCA Plaza Theatre
539 Tremont, (617 933-8600)
Animus
Ensemble
One of the two
innovative companies producing at the old firehouse at
the base of Bunker Hill Ave. in Charlestown, a few
blocks from the Sullivan Sq. T-stop on the Orange Line
is Molasses Tank Productions. Their fall offering is
Julie Hebert's short but intense drama, "Almost
Asleep." This ensemble piece is essentially a
nightmare, as a woman's persona fragments into five
characters. Susan Gross plays The Chatterer, who
recounts a brutal encounter which an incident at work
earlier in the day has brought back to mind. Becca A.
Lewis is The Sleeper, who is able to repress this
past--much of the time. Wendy Nystrom is The Dreamer,
who tries to make sense of her fears. Kristin Shoop
is The Fool, who survives by childlike play. And
Loann West, who also did the set and costumes, is The
Warrior, a strong and bitter realist.
Artistic director Steve
Rotolo, one of the group's founders, has staged the
piece simply, allowing the poetic flow of words, which
occasionally overlap, to build a dense abstract of
this unnamed woman's mental turmoil, a mix of fear and
hope. "Almost Asleep" builds to a crescendo and fades
on an image. The show is less than an hour long, but
just long enough. The author had worked with various
contemporary theatre groups, several on the West
Coast, and is currently writing for the Scott brothers
T.V. hit, NUMB3RS.
The Charlestown Working
Theatre has a number of interesting shows scheduled
this year. Next up is a brief visit at the end of the
month by a mask and movement duo from Brelin, Theatre
Kranevit, perrforming a piece based on the Bros.
Grimm, followed in mid-November by the Obie-winning
Great Small Works performing their latest effort, "The
Rapture Project". This Greenwich Village/Cambridge
based tabletop puppet company continues to create
sharp political shows. CWT is only a short walk from
the Sullivan Sq. Station on the Orange Line. Park at
that lot or come abit bit earlier and find street
parking nearby.
"Almost Asleep" by Julie Hebert, Oct. 5 - 21
Molasses Tank Theatre at Charlestown Working
Theatre
442 Bunker Hill Ave., Charlestown, (617)242.3285
Molasses
Tank
As the inaugural
event for its "Downstage@New Rep series, using the
black box space on the ground floor at the Arsenal
Center for the Arts, the New Rep is presenting Diego
Arciniegas in Will Eno's Pulitzer-nominated "Thom Pain
(based on Nothing." The exercise in stand-up
existentialism shows another side to the Publick
Theatre's artistic director, know generally for his
Shakespearean roles, such as Friar Laurence in the New
Rep’s Watertown opener last fall. Arciniegas has of
course recently done Count Dracula in Stoneham, after
two years as their Marley, and will appear in Noel
Coward's "Design for Living", PT's January show
indoors at the BCA. He also has three IRNE acting
awards from past years.
Here Arciniegas takes on the
anonymous role of a self-described nobody created by
Eno collaborator, James Urbaniak, and make it his own.
It’s tempting to imagine just what this hour-long
monologue might be based on, beyond a disturbed
imagination. Each member of the audience will
probably have their own take. It’s open seating, all
84 of them. Get there early, sit on the center aisle
at your own peril if you want the full effect, but
don’t show up late. The piece was directed by
Brandeis faculty member, Adrienne Hewlett, who did
“Frozen” at the New Rep last season.
"Thom Pain" by Will Eno
Downstage@New Rep, Arsenal Center for for the Arts
Black Box
321 Arsenal St., Watertown (617) 923 - 8487
New Rep
Peripheral to the
Boston Jazz Festival,
saxiphonist/flautist/drummer/dancer Stan Strickland
presents a turning point in his 30 year career as a
jazzman. Written (edited?) and directed by Vineyard &
Boston playwright Jon Lipsky, this intense mono-drama,
two years (and a lifetime) in development, is built
around the musician's near-drowning seen as part of a
life-long spiritual quest. The 80 minute + show is
seamlessly interwoven with original live music,
culminating in an extended composition in which
Strickland plays both saxs, flute, percussion, etc.,
developing the piece against loops from the preceding
instrument. It's "far out and in deep," and not to be
missed. The low-ceiled BCA Black Box is acoustically
perfect for jazz; Eric Levinson's simple set and
expressive lighting complete the show. Seating is
limited. Get tickets now. PS. Check out his website
for his latest jazz vocal CD.
"Coming Up For Air: An AutoJazzography" by Lipsky &
Strickland, Sept. 28 - Oct. 14
Alliger Arts at BCA Black Box
539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Stan
Strickland
As the author of "I
Am MY Own Wife" points out, this bio-docudrama has two
focuses, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf and himself, Doug
Wright. His fascination with that unique person, a
German transvestite who survived the Nazi's and the
East Germans, helped him deal with his own sexuality,
though his self-exploration seen onstage is rather
perfunctory. Charlotte's however is as detailed as
the woodwork on her beloved furniture from the gay
'90s. Thomas Derrah plays both, and about 40 other
incidental characters, transforming in an instant into
figures from her past, tourists at her museum,
relatives, and of course Wright. The original script
was created with the assistance of Moises Kaufmann and
Jefferson Mays, who played the part of Charlotte.
Derrah brings his own physical acumen to this
interpretation, directed by Jason Southerland.
Wearing a version of
Charlotte's black "hausfrau" dress created by Rachel
Padula Schufeld, the actor conjures up Charlotte's
particular world. Eric Levenson's sparse 3/4 set is
largely black and white except for a highly polished
antique Edison phonograph on the upper level--reached
by a ramp and one small turn-of-the century desk
downstage left. John. R. Malinowski's fluid lighting
constantly redefines the acting area, while Nathan
Leigh's sound design includes vintage recordings from
Charlotte's special period. Those who saw Jefferson
Mays ethereal performance downtown will be especially
interested in Derrah's more robust approach.
Incidentally, Wright's previous work includes "Quills"
seen two seasons ago at the New Rep. His current show,
about to move onto Broadway is "Grey Gardens."
"I Am My Own Wife"" by Doug Wright, Sept.14 - Oct.
8
Boston Theatre Works at Zero Arrow St.
Arrow & Mass. Ave. Harvard Sq., (617) 728 - 4321
Boston
Theatre Works
When William Finn,
then best known for his "Falsettos" shows, came close
to dying from an inherited brain condition, his quirky
sensibilities naturally turned his experience into a
musical—with the help of sometime Sondheim
collaborator, director James Lapine. "A New Brain"
has had several Boston-area productions since its NY
run at Lincoln Center, but Metro Stage's current brief
run in Cambridge may come closest to realizing its
potential. Directed by Turtle Lane regular James
Tallach with music direction by IRNE winner Jennifer
Honen Galea, the show boasts an ensemble cast of
well-trained and experienced local singers, who've
been seen in various area productions recently.
Community theatre veteran Jim Fitzpatrick takes the
main role of Gordon Michael Schwinn. His mother Mimi
is played by another area veteran, Mary O'Donnell, who
was part of Metro's production of Jason Robert Brown's
"Songs for a New World" last spring. Brown did the
vocal arrangements for "A New Brain".
Kendra Kachadoorian, trained
in opera, here plays Lisa, the homeless woman whose
harsh worldview balances Schwinn's self-pity. Also in
"Songs..." she was last seen at TLP as the brash
gun-toting New Jerseyite in Ahrens & Flaherty's early
musical, "Lucky Stiff." Schwinn's other nemesis,
Mr.Bungee, the frogee star of the children's show for
which he writes songs, is Gary Ryan, TLP's "Pippin"
last season and Sr. Leo in Metro's "Nunsense A-Men"
last fall. On the more sympathetic side, another
community theatre veteran, Peri Chouteau, plays Rhoda,
Schwinn's agent, and gets to show her comic flair as
Gordon's ventriloquist dummy in a dream sequence.
She'll next play Little Sally in Vokes upcoming
"Urinetown."
Metro's artistic director,
versatile Robert Case, who with Tallach designed the
simple but effective set, plays the Doctor, while
conservatory-trained Anne Velthouse plays his nurse
Nancy. Her husband Aaron, an NEC opera student last
seen as Sky Masterson at TLP plays the hospital
chaplain. Nicholas Nunez, a senior music major at
BosCon, plays Roger Della-Bovi, a wealthy sailor and
Gordon's life partner. Recent BU grad Joe Lanza is
Richard, the nice nurse, who feels trapped in his
hospital career. This ensemble should be enough to
alert in-town music theatre fans to the wealth of
talent in various suburban producing groups. We can
only hope that Metro, whose work has steadily
improved, can somehow afford longer intown runs for
future efforts. "A New Brain" has four performances,
Thu -Sat at 8pm, Sun. at 2pm, next weekend, Sept.
21-23.
"A New Brain", music & lyrics - William Finn; Book -
Wm.Finn & James Lapine, Sept. 15-23
Metro Stage Co. at Durrell Hall, Camb YMCA
800 Mass. Ave. Central Sq, (617) 624 - 5023
Metro
Stage
Even though it's a
full-length play, "Radio Golf," the last of his 10
plays set in Pittsburgh's Hill District, one for each
decade of the 20th century, August Wilson's last
effort seems somehow unfinished. Despite director
Kenny Leon's best efforts, and a hardworking cast
experienced in the author's style, the play never
quite comes together. The main character, Harmond
Wilks, played by Hassim El-Amin, undergoes a reversal
of fortune, but his personal changes seem arbitrary.
The references to characters in others plays in the
cycle also seem gratuitous. The effect of the action
is melodramatic; the fortunes of Harmond and his
partner, Roosevelt Hicks, played by James A. Williams
never seem compelling. And Harmond's wife, Mame,
played by Michole Briana White, seems somehow
nonessential; more of a plot device.
The rest of the cast
includes two slightly mythic characters, Sterling
Johnson played by Eugene Lee, and Elder Joseph Barlow,
played by Anthony Chisholm, both typically Wilsonian.
Their speech is colorful, embellished by folk wisdom.
Their world views are unique if somewhat arbitrary.
Their scenes elevate the action beyond a comedy about
two ambitious black businessmen which ends in
unanticipated betrayal. As usual the set is impressive
and the rest of the technical support fully
professional, from David Gallo's detailed set design
to Donald Holder's lighting, Susan Hilfrey's costumes,
and sound design featuring Kathryn Bostic's
compositions.
Wilson's work is always
worth consideration, but "Radio Golf" lacks the impact
of his more important plays. With the help of friends
and longtime collaborators, its a satisfactory evening
of theatre even where the work seems embryonic.
"Radio Golf" by August Wilson, Sept. 8 - Oct.15
Huntington Theatre Co. at Mystic Theatre
264 Huntington Ave, (617) 266 - 0800
HTC
When Katurian, the
main character in this 2 1/2 hour play, is introduced
early on, his full name turns out to be Katurian
Katurian Katurian --his parents were "strange."-- a
fourth "K" immediately comes to mind. Unlike
McDonagh's earlier successes, "The Beauty Queen of
Leenane," "A Skull in Connemara" and "The Lonesome
West," all set in rural Ireland, "The Pillowman" takes
place in some totalitarian, possibly Slavic, state in
a nebulous present in a police interrogation cell.
But this isn't the neurotic world of Kafka's decaying
Austrio-Hungarian Europe, but the contemporary
paranoid universe born of the cold war, where the
President of the United States admits that his secret
police aka the CIA have been holding prisoners abroad
where they can be tortured. If you can stomach the
nightly news, the ghastly revelations that slowly
unwind in this play won't be altogether shocking.
Director Rick Lombardo has
assembled a tight ensemble cast of of three local
actors he's worked with before--all IRNE winners--and
an equally impressive newcomer, Bradley Thoennes.
Katurian, the hapless writer of "downbeat" fairytales,
gets a modulated performance from John Kuntz, starting
with his initial confusion. His two tormentors are
Steven Barkhimer as the "good" cop, Tupolski--self
described as a violent alcoholic--and Philip Patrone,
back onstage after a hiatus, as Ariel, the "bad
cop"--a sadistic torturer. Both characters are so
over the top as to be gruesomely funny, less so as the
play progresses. As good as these three are,
Thoennes, as Michal, Katurian's mentally damaged older
brother, creates a riveting portrait of the ultimate
victim. The rest of the cast appear in scenes which
illustrate several of Katurian's dark fables, full of
the menace which lurks behind most of the stories
collected by the Bros. Grimm.
The production is played
against an impressive set by John Howell Hood
suggesting steel and concrete, backed by tall mirrors
which reflect the action and the audience. These also
serve as a "scrim" for the pantomimes which illustrate
several stories. IRNE winner Frances Nelson McSherry
designed slightly fantastic garb for these scenes
while dressing the quartet from the "real" world in
appropriately work-a-day wear. Haddon Givens Kime,
now located in Atlanta, provides original aetherial
music for transitions while John R. Malinowski deals
with the mirrored background handily and lights the
interrogation scenes with a bright shadowless wash.
The violent actions were done by Robert Walsh, who
directed "True West" for the New Rep last fall as well
as two shows for the ASP. "The Pillowman" gets the
new Rep's second season in their new digs off to an
impressive start. The company is also adding three
special production which will be done in the Arsenal
Center's small black box theatre on the first floor.
These start off at the end of the month with Will
Eno's "Thom Pain(based on nothing)" performed by Diego
Arciniegas, followed in December by John Kuntz
reprising his award-winning performance of Sedaris'
"The Santaland Diaries," and a run of "White People"
by J.T.Rogers in March.
"The Pillowman" by Martin McDonagh, Sept. 6 - Oct.
1
New Rep at Arsenal Center for the Arts
321 Arsenal, Watertown, (617) 923 - 8487
New Repertory
Theatre
The Whistler in the
Dark company gathered the majority of the
“experimental” theatre groups together for an end of
summer event in spacious Durrell Hall at the Camb.
YMCA. There was some overlap in casting and something
of a general theme involving love and loss. Whistler
presented two short plays of their own, Deborah Levy’s
feminist exercise, “The B File”, directed by Meg
Taintor and Howard Barker’s “Don’t Exaggerate,
subtitled “A Political Statement in the Form of
Hysteria,” directed by Ben Fainstein. Taintor appeared
in the latter while Fainstein took part in Dangerous
Animal’s movement piece, “Seal Skin,” directed by
Caleb Hammond.
Mill6 resurrected two
memorable Theatre Marathon pieces, Larry Blamire’s
sketch about slow service, “My Name is Leslie”
directed by Antoine Gagnon and John Edward O’Brien’s
“10 Minute Clinic”, directed by Kathy Maloney, both
with the same cast including Rough & Tumble regulars.
Alarm Clock presented Brian Polak’s chilling
monodrama, “Bombs and Manifestos” directed by Daniel
Bourque, featuring Steve Johnson as a deranged street
musician—of sorts—down in the subway. Imaginary
Beasts—formerly the Iron-Rail Company from Lynn
Arts—did a scene from their recent “Good Witch/Bad
Witch” called the “Dream of a Good Witch” directed by
Cathy McLaurin featuring Lorna McKenzie using a mask
and a complex costume assisted by Jennifer
O’Connor.
All the pieces were
interesting in their own right, though several seem
too long for such a program. Tech was minimal as
befitted a one day event. If the cooperation between
these companies can be extended to promotion of their
efforts during the season, “Fringe” activities may
receive the attention they are coming to deserve once
again. Especially since the Theatre Coop is on hiatus
and the Rehearsal Hall at the BCA is becoming too
expensive for most companies.
"FeverFest06" hosted by Whistler in the Dark, Sat.
Aug. 26
Whistler in the Dark, Dangerous Animal, Alarm Clock,
Mill6, Imaginary Beasts at Durrell Hall
Camb YMCA, Mass. Ave. Central Sq.
Whistler in
the Dark
To close their 38th
season, the Reagle Players have mounted a full-scale
production of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," which
has had several local productions in the past two
years, from North Shore's arena version to various
community and school attempts. As usual, Reagle's show
is an ambitious effort featuring a massive set with
full orchestra, an experienced cast, two level wagons
and impressive costumes, some hired from North Shore's
production. The effect is generally impressive,
though Michael Jarrett's lighting design, which
features a quartet of moving instruments seems too
dark at critical moments and would benefit from
integral lighting on the set wagons, which might be
too complicated.
As usual the voices and
talents are impressive. Reagle's "resident" Broadway
star, IRNE winner Sarah Pfisterer is a heartfelt
Belle, while Fred Inkley's signature Beast is
heartbreaking with a surprising comic side. Edward
Watts, seen last month in "Thoroughly Modern Millie"
gets a workout as Gaston with a voice to match his
biceps. Among the local favorites, Reagle stalwart
Harold Walker plays Belle's father Maurice while
newcomer Paul Giragos displays his abilities as a
physical comedian as Lefou, Gaston's much-abused
sidekick. Among the enchanted objects, Beth Gotha,
seen on various local professional stages is Mrs.
Potts with Sam Blumenfeld as her son Chip, the teacup.
Another Reagle veteran, Roy Earley is Cogsworth the
clock. Recent B.C. grad Zach Bubolo shows promise as the
candlestick Lumiere, while community theatre regular
Melissa Beauregard is Babette the feather duster. NEC
opera grad Rachelle Riehl is Madame de la Grande
Bouche, the operasinging vanity. Among the dancers,
Kia Chao is outstanding as the acrobatic Rug.
The creative staff is led
by director Kate Swan, a veteran of the original show
and associate choreographer for various tours. The
recreated choreography is managed by Reagle's new
associate producer Eileen Grace. Reagle's staff music
director Paul S. Katz is in charge with conductor
Jeffrey P. Leonard getting impressive sound as usual
from his full professional pit. The costumes are from
Terry Schwab at the Cumberland County Playhouse with
additional pieces from Miguel Angel Huidor at NSMT.
The set was hired from ZFX. "Beauty and the Beast" is
an impressive finale to this season. It runs for one
more weekend with a 7:30 curtain to accommodate
familes.
"Beauty and the Beast" by Woolverton, Menken, Rice &
Ashman, Aug. 10 - 19
Reagle Players at Robinson Theatre
Waltham High, Lexington St. / (781) 891 - 5600
Reagle
Players
At least it's free.
And since the stage has been set up parallel to
Charles St., the audience doesn't have to watch on a
slant unlike last summer's "Hamlet". VIP seating
doesn't obscure the view for the groundlings as much,
though inconsiderate people with tall chairs tend to.
As for this summer's production, a modern dress
version of "The Taming of the Shrew"--set in the North
End of "Bostonia" instead of Padua--it's more of the
same misplaced invention. The young lover, Lucentio,
played by Scott Barrow, lurches onstage on roller
blades. His man Tranio one.o, played by Nat DeWolf,
has a textbook "Bahstin" accent, less convincing than
Larry Coen's homegrown improv honed version as
Biondello. Petruchio, played by Darren Pettie rides
in on a Vespa scooter. After marrying Jennifer
Dundas' Kate, he takes her home to Revere Beach,
suggested by a backdrop of giant beach towels, beach
chairs, and a Weber grill. Baptista, Kate & Bianca's
father, played with an accent by Paul D. Farwell, runs
an italian restaurant called 'Tista's, spelled out in
illuminated letters which dominates the set. Younger
daughter Bianca, played by Angie Jepson, elopes also
on skates. And so it goes.
An experienced cast does
as well as can be expected jumping from situation to
situation, developing rather one-note
characterizations. This is least effective,
unfortunately, for the two leads who come off as
singleminded and loud, with no simpatico. Those with
clownish roles, like Remo Airaldi's Hortensio, one of
Bianca's official suitors, come off better. As
Petruchio's man Grumio, energetic Antonio Edwards
Suarez is too intent on physical comedy, however. The
tone of the show is set more by Clint E.B.Ramos' post
WWII costuming and J Hagenbuckle's selection of pop
tunes than by John Coyne's impressive but inflexible
realistic set. This large cast effort demonstrates
that throwing money at an idea doesn't help if there's
no core to the basic idea.
The Taming of the Shrew" by Wm. Shakespeare, July 22
- Aug.13 (weather permitting)
Commonwealth Shakespeare at the Parade Ground
Boston Common, (617) 532-1212
Commonwealth
Shakespeare
Mr. Stark,
I love your website and your reviews! I just want to make you aware of a fantastic production running now at the Black Box Theatre in Mansfield, MA. I just saw the show yesterday and these youngsters are fantastic!!! They are all between the ages of nine and twelve and what talent!!! If you get a chance you should try to get there. The remaining dates are 8/3 - 8/6. I look forward to reading your review (hopefully). Kyle Burke (Alligator) is my nephew (he's a star in the making, as are all these kids. Director Gary Poholek does a great job with them
.
Thanks, Alison Hopkins
The two long one acts
in the first half of the Hovey Players annual summer
festival, done basically as workshops, are both long
on interesting characters and situations fraught with
possibilities. Both however would be more effective
dramas if expanded into full-length two act dramas
with more attention paid to their structure. Kelly
Dumar's "What We Save" would get some real dramatic
tension if it broke leaving the audience wondering
whether Corri, played energetically by producer Leigh
Berry would go to California to confront her first
love Lance, played by Ted Batch. Moreover, there
would be time to flesh out the other two characters
including Lance's wife Sharon, played by Jeannie Lin
and Corri's wheelchair-bound husband Vic, played by J.
Mark Baumhardt. And possibly, since there is one
flashback scene already, the important character of
Lance's grandmother, Nana, a minister might join the
action "then" as well as now. Director Michelle M.
Aguillon gets good performance from her cast as it
is.
"The Halfway House Club",
whose title might be evocatively shortened to
"Halfway", written by recent Emerson grad Philana
Gnatoski brings four unlikely lost souls together in
an informal temporary rooming house, basically a place
to stay for those who've just broken up with someone
and lost their place to live. The central role,
Samantha, played by the author, is a 20ish bookstore
clerk who's been in and out of this residence, Anne,
her new roommate played by Penny Benson, on the other
hand, has just walked out on her philandering husband
of more than a few year. They're joined, by a stretch
of imagination by two guys, John Grenier-Ferris last
seen at Hovey in "Buried Child", as Paul, a banker,
and Jack, a photographer new in town, played by James
Tallach. Their various exchanges are interesting, but
there's a sense of the Absurd to the situation. The
staging needs to be rethought--perhaps move to a
common area and some sort of dramatic arc created.
Breaking just after the first man arrives would set up
a second half, and allow more time for development.
J. Mark Baumgarten directs the action with
understanding.
The second set of plays,
"Fin and Euba" by Audrey Cefaly and "Bob's Date" by
John Shanahan were done this Saturday, and will be
repeated next Friday. The two discussed above will be
seen again next Saturday. Both programs start with
showings of short dramatic or comic films by local
filmmakers. While the contrast is interesting, live
and recorded acting don't blend all that well. The
film showings really do deserve their own night.
"What We Save" by Kelly Dumar & "The Halfway House
Club" by Philana Gnatoski, July 28, Aug. 5
Hovey Players at Abbott Theatre
9 Spring St., Waltham MA (781) 893 - 9171
Hovey
Players
When Michael Frayn's
Tony winning drama "Copenhagen" toured through several
seasons ago it received respectful attention but not
much comment. With the nuclear issue once again in
the news, not to mention harbingers of WWW III--and
possible Armageddon-- in the Middle East, this
historical mystery/morality seems much more relevant.
With only three actors and a simple elegant setting by
Judy Stacier, Diego Arciniegas has once again done a
firstrate production, equal to anything seen by any
local theatre so far this season.
Barry Press plays the
father of modern atomic theory, Neil Bohr, trapped in
Nazi-occupied Denmark along with his wife Margrethe
played by Suzanne Nitter. It's 1941 and half-Jewish
Bohr can see the writing on the wall. His former
student, Werner Heisenberg played by Gabriel Kuttner,
now chair of Nuclear Physics at Leipzig, has come on a
formal visit.Bohr learns that Heisenberg, largely
responsible for quantum mechanics, whose name is
attached to its "Uncertainty Principle," is in charge
of Germany's program to exploit nuclear fission,
presumably to build a Bomb. Exactly what the two
spoke of during this brief visit has been the source
of much speculation, especially since each man gave
vague differing reports of the event after the war.
Frayn's weaves several conjectures into a two act text
which circles, like electrons in orbit around a
nucleus, around issues like scientific responsibility
and patriotism, in an attention grabbing script.
All three actors are
wearing discrete headmikes, which frees up the
blocking considerably, allowing Kuttner on occasion to
circle the audience, and the two men to be seen back
in the garden but still heard clearly. There's a
complex score prepared by Steven Barkhimer and Anthony
Phelps finds new uses for Publick's slowly improving
lighting. This may not be light summer entertainment
like "The Beard of Avon", it's partner in rep through
the first week in September, but "Copenhagen" is
perhaps the strongest and most intellectually
stimulating on this summer.
"Copenhagen" by Michael Frayn, July 26 - Sept.
10
Publick Theatre at Herter Park
Soldiers Field Rd. Brighton, (617) 782 - 4525
Publick
Theatre
Eleanor Holdridge,
the director of the first production of "Hamlet" this
esteemed company has presented has fallen prey to
concept, but fortunately that doesn't much get in the
way of a cast of experienced Shakespearean's doing the
play up brown. Her opinion that young Hamlet would
have made a terrible king does limit the possibilities
of Jason Asprey's development of the melancholy Dane,
however. The role is played with a bit too much teen
age angst and perhaps too little of the noble mind,
but is still affecting. Holdridge also suggests that
the whole evening is some sort of massive flashback,
the Prince's life flashing--literally--before his eyes
before he dies. The loud sounds and strobes which
accompany this concept do keep the audience on its
toes. Since the company for the play has been reduced
to 11, she's also made cuts and rearrangements. The
play starts in the court rather than on the
battlements--a not uncommon tactic when trying to
shorten this three hour plus work--but later on
reduces the players to the Player King alone, which
then requires Gertrude, played by Tina Packer, founder
of S&C and Jason's mother, and Claudius, played by
Nigel Gore, to read their parts in "The Mousetrap."
Hamlet also delivers his advice to the players to
them, something of an in-joke. This complex rewrite
is interesting to watch and works more or less, but
perhaps Polonius, played by Asprey's stepfather,
Dennis Krausnick, in the context of the action, might
more logically have done the murdering brother. Gore
plays the realization as well as can be expected but
the scene becomes muddled.
Fortinbras, played by
Stephen James Anderson, fortunately has been left in,
though in modern combat gear he's scruffier than need
be. The show is modern dress, though Hamlet shows up
for the play with a play in a doublet wearing an
Elizabethan ruff. Much of the rest of the time he's a
bit retro, suggesting Edwin Booth in street clothes.
The Prince's two main foils, Horatio and Laertes, are
done with style by Howard W. Overshown and Kevin
O'Donnell. Elizabeth Raetz's Ophelia is affecting but
not fully in tune with the ensemble, though her
relationship with Hamlet is touching. An excellent
English actor, John Windsor-Cunningham triples as the
Ghost, the Player King and the lone Gravedigger,
making each part memorable. Edward Check's minimal set
in the black box is functional if occasionally
indulgent. Ophelia doesn't have a gravetrap, but she
does get to open a manhole cover and dabble in some
water during the mad scene. And for some reason
Hamlet's favorite corner of the palace includes a
giant lighting globe. However, none of the show's
eccentricities get in the way of truly powerful
performance from all the principals, unlike the
pastiche presented last summer on the Boston Common.
"Hamlet" by Wm. Shakespeare, July 1 - Aug. 27
Shakespeare & Co. in Founders Theatre
70 Kemble St. (RT.7A) Lenox MA, (413) 637 - 3353
Shakespeare &
Co.
Stephen Adly
Guirgis's 2005 effort for LABrynth, his homebase in
NYC, is a sprawling meditation on despair, even more
grounded in the implications of morality, particularly
as seen by certain Catholic thinkers, than "Our Lady
of 121st St." Like the latter piece it is episodic,
with cameos for members of his company.
Unfortunately, since the setting is Purgatory and
both Jesus and Satan are represented, along with
quirky modern characters, and the action only loosely
linear, the script rambles and is currently at least
half an hour too long, without arc or conclusion.
Never the less, Company One's Summer L. Williams, the
group's education director, gets her cast through it
with eventually.
Most of the show is in a
courtroom setting with George Saulnier as the Judge, a
Confederate Army Officer who committed suicide.
Performances range from excellent to acceptable, with
standout efforts by Shawn La Count, Company One's
artistic director, as Satan, Noel Armstrong as
Cunningham, Judas' defense attorney, and Raymond
Ramirez as her client, who never appears in court.
Mason Sand, an original Company One member, plays the
prosecutor, an obsequious Middle Easterner named
El-Fayoumy with a florid vocabulary, a joke which
wears out too quickly. Saulnier is impressive
doubling as Caphias, the High Priest, one of the
scripts several intentional doubles.
Greg Maraio's Butch Honeywell, the foreman of a three
person jury, has an impressive monologue which serves
as the coda for the evening but comes rather out of
the blue. Juanita Rodrigues, a teacher at the Boston
Art's academy is effective as Judas' mother,
Henrietta, who opens the show and a scene stealer as
trash-talking St. Monica.
The author's freewheeling
imagination provides many interesting moments and
challenges to the actors, and he raises a lot of old
unanswered question about faith. But he and LABrynth
don't seem to have been able to winnow through this
collection to shape a coherent piece of theatre.
Scenes that might have been useful acting exercises
seem to have been retained, confrontations erupt but
don't conclude, and characters like Satan, Cunningham,
or El-Fayoumy, just fade without resolution. Company
One is to be congratulated, however, for attempting
this script and including such a range of local
actors, including Boston Arts Academy students, in the
effort. Not every piece of "fringe" theatre can be
successful.
"The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" by Stephen Adly
Guirgis", July 14 - Aug. 5
Company One at BCA Plaza Theatre
539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Company One
The Bankside Festival
at Shakespeare & Co.s new home--just down the road
from their old one--is still largely in the future,
but this summer, in the tent erected on the proposed
with of a recreation of The Rose, an early Elizabethan
playhouse, a group of young actors associated with
the Company in various capacities is staging Carlo
Goldoni's "The Servant of Two Masters." Derived from
the Italian playwright's published script, which was
created working with a latter-day Commedia Dell'Arte
troupe, this production uses a recent
translation/adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher and Paolo
Emilio Landi, further massaged by director Dan
McCleary and his band of comedians.
The result is a two part
version of this farce, which has Truffaldino, a wily
servant in the Arlechinno mode, serving two masters,
who happen to be a young man on the run for having
killed his finance's brother in a duel, and said
fiance, disguised as her dead brother, following him.
In the meantime, the young lovers Silvio and Clarice,
the son of Dottore Lombardi and daughter of
Pantalone, have the usual travail, since Clarice was
formerly betrothed to the dead brother, who's
seemingly shown up to claim her--and the money
Pantalone owes "him." A period typical scenario, the
sort which via early romances with similar plots
supplied the Bard with material for his most famous
comedies.
Part One is performed on
Wed. at 6:15 pm, Part Two on Fri.; both are done Sat.
at 1:15 pm and 6:15 pm. The shorter second half begins
with a hilarious speed-through of first, followed by a
repeat of the script's most famous routine,
Truffaldino serving dinner to both masters, offstage
on either side, at the same time, while filling his
own mouth. The part is taken by versatile Michael
Burnet, whose day job is director of Bankside
Programming. He tackles the role in somewhat Buster
Keatonesque fashion, since this production is unmasked
commedia, derived from American slapstick and
burlesque, closer to tent shows and the traveling
circus. Rest of the company ranges from Jeffrey Kent,
who brings a touch of the Borscht circuit to Pantalone
and Sam Reiff-Pasarew who blusters melodramatically as
Il Dottore to graduates of S & C's Young Company about
to enter college, like Lydia Barnett-Mulligan(Clarice)
headed for Williams in the fall, and Grant
Heywood(Silvio). Brighella, the innkeeper is Karen
Lee, who among her various credits teaches at Jacob's
Pillow and has a Pilates Studio in Lenox. Beatrice,
the lover is disguise, is Catherine Taylor-Williams,
who's appeared in major S&C productions, works in
their Communications office, and will director for the
Young Company's Fall Festival. Her opposite number,
Florindo is David Joseph, who acts in NY and is in
real estate. In short, the group is a very mixed bag
of theater folk, brought together to create this show.
The result is frequently surprising and thoroughly
hilarious, mixing contemporary references with very
old jokes and routines. Definitely worth getting
there early for.
"The Servant of Two Masters" by Carlo Goldoni, June
23 - Aug. 26
Shakespeare & Co. "Traveling Tragedians" at Rose
Footprint Theatre
70 Kemble St. (RT.7A), Lenox Ma, (413) 637 - 3353
Shakespeare and
Co.
Lynn Ahrens and
Stephen Flaherty's musical farce, their first joint
effort, which won the 1988 Richard Rodgers Production
Award, has surfaced again at Turtle Lane. Written for
ten performers with doubling as part of joke, and
accompanied by a small keyboard focused ensemble, the
show is a harbinger of Ahrens & Flaherty;s later work,
with her lyrics the most interesting part. The book,
based on Michael Butterworth's "The Man Who Broke The
Bank at Monte Carlo," has two parallel and conjoined
comic plots which jostle their way to the climax
without developing a really satisfactory arc. Director
Elaina Vrattos gets her cast of comedians through it
with only minor problems.
In order to inherit six
million dollars, the main character, Harry
Witherspoon, an English shoe salesman, done by
engaging Wayne Fritsche, has the take the embalmed
body of his late uncle, from New Jersey, on a vacation
to Monte Carlo. Thomas Bourque is the "stiff," Uncle
Anthony, wheeled from situation to situation. They're
followed by Annabel Glick, played by petite Sarah
Ziegler, the representative of a dog shelter from
Brooklyn who will get the money if Harry fails to live
up to the terms of his uncle's bequest. Hot behind
them is larger than life--and very nearsighted Rita,
Anthony's adulterous girlfriend played at full
throttle by Kendra Kachadoorian. It seems that
Anthony purloined his millions from her husband. In
her wake is Vinnie, her optometrist brother, played by
Chris Moleske, who she implicated in the crime.
Moreover, Rita's the one who shot Anthony in a jealous
rage.
The rest of the cast includes Arjana Vizulis, who
plays a chanteuse who latches onto Vinnie in Monte
Carlo, Kirstin Kennedy and David W. Frank in a variety
of cameos,and Brad Fugate as the ubiquitous tip-greedy
bellhop or waiter. Ahren's adaptation perhaps
maintains too much of the work's original linear
comedy. But the performances are engaging and the
principals' voices fit their characters.
Like the cast, the setting
changes a lot to follow the story, which can get
tedious. The show needs more levels, wagons, and
multipurpose units though John MacKenzie as usual does
his best with the limitations of TLP for both set and
lights. The company has arrived at a minimalist style
which is sufficient but not very satisfying. Richard
Itczak's costumes capture the flavor of the show more
successfully. The result however is a perfectly
respectable production of this piece which marks the
start of a productive collaboration in today's
American musical theatre. And there's cabaret seating
and of course the bar is open..
"Lucky Stiff" by Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty, July
14 - Aug. 13
Turtle Lane Players at the Playhouse
283 Melrose, Auburndale MA, (617) 244 - 0169
Turtle Lane
Jay Johnson's solo
show "The Two and Only" is a rather unique exercise.
On the one hand, it's the basic small-town American
breaks into show-business success story. On the other
it's an almost Absurdist peek into the mindset of a
ventriloquist, that species of puppeteers whose
childhood imaginary friends grow up to be their
performing partners. Johnson, along with his
directors Murphy Cross and Paul Kreppel, has created a
script which includes the history of the art of
ventriloquism from its presumed roots in necromancy,
his career including the stint on T.V.'s "Soap" and
his relationship to his mentor Art Sieving, and a
strong sampling of routines with various puppets,
including Nethermore the Vulture, a sock puppet snake,
a rowdy monkey, and his original partner, Skippy.
Bob, from the TV show appears of course, but seems
much less relevant, less a partner than a
confrontation. As the pieces fall into place,
Johnson's life so far has a kind of completeness.
The show has an
interesting set design by Beowulf Boritt, whose work
was recently seen on Broadway for "The 25th Annual
Putman County Spelling Bee." It's various ingenious
features are only fully revealed by the end along with
Cliff Taylor's lighting design. Suffice it to say that
again seemingly incidental ideas achieve resonance as
the performance progresses. Johnson's voice
characterizations are subtle when need be, but it's
his careful puppetry that makes him, along with other
current performers such as Jeff Dunham and Ronn Lucas,
a master of this form. He's spent most of his career
on the nightclub and college circuit, so his rapport
with the audience is earnest and easy. He's there to
share. Behind the eternal kid with a dummy there's an
interesting worldview.
"Jay Johnson: The Two and Only" by Jay Johnson,
July 12 - Aug. 6
ART at Zero Arrow Theatre
Arrow St. & Mass. Ave., Harvard Sq.(617) 547 - 8300
A.R.T.
Those who missed this
pultizer Prize winner when it came through a few
seasons ago, or who haven't caught it otherwise, may
want to see it up close and personal in the Black Box
Space at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown.
I missed it Sunday, but reliable sources were
impressed. The cast features Theatre Onmibus's
founder and award-winning actor Richard McElvain as
the dead father and Lindsay Flathers, a recipient of
the Irene Ryan Competition(2004) at the Kennedy Center
as Catherine, the young--and troubled--mathematician.
For details go to
http://www.arsenalarts.org/specialevents.html.
It's a donation show and
there's plenty of free parking. There's a bus from
Central Sq. Cambridge to Watertown Sq. that passes
right by. There are two fancy restaurants near the
theatre, and a big food court at the Arsenal Mall just
down the street.
"Proof" by David Auburn,July 6 - 23
Theatre Omnibus in Black Box, Arsenal Center for the
Arts
Arsenal St. Watertown, (978) 468-5639
North Shore Music
Theatre will spend the month of July "Singin' in the
Rain" in a new production of an old favorite, the
stage version of the Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen classic
movie musical, adapted for the stage by Comden and
Green. As the Reagle Players proved a couple of
seasons ago with Kirby Ward's IRNE winning production,
it's a "can't miss" crowd pleaser, even with a
rather pedestrian book and songs from Brown & Freed's
catalog. It is sui generis even without the rain.
Richard Stafford's arena
production captures some of the signature dance
moments from the original with first-rate work by Matt
Loehr in the Gene Kelly role of Don Lockwood, silent
film star and Mark Ledbetter as his buddy, Cosmo
Brown, the Donald O'Connor role. Kelly D. Felthous is
a charmer as Kathy, the Debbie Reynolds role. The trio
rise to the occasion and topple the couch in "Good
Morning." Loehr sloshes his way through "Singin' in
the Rain" with glee, and Ledbetter tries to "Make 'em
Laugh," which lacks the zaniness of the original,. But
how do you run up the walls on an arena stage? In
the dream ballet, "Gotta Dance," Sae La Chin is the
Girl in the Green Dress, Cyd Charisse's role, the
centerpiece of this improbable number. And even
though she doesn't have a number, local diva Leigh
Barrett opens the show with thrilling tones as Dora
Bailey, Hollywood radio personality. Barrett also
doubles later on as Lina Lamont's diction coach. In
the role of that vocally challenged silent film star,
Beth Beyer is a bit one note--or perhaps screech. She
needs to generate a bit more sympathy for this
overwritten comic role.
North Shore hasn't
stinted for this production with a large ensemble, an
array of costumes from Kansas City coordinated by
Randall Klein, a flexible set by Howard C. Jones, and
impressive lighting by Martin E. Vreeland. Music
director Richard Hip-Flores conducts a strong pit with
keyboard backup. The various film sequences,
including artistic director Jon Kimball's introduction
in period style, are well-done, filmed at Endicott
College in Beverly. Within the limitations of the
form, a musical about show-biz, cliches intended,
"Singin' in the Rain" is a first rate entertainment,
tuneful and appealing.
"Singin' in the Rain", adapted by Betty Comden &
Adolf Green, songs by Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed,
July 5 - 30
North Shore Music Circus at Dunham Woods
Brimbal Rd., Beverly MA, (978) 232 - 7200
North Shore Music
Theatre
For publication:
What does it mean to be Black? What does it mean to be Jewish? These questions
and more are examined thoughtfully and hilariously in THE BLACK JEW DIALOGUES
currently running through July 22 at the Puppet Showcase Theater in
preparation for the show's extended showing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
in August. Larry Jay Tish (the Jew) and Ron Jones (the Black) have created an
entertaining and thought-provoking look at racial stereotypes as they portray
themselves and numerous historical archetypes ranging from Egyptian slaves to
gangster rappers to Jewish mothers. Aided by the effective use of audio-visual
backgrounds and inventive costuming, as well as the seamless direction of
Margaret Ann Brady, the production gently forces the audience to examine its
own feelings and prejudices. Intercut throughout the show are also filmed
vignettes featuring the performer's puppet alter-egos interviewing the
"typical" Black and Jewish passerbys on the streets of Cambridge and
Brookline. I left the theater entertained and, yet, thinking and, after all,
isn't that the goal of all good theatre. More information can be found at
www.theblackjewdialogues.com.
Amy Freed's comedy
"The Beard of Avon" is a somewhat show-biz take on the
"authorship" question which has engaged some
Shakespeare scholars--and not a few crackpots--over
the years. Originally commissioned by L.A.'s South
Coast Rep in 2001, this racy contemporary farce set in
Elizabethan England, plays with the Bard's life and
language. Its clever conclusions may offend some of
the Oxfordians and will certainly set local
Stratfordians quibbling. The rest of the audience gets
a good laugh at it all, aided Diego Arciniegas'
well-paced direction.
The central characters are
Edward DeVere, the dissolute Earl of Oxford, played by
local stalwart Bill Mootos, and Will Shakspere(sic)
played by Gabriel Kuttner, last seen in Sugan's
"Talking to Terrorists." Publick Theatre regular Eric
Hamel plays Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton in
a Oscar/Bosey relationship to Devere, while Will is
attached to a put-upon Anne Hathaway played by
versatile Helen McElwain. The complications which
ensue are a mix of period and modern comedy, with
plenty of innuendo. The action includes Queen
Elizabeth, played in high style by M. Lynda Robinson
and the members of the vagabond company Will runs off
with. Richard Arum plays John Heminge and Gerald
Slattery is Henry Condol, the two actors named in
Shakespeare's last will and testament. Ellen Adair has
great fun playing Geoffrey Dunderhead, the boy who
plays female roles, while Risher Reddick is a
blustering Richard Burbage. Barry Press, new to the
Publick, who will play Neils Bohr in their
"Copenhagen" which opens later in the month, gets to
be Old Colin, a Stratford friend of the Shakspere's,
Lord Derby, and Walter Fitch, a mistreated playwright.
Others in the acting company double as members of
the Court; Bacon, Walsingham, Burleigh, and Lady
Lettice as well.
Emerson's Rafeal Jaen has
provided first class period costumes with contemporary
touches--Devere is in leather and McElwain gets to
show quite a bit of leg. The stage has been further
upgraded and allows Judy Stacier from Tufts to create
a variety of environs, well lit by production manager
Anthony Phelps, once the sun goes down. Steven
Barkhimer has contributed an original score which
suggests the period. The ensemble manages to be
convincingly Elizabethan while playing in contemporary
form. Freed's script doesn't really contribute that
much to the "question" but it does raise interesting
issues of inspiration. Given the choice between
exploring an idea and pulling a gag, "The Beard of
Avon"'s more liable to go for the laugh, which
results in a pleasant entertainment with a few
thoughtful moments.
"The Beard of Avon" by Amy Freed, June 29 - Sept.
3
Publick Theatre at Herter Park
Soldiers Field Rd., Brighton (617) 782 - 5425
Publick
Theatre
Anyone who's been put
off from Marivaux by the ART's last two autuerial
interpretations should get out to Topsfield to catch
Iron-Rail's lighthearted adaptation of the first show
this rival of Moliere created for the Theatre Italien
back in 1720. Matthew Woods has used his young
ensemble to present the work as a courtly comedy
based on the Commedia with no obvious subtext. The
company ran the show two weekends at LynnArts, a new
art center in downtown Lynn right across from the
commuter rail stop, and will do it again next weekend
at the Gould Barn of the Parson Capen House just off
the Common in Topsfield
Arlechino (Harlequin) was
played by the leader of the Italian troupe that
Marivaux worked for. Dan Balkin takes the part here
and finds the right blend of the old slapstick comedy
with the poise the king and court required. But
before he "wakes" up, Jill Rogati sets the tone of the
play as the Fairy Queen's major domo, Trivelin. Her
physical control is fully "Dell'Arte." Erin Cole as
the Monarch has an effective air of glamour, with an
imp, Papillon (Maggie Talbot-Minkin) to drive the
action assisted by Ramses King as her sidekick.
Besides this adult fairy-tale element, Marivaux has
added three pedants, Angelo Bosco as the Philosoph,
Jonathan Overby as the Dancing Master, and Ashley
Santor as the Music Mistress. Their task is to refine
Harlequin as a suitable consort for Her Majesty. It's
not hard to guess how that turns out. Rather it's a
duo from the pastoral romances that does the trick.
Meaghan Dutton is the charming Sylvia who throws aside
Damon Jespersen's doltish Dimas for Harlequin, which
of course arouses regal ire.
In other words, there's
actually a plot, which develops quite interestingly,
even though Merlin, the Queen's fiance never shows up.
(It was a small company.). The Neal Rantol Vault
Theatre at LynnArts is a black box studio with minimal
lighting, which is sufficient for a show written to be
lit by chandeliers. Meaghan Dutton did add a few
effects and the director supplied (and D.J.'d) a
period score. The show is further distinguished by
Cotton Talbot-Minkin's interpretation of traditional
costumes, which have the right element of whimsy. Only
Harlequin is masked; the rest are "made up." The
company is working on a show for later in the summer
"Good Witch / Bad Witch", which will run Aug. 3 - 12
in Lynn, and 17-19 again in Topsfield. The environment
and puppets will be created by Cathy McLaurin. They'll
also be participating in a Summer Fringe Festival
which Whistler In The Dark is organizing for
Sat, Aug. 26th at the Camb. YMCA which will also
include Alarm Clock, Dangerous Animal, Mill6, and
others. Save the date.
"Harlequin Refined By Love" by Pierre Marivaux,
Jun22 - July 1 (Lynn) July6 - 8 (Topsfield)
Iron-Rail Stage Co. at LynnArts
25 Exchange St. Lynn, (978 - 500 - 5553)
Iron-Rail at
LynnArts
"Moonlight" (1993) is
one of the last of Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter's 29
some plays. It revisits many of his earlier themes of
family, responsibility, and death in a poetic
framework where the drama is only implied. The QE2
Players, in their annual outing at the BCA have given
the work a careful journeyman like production.
Director Michael Halloran uses the particular
strengths of his diverse cast to let the language of
the piece speak for itself, however obliquely.
Central to the piece is
JIm Robinson as Andy, a retired civil servant raging
against fate from his deathbed. Gwen Sweet is his
patient and often acerbic wife. Their youngest,
Bridget played by Emma Stanton, functions as a minor
chorus to the action. Their two sons, who're
somewhere planning something, but doing very little,
are Rob Rota as Jake and Travor Thompson as Fred.
This duo is almost a parody of early Pinter by the
master; their dialogue is almost entirely constructed
from cliches. Jennifer Barton Jones and Edwin
Bescheler are Maria and Ralph, friends of the family,
who seem to be in contact with the boys, who are
somehow estranged from their father. The action
resists any definite interpretation.
The shows been kept
simple. Cara McCarthy's set has two acting areas on
levels with furniture, backed by a blue scrim overlaid
with a grid of pinkish rectangles. Kathy Maloney's
lights help define the show from moment to moment.
Andy Bergman has selected some trancy music to provide
transitions. All in all it's an effective use of the
oldest theatre space at the BCA. The whole effort has
the touch of the Absurd necessary to set off the
obscure dialogue, which provides clues to the action,
but little conclusion, just moonshine.
"Moonlight" by Harold Pinter, June 28 - July 1
QE2 Players at Plaza Theatre, BCA
539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
QE2 Playersa
To open their season,
the Reagle Players have gone back to an earlier
success, "The Will Rogers Follies," which combines
Peter Stones fictional biography of the legendary
cowboy comedian with Cy Coleman, Betty Compton and
Adolf Green's tribute to the equally legendary
Ziegfield Follies, one of the pinnacles of the
Broadway revue. The production is again directed by
Robert Eagle, choreographed this time by Eileen
Grace, who's just become the company's Associate
Producer. She was the show's dance captain for its
Broadway run and recreates the work of its original
choreographer, Tommy Tune. Grace is currently a
director/choreographer at Radio City Music Hall, among
her several achievements. The spectacular numbers
which are the show's claim to fame are seen in all
their complexity on the touring version of Tony
Walton's set with Willa Kim's costumes. Music
direction for this production is handled with his
usual consummate skill by IRNE winner, Paul Katz.
This time, the title role
is taken by IRNE winner, Scott Wahle, seen on Channel
4 News, who captures the folksie essence of Rogers.
Fellow IRNE winner, Broadway light Sarah Pfisterer is
back as Betty Blake, Roger's wife, who has the show's
best ballads. Veteran Reagle character man Harold
Walker comes on strong as Rogers' outspoken father,
Clem. From the original cast, showgirl Dana Leigh
Jackson sings, vamps, and dances the central role of
Z's favorite, a foil for the leading man. The four
Rogers' kids are Sam Blumenfeld, Leo Hattabaugh, Ari
Shaps, and Zoe Varant.. The show also features two
touring veterans, Joanne Wilson's trained dogs--all
rescued from the pound--and Chris Daniel as The Roper,
who add to its showbiz air.
And behind all the glitz
is the timeless wisdom of Will Rogers, who "never met
a man he didn't like." A star of vaudeville, silent &
talking pictures, a radio pioneer, and a syndicated
newspaper columnist, the Cherokee Kid was a true
American hero for the common man through the '20s and
the early '30s. "Will Roger's Follies" keeps coming
back--the Company in Norwell will do the show (28 July -
20 August 20th) in a smaller
version--not because of its gaudy trimming and implied
naughtiness, but because the tradition of speaking
truth to power needs to be constantly renewed, now as
much as ever.
Reagle's next production
is "Throughly Modern Millie" in mid-July. Before then,
they're hosting a special preview of the latest
touring edition of "Cats" on July 7-8, at their
regular ticket prices--available on their website--
with free parking as always.
"Will Rogers' Follies" by Stone, Coleman, Comden &
Green, June 22 - July 1
Reagle Players at Robinson Theatre
Waltham HS, (781) 891 - 5600
Reagle
Players
Brian Tuttle's 11:11
Theatre has generally presented his new plays in the
intimate confines up the stairs at the Actor's
Workshop on Summer St. Their naturalistic style,
moved to the larger open space of Durrel Hall, works
well enough for this modern dress "Romeo and Juliet,"
but seems a bit more like a workshop. Some of the
cast need additional work on volume and
verse-speaking, and the whole production, which clocks
in at slightly over two hours even though edited.
Pace and consistency should improve as the show runs.
Director Tuttle takes a small role in the play and
probably should have had a strong assistant
director/verse coach to improve things.
As the star-crossed
lovers, Kerlee Nicholas and Melissa Baroni are
interesting choices. He's best when moody and street
smart, getting too close to yelling when emotional.
She's consistently childish and occasionally runs on,
playing against her physical presentation. However,
their relationship is more believable than the
brawling lovers seen earlier this season at the ART.
John Ferreira's Mercutio comes closest to a
Shakespearean presentation and his quite effective.
Various roles have been changed and reduced. Emily
Evans' Nurse is younger than usual and less humorous.
Peter played by Rebecca Maddalo is just the Capulet's
houseperson. The Montague street presence is coed;
Fran Betlyon plays Romeo's Page, Balthasar. The
director plays his father, which may be out of
necessity. As Juliet's parents, Curt Klump and Diana
Varco do well enough in these plot-essential roles.
James Smith and Adam Harper have the airs for Prince
Escalus and Count Paris. Jason Warner is more a plot
element as Friar Lawwrence. The 21 person ensemble for
this production is at least twice the size of many
recent barebones productions.
The show features live
music and songs by Lucas Carpenter backed by drummer
John A. Brewton. These definitely help define the
show as contemporary.
Lighting and set are rudimentary but appropriate,
though more of the action could be played closer to
the audience. The death scene is, but setting it up
is difficult. Bodies can be very inconvenient. The
ending thus becomes a bit sketchy, especially the
final discovery. Only Rick Lombardo's New Rep
production last fall made the whole confusion work.
"Romeo and Juliet" by Wm. Shakespeare, Jun. 23 - July
1
11:11 Theatre Co. at Durrell Hall, Camb. YMCA
820 Mass. Ave., (617) 549 - 7770
11:11 Theatre
Co.
Connoisseurs of
wordplay in the tradition of Ionesco and the Absurd
will be delighted with Whistler in the Dark's current
production of Eric Overmeyer's 1988 dark comedy "In
Perpetuity Throughout the Universe." This fragmented
after-dark peek into the purported world of
ghostwritten conspiracies, chain letters, and the
resurgence of Dr. Fu Manchu--aka the Yellow Peril--is
obliquely prophetic and potentially disquieting. The
second production of this new theatre group brings
back Lorna McKenzie and Jennifer O'Connor, who
appeared in their production of "The Possibilities"
earlier this season, along with Travis Boswell, Stacey
Kirk. Chuong Dinh Pham, and Alejandro Simoes to form
an interesting ensemble, all associated with the
publishing firm headed by Maria Montage. Simoes plays
Lyle Vial, who's getting chain-letter after
chain-letter. Pham plays Dennis Wu, an American of
Chinese extraction, and also appears as a sinister Far
Eastern merchant, Tranh Kirk plays his girlfriend,
Christine, who's been given a most important
assignment by editor-in -chief McKenzie. O'Connor is
her assistant, Buster, but also Mrs. Peterson, and the
Joculatrix, the Norman inventor of the chain letter.
And they all work for Boswell's Ampersand Qwerty. He
also plays Oscar Rang, a strange podiatrist.
If this doesn't all quite
make sense, the show somehow does. Co-Artistic
director Ben Fainstein has directed the piece
efficiently on a simple set with simply defined
areas, Andrew Dickies' lighting helps define these as
needed. Kelly Leigh David's basic '80s costuming
gives the cast a slight retro look. Overmeyer's
convoluted scripts haven't been seen much around these
parts lately. Perhaps this energetic production will
encourage consideration of his unique--albeit
twisted--talents.
"In Perpetuity Throughout the Universe" by Eric
Overmeyer, Jun.24 - July
Whistler in the Dark Theatre at Charlestown Working
Theatre
442 Bunker Hill St, Charlestown/ (866) 811 - 4111
Whistler in
the Dark
The 34th Annual
Playwrights' Platform Festival of New Plays opened
seven short plays for its second half. No musicals
this time, mostly short plays three in living rooms.
The subjects ranged from Andrew S. Burns leftist
playwright in a dilemma--"The Carpenter"-- Kelly
Dumar's teenagers trying to find a friend's
grave--"New Digs", or Scott Welty's frustrated couple
selling souvenirs--"An American Icon in Gatlinberg."
Phyllis Rittner pitted a Mormon copywriter against a
swinging L.A. executive and a gay waiter--"The
Offer"-- Peter M. Floyd came up with a couple
confronted with love and death personified--"The
Little Death"--while Christopher King imagined a
confrontation between as former political prisoner and
a reporter--"The Dark Retreat," played mostly with the
lights out. G.L.Horton finished the evening off with
two teenagers from a blended family resisting visiting
Grandma--"Christmas at Grandmas's." While there was an
excess of furniture, acting and directing was sharp,
even when the messages got a bit muddled. Audience
choice awards will be announced on Saturday night, and
posted at the website next week. The favorite plays
from this year's fest will be offered publishing
contracts from Heuer Publishing of Cedar Rapids,
www.hitplays.com. Watch for the 35th PPAFNP next
June.
"Playwrights' Platform, Series B" by Burns, DuMar,
Horton, Floyd, King, Rittner, Welty, June 15-17
Playwrights' Platform at Boston Playwrights'
Theatre
929 Comm. Ave. Allston,
Playwrights'
Platform
Every thing old is
new again--or something like that. Beau Jest, a
movement theatre back in Boston after seven years,
brings the experience of its varied members, who began
working together in 1984, to its latest project.
"Samurai 7.0" somewhat ruefully subtitled "under
construction" is a theatrical collage built around the
storyline of Kurosawa's epic tale of a village's
battle against bandits. Having been refused
permission to adapt the original, the group widened
their horizons to include the Hollywood blockbuster
"The Magnificent Seven," based of course on the
Japanese original, which itself had been inspired by
movie westerns, plus the unlikely movie musical,
"Seven Brides for...." But being Beau Jest,
additional cultural references to seven began to
intrude, such as Disney's Seven Dwarves, followed by
the six rude mechanicals, Shakespeare's Henry V, etc.
The result is "cinematic theatre," similar to that
practiced by Rough & Tumble or Pilgrim, but with BJ's
own particular comic sense, which in this case meshes
very well with Kurosawa's Zen impulses. The
existential tragedy of the farmers, the warriors, and
the bandits trapped in a static dysfunctional society
continues to resonate in the daily news, which doesn't
have to be directly referenced to be relevant.
The eight members of the
ensemble, Larry Coen, Robert Deveau, Elyse Garfinkel,
Jordan Harrison, Scott Raker, Davis Robinson, Robin
JaVonne Smith and Lisa Tucker play the seven, morphing
into the villagers, the marauders, and the scenery.
Five are past company members--four appeared in their
awardwinning "Krazy Kat" (1995)-- and the other three
are Bowdoin graduates who've studied with Robinson
there. His innovative direction creates a physical
framework for the action, which is supported by Judy
Gailen's scenic imagination, which used projected
surtitles, symbolic props such as bamboo screens,
giant fans, decorative fans, etc.--acquired at Crate &
Barrel--along with simple puppets, shadow, rod, and
toys provided by Libby Marcus. The cast wears simple
color-coded pajama style costumes created by Seth
Bodie, which range from Larry Coen's more traditional
deep orange garb as the leader to very plain white
wear for gangly Jordan Harrison who takes the Mifune
role, named "Dopey" in this production. M.I.T.'s
Karen Perlow puts the simple lighting available in
Calderwood Rehearsal A through its paces to great
effect. Composer Don Dinicola provides a soundscape
which mixes traditional percussion, played by Tamora
Gooding, with pop recordings and of course the
"Magnificent Seven" theme (best known from Marlboro
commercials). It's a whirlwind cultural stew with
theatre at its heart, whose agenda is aesthetic and
possibly philosophical, intended as stimulating
entertainment. Welcome back.
"Samurai 7.0 - under construction" by Beau Jest,
June 7 - 24
Beau Jest at Calderwood Rehearsal
BCA, 529 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Beau Jest
The Metro Stage
Company's revival of Jason Robert Brown's 1995 revue,
"Songs for a New World" shows the continued
development of this company. At least on par with
their successful "Assassins" a little over a year ago,
this current effort, again directed by Janet Neely,
achieves much of the potential in this collection of
songs which vary from the universal to the personal.
Originally staged with only four singers, Metro is
using eight, which adds variety and offers more vocal
color in the group numbers, which are not the show's
strongest material.
The first real show
stopper is the third, "Just One Step" Tracy Nygard's
comic suicide attempt. Her last musical was "The Full
Monty" at Turtle Lane. Kristin Huberdeau, whose
various credits include NSMT, soon gets into "Stars
and the Moon," a song which has moved into the
repertoire of some well-known singers. She's also
affecting in the "Christmas Lullaby." The second part
starts with Grace Summer, who just played Helena in
"Midsummer..." for Hovey, doing a Kurt Weill parody.
"Surabaya-Santa". Mary 'ODonnell, the most
experienced cast member, repeats the "New World"
theme several times starting with the opening, but is
most impressive doing "The Flagmaker 1775," one of the
show's two historical numbers, an anti-war piece.
James Tallach, a Turle
Lane stalwart who was seen in Metro's "Assassins," has
a strong romantic duet with Nygard, "I'd Give It All
for You," one of several numbers foreshadowing Brown's
better known show, "The Last Five Years." Aaron
Velthouse, most recently Sky Masterson at Turtle Lane,
is most impressive doing "KIng of the World," about a
jailed dictator. Joshua Heggie, seen last winter at
Turtle Lane as Jim in "Big River" joins Chas Kircher
in "The River Don't Flow," followed soon after by
"She Cries". Kircher closes the first act as the lead
singer in "The World Was Dancing," a bittersweet
romance with Huberdeau. Velthouse leads the
penultimate number, "Flying Home."
The distinctive voices of
this ensemble are backed up by music director Karen
Gahagan at the keyboard, with Michael Joseph on a
second. Kimmerie Jones provided the cast with simple
black costumes suited to their personae; Andrew
Haserlat created an effective unit set, and John
MacKenzie gets effective lighting out of the limited
positions available. Choreography, necessarily brief,
is by Donald Ray Gregorio, another Turtle Lane hand.
Anyone interested in the continuing development of the
American Musical Theatre who hasn't heard this
collection of smart songs should take in this
production. Incidentally, all the lyrics are
available of the author's website.
"Songs for a New World" by Jason Robert Brown, June
10-17
Metro Stage Company at Durrell Hall, Camb. YMCA
850 Mass. Ave. Camb, (617) 524 - 5013
Metro Stage
Co.
"Fats" is back! The
musical legacy of stride piano player Thomas Walker is
getting a gold-plated revival at North Shore through
the 18th. IRNE winner Kent Gash, who staged a
memorable "Pacific Overtures" there, is reunited with
Trinity's Joe Wilson Jr. from last year's "Top Dog/
Under Dog" and a four other dynamic performers for a
high-energy upclose revival of this perennial. Wilson
displays singing and dancing abilities right up with
his award-winning acting skills. Natasha Yvette
Williams makes the role originally created by Nell
Carter her own, and as she proved in "Abysinnia," her
voice is better. World-traveler Monique L. Midgette
and bubbly Idara Victor show great range as well,
getting laughs and evoking heartbreak as required.
Bass baritone Ken Robinson came up from Atlanta with
director Gash and will be doing working on an M.F.A.
at Yale next year. He'd be welcome in any NSMT
production. The sixth member of the ensemble is music
director Darrell G. Ivey at the piano(s), who makes
Waller's compositions come alive, and gets full-toned
jazz and swing from a pit full of local jazz men.
This is a show to keep
coming back to. If anything Waller's music and his
treatment of lyrics, from those of his most notable
partner, Andy Razaf, to standards he recorded still
sound fresh and true. Gash's staging is
innovative--wait for Wilson's Act One exit, and his
spectacular entrance in Act Two. Emily Beck's setting
combined with William H. Grant III's lighting are
striking as is the sassy look of Austin K. Sanderson's
costumes. In NSMT's arena, one number flows into
another, with great audience contact. With today's
tendency to run certain shows forever, it's surprising
that this collation hasn't got a permanent home
somewhere. It's back here only too briefly.
Ain't Misbehavin'", music by Thomas "Fats" Waller,
concept Horowitz & Maltby, May 30 - June 18
North Shore Music Theatre at Dunham Woods
Beverly MA, (978) 232 - 7200
North Shore Music
Theatre
If you haven’t seen
Oscar Wilde’s dramatic comedy, “An Ideal Husband”,
written in 1895 at the same time as “The Importance of
Being Earnest,” the Wellesley Summer Theatre’s
current revival is a very good chance to see a
polished ensemble do all four acts with every epigram
lovingly in place. IRNE winning actress Alicia Kahn
is back as the dangerous and alluring Mrs. Cheveley,
with her usual partner, Derek Stone Nelson as the
author’s stand-in, Lord Arthur Goring. The lady’s
real target is Sir Robert Chiltern, an upright
politician with a secret. Cheverley. who’s just blown
in from Vienna, runs afoul of Goring’s unwillingness
to participate in the plot, even though they were once
engaged--for three days. She also meets sturdy
resistance from Angie Jepson as Gertrude Chiltern, his
highly moral wife. And Lord Arthur has been rather
diffidentally courting Robert’s younger sister, Mabel,
played by Wellesley student, Kelly Galvin.
The rest of the ensemble,
most of who were in WST’s stunning “Under Milk Wood”
earlier this spring, includes senior members of the
troupe, the Peeds and Lisa Foley as the fading Mrs.
Marchman. Ed Peed plays Lord Caversham, Lord Arthur’s
father, while Charlotte plays Mrs. Cheveley’s
talkative friend, Lady Markby. Wellesley grad
Victoria George is catty Lady Basildon. Marc Harpin
is the Chiltern’s stuffy butler Mason. John Davin,
who appeared with WST last season is Arther’s ironic
man Phipps. Luis Negron doubles as the Vicomte in Act
One, and Arthur’s footman, Harold, in Act Three, while
Dan Bolton is the perfect gentleman, Mr. Montford, at
the Act One party, and plays Mason assistant James, in
the rest of the play.
Director Andrea Kennedy pays attention to the
formality required to make this comedic drama work.
Nancy Stevenson’s Edwardian costumes help the cast,
who wear them well, get into the period. Ken Loewit’s
unit set of arches is suitably mauve, and well lit as
usual. A few pieces of fine furniture define each
location. It’s a performance to sit back and listen
to, and perhaps be surprised by its cogency, and the
intimations of Wilde’s own serious disgrace just two
years later.
”An Ideal Husband” by Oscar Wilde, May30 - June
24
Wellesley Summer theatre in Ruth Nagel Joanes
Theatre
Alumni Hall, Wellesley College / (781) 283 - 2000
Wellesley
Summer Thtr
An energetic young
ensemble is tackling this adaptation of Gilbert &
Sullivan's satirical "The Mikado" for the next two
weekends at the Footlight Club, American's oldest
continuous community theatre. The show has roots in
two productions from the late '30s; the "Swing Mikado"
which purportedly began as a WPA project and the "Hot
Mikado" which legendary showman Billy Rose created as
a vehicle for Bill Robinson in 1939, capitalizing on
the interest created by the earlier production. This
current adaptation surfaced in the mid-90s and may
contain some material from these earlier parodies,
which vanished almost completely during WWII. Bell &
Bowman make an acceptable attempt to work mostly in
the '30s musical styles of swing and N.Y. big-band
jazz, but they also get into late '50s early rock and
Broadway musicals of the same period, then mix in some
styles from even later. The result is a potpourri
that never quite gels.
Director Richard Repetta,
who also responsible for the set design and, with Dora
Cruz, the costumes, suggests that this show is a
parody of a parody. G & S fans will get the joke and
there's something for the rest of the audience.
However, his zoot-suited "gentleman of Japan" and
ladies in gaudy china-trade garb don't parody anything
currently relevant. The overall style is murky and
some of the comic garb is just ugly rather than
humorous. But the much of the show is well-sung and
music director Tim Evans makes Bowman's rearrangements
work, though some are rather pedestrian. The second
half is much closer to the original and hence works
better. For the whole idea to work, a greater attempt
to bring in present day Japan and the world needs to
be made. There are a few sly comments hidden inside
the chorus' voluminous jackets. Watch for them and
enjoy the rare chance to see this theatrical
curiosity.
"Hot Mikado" adapted by Bell & Bowman from G&S, June
2 - 17
Footlight Club in Eliot Hall
7A Eliot St. Jamaica Plain, (617) 524 - 3200
Footlight Club
"Fats" is back! The
musical legacy of stride piano player Thomas Walker is
getting a gold-plated revival at North Shore through
the 18th. IRNE winner Kent Gash, who staged a
memorable "Pacific Overtures" there, is reunited with
Trinity's Joe Wilson Jr. from last year's "Top Dog/
Under Dog" and a four other dynamic performers for a
high-energy upclose revival of this perennial. Wilson
displays singing and dancing abilities right up with
his award-winning acting skills. Natasha Yvette
Williams makes the role originally created by Nell
Carter her own, and as she proved in "Abysinnia," her
voice is better. World-traveler Monique L. Midgette
and bubbly Idara Victor show great range as well,
getting laughs and evoking heartbreak as required.
Bass baritone Ken Robinson came up from Atlanta with
director Gash and will be doing working on an M.F.A.
at Yale next year. He'd be welcome in any NSMT
production. The sixth member of the ensemble is music
director Darrell G. Ivey at the piano(s), who makes
Waller's compositions come alive, and gets full-toned
jazz and swing from a pit full of local jazz men.
This is a show to keep
coming back to. If anything Waller's music and his
treatment of lyrics, from those of his most notable
partner, Andy Razaf, to standards he recorded still
sound fresh and true. Gash's staging is
innovative--wait for Wilson's Act One exit, and his
spectacular entrance in Act Two. Emily Beck's setting
combined with William H. Grant III's lighting are
striking as is the sassy look of Austin K. Sanderson's
costumes. In NSMT's arena, one number flows into
another, with great audience contact. With today's
tendency to run certain shows forever, it's surprising
that this collation hasn't got a permanent home
somewhere. It's back here only too briefly.
Ain't Misbehavin'", music by Thomas "Fats" Waller,
concept Horowitz & Maltby, May 30 - June 18
North Shore Music Theatre at Dunham Woods
Beverly MA, (978) 232 - 7200
North Shore Music
Theatre
Prolific local
playwright George Sauer's full length satirical look
at the "traditional" American family (as seen on TV),
is being presented by CentAstage as a product of
their developmental program. The result, "Heading for
Eureka," directed by Darren Evans who runs
CentAstage's readings, is two acts of laughter, as
much from the efforts of a first rate cast as the
author's evident wit. The script does have a lot of
blackouts reminiscent of sketch comedy.
Leading the cast of
comedians are local theatre veterans Dale Place as
George and Maureen Keiller as Martha, the parents.
Place was last at the BCA as part of Sugan's
valedictory, "Talking with Terrorists," while IRNE
winner Keiller was in Boston Theatre Works' just closed
"The Sweetest Swing in Baseball." The kids, Dick and
Jane, are Michael Avellar, a Theatre Coop regular, and
Allison Colby, a recent Emerson grad. The quartet
develops the ensemble required for a convincing
family. The situation--yes, it's a sitcom--has the
four lost in the desert on a family vacation in the
SUV, heading for Eureka somewhere in the southwest.
There's also Toto the family dog, who's stuffed but
variously animated and voiced by the family members in
turn. Adam Soule, who was also in "The Sweetest
Swing..." is lurking about said painted desert
dressed as an Injun. His character later turns out to
be named Mork (You guessed it.), and morphs into an
Eminen type dude and then a Hassid before revealing
his true nature.
The fast paced show,
including the movable cactus, takes place on a
pleasantly cartoonish set by Ken Loewit and is
effectively costumed by Elizabeth Tustian, including
Dale Place's various costume changes. That versatile
comic also plays various minor characters including
Grandma. Grandpappy is played by Jeff Gill, a failed
cowboy actor reduced to running a motel in the desert,
the setting for the second act. Grandpappy also
reveals a taste for Shakespeare and during a sandstorm
convincingly handles Lear's "tempest" speech. Gill
gets to end this production with a parody of the end
of "Cherry Orchard" set up by Keiller's exit lines.
The show is full of such intellectual humor as
seasoning to some good jokes, a few bellylaughs, and
effective physical comedy. "Heading for Eureka" never
quite makes it. "Eureka!" is famously translated from
the Greek as "I Have Found It!" What Sauer set out to
find roaming in the wilds of popular culture isn't
really clear, but that doesn't matter. The trip is
pleasant enough and the cast's top-drawer.
"Heading for Eureka" by George Sauer, May 26 - June
17
Centastage in Plaza Black Box
BCA, 539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
CentAstage
The Flying Lings' ambitious premiere production of
Tuft's grad Marc Frost's neo-Brechtian satire "The
Churchyard Motel" is an ambitious attempt to focus on
homelessness, politics and personal responsibility,
complete with an anti-heroine and songs. Perhaps
inspired by the author's sojourn with Rough & Tumble
in "Apocalypso" last winter, the result falls very
flat, partially over lack of talent, but mostly
because the script makes very little sense. R&T been
working in their style for quite a while; it's not
easily replicated in a short rehearsal period with too
many neophyte actors. The show's seven songs, with a
rudimentary score by Marie-France MacDonald, don't
advance what storyline Frost's got but rather attempt
to comment on it. Maybe if anyone of the principals
could really sing it would help.
The show starts with a
too-soon annoying Dan Balkin as Ivan, a wannabe
member of the cast/crew who attempts to explain the
magic of theatre, as one presumes the author sees it.
The rudimentary stagecraft of this production doesn't
support much sense of wonder. Not soon enough he's
hustled off by Jennifer Regan, a member of the
ensemble who's evidently the stage manager and the
rest of the group drags out props and platforms. As
the main character, Annette, a pickpocket who's
supporting a crew of homeless folks hanging out in a
churchyard, Ann Moffett has a certain charm but really
hasn't that much to work with as the script careens
from incident to incident. Christopher Babayan as her
eventual rich husband is unconvincing on several
levels. Claire McKeown as Trixie the Tramp, Annette's
protector who runs a popular bawdy house, has presence
but can't always be understood, a problem that
afflicts other members of the cast from time to time.
Eliza Brunette has considerable presence at "Big
Sher", the mayor of where ever this show happens, and
almost talks her way through a song or two. Her role
however has more than one too many cliches. Patrick
Dorion as Andre, the Mayor's political adviser and
protege tries his best with unclear material while
Vincent C. Morreale as his assistant, the Mayor's
gofer, just manages to get through his part.
New theatre generally
deserves encouragement, but this production just isn't
ready for general consumption. It's a classic example
of the pitfalls directing one's own work, particularly
on this scale, is generally discouraged. "The
Churchyard Motel" also suggests that writing workshops
may not be the best way to develop a finished drama.
Closer analysis and one-on-one work with an
experienced director/dramaturg might give such a piece
a better chance. Ambition and concept just aren't
enough. Social comment by way of melodrama is very
tricky.
"The Churchyard Motel" by Marc Frost, May 25- June
3
The Flying Lings at Durrell Hall, Camb. YMCA
829 Mass. Ave. Central Sq., 1 (866) 811 - 4111
Company Website
The final offering
for the season from the A.R.T. is another dismal
reconception of a minor classic, this time one of
Pierre Marivaux's philosophical comedies from
pre-Revolutionary France. While their joint
production with SITI of "La Dispute" had some
amusement value, this mangled version of "L'Ile des
Esclaves" is set in grungy theatrical locale, this
time by David Zinn, using ideas left over from
"Orpheus X." Instead of an island off Greece ruled by
escaped slaves, director Robert Woodruff has
designated the locale to be a rundown basement club
featuring drag queens, presided over by Thomas Darrah
in a blond wig as Trivelin, the one of the five
original speaking characters in Marivaux's 11 scene
dissertation on overbearing masters and long-suffering
servants.
The first pairing of
master and slave washed up on this mythical shore are
John Campion, whose most notable part at the ART in
the past few seasons was Oedipus, as irascible
Iphicrate and ART veteran, Remo Airaldi as Arlequin,
his downtrodden smart-aleck slave. Next comes ART
original Karen MacDonald as Euphrosine, a hard
taskmasters and her sullen maid, Cleanthis, played by
newcomer Fiona Gallagher. The premise of this comedy.
blown much out of proportion in this production, is
that under the rule of this island's inhabitants,
masters must become slaves and vice versa. The drag
queen chorus (Freddy Franklin, Ryan Carpenter, Adam
Shanahan Airline Inthyrath, and Santio C. Cupon) is
evidently supposed to highlight this reversal, but
instead becomes manages to overshadow the argument of
the play, try as the cast might to get through
versions of the original confrontations. By the time
the situation is reconciled, with mutual apologies,
the audience is just glad the 90 minutes of
high-volume antics are over.
While Campion and Airaldi
manage to set things up in scene one, the rest of the
show can be summed up by the scene of Euphrosine's
humiliation midway through, where MacDonald shows her
loyalty to the ART by being strapped to a revolving
target wearing a pig mask while paint is thrown at her
by the queens. The original show played 127 times in
the repertory of the Theatre-Italien, an evolved
commedia troupe, between 1725-1768 despite the French
court's lack of enthusiasm for its preaching against
the mistreatment of servants. The play was revived
for the repertory of the Comedie-Francaise in 1930
and has had success recently in English language
productions even here in the States. But ramping up
the stakes of "L'Ile des Esclaves" rather timid
morality to the level of this ART effort, as in the
ART's previous excursion with "La Dispute," results in
another exercise of theatricality, this time tinged
with the theatre of cruelty accomplishing little other
than titillation. If there's a lesson about man's
inhumanity to man being taught, it's more typified by
the artistic license exercised onstage than by
anything in this abortive text.
"Island of Slaves" by Pierre Marivaux, May 13 - June
11
A.R.T.at Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle St. Harvard Sq., (617) 547 - 8300
A.R.T.
The eighth Boston
Theatre Marathon, running for the second year
in May rather than in connection with the actual
event, showed some general improvement in the writing
of its 10 minute pieces, if not in the diversity of
participation or the ambitions of the work. Many of
the more notable works, from Robert Bonotto's opening
piece, "Mal Canto," an opera burlesque featuring Sara
DeLima and Robert Saoud with Jeffrey Goldberg at the
piano to Jack Neary's closer, a character study of two
actresses written for and performed by IRNE winners
Ellen Coulson and Bobbie Steinbach were sketches
appropriate for revues. Very few pieces tried to
complete a dramatic arc in 10 minutes. But the
entertainments were varied, including Richard Snee's
"Black Irish" performed with his wife Paula Plum or
Ted Reinstein's "Fine!", a political satire featuring
Barlow Adamson, Sean McGuirk, and Ilyse Robbins.
There were notable solo performances such as Ellen
Peterson's tough wife in Janet Kenney's "Weight,"
Kevin Dunkleberg's tattooed man in John Kuntz'
"Oscar," or on a more serious note, Cristi Miles in
J.K.Walsh's "Huma's Loom."
Past marathon participants
included Eliza Rose Fichter and Debra Wise playing
mother and mother in Patrick Gabridge's unique family
drama, Vince Siders and Jeff Gill in Jon Shanahan's
"Brushstroke." a rumination on artistic impulse and
Will Lyman and Melinda Lopez in Jon Lipsky's intense
duet, ""Belly of the Whale." Andrea Kennedy's "Bobby
Came Home" with Nathaniel McIntyre as a returning Iraq
War vet was a searing comment on the consequences of
combat. And Robert Mattson's "Martinis, Dry & Bitter"
gave Jennifer Condon another plum role seated at the
bar.
The Boston Theatre
Marathon continues to fulfill its place in the local
theatre scene as a charity event and a chance for the
diversity of local theatre companies, from the
Wellesley Summer Theatre doing Megan Maile Green's
"Theology Class" using members of their soon-to-open
"Ideal Husband" to the Portland Stage having fun with
Jason Wilkin's "Kickass Librarian," a variously
political sketch. It remains a chance to see the
range of actors already mentioned, plus groups such as
Rough & Tumble, who did part of their current piece,
"Hinterlands" which closes this coming weekend to QE2
who did George Sauer's "Miss Marple..." with Charlotte
Ann Dore, Jennifer Barton Jones, and Helen McElwain.
Sauer's latest, "Heading for Eureka" opens this
coming weekend next door in the Plaza. McElwain,
another Marathon veteran, also appeared in Leslie
Harrell Dillen's "Brain Surgery" opposite Robert
Murphy, who also showed up in Ernest Thompson's
"American Terrorist," another oblique swipe at current
affairs. And the listing could go on. Quite simply,
you hadda be there. Next year, go.
"Boston Theatre Marathon '06" by 50+ Playwrights,
Sunday May 21
sponsored by Boston Playwrights' Theatre in the
Wimberley, Calderwood Pavilion
BCA, 529 Tremont, Boston
Boston Playwrights'
Theatre
For this productions,
Rough & Tumble has metamorphosed into "The Hinterlands
Revue," a traveling variety troupe sometime in the
late 1920s, wandering the byways of Pennsylvania,
perhaps. Company veterans, Kristin Baker, Irene
Daley, and George Saulnier III are joined by David
Krinitt, Harry LaCoste, and two members of the Snappy
Dance Co., Tim Gallagher and Bonnie Duncan. Bonnie
has been the company's costumer for the past couple of
years and continues in that capacity. Director Dan
Milstein is largely responsible for the scenario and
script, though one senses the usual company input.
The show has a sense of melancholy as the troupe
struggles to deal with various crises and changes, but
also has a good deal of fun. The pace is leisurely
but will probably pick up as they run. Fred
Harrington's live contributions from the keyboard
might hurry them along faster.
They've configured the
Calderwood rehearsal hall differently this time,
facing the three-quarter seating towards the entrances
which are canvassed arcades like entering an old time
circus. The acting area is three-quarter with vintage
folding seating. Bring a pillow. Designer Jeremy
Barrett has created a large false proscenium which
rest against the balcony behind the acting area,
serving as the entrance for a rolling wagon and
various furniture units. There's juggling, dance,
acrobatics, etc. as behooves such a show, but also
some heartbreak. That's show-biz. Longtime Rough &
Tumble fans will relate to this stage of the company's
search for "theatre that doesn't suck."
"Hinterlands" by Dan Milstein et al., May 12 -
27
Rough & Tumble Theatre at Calderwood Rehearsal
Studio
BCA, 527 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Rough &
Tumble
Vokes Players'
spectacular winter production of "Amadeus" was a hard
act to follow, and while the acting in "Wonder of the
World", another of David Lindsay-Abaire's skewed takes
on modern society and women in it is worth the
admission--if you can get a ticket--the technical
support for this offering is merely sufficient.
There's no organizing theme to the variety of scenes,
starting with the opening, This is one of those
production where the crew needs to incorporated in the
show, probably be costumes changes, unless some sort
of complex unit set's been devised.
The central character,
Cass Harris, is played with full out by Kathleen
Dalton, with David Wood as Kip, her husband with a
guilty secret, and more importantly, Kimberly McClure
as Lois, the woman she meets on her pilgrimage to
Niagara Falls. McClure's deft underplaying as an
abandoned and alcoholic wife planning to commit
suicide by going over the falls in a barrel forms a
predictable support to Dalton's flights of fancy. The
rest of this cast of comedians includes stalwart Bill
Stambaugh, the captain of the Maid of the Mist who
Cass takes up with, Deanna Swan and Brad Walters as a
pair of would-be private eyes Kip hires to locate her,
and most impressively, Anne Damon, as everyone else,
starting with a woman Cass buys a blonde wig from, the
pilot of a sightseeing helicopter--trying to overcome
a fear of heights, three waitresses at three different
themed restaurants--all in the same scene, and
finally, a marriage counselor who shows up wearing a
clown costume because she's just been volunteering at
a children's hospital. Kip incidently is afraid of
clowns.
Like Abaire's other two
notable plays, the cockeyed world view of "Wonder of
the World" must become believable. This cast under
Doug Sanders make it work. For their summer time
show, John Barrett will direct the Vokes Players
production of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," a
landmark play which continues to resonate in the
American political landscape.
"Wonder of the World" by David Lindsay-Abaire, May
4 - 20
Vokes Players at Vokes Theatre
RT#20, Wayland MA, (508) 358 - 4034
Vokes
Players
Previous scripts by Vladimir Zelevinsky,
playwright-in-residence at the Theatre Coop in
Somerville have required considerably more actors and
were set in fabled locations. "Manifest/Destiny" has
only four players, a few props and bits of furniture,
but has a boatload of characters from several
centuries and encompasses the entire United States,
the Atlantic and Europe. In some ways, it's a perfect
show for Theatre Coop's finale at the Peabody House on
Broadway, Somerville, about six blocks north of the
Sullivan Sq. T-station.
Zelevinsky has distilled the immigrant
experience with some emphasis on the experience of
Jewish and Irish emigres, and concentrating mostly on
the 19th century. The central motif of the first
part, "Manifest," has a mixed group of steerage
passengers crossing the Atlantic in a leaking steamer.
To pass the time they speak of their past lives and
their manner of going to the New World. The goals and
tragedies of their lives are well considered and make
an almost tragic arc. The second section is not as
polished while detailing the further travels of
newcomers from the East Coast into the West. This
material needs more focus and a more forceful
conclusion, but has several moving sections and a bit
more humor. Perhaps some reference to the current
immigration crisis would be appropriate as a coda.
For the last nine seasons, the Theatre
Cooperative has produced a variety of
thought-provoking plays, often as regional premieres.
Attendance and fundraising have been erratic, so the
company is going on hiatus, leaving its current home.
"Manifest/Destiny" featuring Robert Doris, Linda
Goetz, Korinne Hertz, and John McClain could however
be easily staged almost anywhere, so we might look for
its further development and reappearance next season.
But why take the chance? Parking isn't that difficult
along Broadway and public transportation is an option.
Help the Theatre Coop to a graceful exit.
"Manifest/Destiny" by Vladimir Zelevinsky, May 12 -
27
The Theatre Cooperative at Eliz.Peabody House
277 Broadway, Somerville (617) 625 -1300
Theatre
Cooperative
After a season of
shows with serious social comment of one sort or
another, the Lyric and Spiro Veloudos returns to their
other speciality--farce with no obvious redeeming
social value, except good-natured laughter. Jack
Neary's last original play on their stage was "Beyond
Belief," giving his bitter sweet comic take on the
tribulations of the Church, but in "Kong's Night Out"
it's competitive human nature and basic silliness to
the fore. The cast couldn't be more suitable.
To start with, Larry
Coen is Myron Segal, the hapless producer of "Foxy
Felicia," a frothy new 1933 musical set to open the
same night his arch-rival Carl Denham is showing his
new attraction, "the eighth wonder of the world." up
the street. Myron''s invested his mother Sally's life
savings in the show. She's a stripper played by IRNE
winner Ellen Coulton. He's also dependent on
M.J.J.Cashman's Siegfried Higginbottom, a foreign
investor with a yen for Sally. To add to Segal's
problems, his niece, Daisy, shows up from Buffalo. She
wants to get into show business, has an important
letter from his sister which Myron ignores, and is
played by Lordan Napoli, making a triumphant return to
the Lyric. Then there's Steve Gagliastro as Segal's
gun-toting henchman, Willie, who's improving his
vocabulary. Willie and Daisy hit it off right away.
Segal's wife, an actress named Bertille, played full
out by New Rep stalwart Rachel Harker, is secretly
carrying on an affair with Denham, played by
Redfeather's Timothy Smith. Myron didn't give her
the lead in "Foxy Felicia." To complete the
confusion, there's BU grad Sarah Abrams as blonde Ann
Darrow, the focus of Kong's desire and Gold Dust
Orphan Christopher Loftus as Jack, her heroic--but not
too bright--fiance.
Robert M. Russo's art deco
set has a back wall of doors with downstage entrances
left and right, so the toing and froing gets quite
frantic. Kong even puts in a partial appearance.
IRNE winner Gail Astrid Buckley as usual has a field
day with costumes for the ladies, from Harker's
backless wonder and Coulton's velvet creation to
Napoli's girlish get-ups. Neary's been working on
this script since 2001 and this world premiere marks
its final period of refinement. He's also about to
open a new musical "Ring a Ding Ding" at the Firehouse
in Newburyport, has a one-act in the Theatre Marathon
on May 21, and is opening an adaptation of "The Turn
of the Screw" at Smith College's New Century Theatre
on June 15th. See 'em all.
"Kong's Night Out" by Jack Neary, May 5 - June
3
Lyric Stage Co. at Copley YWCA
140 Clarendon, (617) 585-5678
Lyric Stage
Co.
Speakeasy's N.E.
premiere of Kuschner & Tesori's Tony nominated music
drama, "Caroline or Change"--in association with North
Shore Music Theatre--is a challenge for their
established expertise, the excellent cast of mostly
local singers, and the audience's attention. This
modern "folk opera", with Tesori's usual eclectic mix
of musical styles ranging from Motown to klezmer, from
classical to jazz is sung-through using Kushner's
heightened prose for most of the show. Award-winning
actress Jacqui Parker, the artistic director of Our
Place Theatre and the African-American Theatre
Festival plays the title character, a disappointed
but determined divorcee, supporting her three younger
children working as a maid for the Gellmans, a
well-off Jewish family in Port Charles, Louisiana.
Her oldest son is in the Army in Vietnam. Her oldest
daughter Emmie, sung by Shavanna Calder, is becoming
increasingly rebellious and Black. It's late fall
1963. The Gellman's young son, Noah, played by Jacob
Brandt, misses his mother terribly, especially since
his father Stuart, played by Michael Mendiola, has
just remarried one of the boy's late mother's friends,
Rose, played by Sarah Corey.
This might all sound like
a soup opera set against the background of JFK's
asassination and the rising turmoil of the '60s, but
Kuschner and Tesori start off the show with a comic
abstraction. Caroline's first scene is alone in the
basement, doing the daily laundry. Her companions are
the washer, the dryer, and the radio. These all
"sing"; this is an opera of sorts. The Washing Machine
is sung by A'lisa D. Miles, resplendent in white
wearing an elaborate head wrap. She also appears
later in the show as the Moon, a bit like something
out of "The Magic Flute." The almost satanic Dryer
wearing a pompadour and ruffles is sung down and dirty
by Brian Richard Robinson, Robinson also appears
twice later as the Bus, symbolized by its driver, with
a placard round his neck directing negro passengers to
the back of the vehicle. The Radio is sung by Emilie
Battle, Nikki Stephenson and Anich D'Jae Wright, in
pink party dresses complete with elbow length gloves,
with a MoTown sound and all the moves. The show's
choreography was done by Jackie Davis. Even though
the script has a basis in Kuschner's childhood in
Louisiana and some family traumas, almost everything
is stylized to some degree, so that moments of
realistic acting become all the more powerful. The
three grandparents, the Gellmans, played by Dorothy
and Dick Santos, and Rose's old radical father, played
by Sean McGuirk, form a base for this reality. Father
expresses himeslf as often on the clarinet as through
speech, while Rose, a transplanted New Yorker,
rejected by her stepson and unsatisfied by her new
husband, is in a quandary.
Caroline's interaction
outside of her place of employment is largely with
Dotty Moffet, played with sincerity by Merle Perkins.
Dotty is dressing in current styles and attending
night classes at the community college. The two grow
further apart as Caroline's frustration and suspicion
about change grows. She clings fiercely to her family
as Emmie tries to become her own person, and the
younger two, Jackie played by Breanna Bradlee, and
Joe, played by Dominic Gates, try to please their
mother. Throughout this complex story, Tesori's
eclectic music leads the way under music director Jose
Delgado's able control. Each character has an
effective and appropriate sound, with Davis' strong
alto at the center. Director Paul Daigneault has
assembled an experienced and committed ensemble
resulting in a unified show despite its at times
rarified styling. Eric Levenson's unit set with set
pieces on wagons, well-served by John R. Malinowwski's
area lighting keeps the focus of the characters. Gail
Astrid Buckley's costumes are of the period without
drawing attention to themselves, except for the
abstract characters. Once again, Speakeasy has
brought a complete and satisfying contemporary
production to the BCA.
"Caroline or Change" - Tony Kuschner & Jean Tesori,
May 5 - June 3
Speakeasy Stage Co. in Roberts Studio, Calderwood
BCA, 527 Tremont , (617) 933 - 8600
Speakeasy
Stage Co.
The New Rep is
finishing up their inaugural season at the Arsenal
Center for the Arts with an impressive mounting of
Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's award-winning music
drama, "Ragtime". The book was adapted by
multiple-Tony winner Terrence McNally from
E.L.Doctrow's lauded panoramic historical novel. The
excellent cast, New Rep's largest to date, is
anchored by IRNE Award winner Leigh Barrett as Mother
in a role which uses all her best talents. She's
partnered by veteran music theatre performer Peter
Edmund Haydu as Father, last seen locally in the New
Rep's "Christmas Carol" as Marley et al. The more
romantic duo of Coalhouse Walker Jr., the ragtime
piano player from Harlem and his girl, Sarah, are
played by NYU Vocal performance grad Maurice
E. Parent, who's done the role in NYC, and Stephanie
Umoh, a BosCon BFA candidate. Both bring charm and
power to their roles. Representing the third element
in "Ragtime"'s melting pot, singer and comedian
Robert Saoud has his most fulfilling role in a long
time as Tateh, the Lativian emigre artist who starts
out ragged selling silhouettes on the street in front
of a tenement on the lower East Side and winds up in
California making silent movies for the nickolodeons,
all for his motherless daughter.
Primary casting for rest
of the ensemble has June Babolan as anarchist Emma
Goldman, Dee Crawford as the Gospel Singer, Aimee
Doherty as showgirl Evelyn Nesbit, Paul D. Farwell as
firechief Willie Conklin, Frank Gayton as Henry Ford,
Paul Giragos as Harry Houdini, Austin Lesch as
Mother's Younger Brother, big Bill Molnar as
financier J.P. Morgan, Sophie Rich as Tateh's
daughter, and Samuel A Wartenberg as Mother's young
son. All these singers, dancers, and scene shifters
join as many other members of cast in various large
numbers as director Rick Lombardo and choreographer
Kelli Edwards meld them into a seamless ensemble.
The entire company numbers more than thirty, not
counting appropriately attired music director Todd. C.
Gordon visibly conducting from a keyboard his seven
member orchestra on a bandstand hovering over
backstage left.
Audiences who've
experienced this classic American music drama downtown
in one of the barns, or even in one of several
community productions, such as Footlight's IRNE
winning effort, have a chance to get close-up and
involved in another excellent New Rep musical effort.
Most members of the ensemble plays several parts in
this panorama of turn of the century American in and
around New York, all are firmly in period and place
under Lombardo's skilled direction. Janie E.
Howland's movable set pieces form and reform the
playing areas, Francis Nelson McSherry and Molly
Trainer deserve their equal billing for a set of
superb costumes and many, many changes, and Dorian Des
Lauriers' black and white (mostly) projections expand
the scope of various scenes. "Ragtime" is a glorious
end to a very impressive first season in Watertown for
the new New Rep in its 21st year.
"Ragtime", lyrics & music - Ahrens & Flaherty; book by
McNally, Dates
New Repertory Theatre at Arsenal Center for the
Arts
123 Arsenal St. Watertown, (617) 923 - 8487
New Repertory
Theatre
The New Rep is
finishing up their inaugural season at the Arsenal
Center for the Arts with an impressive mounting of
Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's award-winning music
drama, "Ragtime". The book was adapted by
multiple-Tony winner Terrence McNally from
E.L.Doctrow's lauded panoramic historical novel. The
excellent cast, New Rep's largest to date, is
anchored by IRNE Award winner Leigh Barrett as Mother
in a role which uses all her best talents. She's
partnered by veteran music theatre performer Peter
Edmund Haydu as Father, last seen locally in the New
Rep's "Christmas Carol" as Marley et al. The more
romantic duo of Coalhouse Walker Jr., the ragtime
piano player from Harlem and his girl, Sarah, are
played by NYU Vocal performance grad Michael E.
Parent, who's done the role in NYC, and Sarah Umoh, a
BosCon BFA candidate. Both bring charm and power to
their roles. Representing the third element in
"Ragtime"'s melting pot, singer and comedian Robert
Saoud has his most fulfilling role in a long time as
Tateh, the Lativian emigre artist who starts out
ragged selling silhouettes on the street in front of a
tenement on the lower East Side and winds up in
California making silent movies for the nickolodeons,
all for his motherless daughter.
Primary casting for rest
of the ensemble has June Babolan as anarchist Emma
Goldman, Dee Crawford as the Gospel Singer, Aimee
Doherty as showgirl Evelyn Nesbit, Paul D. Farwell as
firechief Willie Conklin, Frank Gayton as Henry Ford,
Paul Giragos as Harry Houdini, Austin Lesch as
Mother's Younger Brother, big Bill Molnar as
financier J.P. Morgan, Sophie Rich as Tateh's
daughter, and Samuel A Wartenberg as Mother's young
son. All these singers, dancers, and scene shifters
join as many other members of cast in various large
numbers as director Rick Lombardo and choreographer
Kelli Edwards meld them into a seamless ensemble.
The entire company numbers more than thirty, not
counting appropriately attired music director Todd. C.
Gordon visibly conducting from a keyboard his seven
member orchestra on a bandstand hovering over
backstage left.
Audiences who've
experienced this classic American music drama downtown
in one of the barns, or even in one of several
community productions, such as Footlight's IRNE
winning effort, have a chance to get close-up and
involved in another excellent New Rep musical effort.
Most members of the ensemble plays several parts in
this panorama of turn of the century American in and
around New York, all are firmly in period and place
under Lombardo's skilled direction. Janie E.
Howland's movable set pieces form and reform the
playing areas, Francis Nelson McSherry and Molly
Trainer deserve their equal billing for a set of
superb costumes and many, many changes, and Dorian Des
Lauriers' black and white (mostly) projections expand
the scope of various scenes. "Ragtime" is a glorious
end to a very impressive first season in Watertown for
the new New Rep in its 21st year.
"Ragtime", lyrics & music - Ahrens & Flaherty; book by
McNally, Dates
New Repertory Theatre at Arsenal Center for the
Arts
123 Arsenal St. Watertown, (617) 923 - 8487
New Repertory
Theatre
Brian Dykstra's
post-modern grande guignol, "Hiding Behind
Comets," just opening as Zeitgeist's final offering of
the season, is one of those contemporary theatre
pieces which pretend to explore hard-edged reality,
but which confuse the sensational with the
significant. If the script were subjected to the main
character's test whether it should live or die, "HBC"
would fail. But like a car wreck by the side of the
road, this four actor, one set show will probably
continue to lure in small theatres until the next
example of this depressing trend in current script
writing comes along.
Briefly, this brief
two-acter takes place in a roadside bar somewhere
boring in northern California. A thuggish stranger
has shown up. The young bartender, Troy, played by
Greg Raposa, seen in "The Fox" earlier this season, is
arguing with his fraternal twin sister, Honey, played
by Olivia Rizzo. She wants him to close early--it's
around midnight--and come with her and his slutty
girlfriend, Erin, played by Kelley Estes, to a party
down the road. The older man, Cole, is Rick Park,
veteran local actor. At the end of the first act,
after a good deal of sexual innuendo,involving a long
ambivalent scene between Cole and Honey, followed by a
long confessional monologue from Cole, the girl's
leave. Cole and Troy face off, the incipient mystery
rears its head,resulting in a "significant" curtain
line. There's a suspicion that a play might develop
in the second act, but the first has the air of a
padded one-act, and with editing, would play well as
such, though probably not in ten minutes.
What develops in the second
part, however, is a series of vaguely Absurdist
confrontations between Troy and Cole which become
increasingly violent. By the conclusion, the question
becomes who will kill who, with no clear reason why.
We're in Shepard country without a map. "Hiding
Behind Comets," which takes its title from an oblique
reference to the suicidal Heaven's Gate cult, trades
on the fading memory of Jonestown to create
melodramatic frisson with no real purpose other
than violence for its own sake. While "stuff happens"
may be the message of the evening news--and the
current political morass--more is expected of drama.
Zeitgeist's David J. Miller has once again found a
script with limited moral value, given it a realistic
production, and invited an audience. With the other
choices currently available around town, he shouldn't
be surprised if they don't come. Like the set, which
is very realistic, except for the main wall behind the
action, which has the entrances and a window, but is
merely one side of the black box, there's something
missing in this show which can't be salvaged by Park's
impressive acting skills. Raposa manages to keep up
most of the time, but the two recent theatre grads
playing the girls are left far behind. And the
audience is left wondering if they've just watched a
staged treatment for a low budget M or X rated film.
Or whatever.
Seen in Preview
"Hiding Behind Comets" by Brian Dykstra, April 30 -
May 20
Zeitgeist Stage Company in Plaza Black Box
BCA, 259 Tremont, (617) 933-8600
Zeitgeist
Recent revivals of
this vintage '50s musical have seemed a bit
irrelevant, but NSMT's Jon Kimbell hit upon the
perfect way to update the show without significantly
changing its basic period quality. Their current
version, doctored up by Joe DiPietro of "I Love You,
You're...etc." fame, replaces the defunct Washington
Senators with our hometown team, laboring under the
curse back in 1957. Red Sox marketing is on board, so
opening night featured a visit from Wally, the Green
Monster, to warm up the crowd. Director Barry Ivan
keeps his crack cast on track with the period. The
costumes include replica '50s uniforms on the team and
period dress for the women. Vintage performances are
turned in by Kay Walbye and Richard Pruitt as Meg
and Joe, with sturdy George Merrick as young Joe
Hardy, the baseball hero. The low comedy is supplied
by local talent, Becky Barta and Mary Callanan as
unabashed fans of the young hunk.
The show biz glitz comes from Jim Walton and
Shannon Lewis as Applegate, the demon agent, and
Lola, his devilishly attractive side-kick. Walton
brings the right air of delicious villainy to his role
while Lewis vamps her way through the part Gwen Verdon
made famous. And it's all basically PG with hearth and
home as the central values of the plot as Applegate
returns from whence he came at the end, continuing to
damn the Red Sox to frustration until the next
millennium. You see, the poor devil's a Yankee
fan.
"Damn Yankees" by Adler & Ross, Abbott & Wallop, Apr.
27 - May 14
North Shore Music Theatre at Dunham Woods
Dunham Rd., Beverly MA, (978) 232 - 7200
North Shore Music
Theatre
The Actors'
Shakespeare Project's final offering of the season,
the Bard's seldom done "All's Well That Ends Well",
directed by the company's Artistic Director and
founder, Benjamin Evett, displays their increasingly
tight ensemble work. Casting within the company ,
however, has resulted in two distinctive performers,
John Kuntz and Jennie Israel, taking the romantic
leads, rather against type. The duo, at odds for 95
percent of the action, is almost impossible to bring
together in the closing scene, and as in "Measure for
Measure," another dramatic comedy, the result isn't
very satisfying. Israel, the company's Associate
Artistic Director, played Lady Macbeth for CSC and
was effective last fall as Goneril in "King Lear,"
but, as Helena, comes across rather flat in this
lighter part. Kuntz, who played Rich. III in the
company's inaugural production, is a believably
spoiled young noble, Bertram Count Rossillion, but
doesn't project the romantic aura the role requires..
However, the play is rich enough that its array of
lesser characters, including LaVache, the family fool,
also played by Kuntz, make this a rewarding
production.
Two central characters are
particularly effective. As the Countess, Bertram's
widowed mother, Boston acting legend Paula Plum shows
her varied talents, adding more comedy than is usual
to the role in scenes with LaVache. Shakespeare &
Co.'s Allyn Burrows', who appeared in ASP's "Measure
for Measure" as The Duke, and was Kent in "Lear, "
makes the most of Capt. Parolles, Bertram's dishonest
associate. His comic downfall provides the play's
secondary complication, and serves as a foil to
Bertram's own dissembling. Award-winning actress
Bobbie Steinbach is also entertaining playing aged
Lord LaFeu, adviser to both the Countess and the King,
and doubling as a noble Widow in Florence, mother to
Ellen Adair's Diana, the object of Bertram's transient
affections and the key to the plot. David Gullette
from the Poet's Theatre is believable as the King, the
cause of the action, who must finally sort out the
result. The remaining three of the ensemble of ten
actors, who play named parts, members of the military,
and various servants, are Paula Langton and Greg
Steres, as the noble brothers Dumain and Risher
Reddick as the inept Duke of Florence and Rinaldo, the
Countess' steward. They keep the show rolling along,
manipulating Caleb Wertenbaker's ingenious formal set
with minimal furniture and three trunks on wheels
which form set pieces and hold many of the costume
changes.
This time, ASP has
arranged Durrell Hall so that seating is against and
on the permanent stage, with the acting area on a
painted map on the main floor and partially under the
balcony. Live music is provided by fiddler Oisin
Conway, who also speaks the epilogue, and pianist
Natty Smith who also gets to turn the signs which
indicate whether scenes are in Rossillion, Paris, or
Florence. Most of the cast sings a mixture of ballads,
madrigals, and folk tunes to help with transitions
between scenes. There's a particularly effective
choral piece before Bertram's assignation which is
played up in Durrell's actual balcony. Evett and
company have created an effective, entertaining, and
understandable production with much to offer. The
limitations of the principal characters are implicit
in the tale itself, which Shakespeare borrowed from
Boccacio, and which he may tried earlier in a lost
version entitled "Love's Labor Won."
"All's Well That Ends Well" by Shakespeare, Apr. 20 -
May 14
Actors' Shakespeare Project at Durrell Hall, Camb.
YMCA
800 Mass. Ave, Camb, 1 (866) 811 - 4111 (TM)
A.S.P.
The latest edition of
Dan Goggin's "Nunsense" saga takes the Little Sisters
of Hoboken to Las Vegas to present a revue in return
for a donation to their school, Mt. St. Helen. Still
a crowd-pleaser, the joke is wearing thin.
"Nunsensations" has little new to offer, musically or
lyrically. Several of the songs are clearly out of
the trunk and could be dropped into any previous
version unnoticed. Goggin's has found a successful
formula which perhaps makes the best use of his
talents for harmless parody.
nbsp; The cast of "Nunsensations"
features Bonnie Lee as Rev. Mother Mary Regina,
complete with Irish brogue with Bambi Jones as Sr.
Mary Hubert, her second in command, more in charge
than ever. Carolyn Drocoski, who's been involved with
the Nunsense for 18 years and who directed Lyric's
production of "Meshaggah-Nuns!" two seasons ago, is
Brooklyn born Sr. Robert Anne, tough as ever,
Emerson grad Jeanne Tinker plays Sr. Mary Paul aka
Amnesia, ditsy as ever. Her irrepressible sidekick
Sr. Mary Annette has only one appearance, however.
(She's just tried out for "Ave. Q".) Sr. Mary Leo, the
dancer, is Carrie Keskinen, who completes what's
billed as the world premiere cast of this show. All
five display considerable comedic talent and are in
fine voice. "Nunsense" fans--and there may be legions
of them--won't be disappointed or surprised.
nbsp; Stoneham will be following
this show with more visitors from Las Vegas, a
recreation of "The Rat Pack." They'll be opening
their fall season in Sept. with Cole Porter's vintage
show "You Never Know."
"Nunsensations" by Dan Googin, April 20 - 30
Stoneham Theatre
395 Main St. Stoneham MA, (781) 279 - 2200
Stoneham
Theatre
Those familiar with
Oliver Sacks' anecdotal study of neurological
anomalies, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat"
will find some of the more striking references from
that work embedded in this collage of interactions
between doctors and patients. Those familiar with the
recent work of Peter Brook will recognize the
transformations the four actors undergo in this short
effort. In the course of 75 minutes, each plays
doctors confronting men suffering from some
abberation of perception. These unique symptoms
suggest the malleability of reality, at least for the
individual. There are of course no conclusions or
judgements, and no patients with secondary clinical
diagnoses.
The cast, directed by
Wesley Savick consists of IRNE winner Steven
Barkhimer, Robert Bonotto, Owen Doyle, and Jim
Spencer. Barkhimer was last seen for the Nora in Van
Gogh in Japan, as was Robert Bonotto. Both were seen
this fall at the Lyric in Steve Martin's version of
"The Underpants." Owen Doyle appeared recently in "A
Prayer for Owen Meany" at Stoneham. Jim Spencer was
in Nora's "Antigone: last season and was nominated for
an IRNE for his role in ACT's "City Preacher" by Ed
Bullins. Director Savick recently directed "Theatre
District" for Speakeasy, and Zayd Dorhn's IRNE winning
"Permanent Whole Life'" at Boston Playwrights'. The
show has the polish one would expect from such an
ensemble.
In a piece of nonlinear
theatre like this, the arc of the action comes from
connections made between its disperate elements. As
the ensemble moves from the calming attitude of the
neurologists to the varying degrees of agitation shown
by their patients, the depth of the failure of
perception becomes painfully clear. And the common
dilemma shared by both classes is heightened as doctor
becomes patient and vice versa. There are a few
bravura moments, carried off by Barkhimer and Doyle,
while Bonotto and Spencer have quieter epiphanies.
The simple truth of the show however, is that there is
no cure for these problems, a very sobering thought.
Like the rest of life, they can only be dealt with.
"The Man Who", Apr.20 - May 7
Nora Theatre Co. at Boston Playwrights'
949 Comm. Ave. Allston, 1 (866) 811 - 4111
Nora Theatre Co.
As with other workss
by this author, Chicago playwright Rebecca Gilman's
"The Sweetest Swing in Baseball" takes a potentially
interesting question about the intersection of social
responsibility and personal life and oversimplifies
it. Her instincts trend toward melodrama and her
characters are essentially stereotypes which even
experienced actors may have trouble overcoming. This
play did well enough in London with Gillian Andersen
in the lead, but has run into criticismon this side of
the pond in San Francisco and in Chicago where it's
about to close.
The main character is
Dana, a contemporary painter, played with conviction
by Sarah Woodhouse, seen last fall at ASP as Cordelia.
Here she's possibly miscast, but seems to be enjoying
the role, with its range of misery and madness, real
and imagined. The author has provided her with a
reported troubled background and some snappy
responses, but there's not enough to make the audience
really care. The other four actors in the cast each
play two parts, not necessarily related. Two IRNE
winners, Chris Brophy and Maureen Keillor have
important, but ultimately not pivotal roles. Chris,
fresh from touring as Macbeth for the New Rep, plays
Dana's boyfriend, a frustrated artist who leaves her,
which may precipitate her suicide attempt and
a psychopathic thug in the institution where she's
checked in. The strongest scene is an agon between
the two of them in the occupational therapy room which
unfortunately doesn't really get anywhere. Keillor
plays the owner of the gallery where Dana's last show
is a failure and her psychologist, Dr. Gilbert.
The artist's had several therapists during the last
few years. Rhonda the gallery owner is practically a
stock character and Dr. Gilbert's one interesting
detail, that she trained to be a dancer, is never
explored. It's just another factoid.
Similarly, the characters
played by Eve Passeltiner and Adam Soule don't get
beyond the traits Gilman has assigned them.
Passeltiner is Rhonda's ambitious assistant and
briefly, Dr. Stanton, the head of the institution, an
old friend of Dana's former therapist--who died. As
the assistant, she's befriended Dana, and would really
like her to change allegiances when she starts her own
gallery. The conflict between her friendship and
self-interest is never really tested. Soule briefly
plays an up-and-coming young artist, almost a walkon,
and Michael, an alcoholic prone to binges.The
latter character is gay computer programmer, which
might be relevant but seems merely trendy. The real
problem is that in eighty minutes, even with a skilled
ensemble, there's not enough time to develop
relationships between these characters which might
lead to drama. Instead, the author seems almost be
writing a parody of a parable about her own recent
rise to transient fame. Gilman relies on one-liners
and blackout scenes rather than actual confrontations.
Moreover, the conceit that the leading character in
order to stay longer at this institution than her
cheap health insurance will allow, pretends to be
Darryl Strawberry and finds some kind of psychic
salvation thereby is a joke without a punchline, and
possibly exploitative. London audiences might have
accepted a Canadian playing an American artist
pretending--rather badly--to be a Black baseball
superstar with a checkered past and a drug habit, but
here, it strikes out, to employ an obvious metaphor,
as Gilman too often does.
BTW is also hosting a breif
late night run of "Gorilla Man", a definitely edgy
entertainment. Check their website for details.
The Sweetest Swing in Baseball", April 13 - May 6
Boston Theatre Works in Plaza Theatre, BCA
539 Tremont , (617) 933 - 8600
Boston
Theatre Works
After two fairly
serious show's aimed at older children, WFT's spring
offering is a technologically updated version of a
1976 adaptation of Roald Dahl's darkly comic classic,
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Richard C. George
script is fairly typical children's theatre fare, even
with director/designer James P. Byrne's showmanship.
Dahl's literary merit is quickly lost in the
toing-and-froing. Turning the narrator into a T.V.
news personality, Played by Dan Bolton, and using
video to separate the sections of the story doesn't
disguise the oversimplification of the tale and its
moral. But squads of kids get to participate, as stage
children, as Oompa-Loompas, and as Squirrels.
The role of the mysterious
chocolatier, Willy Wonka, is taken by WFT General
manager Jane Staab, who won't be mistaken for either
Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp. Charlie Bucket is played
by Khalil K. Fleming, seem this time last year as
Jack. His Grandpa Joe is done by WFT veteran Mansur,
while Grandma Josephine falls another regular, Ilyse
Robbins. Mr. Bucket is Harold Withee, currently
touring with the New Rep's Macbeth while Mrs. is done
by Jackie Davis from Our Place Theatre. Both were seen
last December in "Promises, Promises." The four other
holders of the wonderful Golden Ticket, which lets
lucky children tour the Chocolate Factory are Andrew
Schlager(gluttonous Augustus Gloop), Talia
Weingarten(demanding Veruca Salt), Laura
Morell(gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde). and, from
Stoneham--seen last fall in "Pal Joey, "--Andrew
Barbato as (TV addict Mike Teavee). Each meets their
appropriate fate with adequate theatrical effects.
Their parents are Susan Bigger (Mrs. Gloop), John
Davin and Lisa Korak( the wealthy Salts), Gamalia
Pharms (Mrs. Beaurergarde), and Darius Omar Williams
as Major TeaVee. Greg Nash is Grandpa George, and
Pharms doubles as Grandma Georgina,
The show takes place on a
simple set and in the house, lit by IRNE winner John
R. Malinowski. It was choreographed by IRNE winner
Laurel Stachowicz, with costumes by Lisa Simpson, who
also dresses the Gold Dust Orphans. Andy Aldous
handled the sound, Tim McCarthy produced the Comedy
Central style videos along with animator Michael
Duplessis. The electronic captioning from c2 fits
right into the rest of the effects. Fans of the book
may find a few things missing, and those who just saw
the most recent movie will notice some differences. If
there's no edgier script available for this first
book, perhaps someone should extract one from "Charlie
and the Great Glass Elevator," Dahl's sequel, a take
on the future and space travel--circa 1972.
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (1976) adapted
by Rich. C. George, Apr. 7 - May 14
Wheelock Family Theatre at Wheelock College
200 The Riverway, Boston (617) 879 - 2300
Wheelock Family
Theatre
The Out of the Blue
Co. is currently presenting their annual Actors'
Equity Showcase production of a new play at the Boston
Playwrights' Theatre. This year it's "The Maternal
Instinct" by BPT alumna Monica Bauer. The script
began as a 10 minute script called "Ouch" and has
grown into a two act full-length play. Still
seemingly in development, not all of its scenes seem
quite fully grown. Moreover, it's hard to decide
whether this is a 21st century family drama with comic
moments, or a very dark comedy of contemporary
manners.
The principle characters
are a married lesbian couple--this being
Massachusetts. Alisha Jansky plays Sarah, a special
ed teacher, the wife of Lillian, an ambitious
professor of biochemistry at one of our universities,
played by Karen Woodward Massey. Sarah wants a baby,
Lillian is unalterably opposed. Lillian's sister,
Emma, who has two kids of her own, played by Rena
Baskin, has been conspiring with Sarah to find a
donor. Eventually this role falls to Lillian's friend
and mentor, Fred, the head of her department, played
by Stephen Cooper. Eachmember of this unlikely menage
a trois has an encounter in the Public Garden with an
incoherent drunken woman whose vocabulary consisted
mostly of the word "Ouch." Played by Elise
Manning,this homeless souse, who is also pregnant,
provides a catalyst for the final action, or so it
seems. Like many current scripts, things are left
rather up in the air as the lights fade out for the
last time.
Production values on a
set by Loann West are basic but sufficient. A
full-scale production for this 13 scene play might
require a revolve and a small side wagon, but this
version survives without them. The ensemble acquits
itself well under Melissa J. Wentworth's direction,
going for realistic rather than comic timing in most
cases. The viewpoint of the play does veer from
almost satirical to realistic emotions with no clear
line of action, however. Still, the social problems
it explores, and the deeper question of how family
background influences adult relationships, are
interestingly developed, worth attention--and further
rewrites.
"The Maternal Instinct" by Monica Bauer, March 30 -
April 16
Out of the Blue Theatre Co. at Boston Playwrights'
Theatre
949 Comm. Ave. Allston, (866) 811 - 4111
Out of the Blue
Sondheim fans who
missed the Vokes' production last fall, or who would
like to catch "Merrily WE Roll Along" again, can spend
an energetic evening with the Longwood Players, a
recent addition to community based production
companies in the city. Heading up the strong ensemble
cast for this revival of a 1981 show--revised and
revised again until it finally worked in 1994--are Don
Ringuette as Frank Shepard (Inc.), Michael Kripchak as
Charley Kringas, his best friend and lyricist, and
Katie Pickett as Mary Flynn, a novelist and their
longtime friend. They're joined by Shannon Muhs as
Frank's first wife Beth, Frances Betlyon as his second
wife, Broadway star Gussie Carnegie, plus Kevin
Ashworth as Gussie's first husband, Joe Josephson, a
producer and Clint Randell as Tyler, their friend who
invents the phone answering machine, and invests in
their shows.
Director Lisa Hackman makes
the show's backwards plot work as well as it can--the
first scene is in 1976 and the show ends in 1957, and
the ensemble with the help of costume designer Deborah
Hobson moves back through the periods. The set is
well conceived by Amy Vlastelica but the execution
could be refined. Music director Jeremy Lang gets a
good sound out of his eight piece ensemble while vocal
director Paul Mattal prepared the cast for some of
Sondheim's tricker passages quite sufficiently.
Casting a show where the actors must seem to be twenty
years older in the opening scene at a Hollywood party
than at the end where they're on a rooftop in the
Village watching Sputnik overhead is a feat in itself.
What this production lacks in polish, it makes up for
in energy. And it fits quite well into Durrell Hall.
"Merrily We Roll Along" by Stephen Sondheim & Geo.
Furth, Mar 31 - Apr. 8
Longwood Players in Durrell Hall, Camb. YMCA
820 Mass. Ave., Central Sq. (1-800) 595 -4TIX
Longwood
Players
Rinde Eckert's second
effort at post-modern opera for the A.R.T is even more
self-referential than his first sojourn, "Highway
Ulysses," two seasons ago. This time the author
composer's front and center himself as Orpheus,
modernized into a popstar singer/songwriter. Euridyce
isn't his wife in this version, she's a poetess
accidentally killed by the cab X's riding in one
night. The part's sung by Suzan Hanson, last heard at
the ART in Philip Glass' "Sound of a Voice." This
time she's also seen nude in the video loops by
Brookline's Denise Marika which form an integral part
of the spectacle. The remaining two roles are done by
John Kelly, seen last season as Cupid in "Dido, Queen
of Carthage". He plays Orpheus' business manager and
then Persephone, Queen of the Dead, without changing
costume however.
This 90 minute project,
directed by Robert Woodruff, has interesting moments,
and as a gloss on the legend, thematic potential.
Writing on the walls is once again prominent, and
possibly more meaningful for this story. David Zinn's
abstract set revisits the reflective qualities of
plexiglas and features two faux steel beams as
projection surfaces for Marika's contribution. IRNE
winner Christopher Akerlind's lighting compliments the
scenery. The show has occasional flashes of
brilliance, but somehow seems very indulgent.
Artistic self-absorbtion as a theme is limiting,
especially when production effects overshadow the
music. There's an impression that the author,
composer, and main actor would play all the parts if
he could.
"Orpheus X"" by Rinde Eckert,
ART at Zero Arrow St.
Corner Mass. Ave & Arrow, Harvard Sq., (617) 547 -
8300
ART
The last time he was
in town, OBIE winner Marc Wolfe got an IRNE award as
Best Solo performer for "Another American; Asking and
Telling." This time his patriotism has led him to
consider 9/11/02, by way of a 7,000 mile journey from
Seattle back to New York. "The Road Home;
Re-membering America" is made of his interpretations,
without costume changes or special props, of
conversations he recorded along the way. Through
Wolfe we meet West Coast radicals, a Native American,
a raucous German hitchhiker, a Muslim Public Health
Service dentist in Mississippi, a Maylaysian mystic at
an ashram, and a New York architectural critic, among
others. At end Wolfe still has some magic beans given
him by Eartha, the daughter of a hippie from Redwood
California. He hasn't planted them yet, but this show
is perhaps preparing the soil.
The HTC production was directed by David
Schweizer, best known for radical opera productions.
Working with Wolfe must be almost a vacation. Scene
designer Andrew Lieberman whose also done a few operas
takes advantage of the Wimberley's facilities to
create a deceptively simple set and together with
Peter West's lighting provides projected backdrops and
signage to move things along. Robert Kaplowitz
provides an effective soundscape and original score.
"The Road Home..." , like Soans' "Talking to
Terrorists" which Sugan is playing next door in the
Plaza, is yet another example of how verbatim material
from real-life situations is being transformed for
today's theatre, using the particular skills of the
artists involved.
"The Road Home; Re-membering America" by Marc
Wolfe, Mar.24 - April 30
HTC at BCA Wimberley
527 Tremont, (617) 266 - 0800
HTC
Some Pulitzer Prize
dramas age better than others. Lanford Wilson's
"Talley's Folly," the second play in his hometown
trilogy resonates just as deeply as it did in 1979 --
post- Vietnam. In this long one act with only two
characters. Wilson evokes all the history which
bedevils the Talley clan in "The Fifth of July" and
"Talley & Son"
Marianna Bassham is luminous
as Sally Talley, thirty and unmarried, stuck living
with her difficult family, the richest people in this
rural town. WHAT's Steven Russell gets beyond the
ghost of Judd Hirsch to create his own appealing Matt
Friedman, an accountant from St. Louis, shipped to
this county to escape WWI, come to claim Sally in
marriage in the midst of WWII. Director Adam Zahler,
in his usual economical style, brings the two
together, eventually.
Janie Howland's fragmented
"folly" of a ruined boathouse floats on the Lyric
stage, well lit by John Cuff. Dewey Dellay's
soundscape evokes the riverside and distant band music
across water nicely. Lanford Wilson's ouevre hasn't
been seen here often enough recently. This fine Lyric
production may reminds other producers of his mastery
of language and almost Chekovian characterization.
"Talley's Folly" by Lanford Wilson, Mar. 24 - Apr.
22
Lyric Stage Company at Copley YWCA
140 Clarendon, (617) 585 - 5678
Lyric Stage
Company One's current
show, "A More Perfect Union" written by Kirsten
Greenidge, is theatrical collage in the style they've
developed. This show's in conjunction with the Boston
Arts Academy, directed by Juanita A. Rodriguez from
that high school's faculty., and funded in part by the
Surdna Foundation. About half of the cast are Boston
Academy students playing various young people. The
script weaves together several contemporary
storylines; a lost twelve-year old Katrina refugee, a
Moldovan mother searching for her daughter who's been
forced into prostitution, a CNN stringer sent to jail
for leading a protest, an angry half-Hispanic cop and
his idealistic half-Irish sister, and of special
interest to the students, the case of Obain
Ottouoman, a Boston math teacher from Ivory Coast
being deported over an immigration technicality.
The first act, complete
with multimedia projections, is somewhat muddled, but
everything becomes clearer by the end of the show--and
a trifle preachy. However, the action is continually
interesting, the acting is energetic and believable.
Doublas Theodore is very creditable as Obain, Our
Place stalwart David Curtis is Coop the CNN reporter,
and Mary Driscoll is convincing as the distraught
Moldovan mother. Tina Do and Damean Hollis show up
between scenes as typical teenagers, a kind of comic
chorus. Eladio Banks, who participated in the
demonstrations supporting Obain, is the luckless prep
school guy who runs afoul of Raymond Ramirez's angry
cop.
Technical support is
impressive, with an multilevel unit set by Mark
Buchanan, responsible for the lighting as well. Video
projections by Joseph Doullette and abstracted
costumes by Jennifer Varekamp give the show a unique
look. The end of the script seems a bit abrupt, as if
development weren't quite complete. If Company One
does indeed take this show to the Edinburgh Festival,
perhaps that can be remedied.
"A More Perfect Union" by Kirsten Greenidge, March 9
- April 1
Company One at Plaza Black Box
BCA, 539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Company One
Anyone bemoaning the
lack of international political awareness on the
Boston stage should get down to the BCA for the
American premiere of Robin Soans' "Talking with
Terrorists" presented by Sugan. This verbatim
docu-drama juxtaposes IRA and Loyalists, African child
soldiers, the Palestinian intafada, Kurdish
nationalism and Iraq plus a few British politicians.
Eight talented actors shift between the former and the
latter, playing overlapping scenes against an
emblematic set created by J. Michael Griggs. Carmel
O'Reilly has once again created a strong theatrical
statement from a script hot off the London stage.
It may be too much to hope
that some playwright in this country will adopt the
same technique to chastise our government for its
gross shortcomings so far this millennium. "Stuff
Happens" will open soon in New York. A play by
Elizabeth Wyatt based on Rachel Corrie ran in January
at Boston Playwrights. The Theatre Coop has Barbara
Jordan recreated on its stage at the moment, and
Company One is once again taking on current issues in
the Black Box next door. But where's the response to
the soon to be 3000 servicemen and women killed in
Iraq, not to mention ten times as many Iraqis, and the
continued bumbling and fraud in the aftermath of the
Gulf Coast hurricanes. Plus out of control oil
prices, etc., etc., etc. Jimmy Tingle can't do it all
by himself, and much of it isn't really a laughing
matter. Boston Playwrights, it's your job now.
"Talking with Terrorists" by Robin Soans, Mar. 17 -
April 8
Sugan Theatre Company in Plaza Theatre, BCA
539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Sugan Theatre
Company
If any of you are wondering how SPAM-A-LOT in Boston compares to the Broadway Production... WELL, wonder no more! The show was great! Some performers were better... some were not as good... but if you had nothing to compare, I don't think you would notice or care! This cast seemed to have much more energy than the Broadway cast. The set was exactly the same as far I could tell. One major difference was... the Boston Audience seemed to REALLY get the jokes that came from the Monty Python films. The laughter in Boston was exuberant, while the laughter in New York was scattered and unpredictable. Lost on the Boston audience however, were the theatre references... such as when one character breaks into "Another Hundred People Just Got Off of the Train." The show is quite fun and enjoyable. I would say, "Don't Miss It" if you are able to get a ticket.
Perhaps of most
interest to those committed to the 12 step process,
"Bill W. and Dr. Bob" is a very American piece of
theatre, in the tradition of temperance melodramas.
There's even Todd Gordon at the upright providing a
musical background to somewhat excessive scene
changes. The pace of the show is intentionally
deliberate. The cast, led by consumate pros Robert
Krakovski and Patrick Husted in the title roles, is
solid, humanizing their characters as much as
possible. Rachel Harker and Kathleen Doyle play the
wives without descending into soap opera, while Marc
Carver and Deanna Dunmyer play all the other roles,
perhaps too many of them. Carver and Harker have been
seen before at the New Rep, any of the others would be
welcome again.
"Bill W. and Dr. Bob" may be
seen off-Broadway next year. It will be interesting
to see if the piece attracts the same committed
audiences that have led the New Rep to add shows to
the current run. Fine tuning the script and a
slightly less cumbersome scene change approach might
help pick up the pace. And some sort of social
counterpoint might make things less simplistic.
"Bill W. and Dr. Bob" by Stephen Bergman and Janet
Surrey, Mar. 5 - 26
New Repertory Theatre at Arsenal Center for the
Arts
Watertown Arsenal, (617) 923 - 8487
New Repertory
Theatre
The second of John
Picardi's proposed ten plays exploring
Italian-Americans in Massachusetts during the decades
of the last century is having its New England premiere
at Stoneham. The evening is long on plot and somewhat
stereotypical as far as character goes, but director
Robert Jay Cronin guides his skilled cast through the
storyline for a satisfying if somewhat melodramatic
show. The most notable performances are by the
ladies, IRNE-winner Cheryl McMahon and Stoneham
regular Robyn Eizabeth Lee. McMahon uses her comic
skills gently to humanize the WASP neighbor of this
Italian farm family growing vegetables near Wollaston
beach. Lee, who's been seen mostly as an ingenue,
stands out playing the "simple" daughter, Julia, an
autistic young woman yearning for love. The men of the
family, Barry M. Press as patriarch Enio, sturdy older
brother Peter, and Robert Antonelli as
college-educated Lawrence are far more stereotyped,
limited by expository writing and predictable action
from developing unique characters. Timothy J. Smith,
seen as the Narrator in "A Prayer for Owen Meany" has
the much more interesting part of Q. Turner, a Detroit
area autoworker who's left his family back on the farm
to come East looking for work. He arrives peddling
rabbits he's caught in the Blue Hills. He stays
because he might be able to fix the tractor.
This full length drama,
which might be more comfortably divided into three
acts instead of two, is presented with Stoneham's
usual flair, including a striking selective realism
farmyard designd by Charlie Wilson and careful period
costuming by Rachel Kurland-Foxglove. One can only
hope that Picardi's next play(s) are better
structured, and perhaps that this one, already
published might be reworked.
"Seven Rabbits on a Pole" by John C. Picardi, Mar.
2 - 19
Stoneham Theatre
539 Main St. Stoneham, (781) 279 - 2200
Stoneham
Theatre
This season?s effort
by Lila Levitina's Basement on the Hill Stage is the
local premiere of Allan Miller?s adaptation of D. H.
Lawrence?s novella ?The Fox?, another tale of lust and
death in the ?Lady Chatterley? mode, without the class
implications. As usual, Levitina has drawn on her
Russian theatre background to employ effective
symbolic elements which are quite in keeping with
Lawrence?s underlying psychological methods. The cast
for this long one-act are all young local actors,
quite at home with the production?s physically
expressive style. The only caveat is that the two
women, Robin Rapport as frail Jill and Grace Summers
as sturdy Nellie may be a bit too young for their
roles. Greg Raposa is more or less the right age and
type for Harry, a soldier on leave.
None the less the cast does a
good job at this rather timeless interpretation.
Levitina and her design team--Masha Lifshin and Leonid
Osseny, setting; Emily Romm, music; Olga Ivanov and
Irina Romm, costumes and props; Felix Ivanov,
choreography--bring a common expressionist sensibility
to this production which set more recently than its
WWI rural English background. A period production
might make Jill and Nelly's retreat to the countryside
to further their closeted relationship easier to
understand, and Henry?s appearance which takes on the
aura of a fox spirit from the mythic past clearer.
However, the symbolism which breaks through the
realistic action at intervals is however clear
enough.
The set is appropriate for
the informal nature of Hall A, which is a big
improvement over cramped Leland , and effectively lit
by Matthew Breton. Overhanging branches suggest the
looming wood outside. The production is a reminder of
the expressionist tradition which is still strong
throughout the former U.S.S.R. and not seen here
enough.
?The Fox" by Allan Miller, Mar.2-18
Basement on the Hill at Calderwood, Hall A
527 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Basement
on the Hill Stage
It's been a good year
for Sam Shepard here in Boston. And Hovey Players'
ambitious season continues with a respectable
production of his Pulitzer prize winning gothic family
drama, "Buried Child"--the reworked 1995 version which
incidentally just had a run in NYC.
IRNE winning director
Bill Doscher has crafted a solid show with a cast of
experienced actors from varying backgrounds. Mike
Lydon is the crippled father Dodge, with a unique
vocabulary, unable to move far from the couch center
stage. Sandi McDonald is mother Halie, out of touch,
either upstairs with her pictures or gallivanting with
her pastor Father Dewis, played by Mark Bourbeau. John
Greiner-Ferris is an eerie Tilden, the eldest son,
back home from his troubles in New Mexico, finding
corn--and more--out back where none's been planted for
years. Jason Beals is brutal one-legged Bradley, the
younger surviving son, even more out of control. Joe
Coffey is Tilden's son, Vince, back for an unannounced
visit, along with his prescient girlfriend Shelley,
played by Stephanie Romano. These seemingly mismatched
band of players pull Shepard's unique dramatic vision
together while hurtling through three short acts.
"Buried Child" is a lurching piece of modern Absurdist
drama, with roots in O'Neill and Beckett, and maybe
Vhekov, and even deeper roots in the original tragic
vision of family tragedy and madness.
"Buried Child" by Sam Shepard, Mar.4 - 18
Hovey Players at Abbott Theatre
9 Spring St., (781) 647 - 1211
Hovey
Players
The award-winning
Wellesley Summer Theatre jump starts the season with
an ensemble production of Dylan Thomas' evocation of
one spring day in a small Welsh fishing village much
like his hometown. For "Under Milk Wood", director
Nora Hussey has once again combined her veteran
professionals with top student actresses in the
company's unique style to evoke some fifty odd--often
very odd--characters.
The cast is headed up by
Ed and Charlotte Peed, Lisa Foley, and Jackson Royal.
Ed is memorable as the poetical Rev. Jenkins , Willy
Nilly Postman and Mr. Pugh, the would-be poisoner and
schoolmaster. Charlotte plays a collection of wives,
from Mrs. Willy Nilly, who steams open the mail to
Mrs. Pugh, the target of her husband's obsession.
Lisa Foley is notable as Mrs. Ogmore Pritchard living
with the ghosts of her two henpecked husbands and
Rosie Probert, blind Capt. Cat's lost love. The old
sailor is played by Jackson Royal, who hears the town
from dawn to dusk from his window at the Sailors'
Arms, which is home to Maryann Sailors, the oldest
woman in town, also played by Foley. Spencer Christie
is her son, Sinbad Sailors, the publican, supply
bitter black ale to Derek Stone Nelson as Mr. Waldo,
the town drunk. Stone is also the town's offical
madman, Lord Cut Glass, who lives in a small house
full of clocks. Sinbad is secretly in love with
student company member Sarah Barton's Gossamer Beynon.
the schoolmarm, daughter of the butcher. The Peeds
play her parents. Newcomer student Rebecca Floyd
plays Lily Smalls, dreaming of being "wicked" while
herding goats. Gossamer is one of the object's of
Spencer's Nogood Boyo's lust. Recent grad Victoria
George is wayward Polly Garter, nursing another
bastard and dreaming of "Little Willy Wee, who is
dead, dead, dead" as well as Myfanwy Price, who keeps
the sweet shop and carries on a postal romance with
Mog Edwards, the draper at the other end of town,
who's played by Marc Harpin. Haprin also plays the
music-mad organist, Organ Morgan, the trial of his
wife, played by Sarah Barton. And that's just a
sampling of the inhabitants which the ensemble
switches between effortlessly.
"Under Milk Wood" was
originally written for a radio presentation, but has
been produced onstage for the last half century--not
often enough-- by companies brave enough to attempt
it. The Burtons made a flawed but interesting movie
of the piece in Wales, using mostly local actors.
Production manager and lighting designer Ken Loewit,
with set designer Tim. S. Hanna, have arranged the
R.N.Jones Studio in the round with atmospheric
lighting behind the seating, illuminating walls hung
with netting an scraps of sails. Loewit's lighting
effectively defines acting areas and the time of day.
The unit set is a dock-like raised central platform
with mooring posts conveniently placed for seating.
The ensemble accessorizes their basic early
20th-century rural costumes, designed by Nancy
Stevenson, with hats, shoes, and hand props to help
change character, Two young women fiddlers, who
didn't make it into the program, provide live music
and effects. WST's next production is Oscar Wilde's
least produced and most serious comedy, "An Ideal
Husband" coming along May 30th. "Under Milk Wood" has
only eleven more performances. It's worth the short
drive to Wellesley.
"Under Milk Wood" by Dylan Thomas, Mar.1 - 19
Wellesley Summer Theatre in Ruth Nagel Jones Studio
Alumni Hall, Wellesley College (781) 283 - 2000
Wellesley
Summer Theatre
If you didn't spend a
fortune to see "The Full Monty" when it blew through
on natonal tour, or get out to NSMT's version back in
their own theater, this production at Turtle Lane is
quite respectable. In a way it's more convincing to
see the folks who give their time and talent to this
venue doing this particular show than to watch a
slicker professional cast pretending to be blue
collar. The six guys who decide to become male
strippers all have strong voices and make a good show
of dancing badly. This motley ensemble is lead by
James casey as Jerry who's divorced and Harold, played
by James Tallach, whose marriage is on the rocks.
Among the woman, Tracy Nygard is good as the wife of a
laid-off manager, while Katie Ford’s s convincing as
Harold's loving spouse. Thgis is an ensemble show,
with everyone doing their share, including Turle
Lane’s favorite bartender as a retired vaudevillean at
the piano.
The quality of the cast
makes one wish that this adaptation of a British Indie
film weren't so formulaic. Terence McNally has done
better But it works well enough. The orchestra under
Wayne Ward is guite up to par, John McKenzie and
Michelle Boll's set is efficient with a central
revolveal, and Robert Itzak's costumes are believable.
There show’s on through March 12. And yes the do end
with the title exposure. "Guys and Dolls" is next.
"The Full Monty" by, Feb.16 - Mar.12
Turtle Lane Playhouse in Auburndale
283 Melrose St. Newton, (617) 244 - 0169
Turtle Lane
"The Goat" (or Who
is Sylvia?) by Edward Albee is either the darkest
comedy the dean of American Absurdist has ever
written, or the first postmodern tragedy. Indeed, as
director Spiro Veloudos mentions, the additional
subtitle is ''Notes toward a definition of tragedy."
Whatever this provocative drama is, the Lyric's
production is at the highest level. Multiple award
winner Paula Plum plays Stevie, the wronged wife, with
range and brilliance. Stephen Schnetzer, who was
brought in to replace the original male lead, brings
his experience in the role on Broadway and in
Washington to Martin, the bedeviled husband. He
meshes perfectly with Plum. Richard Snee as Martin's
best friend Ross, who knowingly precipitates disaster
for his friends, plays the superficiality of that role
perfectly. And young Tasso Feldman is convincingly
callow as Stevie and Martin's gay teenage son Billy.
Albee isn't shy about
including everything from classical references to
passing references to some of his own plays in the
dialogue, constantly providing a supertext to the
evolving family catastrophe caused by hapless Martin
falling in love with a goat. Since the audience is
aware of this incredible premise from the first, the
ostensibly realistic start to the first scene of the
play is already fraught with Absurd double meanings.
By the second, when Stevie starts breaking various
object d'arte around the set, a stunning modern
living room by Brynna C. Bloomfield, there's a feeling
that things really might get out of control. And in
the brief third scene, the final moments are
shattering as in an ancient tragedy. Considerably
shorter than many of his notable works, the play packs
every bit as much punch.
This script ranks with
Albee's Pulitzer prize winners; "A Delicate Balance",
"Seascape", and "Three Tall Women". "The Goat" won
the Tony, but like his first important play, "Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf" was passed over for the more
prestigious literary award. Like most of his work, the
play centers around family relationships and the
potential destructive power of love, whatever form it
takes. Whether or not any of the action refers to the
playwright's own life story is immaterial.
"The Goat" by Edward Albee, FEB. 24 - MAR. 18
Lyric Stage Co.
140 Clarendon St., Copley Sq. (617) 585 - 5678
Lyric Stage
Co.
"Under the Lintel" is
an intriguing one man show, given an intense reading
by Jason Lambert. His indeterminate age and lack of
accent immediately raises some questions, none of
which are really answered. Barlow Adamson, who also
did Shakespeare's "R&J" for this company, has
directed the piece economically, without forcing any
particular interpretation on Glen Berger's complex
monodrama. The set has a somewhat improvised air
which only adds to concerns whether Lambert's
Librarian is merely obsessive, or involved in some
deeper mystery concerning the obscure myth this
archetypical functionary is pursuing. Mill 6
continues to find and produce challenging plays of
literary interest using some of the best talent
available. Now if they could only find a slightly
larger and equally affordable venue, so more people
could see them.
"Underneath The Lintel" by Glen Berger
791 Tremont Street (Rear), (866) 811 - 4111
Mill6
With "Othello",
Boston Theatre Works has achieved a level of
Shakespearean production beyond their past efforts.
The show is bolstered by a cast lead by Jonathan
Epstein and Tony Molina, two Shakespeare and Company
veterans who played this piece in Lenox, as Iago and
the title role. In addition, Susanna Apgar, who
trained and acted with S&C plays Desdemona, while
Iago's wife is played by Elizabeth Aspenlieder, a ten
year member of the company. The remainder of the
reduced cast includes ART grad and filmmaker Trey
Burvant as Michael Cassio, local actor Michael McKeogh
as Iago's pigeon Roderigo, while Publick Theatre and
Shakespeare Now! hand Gerard Slattery takes on both
the Doge of Venice and a functionary on Cyprus where
the action happens. Actor and retired teacher Ray
Jenness, now with the Gloucester Stage Company, plays
Desdemona's father, the Governor of Cyprus, and the
Venetian emissary at the end of the play, while Claire
Shinkman, whose last Shakespearean role was Laertes in
last summer's Theatre in the Raw "Hamlet" at the
Theatre Coop, is a Venetian senator and Cassio's bawdy
playmate Bianca. These nine form a tight ensemble
more than capable of illuminating this play.
The show is performed on
a plain abstract set by Zeynep Bakkal, with a distant
strip of sky seen behind large revolving doors at the
back and no furniture, just a low central platform.
John R. Malinowski has designed simple but effective
lighting which changes with the mood of the play as
much as the action. Rachel Padula Shufelt's costumes
are modern, minimal, and very effective. Cam
Willard's soundscape, with wind, storm, alarums, and
musical backgrounds moves the action along. Jason
Slavick has directed the show with an economy that
matches the production, relying on his experienced
cast and the words of the Bard to carry the action.
Compared to the ART's mirror backed extravaganza
several seasons ago, or the touring version the
Guthrie recently brought in, this production digs
deeper into the conundrum of Othello's tragedy,
leaving the audience with more to think about, and
Epstein and Molina's artful performances to remember.
"Othello" by Wm. Shakespeare, Feb. 16 - Mar 11
Boston Theatre Works in Plaza Theatre
BCA, 539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Boston
Theatre Works
He's Back. The
latest version of Needham native Gerard Alessandrini's
satirical view of Broadway, the 2005 edition, is
running for a month in larger new theatre at the BCA.
A decade ago, an earlier edition of this parodic
formula played for six and one/half years in Boston
at the Terrace Room. The concept transfers well
enough to a conventional proscenium stage, the kind of
stage where most of its targets appear.
The talented ensemble,
Janet Dickinson, Valerie Fagan, Kevin McGlynn, and
Nick Verina, with music director Catherine Stornetta
at the piano takes on Broadway past and present. This
includes "Wicked" due here shortly and the
interminable "Les Mis..." on its way out, though next
season's edition will probably find a way to attack
the fact that MacIntosh is reopening his cash cow on
Broadway. Most of the humor is broad and basic, but
the pace is breakneck as usual. It helps to have seen
the shows and the Annual Tony Awards on television, to
know vaguely what was hot in 2005 (and what flopped),
but the absurdity of the current production milieu on
Broadway, which Alessandrini considers "a crime" is
obvious. Media stars like Christina Applegate take
their knocks, "Avenue Q" and Julie Taymor's "Lion
King" take their lumps, and will no doubt get a few
more in years to come.
While the level of satire
hardly approached Culture Clash's visit last spring
under HTC auspices. this spoof will probably due
better, helping to keep the lights bright down on its
end of Tremont. The performers have voices and charm
to match any who've toured into town in "legitimate"
vehicles, and would be welcome as leads for NSMT or
Reagle, or in fact, on HTC's mainstage.
Alessandrini's contribution to the American Musical
Theatre may not be soley as is fondest critic, but for
keeping the revue format alive and kicking.
"Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit" by Gerard
Alessandrini, Feb.14-Mar.12
Wimberley Theatre in Calderwood Pavilion
BCA, 527 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
presented by H.T.C.
The A.R.T.'s
reputation for making Shakespeare tedious remains
unblemished with this latest production. There was
some hope that when Hungarian Janos Szasz defected to
do a movie, a new director, Israeli Gadi Roll, might
avoid some of the excesses usually perpetrated,
especially when the black actor playing Romeo left
over "creative differences" to be replaced by
ART/MXART graduate Mickey Solis, who'd been originally
cast as Benvolio. No such luck; the auteur strikes
again. The current production is Shakespeare played
at full bellow in eccentric modern dress on a stage, a
rectangle covered with dark sand, placed between two
halves of the audience,. The acoustics of the Loeb
are made worse by this arrangement, so much so that
some of the cast. even seasoned ART members, seem to
be getting hoarse. Or it could be the particles
floating in the air from the powdery stage
covering.
The show is made longer
by incessant scenery rearrangement, which has
stagehands in black in the darkness unrolling and
rerolling carpets, removing and resetting chairs and
stand lights. Almost all humor has been squelched
along with almost every trace of romance. The biggest
laugh is unintentional as Juliet clambers down a
ladder from the steel "balcony" which extends from the
rear to over the house stage right. Her cowboy boots,
worn on alll occasions, are the final touch. Romeo
and his friends are upper class hoodlums given to
wielding knives, obviouysly fake and wooden, which
makes the fight scenes athletic exercises. There have
been a number of productions hereabouts featuring the
star-crossed lovers, including the New Rep's inaugural
effort last fall, which used modern dress and
contemporary metaphors to reinvigorate the play. This
attempt in international style is the least
successful. Fortunately, Shakespeare fans have BTW's
"Othello" starring Jonathan Epstein opening this
weekend at the BCA or Trinity's idiosyncratic "Hamlet"
as options.
"Romeo & Juliet" by Wm. Shakespeare, Feb.4 -
Mar.16
A.R.T. at Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle St. Harvard Sq., (617) 547 - 8300
A.R.T.
Social conscious
theatre continues at CWT with a new company, Whistler
In The Dark, presenting English poet and playwright
Howard Barker's series of moral fables, "The
Possibilities", an ensemble show originally created by
The Wrestling School, an experimental theatre group in
London. These hard edged intellectual pieces, the
bloody-minded British equivalent of Brecht's
Lehrstuck, resonate with current worldwide unrest even
more than they did in the '90s when they were written.
The name of the group, incidentally, comes from an
admonition in one of the two poems used to introduce
the show.
An ensemble, four women and
three men, mostly recent theatre grads, present these
pieces briskly under the direction of Meg Taintor, the
group's Co-Artistic Director. The cast includes
Timothy F. Hoover, seen at TheatreZone last season as
Tom Joad, Brian Quint who just did "Romance 101" with
Lowell's new Image Theatre, and very tall Andrew
Winson who was in the Theatre Coop's "Our Country's
Good" last fall. Sarah Huling most recently appeared
with the Czech-American Marionette Theatre in "The
Book of Esther", Lorna McKenzie has worked with
Footlight, Walpole, Medway, and Destruction, Jennifer
O'Connor was also seen in TheatreZone's "Grapes of
Wrath" while Sarah Pauline Robinson graduated from
Brandeis/Theatre Arts last May. WITD has assembled a
good ensemble of physical actors for their first
effort. Their next one will be Eric Overmeyer's "In
Perpetuity Throughout the Universe."
"The Possibilities" by Howard Barker, Feb.11 - Mar.
4
Whistler in the Dark at Charlestown Working
Theatre
442 Bunker Hill Ave., Charlestown (617) 945 - 9033
Whistler In
The Dark
Peter Gaiten's
reduction of Pulitizer Prize winning novelist Michael
Cunningham's novel "Flesh and Blood" for the stage is
only sporadically successful. Try as they might,
David J. Miller and his cast of eleven actors rarely
get beyond the soap opera nature of this family saga,
filled with cliche situations and contemporary hot
button issues. The playwright's first error was to
stick largely to the serial nature of the novel, which
traces three generation of an American family which
sprung from a poor Greek immigrant and a working class
girl from New Jersey. While the scene does expand to
include New York, its suburbs, and Boston, it doesn't
capture any specific locale. Miller's unit set, as
usual well-done and allowing for a fluid presentation
given the limitation of the BCA Black Box, is more
decorative than necessary and rather than becoming a
symbol of the father's aspirations, is more of an
interesting obstacle course.
The father of the Stassos
family, Constantine, who came here as a young man, is
played by veteran local actor, Robert D. Murphy, who
develops a believable character from rather thin soil.
Maureen Aducci, as Mary, the mother of the three
children whose overlapping fates provide much of the
action, has more chance to develop a complex role, and
does so with grace, as she's done in past seasons at
the Theatre Coop. The showiest part is Cassandra,
taken beyond stereotype by Dan Minkle, who finds in
this drag-queen/shoplifter with a heart of gold
perhaps the production's most intriguing, if still
sparse, character. Seen at the Publick in past seasons
in roles such as Ajax and often at Ren Faires,
Minkle's burly presence combined with bitchy dialogue
is a bright spot in the production.
The children are Susan
(Angela Rose), the oldest, with complex sexual issues
concerning her father, Mason Sand as Will, aka Billy,
who comes out while studying at Harvard, and Zoe
(Melissa Baroni), who never grows up and runs off to
the Village where she eventually contracts AIDS after
fathering an illegitimate black child. Each has
enough plot complications and psychological baggage to
have a play of their own. This excess results in a
long show with very little resolution. Some novels
just aren't suitable to transfer to the stage. While
"the sins of the father(s)" is a venerable device, in
this case it becomes an embarrassment of cliches. The
cast, which also includes Claude Del (Jamal), Andrew
Dufresne(Todd, Susan’s husband), Eliza Lay(Magda),
Gregory Maraio(Ben, her son Both the), and Achilles
Vatrikas(Harry) tries hard and does achieve a number
of effective moments as they play themselves--and
additional characters--from 1935 to 2035. However,
the mixture of partial realism, pop culture
sensationalism, and poetic symbolism--as witness the
character names--never gels. Still, Zeitgeist makes
its usual brave effort at producing a show not likely
to get done otherwise hereabouts. Various members of
the audience may take home a range of viewpoints from
this disjointed family saga, which barely touches on
the poltical and social changes during the periods it
covers.
"Flesh & Blood" by Peter Gaiten, Feb. 10 - Mar.
4
Zeitgeist Stage Co. at BCA Plaza Black Box
539 Tremont , (617) 933 - 8600
Zeitgeist
Stage Co.
The revival of Kosoff
& Staab’s adaptation of Mrs. Burnett’s famous
novel—right behind “The Secret Garden”— is first rate
musical theatre for anyone old enough—and still
unjaded— to appreciate its romantic moral. The trials
and tribulations of a young girl losing her station
and being demoted from a proveleged “princess”
princess to a menial still resonates. Andrea Ross in
the title role is supported by some of the best
musical theatre performers in town and a believable
cast of other young actors, all tightly directed by
Jane Staab. Music director Jonathan Goldberg has
improved the orchestrations. Janie Howland has
created a two level revolving set right up to her
usual standard, as currently on display in Speakeasy’s
“Five by Tenn” and Marian Piro's period costumes are a
finishing touch. WFT’s 25th anniversary season
continues with another sterling show. Suspend your
belief in the ungoodness of humanity and go back to
the pre-WWI optimism for a spell. It might do you and
any young people you take along some good.
“Sara Crewe” book & lyrics - Susan Kosoff, music Jane
Staab, Feb.3 - 26 (matinees school vacation week)
Wheelock Family Theatre at Wheelock College Auditorium
200 The Riverway / (617 )879-2147
Wheelock Family
Theatre
The second play in
the Theatre Coop's annual developmental series,
Patrick Brennan's "No Politics" had a workshop
production this Friday and Saturday. It's a promising
family comedy with more than a little touch of
sit-com. Jack (Christopher Mack), who runs the Website
for a local PBS station and his wife Amy(Elizabeth
Brunette), who also works have just found out she's
pregnant after eight years of marriage. Her father,
Arthur Riley(Peter Brown), who manages a McDonald's
and his second wife, Carol(Katheryne Holland) are
coming over to dinner. They're Reagan Republicans,
Jack and Amy are vegetarian Democrats. Amy's mother,
Arthur's first wife Diane (Debbie Friedlander) is also
coming over. She's also a Republican. It's the eve of
the Iraq War. Both Amy and Carol have made their
husbands promise "No Politics."
At present Brennan's play
has a good start on character and tone, an interesting
premise which pits family relationships against
political viewpoints, and a lot of plot potential. As
a one act it's bursting at the seams and needs to
expand into a two act comedy with an occasional moment
for reflection. The experienced cast under Daniel
Bourque's direction did a respectable job with the
material in its current form.
This year's series began
with Linda Carmichael's drama, "Life's Morsel" last
month, and on Feb. 17 & 18, George Matry Masselem's
"Beating Death" gets its chance. The Coop's regular
season continues in March with Katherine Thatcher's
"Voices of Good Hope", about Congresswoman Barbara
Jordan with Michelle Dowd taking that role. The
season will finish with another play by Vladimir
Zelevinsky, the premiere of "Manifest Destiny", a play
about immigration. Zelevinsky's earlier plays at the
Coop were developed in the same process that the three
this year are undergoing.
"No Politics!" by Patrick Brennan, Feb.3-4
Theatre Cooperative at Peabody House,
277 Broadway, Somerville, (617) 625 - 1300
Theatre
Cooperative
Hi Larry,
Wasn’t the continuity of, “Five by Tenn” impressive? I’ve seen two act plays that seem to be two different shows, yet here we have five different plays that blend together as one great show. This show has the total package of excellence in directing, staging, lighting, music and acting. Definitely, one of the finest casts I’ve ever seen.
Don Werner
Fans of Sam Shepard
who've never seen this American Master's 1994
psychological puzzle may want to catch the last
weekend of its run at the
Devenaughn. The play's not Shepard at his best, and
indeed worked better as a movie. The scenes and
situations, especially the central conflict between
Vinnie and Carter, two old friends whose lives have
been intertwined since childhood, have a familiar ring
to them.
The show would work better
with really strong actors in these parts, but the
whole cast of this production is acceptable at best,
and generally too young. The women, Susan
Gross(Cecilia) and Lisa Caron Driscoll(Rosie), are
generally more effective, and Phil Thompson's
enigmatic Simms has the right creepiness. Joe O'Connor
and Angelo Athanasopoulus as Vinne and Carter have
trouble finding effective line readings together in
the all-important opening scene but warm to their
roles by the end. Director Jeannie-Marie Brown makes
interesting use of the limited theatre space to set a
variety of scenes, but hasn't helped the cast pull
together into an ensemble. Remember to get there
early even with reservations.
The theatre is in the back
of the large Piano Factory Building reached from the
middle of the parking lot. By T, get off at Mass. Ave.
on the Orange Line, walk one block down to Columbus,
and one block away from downtown to Bob the Chef's
Bistro. Go down the side street by the restaurant
half a block to the parking lot. The theatre entrance
is below the big air duct going overhead to the large
chimney in the middle of the lot.
There are only about 50 seats. Again, get there
early.
"Simpatico" by Sam Shepard, Jan. 26 - Feb. 12
Devanaughn Theatre in the Piano Factory
791 Tremont Rear, 1 (866) 811- 4111 (TM)
Devanaughn
Theatre
Speakeasy’s latest
production, “Five By Tenn” is more than just a
collection of some of the Pulitzer Prize winning
playwright’s lesser writing. The order and structure
of the piece suggests Tennessee Williams’ life and
works. Beginning with a 1948 piece, “These Are the
Stairs You Got to Watch”, a large cast one act which
could have functioned as the first act of a longer
play, there’s a focus on a dreamy young man, a poet
lost in the rough and material world. Eric Rubbe,
who was last seen here in “Jacques Brel...” fills this
reoccurring role. The part is much expanded in an even
earlier work, “Summer at the Lake,” which foreshadows
themes central to Williams’ best known work, “The
Glass Menagerie.” In this one act, the poet’s mother
is played to perfection by Trinity stalwart, Anne
Scurria, who just finished the rerun of “Ruby Sunrise”
at the Public in NY. Another veteran actress, Mary
Klug, is her put-upon maid, and the voice of doom.
The second scene from “Vieux Carre”(1977) plays next,
based on an autobiographical short story. It
chronicles the poet’s coming out enabled by an older
jaded artist, played by Will McGarrahan as only he
can.
The center of the collection
is a short two scene play “And Tell Sad Stories of the
Death of Queens”. An intermission occurs between the
scenes. Allyn Burrows plays Candy Darling, a
transvestite trying to have a relationship with Karl,
a straight rough sailor willing to put up with her
“friendship”--and nothing else-- for cash.
Christopher Brophy, seen as the villain last spring in
“Take Me Out,” who plays an equally frustrated fellow
in the first piece, is the object of Candy’s
attention, Burrows carries off his role with the same
panache that made his King John brilliant for
Shakespeare & Co. this summer, and his Kent unique in
“King Lear” for ASP this fall. The rest of the second
half is an Absurdist piece “I Can’t Imagine
Tomorrow”--originally written for television--
followed by “Mr. Paradise,” a coda of sorts. In these
two short plays, William Young, seen last fall in "Red
Elm," who might by the author in his decline, is first
confronted by a younger self, again played by Rubbe,
and then by starry-eyed college student, played by
Ellen Adair, who appears in the first playlet as a
promiscuous teenager. The quality of the acting by
all and sundry brings out the best in the
material.
Scott Edmiston has directed the show fluidly on a
two-level unit set by Janie E. Howland. This airy
creation suggests the Vieux Carre, Williams’ spiritual
home. Gail Astrid Buckley costumed the ensemble with
her usual sure touch and sense of place. Karen
Perlow's lighting provides a range of atmospheres,
with musical touches by Dewey Dellay completing the
show. This sampler of Williams’ work from his
earliest up through his later less successful years
suggests that more producing companies should delve
into the treasure trove of his writing.
"Five by Tenn" by Tennessee Williams, Jan. 27 -
Feb. 25
Speakeasy Stage Co. in Roberts Studio at Calderwood
Pavilion
BCA, 527 Tremont / (617) 933 -8600
Speakeasy
Stage
"They Named Us Mary",
which ran in 2004 with its author, Lyralen Kaye, in
the lead, is back again with Kaye again playing the
oldest of five sisters named Mary, Mary Clare. The
play still attempts to combine a bitter domestic drama
with fantasy elements. Whether these moments should
be described as expressionist or symbolist or even
surreal is debatable. In any case, the script is
still an uneasy mix of the main character's dream
images and rather trite scenes with her dysfunctional
siblings and their domineering mother shortly after
the death of their father. The acting, which aspires
to Meisner's interpretation of the Method made
infamous by Actor's Studio, is uneven at best. The
cast, Diane DeCoste (Maria, the mother), Emily Evans
(Mary Grace, the good one), Steve Falcone (the
father's ghost, etc), Angela Gunn (Mary Margaret, the
party girl), Bertie Payne-Strange Mary Anne, the kid),
and Christina Wolfskehl (Mary Teresa, the rebel),
never finds a common ground. Moreover, there's never
really as sense of place--Pittsburgh--or the
period--the 1980's??.
While the situation is
potentially interesting, the drawn out revelations are
more like a soap opera than a drama. The material
needs to be tightened into a forty or fifty minute--or
shorter-- one-act played on a unit set without tedious
scene changes. It will probably be made into a low
budget independent film instead, which actually might
bring the circumstances into better focus. The
unfortunate situation of abused children has become a
dramatic commonplace. When combined with substance
abuse and religious hypocrisy the play quickly turns
melodramatic. Director Courtney O'Connor has tried to
integrate the elements of the show, but minimal
funding and problems of pace make for a tedious time.
"They Named Us Mary" by Lyralen Kaye, Jan.26 -
Feb.12
Another Country Productions at Boston Playwrights'
Theatre
949 Comm. Ave. Allston, (866) 411 - 8111
Another
Country
Aidan Doyle's rousing
performance of his one-man docudrama, "Tom Crean -
Antartic Explorer" will remind anyone complaining
about the cold of a New England winter how easy we
have here. Crean, an Irishman bosun in the Royal Navy,
accompanied both Scott and Shackleton on their
attempts to reach the South Pole. The two act tale of
his experiences draws his audience in as only a
first-class storyteller can. The facts of Crean's
adventures are astounding enough, but Galwayman
Doyle's genial Irish style, in the grand tradition of
the sennachie, makes these almost unbelievable
journeys real once again.
The voyages of Scott's
"Discovery" and "Terra Nova", as well as Shackleton's
"Endurance" have been the subject of PBS documentaries
as well as several touring museum exhibitions, but a
closeup view based on the experiences of one of the
crew provides a truer window into that time only a
hundred years ago when Antartica was truly Terra
Incognita. Doyle employs his considerable skill as a
raconteur, clown, and writer to make "Tom Crean", who
ends his days keeping the "South Pole", the pub he
built in his hometown of Annascaul in Kerry, an
admirable everyman, forging ahead into adversity,
deserving of the four Royal medals the seaman won.
Performed on a square of canvas with a few homey props
to make the period more real, A long wooden sled of
the type which the intrepid explorers of the Antartic
towed across the ice, in some places four miles thick,
at other times perilously thin over the polar seas
hangs behind him against the black backdrop. "Tom
Crean - Antartic Explorer", which won Best Solo
Performance at the New York International Fringe
Festival in NYC in 2003, is a mesmerizing tribute to
indomitable human spirit and the survival value of a
sense of humor.
Doyle's show, which had its
second successful run at Burlington's Northern Stage
this past fall, is only part of a busy career
centering around his company, "Play on Words" which
tours schools and small theatres throughout the U.K.
from a home base in Rochester, England. A return
visit to Boston would be welcomed sooner rather than
later.
"Tom Crean - Antartic Explorer" by Aidan Doyle, Jan
25 - Feb. 11
Sugan Theatre Co. in Plaza Theatre, BCA
529 Tremont, Boston /(617) 933 - 8600
Sugan
There's one more
weekend to see Eliza Wyatt's latest play, which had
its first run this summer at the Edinburgh Festival
Fringe, and is getting further development at BTW this
month. Wyatt, who makes her home in Brighton England
as well as here, is no stranger to crosscultural
conflict. Her take on the meeting between a
Palestinean woman and a young American peace activist
the same age has real resonance. Krista D'Agostino as
Samia and Caryn Andrea Lindsey as Roberta embody these
two, and throughout the play almost seem to be living
in two separate worlds, even though they're both in
Raffa in the Gaza strip waiting for Isreali bulldozers
to wreck the place. Director Marco Zarattini has set
the two on separate tracks which can be disconcerting,
but which is ultimately successful. Jonathon Myers
plays a shady young man pretending to be another
activist, a Buddhist even, but who is apparently
working for the CIA--a fact known to the audience from
the first.
The production is a bit
rough and ready, but both the set, props and costumes
are sufficient to the task. The play, which is now
being presented with a brief intermission might
benefit from several internal breaks, but has an
interesting line of development, and nice toches.
There is indeed room for expansion on several points
and Wyatt should be encouraged to continue working on
this piece. The play was inspired by the death of
Rachel Corrie, who was run down by a bulldozer at
Raffa trying to prevent the punitive destruction of
Palestinean homes several years ago. Despite recent
developments, neither side has really advanced much
closer to a peaceful resolution to the dilemma in
which both populations are trapped.
"Flowers of Red" by Eliza Wyatt, Thurs.-Sun. thru
Jan. 22
Boston Theatrics at BTW
949 Comm. Ave. Allston, (866) 411-8111 (TM)
Eliza Wyatt
The Stoneham Theatre
has developed a reputation for strong full-scale
presentations of provocative recent plays. Their New
England premiere of Simon Bent's adaptation of John
Irving's semi-autobiographical 1988 novel, "A Prayer
for Owen Meany" is another such success. Irving's
complex novel, which deals with religious and moral
issues against the background of a hidebound New
England town in the late '50s and '60s , comes to a
climax during the Vietnam era. The issues this work
raises have a prescience today, making "...Owen Meany"
one of the most significant productions this company
has offered.
Multitalented New Yorker
Ken Schatz is riveting in the title role of the boy
with the wrecked voice, described by his friend John
as the smallest person he ever knew. John Wheelwright,
the narrator of the piece and the author's stand-in,
is played with conviction by Timothy Smith, a faculty
member at the College of the Holy Cross and Artistic
director of Worcester's Redfeather Theatre. John's
grandmother, from old and rich New England stock, is
played by Ann Marie Shea, seen recently at BPT in Dan
Hunter's "Red Elm". Bobbie Steinbach, fresh from Maria
in ASP's "Twelfth Night" gets a few more laughs as
Mrs. Wheelwright's wheelchair-bound cook. Owen's
Irish parents are played by Owen Doyle, seen last fall
as Dr. Seward in "Dracula" at Stoneham, and Sharon
Mason who like Doyle has acted for a number of local
companies. John's singer mother, Tabitha, is played
by Caitlin Lowans, Stoneham's Education director, who
just directed their "A Christmas Story". His
stepfather, Dan, is peripetatic local character lead
Richard Arum.
The rest of the talented
ensemble includes Jon L. Egging as a traditional
Episcopal priest and Stephen Russell doubling as
Rector Wiggins, a breezy modern minister, and as Dr.
Dolder, the school psychiatrist. Lisa Tucker from
Beau Jest is Wiggin's Sunday school teacher wife.
Floyd Richardson, last seen in TheatreZone's
"Firebugs," plays an eccentric local, Mr. Fish, as
well as the police chief, and Owen's superior officer.
Cory Scott plays several generally menacing younger
characters crucial to Owen's fate. The rest of the
ensemble doubles as Owen's schoolmates and later as
adults, particularly Gerald Slattery, who goes from a
fat bully to the headmaster of the school. Christine
Hamel, a local teacher and actress, and Cristi Miles,
last seen at the New Rep in their "Christmas Carol",
play little girls, various wives and mothers, and
nuns. Director Weylin Symes has pulled this diverse
cast together to create a fast paced condensation of
Irving's sprawling epic. He's helped by Audra Avery's
plain and efficient abstract unit set, realized with
the help of scenic artist Jenna McFarland. Seth Bodie
comes up with an array of costumes that help define a
broad range of characters. David Wilson's soundscape
and Gianni Downs' lighting complete the show. The
first three shows in Stoneham's season were
interesting, if somewhat uneven, but this engaging
drama is simply a must-see, for Schatz' and Smith's
performances, and the ensemble which supports them, as
well as Bent's reduction of Irving's moving tale.
"A Prayer for Owen Meany" by Simon Bent, Jan. 12 -
29
Stoneham Theatre
395 Main St. Stoneham MA, (781) 279-2200
Stoneham
Theatre
Unlikely as might
seem, mostly to those who've not ventured out to
Waltham to see them, the Hovey Players production of
Christopher Hampton's 1985 adaptation of Choderlos de
Laclos epistolatory novel "Les Liaisons
Dangereuse"(1782) does a better job of illuminating
the play in Abbott's intimate confines than a much
more visually impressive large-scale proscenium
version now running downtown. This is due largely to
a fine ensemble cast led by Melissa Sine as the
schemer Marquise Merteuil and Jason Beals as her
former lover and co-conspirator Vicomte Valmont. As
the center of the action, these two skilled performers
generate the kind of electricity sadly missing at the
Huntington. Sine, with a number of past leading roles
for the Hovey, is every inch the lady and always in
charge. Beals, who was impressive in Molasses Tank's
last two Absurdist productions, is a beardless,
redheaded charmer, believably dangerous without being
obvious--except to the audience. Sara Jones, as his
victim Marianne de Tourvel, is willowly and
attractive, a believable target for Valmont's passion
and the opposite of his usual choices, embodied--but
fully dressed--as Anne Freud's juvenile Cecile.
The rest of the ensemble
under Kristin Hughes careful direction includes Andy
O'Kane as Chevalier Danceny, Cecile's earnest young
man and Valmont's nemesis, Kristin Shoop --seen last
season in the lead of "Violet" at Footlight opposite
Beals--as Valmont's courtesan Emelie. Chris Wagner
plays Azolan, Valmont's valet, with appropriate airs,
Sandi McDonald, a veteran actress and producer for
Footlight lends real dignity to Valmont's knowing
aunt, Mme. de Rosemonde, and Leslie Wagner is nicely
unknowing as Cecile's mother. All are properly
costumed in elegant gowns and coats done by Kimmerie
H. O. Jones and wigged by Judy Disbrow.
Seating in Hovey's small
basement theater is limited so order tickets now; many
of their shows sell out. It's also open seating, so
come early and meet friends in the upstairs lobby.
There's easy parking behind the library next door. And
Waltham has plenty of interesting small eateries,
including the company's favorite, Baan Thai, just
around the corner down the main drag across from City
Hall.
"Les Liaisons Dangereuse" by Christopher Hampton,
Jan 13 - 28
Hovey Players at Abbott Memorial Theatre
9 Spring St. Waltham, (781) 893 - 9171
Hovey
Players
The major question to
answer about this current production of Jean-Paul
Sarte's landmark one act "Huis Clos" (No Exit) is
whether Imago's director/designer Jerry Mouawad's
ingenious tilting stage adds that much to the show.
His cast of ART veterans, Remo Airaldi, Will LeBow,
Paula Plum, and Karen MacDonald have some 250 roles
for the company among them. They could probably
present the play effectively on a flat stage with the
requisite furniture and plain lighting. There are
effective moments, but the choreography and balance
required to make theis conceit work may have gotten in
the way of fully developed interpretations. As it is,
Plum as Inez shows the greatest range, but MacDonald
as Estelle has the greater emotional impact. LeBow
very recognizable voice sometimes seem too strong for
his conflicted character. Airaldi adds another weird
comic creation to his portfolio. Those familiar with
the play, which is widely read though not so often
produced these days will probably find Mouawad's
constructivist approach enlightening, though not
essential.
For once, everything
about this ART production is fully in service of the
play. Sartre's grim view of the human condition comes
through loud and clear. Rafael Jaen's late '40s
costumes give MacDonald and Plum additional interest.
Jeff Forbes lighting does more than the script
requires but helps guide the audience through the maze
of reversals in the script. The three-quarter seating
effectively encloses the action which barrels through
an hour and a half with no let-up. Anyone of the
principals could and has carried a show. Together
their ensemble is compelling and should get even
better as the month progresses.
"No Exit" by Jean Paul Sartre, Jan. 7 - 29
A.R.T. at Loeb MainStage, Harvard Sq.
64 Brattle St, (617) 547 -8300
American Repertory
Theatre
The Huntington's
latest effort is a lavish but unsatisfying attempt to
reenergize Christopher Hampton's 1985 retelling of a
scandalous proto-novel from pre-Revolutionary France.
It fails largely because the two actors cast in the
leading roles are don't catch fire with either the
audience or each other. La Marquise de Tourvel, the
schemer behind the various plots, has been played on
screen by luminaries such as Jeanne Moreau (1959),
Glenn Close (1988), and Catherine Deneuve(2003 TV).
N.Y. actress Tasha Lawrence has neither the presence
or the vocal range to carry off the role, and is
betrayed by her costumes more than once. Mr.
Blackwell would have a field day. Her partner in
intrigue, Le Vicomte de Valmont, done by Gerard
Phillipe(1959), John Malkovich (1988), Rupert
Everett(2003), and in the original RSC stage version
by Alan Rickman (1985-89 London & NY) falls to film &
TV personality Michael T. Weiss who is generally
unconvincing. The third important role, Marianne, La
Presidente de Tourvel, a young very religious married
woman, whom Valmont inexplicably sets out to seduce,
was done by Annette Vadim in 1959 (her father
directed), Michelle Pfieffer (1988), and Natasia Kin
ski in 2003. At the Huntington, young Yvonne Woods
has the look and bearing, is a convincing actress, but
is too limited vocally. The director, Daniel
Goldstein seems to have intended make the piece more
contemporary by avoiding any sense of upperclass
speech. It's only when Valmont's aunt, IRNE winner
Alice Duffy, is dominating a scene that the vocal
drama matches the pseudo-aristocratic costumery. Much
of the cast simply babbles.
James Noone's set is
impressive from the orchestra, if a little too tall,
but has the usual sightline problems from the
balcony--and it twinkles. Mark Stanley's light plot
has holes so that actors are sometimes out-of-focus at
key moments. The original music by Loren Toolajian,
period-like with intrusive modern beats, doesn't
accomplish very much. It's the concept driven
costuming by Erin Chainani--modern touches and
references-- that proves the least effective, except
when most in period. Why is Valmont wearing
pinstripes?
If you want to experience
this expose of decadence with the inevitable
titillation, rent the Oscar-winning 1988
movie--screenplay by Hampton--to get the story (but
don't laugh too hard at Keanu Reeves as the young
dandy) then find Vadim's 1959 version to get the
picture. If you're a movie buff, search out Milos
Forman's 1989 "Valmont" with Annette Being and Colin
Firth. The original epistolatory two volume text is a
bit of a slog in either French or English.
One could argue that
this script should more fairly be labeled as "based"
on rather than "adapted" from German Expressionist
author Carl Sternheim's most remembered work. Steve
Martin has reduced the cast, eliminated most of the
philosophical implications, but fortunately improved
the farce. This style of comedy is one of the Lyric's
strong points, and under Daniel Gidron's sophisticated
direction and with a cast of seasoned local
professionals, the result is thoroughly entertaining
if somewhat intellectually bland. Gail Astrid
Buckley's costume are ideal as ever and Cristina
Todesco's set has simple elegance.
Caroline Lawton is the young
wife, Louise, whose bloomers accidentally fall as
she's watching a royal parade. IRNE winner Steven
Barkhimer is overbearingly Germanic as her government
clerk husband, Theo, an older man. Lewis D. Wheeler,
a rich poet, and Neil A. Casey, a Jewish barber, are
the couple's two new lodgers, who each witnessed
Louise's mishap and find her suddenly attractive.
She's encouraged to accept the poet's advances by her
nosey neighbor, Gertrude, played wryly by Stephanie
Clayman. Casey, in his inimitable fashion, keeps
getting in the way. For variety, Robert Bonotto shows
up in the second act as Klinglehoff, a sober
scientist, who's also seeking a room and gets an
eyeful. Martin's take on this classic is fast and
funny if rather inconclusive, aimed at crowd-pleasing
more than examining the ramifications of a rigid
society and bourgeois complacency. It's played across
the country in both red and blue states incidentally.
"The Underpants" by Carl Sternheim, Jan. 6 - Feb. 4,
2006
Lyric Stage at Copley YWCA
140 Clarendon, Boston, (617) 585 - 5678 new
number
Lyric Stage
Co.
There's a new Scrooge
in town, just across the Charles. In association with the Arsenal Center for the Arts and the Watertown Children's Theatre, who also now perform there, the
New Rep has mounted a fully staged, very musical
version of this holiday classic, which director Rick
Lombardo has been working on for about twelve years.
Scrooge is played by local favorite Paul D, Farwell,
who makes a formidable curmudgeon. The tale unfolds
in story theatre fashion with various members of the
ensemble picking up the narration using the author's
original text. The ensemble also provides live
accompaniment on a variety of instruments. NSMT's longest
running show, "a musical ghost story", is back as
engaging as ever in their reclaimed digs. Long time
fans will notice a few changes, to take advantage of
the current cast of veterans like David Coffee back as
Scrooge and George Dvorsky, Christmas Present and a
charitable gentleman. There's also IRNE winner Cheryl
McMahon as Scrooge's comic housekeeper and Mrs.
Fezziwig and jovial Wayne Pretlow as Mr. Fezziwig and
the other charitable gentleman. The show as usual is
narrated in the context of inspiring a group of
Victorian players who then proceed to enact the tale,
by a grown Timothy Crachit, this year by Bill English
who did so very effectively last year, . Marley, done
again by Tom Staggs, flies higher than even, under the
guidance of the show's general factotums AKA the
Pearlies. Scrooge sails away just before the
intermission as usual. This year's Pearlies, tumbling
and dancing all over the place are veteran Tabb and
newcomer Jessie Lee Goldwyn. The Ghost of Christmas
Future is done by newcomer Perry Ojeda who also plays
the younger Scrooge in affecting scenes with Belle,
played by Carrie Specksgoor in her third year with the
show. Once again
TheatreZone has come up with a first-rate
interpretation of a modern classic. Max Frish's absurd
tragicomedy "Herr Biedermann und die Brandshifter",
known in English as "The Firebugs", was taken in 1958
as an allegory about the rise of fascism. It's
continued relevance suggests that Frisch's insight
into the relationship between middle-class capitalism,
government oppression, and terrorism (in this play,
arson) is as true today. Last summer,
"Arcadia", one of Tom Stoppard's landmark plays,
recived a strong outdoor production at the Publick
Theatre. Longwood Players' current presentation of
this historical puzzle is quite a respectable chance
for those who missed this summer's long run to wonder
at Sir Tom's time-spanning play. Central to the cast
is versatile Owen Doyle who play erstwhile poet and
cuckold Ezra Chater for the Publick and essays the
role of Bernard Nightingale, ambitious academic. His
opposite number, Hannah Jar vis is played by education
specialist Kaitlyn Chantry. The young romantic leads,
math genius Thomisina and her tutor Septimus are ably
taken by Zofia Goszczynska, seen earlier this season
in "Our Country's Good" and Adam Friedman, a Princeton
grad in his first Boston appearance. Thomisina's
pleasure-seeking mother, Lady Croom, is Jennifer
Bubriski, whose brother, Capt. Brice is John Brice.
Andrew Moore is Chater in this production, while Cahal
Stephens is the "picturesque" landscape gardener,
Rich. Noakes. As the final new play
in BPT's fall season, Dan Hunter's "Red Elm" shares
the theme of growing old and leaving a legacy with
"The Red Lion" and "Permanent Whole Life". This script
may be the best written, but it's the most incomplete.
The play's 90 minutes would make a good first two
acts--with a bit more tweaking. Like too many current
scripts, which seem to be written with an eye to the
TV movie market however, the hard work of completing
the drama has been left up to the audience--or some
future producer's wishes. There are at least three
dramatic conclusions implied by the action, some of
which is brilliant. The author needs to pick one and
go for it. Rough & Tumble's
revival of William Donnelly's "Apocalypso!", first
done by the industrial theatre three years ago, has a
cinematic feel like their most successful
collaboration with Donnelly, "Backwater" It wouldn't
take much to film this millenial comedy as a
low-budget independent romance. But then the audience
would lose the personal touch that Rough & Tumble
regulars, Kristin Baker, George Saulnier III, Irene
Daly, and Jason Myatt bring to their roles. These
stalwarts play Dora, who's got a message about the end
of days, Gus, who's less than honest, Cal, who reads
self-help books, and Dwight, her husband, with a big
secret. They're joined by IRNE winner Kortney Adams as
Gin, Cal's sister who's thrown Boone, her husband
played by Henry LaCoste, out of the house. He's moved
in with Mark Frost's Walt, a friend with a secret. And
Gus is shacked up with Sherry, the bartender, played
tough by Judith Austin. There are a lot of good
two-scenes and thoughtful acting. The opening,
between Gus and Boone would play as a ten minute
piece itself. But the production as a whole would
benefit from generally faster pacing and the newcomers
to Rough & Tumble, with the exception of Austin, need
to discover the lost art of picking up cues. Adam's
character, Gin, is probably the only one where
Pineteresque pauses are really appropriate. There's another
option for family holiday entertainment besides "The
Nutcracker(s)" or various visits with Scrooge
including NSMT's resurrected production and the a
version about to open at the New Rep at the Arsenal
in association with the Watertown Children's Theatre.
Stoneham Theatre has perhaps started another holiday
tradition by reviving the stage version of Jean
Shepherd's 1983 movie, "A Christmas Story," the
humorists's nostalgic look at growing up during the
end of the depression in northern Indiana. Philip
Grecian's adaptation uses a grownup Ralph Parker,
played by Shelley Bolman, to narrate the saga of
Christmas, the Old Man, and the 200 shot Red Ryder air
rifle. Bolman, who's worked with Wheelock Family
Theatre and teaches there, is the perfect host for
this fast-paced account as a cast of ten, two other
adults plus seven youngsters, under Caitlin Lownes
direction, whisks us through the month of December in
frigid Indiana. If you've read "Three
Sisters, understand the relationships between the
characters --the program is no help--and can sit
through 3 1/2 hours of Paul Schmidt's workmanlike
translation punctuated by at least an hour's worth of
pauses and dumbshow, then here's your chance. Krystian
Lupa, a renowned Polish director, has had 10 weeks to
build this interpretation of what Chekov always
maintained was a comedy. There aren't many laughs in
his version, but you'll be able to improve your seat
after the intermission. Set and costumes are
interesting if rather arbitrary, and the original
score includes monotonous drumming by the director.
Opinions will vary. Read the ARTicles afterwards, but
find a synopsis before you decide to brave yet another
auteur show committed in the name of a world famous
author at the ART. When a show has a
cast headlined by Michelle Dowd, Fulani Haynes,
Jacqui Parker, and Merle Perkins, and is directed by
Lois Roach, its material only has to be interesting to
provide satisfying entertainment, and probably a bit
of enlightenment.. Regina Taylor's adaptation of
"Crowns", based on Cunningham and Marberry oral
history of "church hats", though a bit thin as a
narrative deals honestly with the real-life stories of
Black Southern women and their Sunday "crowns." The
cast, which also includes Mikelyn Roderick, Heather
Fry, and Darius Omar Williams, makes the most of the
material and sings from the bottom of their souls,
Perkin's, as might be expected. has the showiest
number, but Williams, Haynes, Dowd, and Parker get to
into the spirit when called upon.
Hi, Larry! First of all, congratulations on your recent, much deserved award! It's about time Theatermirror got recognized for the incredible impact you have had on the theatrical community.
I am just writing this little blurb because Sharon and I just got back from Speakeasy's "Kiss Of The Spider Woman". No matter what anyone thought of the show (and we liked it a lot!), I can't help but notice that so little mention is ever made of the orchestra. Paul Katz once again has done a sensational job with amazing musicians (kudos to the trumpet player, Paul Perfitti, who has incredible chops!). The sound technician Briand Parenteau had such a sensational mix. This is really hard shit to do right, and wow, did they ever crank! (sorry, I was in a band for years and I just love to hear a band at the top of their game!) I just want people out there to notice the orchestra any time they can... when they are that good, it makes everything else work so well!
That's about it... have a great Holiday season! See you at "Promises, Promises"! Music theatre buffs got their chance last weekend to take
in a rare concert performance of Cole Porter's early Broadway show,
"50 Million Freshman" (1929) performed by American Classics. If you
didn't know about it, go to their website and get on their mailing
list. Many of their regulars were in fine voice and ready to take on
the broad, and sometimes racy lyrics and vintage jokes of this period
piece with a workmanlike book by Herbert Fields. Caryl Churchill's
recent exploration of an alternative reality, "A
Number", which played New York last season starring
Sam Shepherd, is a puzzle involving cloning and family
responsibility. The latter is most important. IRNE
winner Steve McConnell is Salter, the British father
of all three of the identical young men whose stories
make up the play. All three, Bernard, Bernard, and
Michael, are played by Lewis D. Wheeler, who subtley
distinguishes between the three by accent, minor
costume changes, and physical presentation. It seems
that twenty or so years before, Salter had his young
son cloned, under circumstances which seem to change
depending on which Bernard he's interacting with. The
first scene involves sets up a seemingly plausible
situation as Salter rants about the news that the firm
which cloned Bernard has made as many at twenty
additional copies. But the next scene introduces
another more frightening Bernard, who Salter seems
also to have commissioned. The worlds of the two
brothers interacts eventually with alarming
consequences. Hovering in the background is the
possibility that they are both copies of Salter
himself. Those familiar with
the 1920's Balderston version of this story, often
done by community theatres, will find Weylin Symes
version an improvement. Stoneham's artistic director,
along with director Greg Smucker, have fashioned a
contemporary thriller from Stoker's Victorian Gothic
novel, hewing close to the original story line, which
is not always dramatically effective. Perhaps they'll
be able to workshop this script over the next year or
so and bring it back in a future season. Stoneham's
kept the cast down to six without sacrificing any
important plot elements, and Susan Zeeman Rogers,
aided by Jenna McFarland's able stagecraft, has come
up with a flexible expressionist set with hints of
the silent film classic "Caligari" and touches of
Edward Gorey. The complex scene changes are carried
out by the cast, perhaps f
or budgetary reasons. This can be distracting. A
couple of supernumeraries might be speed things
up. The English-lanuage
version of Columbian screenwriter Huberto Dorado's
"Con el Corazon Abierto" (With an Open Heart),
retitled "The Keening" now playing at the ART's Zero
Arrow St. facility is one of the strongest pieces of
theatre seen in these parts in a long time. This
monodrama, acted with precision by Marissa Chibas,
currently the Head of Acting at Cal Arts, is an epic
narrative of the life of one anonymous Columbian
woman, whose interesting life but not extraordinary
life reflects more than a half century of bloody
political turmoil in that South American country.
Director Nicholas Montero, who developed the original
production for a 2004 festival in Bogota, has
carefully orchestrated Dorado's storyline as a solemn
ritual, past tragedy, not offering catharsis in the
traditional sense. "The Keening" leaves the audience
with an understanding of outrage without relief,
mirroring the circumstance in his homeland. The
evening is acted out on a formal thrust setting,
where realistic detail combines with modern sterility,
by Mexican designer Alejandro Luna, reinforcing the
starkness of the tale and its Brechtian style.
Chibas' powerful contained performance shows a
survivor, not a victim, living the best she can in a
devastating reality. "The Boy Friend"'s
back, some fifty years after this homage to the fun
of frivolous musical theatre brought Julie Andrews
across the pond to the States. Dame Julie's in charge
this time, and her vision of Sandy Wilson's bijou
isless a revival and more a fond memory of a time when
musicals weren't supposed to be significant. The tunes
are actually hummable, the lyrics recall the kind of
romance Rodgers & Hart and Irving Berlin were putting
out over here, and West End theatres were laying on
with regularity in the '20s. The cast captures the
bright young things of the period, with a few older
folks thrown in for comic relief. The snappy patter
is predictable, but the laughs ring true, and the
coincidences of the plot go back to the roots of
romantic comedy. Choreographer John DeLuca has
obvious watched a lot of early movie musicals while
paying close attention to current styles, with an
emphasis on froth. This is the kind of show where the
audience walks out with a grin, not worrying whether
the chirubes accents were consistent or whether it all
makes sense. The Hovey Players'
season opener is the first play in Martin McDonagh's
Connemara trilogy, "The Beauty Queen of Leenane."
Under Michael Tonner's careful direction, the four
members of the ensemble create a spellbinding domestic
tragedy. Mikki Lipsey is the doddering old mother,
Mag Folan, demanding and abrasive; Mary O'Donnell her
long-suffering daughter Maureen who's been caring
forthe old biddy these twenty years, with no help from
her two married sisters. There's something sinister
about the situation in this isolated farmhouse, to be
sure. Their neighbors are the Dooleys, feckless Ray,
who functions as the messenger in this tragedy, and
his older brother Pato. A brief and belated
relationship between Pato and Maureen is the crux of
the action. If you haven't seen the piece, the
outcome will be disturbing. If you have, this
production in Hovey's intimate basement has the
inevitability of tragedy. This was the play which
established McDonagh in the current ranks of important
new Irish writers. It was his the most harrowing
until his recent "The Pillowman" which is closing on
Broadway. Those with more than
a nodding acquaintance with George Farquahar's "The
Recruiting Officer" may find interesting parallels in
"Our Country's Good". However, to appreciate British
playwright, Timberlake Wertenbaker's historical drama,
it isn't necessary to know more than that Farquahar,
an Irish playwright who was a former British officer,
wrote several late Restoration Comedies which like
Sheridan's "The Rivals" had amorous young officers as
principle romantic characters. And that the British
penal system transported thousands of minor criminals
away to the colonies as convict labor, many as far as
Australia, but even here to Georgia. This play would
seem an unlikely script to be presented bu a group of
prisoners, given its critical look at the Army, but
"Our Country's Good" is in fact adapted from Thomas
Keneally's novel, The Playmaker, which was based on
just such a performance. The drama won an Olivier in
England, a Drama Critic's Circle Award here, and was
nominated for 6 Tonies. The Huntington Theatre
Company's opener, Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing"
confirms the author's place as a master of English
language drama. This production's interpretation,
directed by Evan Yionoulis, achieves a commendable
balance between Stoppard's linguistic fireworks and
the marital conundrums that beset the main character,
not coincidentally a playwright. Indeed the first
scene of the play turns out to be the first scene of
this character's latest play, entitled "House of Cards" which is
ostensibly about adultery, featuring his current wife
and one of their friends. "The Real Thing" does
concern itself about marital fidelity, but is also
about truth and complex relationships. The author has
agreed that material in the play is
"self-referential", but it would be a mistake to think
that this meditation of marriage, friendship, and even
politics is more autobiographical than any writer's
work. At some point, a play
in development needs to get in front of an audience.
Donna Sorbello's "The Educated", a long one act
focussing on two Middle Eastern grad students and
their somewhat mysterious relationship tackles a
serious contemporary situation, but might have been
workshopped longer. Less superfiial direction would
also help develop the characters along with the
argument.. Amar Strivastava, as Sandahar the central
character, is convincingly torn between East and West.
Alan White, his more religious compatriot Hadji, has
a more internalized role. Susan Gross, as Sandahar's
fAmerican freshman girl Sonia back after five years
or more doesn't get beyond her rather stereotyped
part. A confrontation between her and Hadji might
help. Director Kevin Mark Kline manages the numerous
scenes efficiently, but hasn't taken his cast much
beyond the page. Fans of the American
Musical Theatre can't help being amused by this show,
which began as an Off-Off-Broadway lark in a garage as
part of a summer fringe festival and wound up on
Broadway winning Tony awards. A few are still
appalled at its title, and "Urinetown" probably would
have seemed more of a political fantasy if we hadn't
had the aftermath of Katrina and a monumental display
of governmental incompetence 24/7 on the media this
month. The audacity of political scientist Greg Kotis'
view of society and Mark Hollman's ability to echo
landmarks of the musical from Weill to Les Miz are the
heart of this satire, which has all the hallmarks of a
classic. Only opera fanatics
will find much fault with the ART’s guest production
of “Carmen.” This romantic fable suits Theatre de la
Jeune Lune’s physical theatre style much better than
their previous effort seen here, Moliere’s “The
Miser.” The lead singers are uniformly excellent,
capable of dealing with TJL’s energetic use of stage
space while singing with clarity and feeling. The
first half of the evening, Acts 1 & 2 is more
effective than Acts 3 & 4, perhaps because the
director’s industrial unit set doesn’t conjure up the
Pyrenees very well, and is not used particularly well
for the finale. Two sisters, Christina Baldwin and
Jennifer Baldwin Peden are Carmen the seductive gypsy
and Micaela the virtuous orphan respectively. Bradley
Greenwald is a sold and convincing Don Jose, the
basque country boy with a quick temper turned soldier.
Bill Murray is vocally suited to Escamillio the
bullfighter, moves well, but hasn’t been well served
by the costumer. In 2003, these four were
instrumental in developing the production with
Dominique Serrand, the director, who originally played
Zuniga, the police commander, the villain in the first
half. Thomas Derrah, the only member of the ART
regular company appearing in the show replaces him,
coming up with another invidious characterization,
reminiscent of Eric Von Stroheim. He doesn’t get to
sing however. Tracy Scott Wilson 's
script for "The Story" starts with the media scandals
concerning Black reporters, most recently Jason Blair
at the NYTimes. The author then permeates the action
with her own observations starting with growing up as
a middle-class African American in suburban Newark.
All this freight may be too much for a 90 minute
theatre piece to fully digest, but the suburb cast
Zeitgeist's David Miller has assembled for this
exhilarating production gives all the ideas swirling
around the central topic of racial identification a
sound airing. It's a superb start to the fall
season.
I was VERY pleasantly surprised by Abyssinia! Definitlely a must see! The performances were outstanding... Picture a young Patti Labelle and Stephanie Mills in the lead roles. That is what they sounded like. The show was moving, had a great message... was very often funny! The music is memorable. You would leave humming a few of the songs... if the next song didn't knock the previous song right out of your head. Many of the songs would stand on their own in a musical revue type show. I enjoyed it very much. I would actually see it again. The audience was quiet. Mostly older people... BUT they all stood up before the curtain call even began. I feel like the show was missing the excitement it could have if there was a celebrity in it. But, the cast is very talented. Other than Abyssinia's mother... who seemed to be fishing for her notes...(acting was great) and Sally... a great actor, but I wonder if her voice will withstand what she is doing with it... went slightly flat occasionally. The men were all strong as well. The preacher has a great number and sounds like Darius De Haus. The entire cast is African American. (Tracy... bring your entire church group!) The set is somewhat stationary and doesn't change much... but they light it beautifully! See it! You will be in for a nice surprise. I might go back! It was only the 3rd night... I am sure it will get even better! Be warned... it does get a little heavy at times... but no worse than Ragtime (which it really DIDN'T resemble... other than one song) In "the show must go
on" tradition, North Shore Music Theatre's revival of
"Abyssinia", which they first presented in 1995, is a
rousing start to Boston's downtown season. The cast,
with Shannon Antalan in the title role, forms a tight
musical ensemble, under the able musical direction of
Goodspeed's Michael O'Flaherty at the keyboard. This
production moves down to Connecticut next, with hopes
for a Broadway opening later in the season. Fans of
North Shore's in-the-round space may miss the
intimacy, but director Stafford Arima, who did "Aida"
for NSMT last season, keeps the action flowing on a
simple platform stage, well-suited to the show's
narrative form. Costumes, set pieces, and lighting,
blend into a powerful drama.
"Abyssinia" is a rather
straight-forward adaptation of Joyce Carol Thomas'
"Marked by Fire", a novel of sharecropping life in
rural Oklahoma early in the last century. BJ Crosby as
Mother Vera, the local midwife and the heroine's
mentor moves the action along, vocally and
dramatically. The show, which verges on "folk opera"
in the tradition of Scott Joplin's "Treemonisha",
would not have been out of place in the regional drama
period of the '30s. It's had a number of
distinguished performances around the country in the
last decade. The ensemble rises to the challenges of
its rousing gospel, ragtime, and jazz score, which is
often sung through. The cast of fourteen, with
extensive credits in music theatre and the concert
stage, produces a mighty sound. This is a show which
should become part of the American Musical Theatre
tradition. It used to be said
that performing “Hamlet” was the true test of a
leading man. These days the Scottish king or Richard
Crookback are probably more of a challenge, as Hamlet
has turned into an alienated Everyman. Local
character actor, George Saulnier III, does a down to
earth job of playing the doleful prince, with good
jobs from a cast of Theatre Coop regulars. The text
approximates the first printing of the play, the
so-called “bad” quarto and runs les than 2 1/2 hours.
A few more judicious cuts might have kept things
moving faster in spots.
Josh Pritchard, normally seen
as a low comic does an admirable job as Claudius,
Cheryl Singleton is a mature and believable Gertrude.
Peter Brown doubles as the Ghost and the Player King,
while Kevin Groppe revels in Polonius and the
Gravedigger. SerahRose Roth is touching as Ophelia,
and Claire Shinkman does her best as a gender switched
Laertes, a conceit that doesn’t quite work. Dan
Liston’s Horatio beats the anemic conception seen last
month on the Common. Director Lesley Chapman’s direct
approach delivers sound Hamlet--minus Fortinbras--who
was more politically important then than now. A few
more props, particularly weapons for the guard, would
have been welcome. This in-the-round production with
acting areas contiguous to sections of the audience
makes the play very accessible. Less sauna-like
weather would make it more enjoyable. Dress
lightly--like the cast--and bring extra water, Refill
at the concession stand during intermission. Reagle's definitely
got themselves a leading lady in Sarah Pfisterer, back
for her third season, and the second show this summer.
“The Sound of Music” (1958) let Oscar Hammerstein
approach his roots in the operetta while once again
finding a way for decency to respond to tyranny.
Pfisterer's Maria and co-star John Davidson as Baron
Von Trapp anchor a solid production of this classic,
combining her fresh fully-trained voice with his forty
years of show-biz experience. Davidson is not only a
believable, but not especially threatening military
man, but also enough of a mature aristocrat to project
an attractive touch of nobility and manners, making
their May and December romance seem inevitable. Those who caught
"Breathe of Kings" during its brief run in 2003 may
want to catch it this weekend in the larger space of
the Roberts Studio at the BCA, under its new title,
"Hal Harry Henry." Noel Joseph Allain is once again
in the role of Hal aka Henry V, while Eric Lochtefeld
who has appeared in several of Mary Zimmerman's
production, including the Tony-nominated
"Metamorphoses" play his father, Henry IV, aka Henry
Bolingbroke, Sir John Falstaff, Exeter, and other
roles. The author and head director, Shawn Cody, also
plays Hotspur among other roles. He does well enough
acting, but might have concentrated more on the
direction and found another Henry Percy, or better
still, further honed his complex script and engaged a
more subtle director. Of all Shakespeare's
plays, "The Comedy of Errors" derives its humor most
from the action rather than its characters. Based
loosely of the ancient Roman comedy by Plautus, "The
Twin Maenechmi," the play follows one day's
adventures of identical twins Antipholus of Syracuse
and Antipholus of Ephesus, and their equally identical
servants, the Dromios. The former played by Lewis
Wheeler has come to town seeking his long-lost
brother. The Ephesian is played by Bill Mootos, and
with a little costume help from Rafael Jean and some
cool shades, they look quite alike. The long-winded
Dromios, Steven Libby and Hary LaCoste are more
indistinguishable. To add to the plot, their father,
Egeon, played to Nigel Gore, has also arrived in
Ephesus and been arrested, since this city in Asia
Minor and Syracuse, off the "boot" of Italy are
enemies. If he can't make bail by sundown, he'll be
executed. The Vokes Players summer
classic this year is Richard Wilburs’
translation/adaptation of Moliere’s 1672 domestic
comedy, “Les Precieuses riducles.” Wilbur’s approach
is more sympathetic than the original, which is rarely
produced even at the Comedie Francais. Director John
Barrett has fielded a strong ensemble cast, many
of whom were in last summer’s Shaw classic, “The
Devil’s Disciple.” His set is square and realistic and
the collection of costumes Elizabeth Tustian has come
up with are appropriate to the period. Wilbur’s
couplets prove very playable and the comic
observation, while not especially contemporary, still
resonates.
Kimberly Schaffer and Evan
Bernstein are charming as the almost thwarted young
lovers, Deanna Swann, Melissa Sine and Mickie Lipsey
are the over-educated title characters. Dan Kelly is
back at Vokes, this time to channel his innner poet as
the pedantic villain, the ladies' idol. James Ewell
Brown is the henpacked father of the girls. Kate
Mahoney plays Martine, the cook, one of Moliere’s
favorite recurring servant roles. Robert Mackie, Kent
Miller, and David Dobson round out the able cast.
Another fine production at Vokes worth the drive
to Wayland, only a few minutes west on Rt. 20 off
128. Those who missed Pamela
Gien's remarkable solo show this last January can
catch it at the Loeb until the end of the first week
in August. Perhaps the best current example of the
monodrama Russian theatre theorist Evreinov proposed
during the 1920s, this piece probably provides its
author/actress more catharsis than an audience could
hope to get, at least in one sitting. Indeed much of
the action would be recognized by Freud's student J.
L. Moreno, whose controversial psycho-drama became a
basis for modern therapeutic techniques. This
rewarding if occasionally uncomfortable theatre piece
starts somewhat cryptically as this former ART company
member regresses to a four year old on a swing in her
back yard in urban Johannesburg. By the end of the
show, she, as the main character Elizabeth (named
after the Queen?), is able to come home from America,
where she fled just after the Soweto riots and begin
to come to terms with her inner turmoil. There’s a
lot of hidden artifice in the construction of the one
hour forty minute continuous piece, directed by Gien’s
acting guru, Larry Moss. It’s certainly the best
serous theatrical effort onstage in town at the
moment. Turtle Lane’s first
show ever, in 1982, was Stephen Schwartz's “Godspell”
and a few years later this spinoff from Wayland's
Vokes Theatre first tried “Pippin”, their summer
offering this year. TLP recently did Schwartz’s “Rags”
in 2003. His music, with its ever-present touch of the
popular, is well suited to those who generally perform
there. The show however , written in the early '70s,
no longer has echoes the youth culture of the period
it originally spoke for. "Pippin"'s first act seems
overlong; its second rather arbirtrary. While some
anti-war themes still resonate, Schwartz's continuing
preoccupation with "growing up", evident even in his
current Broadway success "Wicked", comes across as
self-indulgence. Tom Stoppard may
well be the current successor to Bernard Shaw,
producing plays which combine fine writing, witty
situations, and provoking ideas. His 1993 "Arcadia"
may be less well-known than "Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are Dead", but this play is more
ambitious, for it uses the mathematical mysteries of
the universe as its poetic springboard. The drama
shifts from the past to the present and back again,
combining a country-house comedy with an academic
puzzle involving Byron, while touching on the
paradoxes of time.
The youthful part of the
ensemble is quite convincing and will probably grow in
future productions. Peter Colao's set is rather
architectural with door units that track in, two small
side wagon stages, a large window in the rear, and a
number of surprises. John R. Malinowski provides a
flexible light plot which helps speed the action
along. Music director Anna Lackaff has arranged the
shows traditional music, composed additional material,
and used tunes and lyrics from the director to make
the best use of the cast's musical talents. Lombardo
has also created as soundscape and special audio
effects to add to the magic of the evening. And of
course there's snow and fog as the story requires,
plus some
special effect surprises. This will be another
production of "A Christmas Carol" to return to year
after year, to initiate all members of the family to
the wonder of live theatre, and to enjoy a
unique interpretation of an important part of American
Christmas tradition, which was introduced over here
when the author himself read the story at the Parker
House back in the 19th century.
"Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol", Dec. 10 -24
New Repertory Theatre at Arsenal Center for the
Arts
32` Arsenal St. Watertown, (617) 923 -84487
New Repertory
Theatre
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "A Christmas Carol" by
Charles Dickens, adapted by NSMT
Date: Sun, Dec 11, 11:53 PM
Quicktake on A CHRISTMAS CAROL
The Cratchit kids are
locals from a variety of programs including NSMT's
Youth Theatre, with Maureen Brennan again doubling as
their mother and the Ghost of Christmas Past, gliding
about on her float. Newcomer Bill Carmichael is a very
appealing BobCratchit. The complex set is back out of
storage and spiffed up as usual, with the musicians
spilt between a raised loft where music director Brian
Cimmet reigns, a pit for the brass and strings across
the stage, from which they move to various positions
throughout the house or onstage as needed, while the
harpist is on the balcony over the vomitorium. The
costumes under Joanna C. Murphy's supervision capture
the several eras of the show, lighting and special
effects, including snow, confetti, and pyro add to the
magic of the season. NSMT "A Christmas Carol" remains
the gold standard for interpretation of this classic
in these parts,
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens at al, Dec. 2
- 24
North Shore Music Theatre at Dunham Woods
Beverly MA, (978) 232 - 7200
North Shore Music
Theatre
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "The Firebugs" by Max
Frisch
Date: Sat., Dec. 10, 10:33 PM
Quicktake on THE FIREBUGS
Gottlieb Biederman
(God-loved Anyman), a hair tonic manufacturer is a
perfect role for veteran comic actor Bill Doscher.
His wife Babette is played by Danielle Fauteux
Jacques, co-director of this production with Atissa
Banuazizi, and TheatreZone's Artistic Director. The
two "firebugs", Sepp Schmitz and Willi Eisenring, are
an ominously bald Floyd Richardson, a TheatreZone
veteran, and tuxedoed Stephen Libby, seen as a Dromio
at Publick Theatre this summer. The remaining parts
are a delightfully accented Flavia Steiner as Anna the
maid, silent Elizabeth Kurtz as widowed Mrs.
Knechtling, Rick Carpenter briefly as the ambiguous
Ph.D, and Anna Waldron as leader of the chorus of
firepeople. She starts the show in an outrageous
sequined dress singing--what else--a torch song. The
eight chanting and dancing actors in the diverse
chorus harken back to those in the ancient Greek
comedy, giving this absurdist comedy a unique
timelessness.
This 90 minute show features
live contemporary music and sound effects from Mark
Warhol's ensemble. Matthew Kossack worked out the
footstomping street-wise choreography. The set of red
painted levels was created by Julia Noulin-Merat in
her 9th show for TheatreZone. She’s completing her MFA
in Scenic Design at BU. Debbi Hobson's costumes, from
Biederman's continental suit to Sepp's carnival
wrestler's garb to the effective fireman's outfits
give the show a finished look. This "morality play,
without a moral" is well worth the short trip out to
Chelsea. Carpooling is best; go a little early.
.Parking around the triangle in Chelsea Sq. is
generally easy to find.Suggest driving in through tank
farm and the wholesale vegetable market from Rt. 99 in
Everett, thenturn left at the second set of lights
after driving under the Tobin Bridge. There's a good
map on TheatreZone's site. The Chelsea Theatre Works
theatre space is a marvelous old Oddfellow’s Hall up
three flights of stairs.
"The Firebugs" by Max Frisch, Dec.9 - 23
TheatreZone at Chelsea Theatre Works
189 Winnisimmet, Chelsea Sq. / (617 ) 887 - 2336
TheatreZone
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Arcadia" by Tom
Stoppard
Date: Thur, Dec 9, 11:37 PM
Quicktake on ARCADIA
The play swings between
1809-1912 and the present, where Hannah and Bernard
are both researching the history of the Coverly estate
for different reasons. In the present they meet the
sexually forthright Chloe Coverly played by Allison
LInker, seen earlier this fall in "N(as in Bonaparte)"
with Pilgrim and repressed Valentine Coverly, a
mathematical biologist. There's also their silent
brother Gus, a intuitive musician played by Zach
Adler, who also appears towards the end of the play as
Thomasina's younger brother, Augustus, who does speak.
These dozen actors must also invoke other unseen
characters important to the action, including George
Gordon Lord Byron, Mrs. Chater, and Lord Croom. Marc
S. Miller has shaped this cast into a working ensemble
with acceptable English accents. They managed to
navigate the complex time-defying plot to make the
various mysteries clear. Stronger attention to diction
would help with some of the more abstruse moments, but
all-in-all it's a solid rendition of the play.
Longwood's next project will be Sondheim's early
effort, "Merrily We Roll Along" for two weekends March
31 - April 8.
"Arcadia" by Tom Stoppard, Dec. 2 -10
Longwood Players in Durrell Hall
820 Mass. Ave, Camb. YMCA, Central Sq. 1 (800) 595 -
4TTX
Longwood Players
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Red Elm" by Dan Hunter
Date: Sun, Dec 4, 6:20 PM
Quicktake on RED ELM
The cast of "Red Elm" is
superb. Veteran actor William Young is patriarch Jack
Butler, a modern Iowa farmer. His long-suffering
wife, Margaret, is played by Worcester actress,
teacher and playwright, Anne Marie Shea. Their
remaining son, Ezra, is Mark Peckham, new to Boston
with credits in Providence and elsewhere. Jack's
secretary and Ezra's love interest is Julia Jirousek
in another appealing performance. Their acting as
much as the author's storytelling makes one want to
know what happened to these people.
The set is another effective
exercise in abstracted realism by Susan Zeeman Rogers
with believable costumes by Gail Astrid Buckley. The
show, which was announced for Wesley Savick was
directed quite smartly by newcomer Karl Michaelis;
Savick is listed as the dramaturg for all the
preparatory work he did with Hunter. Lights and
sound, plus other technical details are well-handled
by a largely B.U. crew. It's a good close to a fall
season of interesting work. Look for 11:11 and Brian
Tuttle;e to come down from their fourth floor perch at
the Actor's Workshop in January. Also in January,
playwright Elizabeth Wyatt, who works both here and in
Brighton England is bringing "Flowers of Red", a show
based on the life and death of Rachel Corrie which she
premiered this summer at the Edinburgh Fringe.
"Red Elm" by Dan Hunter, Dec. 1 - 18
Boston Playwrights' Theatre in Studio B
949 Comm. Ave, Allston, (617) 358 - PLAY
Boston Playwrights'
Theatre
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Apocalypso!" by Bill
Donnelly
Date: Sat, Dec. 3, 11:07 AM
Quicktake on APOCALYPSO!
Still, director Dan
Milstein. has given the show a nice arc, even when it
seems to bog down in trivia. Ron DeMarco's abstract
cityscape backed by an equally abstract "sky",
surrounding the bits of furniture which defines scenes
sets the mood. Perhaps Fred Harrington's live
accompaniment gets a bit too meditative, and might try
contrasting with the action more, but it's never
inappropriate. Bonnie Duncan's costumes are a bit
more subdued than usual, but entirely suited to the
characters. The result is the best bargain in holiday
shows. Unfortunately "Apocalypso!" doesn't run through
New Year's. But then who knows when the end will
come?
Apocalypso!" by Bill Donnelly, Dec. 2 - 17
Rough & Tumble Theatre at Calderwood Pavilion,
Rehearsal Room
527 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Rough &
Tumble
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "A Christmas Story" adapted
by Philip Grecian from Jean Shepherd's movie
Date: Fri, December 2, 11:19 AM
Quicktake on A CHRISTMAS STORY
Mother, first to utter the
famous line "You'll shoot your eye out" is deftly
handled by Bates and Emerson grad Meagan Hawkes, who's
taken time out from documentary film-making to deal
with Ralphie, Randy--hiding under the table--and of
course the Old Man. Dale Place, Stoneham's favorite
Scrooge, takes on the mantle of Father, hanging on
as a low-level manager, driving his "new" used
Oldsmobile, and of course proud of his "major award."
While Bolman and Hawkes take alternate roles as the
mythical Red Ryder or Miss Fields, Ralphie's teacher,
the Old Man is more than enough from Place to handle,
pursued by the neighbor's dogs, dreaming of turkey
instead of meatloaf and red cabbage, with the firm
goal of keeping his family housed, clothed and fed,
battling the coal furnace daily.
The seven youngsters in "A
Christmas Story"--plus two alternates--come partly
from Stoneham's own Youth Theatre. But Ari Shaps, a
Gloucester six-grader, is a product of NSMT's youth
program, as is Henry McClean who as kindergartener
Randy, spends most of the show hidden somewhere on the
set or encased in his snow suit. Ralphie's friends,
Flick and Schwartz, John-Michael Breen and Nick
McGrath, come from NSMT and Stoneham respectively.
Scut Farkas, the playground bully, is played by
Stoneham's Danny Marchant. The two girls, Helen, the
class brain--who's also reputed to have beaten up
Farkas--and Esther Jane who's sweet on Ralphie, are
done by diminutive Emily Pinto and tall Sarah Reed,
both from Stoneham's program. All are good at being
kids and quite on par with the three seasoned
professionals who move the show along. Bolman,
Hawkes, and Place show that taking the risk of acting
with youngsters can pay off. Animals are another
matter, but the destructive hounds next door are only
heard, not seen.
The show takes place on
Jenna McFarland's colorful changeable set, which looks
like an illustration from the Saturday Evening Post.
It also folds and shifts so that the kitchen stage
left becomes Ralphie's classroom, and the livingroom
becomes Goldblatt's Dept. Store, among other things.
Fans of the film won't be disappointed, families
discovering the Parker's for the first time will find
a lot to recognize. So be careful with BB guns, and
don't lick the flagpole, but do take a short ride out
the Stoneham for this shiny new production, a definite
addition to the holiday season.
"A Christmas Story" by Philip Grecian, Nov. 25 -
Dec. 23
Stoneham Theatre
395 Main St. Stoneham, (781) 279 - 2200
Stoneham
Theatre
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Three Sisters" adapted from
Anton Chekov
Date: Thurs, Dec 1, 11:47 PM
Quicktake on THREE SISTERS
"Three Sisters" adapted from Anton Chekov, NOV. 26 -
JAN. 1
A.R.T at Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle, Harvard Sq., (617) 547 - 8300
A.R.T.
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Crowns" by Regina
Taylor
Date: Sunday, Nov 27,
Quicktake on CROWNS
Not as seasonal as some of
Lyric's past December offerings, "Crowns" makes a fine
holiday entertainment nevertheless. Its Pentecostal
roots are traced back to their West African
counterparts, and are clearly part of the survival
strategy of African-Americans before and after
slavery. The cast is in sympathy with the material
and with the support of music director Evelyn
Lee-Jones at the keyboard ready to testify.
"Crowns" by Regina Taylor, Nov. 25 - Dec. 23
Lyric Stage at Copley Sq. YWCA
140 Clarendon, Boston, (617) 437 - 7172
Lyric Stage
Company
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2005 23:01:38 -0500
From: "Jerry Bisantz" jbisantz@comcast.net
Subject: Hello from Jerry Bisantz
Jerry
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "50 Million Frenchmen" by Cole Porter &
Herbert Fields
Date: Sun, Nov 13, 11:18 PM
Quicktake on 50 MILLION FRENCHMEN
Brent Reno once again proved his worth as a leading man, and got
to sing the show's only standard "You Do Something to Me." Opposite
him was the youngest of the De Lima clan, Kate. Her mother, Sarah, as
Violet, a character part got two Bea Lillie type numbers. Peter
Carey, as the owner of the Parisian Hotel where everyone is staying
functioned almost as the M.C. Shows like this were closer to reviews
loosely connected by a disposable plot. Our hero, Peter Forbes (of
"the street") has two playboy friends ready to relieve him of part of
his fortune; Michael, sung with panache by one of the group's
founders, Benjamin Sears, and Billy, sung by Eric Bronner, who got to
tenor away at a parody ballad "I Worship You (I Don't Love You)."
Since this is a romantic farce in the Gilbertian mode, Michael winds
up with the heroine's friend, Joyce whose motto was "Don't Make Me Be
Good", sung by Joei Marshall Perry. The heroines parents, the
Carrolls from Terra Haute, were ably handled by Peter Miller, clearly
the senior comic since he was wearing plaid Bermuda shorts with his
tux jacket, and Kerry Dowling, tired of being "The Queen of Terra
Haute." Her answer is to marry of her daughter to a Russian Count
played by Turtle Lane stalwart, JIm Jordan. The Count unfortunately
escapes the final party with two racy entertainers, The American
Sister Act, sung by co-founder Mary Ann Lanier and La 'Tarsha Long.
Which leaves Valarie Anastasio as May, a cabaret singer friend of the
hero, to match up with Billy, having given up trying to "Find Me a
Primitive Man," the only other number with a life beyond this show.
Then Msr. Pernase the hotel manager takes up with the not so shrinking
Violet. Or at least, that's the line up for the finale.
Staging director David Frieze applied his usual light touch to
come up with enough action to make situations clear--if not logical.
Margaret Bulmer did her usual virtuoso job at the Steinway, and
co-founder Bradford Conner had several walkons and directed the rest
of this large cast when they morphed into the Chorus. The remainder
of the American Classics season will include a Chamber Music program
for Valentines day, on Feb 10 & 12, and for the second year, a Ragtime
Festival featuring two different concerts on April 21, 22, & 23. Last
year's Ragtime Concerts sold out to an overflow audience. Get you
tickets early.
"50 Million Frenchmen" by Cole Porter , Nov 11- 13
American Classics in Pickman Hall, Longy
27 Garden St, Camb,
American Classics
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "A Number" by Caryl
Churchill
Date: Sun, Oct 23, 11:13 PM
Quicktake on A NUMBER
As a coda to this 65 minute
piece, MIchael, one of the unauthorized clones shows
up from America. He's a far different seemingly
well-adjusted person than the first two. As usual,
this show first seen at London's Royal Court,
Churchill's home base, leaves more questioned
unanswered than resolved. The simple set was done by
Lyric's Skip Curtis, with lighting by house
electrician, Robert Cordella. The soundscape and
original music is again the work of Dewey Dellay.
There will be discussions after every Sunday matinee,
and no doubt more than a few on the way home. Part
science fiction in the British sense, part Pinteresque
theatre of menace, "A Number" is another successful
Boston premiere of the Lyric--and will probably join
the local repertory next season.
"A Number" by Caryl Churchill, Oct. 21 - Nov.
19
Lyric Stage Company at Copley Sq. YWCA
140 Clarendon St., (617) 437 - 7172
Company Website
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Dracula" by Weylin Symes,
after Bram Stoker's novel
Date: Sun, Oct 23, 2005 8:07 PM
Quicktake on DRACULA
The title role is played by
Publick Theatre's Diego Arciniegas with a nod to
Dryer's "Nosferatu" and no hint of Bela Lugosi.
Nathaniel McIntyre plays Jonathan Harker, the
unfortunate young realtor sent to Transylvania to deal
with the Count. IRNE winner Richard McElvain is Dutch
scientist Van Helsing. He should somehow appear
earlier in the action. The two heroines, Jonathan's
wife Mina and her cousin, Lucy Westenra are played by
Joy Lamberton, seen this summer at the Publick in
"Arcadia" and "Comedy of Errors", and Angie Jepson,
seen last summer in "Troilus and Cressida" in a title
role. Their parts are convincing Victorian but could
be more substantial to take advantage of these fine
young talents. Lucy's fiance, Dr. Seward, is played
by Owen Doyle, also seen in "Arcadia" as well as ASP's
"Julius Caesar." He also plays the Romanian
innkeeper. These experienced actors form a tight
ensemble which lifts the production over a few rough
patches in the storytelling.
This production combines
Stoneham's committment to new work aimed at a
mainstream audience. Period costumes by Rachel Padula
Shufelt and expert lighting by IRNE winner Karen
Perlow catch the melodrama of the piece while giving
the evening a contemporary air. The show is certainly
appropriate to the season.
"Dracula" by Weylin Symes, Oct. 20 - Nov. 6
Stoneham Theatre
395 Main St. Stoneham MA, (781) 279 - 2000
Stoneham
Theatre
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "The Keening" by Humberto
Dorado
Date: Thur, Oct 20, 10:53 AM
Quicktake on THE KEENING
"The Keening" by Humberto Dorado, Oct. 14 - Nov.
12
A.R.T. at Zero Arrow
Arrow & Mass. Ave, Harvard Sq. (617) 547 - 8300
A.R.T.
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "The Boy Friend" by Sandy
Wilson
Date: Weds, Oct 12, 11:04 PM
Quicktake on THE BOY FRIEND
Almost the brightest part of
the evening, however, is Tony Walton's production
design, done as a kind of giant toy theatre in
illustration style with Kelly Hanson's help. He was
assisted on the costumes, which at times steal the
show, by Rachel Navarro.When this Goodspeed production
is done in New York, which could take a while, expect
local musical theatre producers to take a second look
at its charms. In the mean time, they might want to
search out its sequel, a Noel Cowardish sea-going
romp, "Divorce Me, Darling"
"The Boy Friend" by Sandy Wilson, Oct. 12-23
Goodspeed Musicals at the Shubert
265 Tremont St. , (800) 477- 7400 (TC)
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "The Beauty Queen of Leenane"
by Martin McDonagh
Date: Sat, Sept 24, 11:23 PM
Quicktake on THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE
As usual, Hovey has
achieved a functional and realistic set for this show
with believable costumes and effective lighting.
Irish music over the onstage radio completes the
picture. The cast with the help of dialect coach Mark
Usher sounds appropriately Irish in a contemporary
way. Hovey's next show is Craig Lucas' "Prelude to a
Kiss" in November.
"The Beauty Queen of Leenane" by Martin McDonagh,
Sept. 23 - Oct. 8
Hovey Players at Abbott Hall
9 Spring St. Waltham, (781) 893 -9171
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Our Country's Good" by
Timberlake Wertenbaker
Date: Sun, Sept 18, 11:08 PM
Quicktake on OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD (1988)
This current revival may
suggest some contemporary prisoner situations, but the
drama is primarily and grimly historical. The
ensemble at the Coop which features Seth Holbrook as
Lt. Clark who decides to direct this play, Austin de
Besche as Capt. Phillip, the Governor of this prison
colony in New South Wales who encourages him, and Nate
Connors as brutal Major Ross, who'd hang the lot of
them. Connors also doubles as Lt. Brewer a Marine who
is forced in fact conduct hangings and goes mad.
Zofia Goszczynska plays his doxie, Duckling Smith and
doubles briefly as a stargazing officer.
Two woman who have no
doubled roles are SerahRose Roth, who plays Liz
Morden, a petty thief liable to be hanged who gets one
of the female leads in the play and Erin Scanlon, who
gets the other, the breeches part, falls in love with
the director, who winds up having to play Lt. Plume,
the hero of the piece. Nancy Hoffman doubles as both
Dabby Bryant and Meg Long, two whores. The remaining
men in the ensemble all double as both officers and
prisoners. Michael Avellar is moving as an Irishman,
Freeman, who's forced to become the hangman. Kevin
Ashworth is both second in command and the pickpocket
Robert Sideway. Andrew Winson plays both the Chaplain
and the writer who plays Capt. Brazen, John
Wisehammer a Jew falsely transported. Ian G. Byrd
plays the recruiting officer,a severely beaten
prisoner, and the ghost of the first man hanged in the
colony. Needless to say, the cast is busy changing
costumes when they're not also moving a few bits of
furniture to set a large number of scenes in the
play's brief two hours, This is not a show for the
squeamish, but a sobering modern classic, and another
unique offering from the Coop.
Note: An earlier version of this misidentified
Seth Holbrook. We apologize.
"Our Country's Good" by Timberlake Wertenbaker, Sept.
16 - Oct. 1
Theatre Cooperative at Peabody House
277 Broadway, Somerville, (617) 625 - 1300
Theatre
Cooperative
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "The Real Thing" by Tom
Stoppard
Date: Thurs, Sept 15 8:13 AM
Quicktake on THE REAL THING
HTC eschews "star power" for
this production and instead fields a sound
professional cast of NY and regional actors, led by
Rufus Collins as Henry and luminous Kate Nowlin as
Annie, his second wife If Henry is the glib but
somewhat befuddled brains of the piece, Annie is its
rather conflicted heart. The rest of the cast are
strong, but their characters in a sense are pawns in
the central drama. The handsome set, like that for
"39 Views" which Yionoulis directed at HTC last
season, is an abstract expanse by Kris Stone in the
moderne mode currently favored at Yale SoD. While the
open stage suggests a kind of universality, the vista
leaves the action adrift at times. It also doesn't
help the antique acoustics of the Mystic aka the
B.U.Theatre, and the odd line gets lost in all that
space. There is however so much vintage Stoppard to
listen to that most of the audience won't feel
deprived. Real Stoppard fans will have heard it
before and look forward to hearing it again, perhaps
after a reread. "The Real Thing" will never become a
staple but it will keep coming back as a rare dish,
worth seeing each time to discover new tidbits. It
will be interesting so see what LOngwood does with
"Arcadia" after its successful outing at the Publick
this summer, and later in the season when the B.U.
Drama program tackles the same script. Who's for
"Jumpers" or "Travesties", or (one can hope) "The
Invention of Love."
"The Real Thing" by Tom Stoppard, Sept. 9 - Oct.
9
Huntington Theatre Company at the B.U.Theatre
264 Huntington Ave, (617) 266 - 0800
HTC
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "The Educated" by Donna
Sorbello
Date: Sat, Sept 10, 11:09 PM
Quicktake on THE EDUCATED
Technical support for
this production is basic. Michael Clark Monson's set
has a sterile unlived-in quality but functions well
enough. However, his lighting could use a little more
definition, perhaps a gobo or two, but no one's left
in the dark. Tracy Campbell's costumes are acceptable.
A few more changes might be help, especially for
Sandahar, to mark the passage of time. Jamieson
Alcorn's soundscape, mostly Middle-Eastern popular
music, is evocative. A playlist for Western audiences
unfamiliar with these recordings would be appropriate.
"The Educated" is an interesting start to the new
play season, worth seeing for the questions raised,
even though the action isn’t fully realized yet. It
could well develop into an important contribution to
the current dialogue about East and West. A lower
ticket price for a work still needing work might
attract a bigger audience, however.
"The Educated" by Donna Sorbello, Sept. 9-25
A&P+D atBoston Playwrights' Theatre
949 Comm. Ave. Allston, (617) 661-1387
BPT
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Urinetown" by Greg Kotis &
Mark Hollman
Date: Sun , Sept 11, 11:05 AM
Quicktake on URINETOWN
nbsp; Of course it helps IRNE
winning director Spiro Veloudous to be able to build
his show around such IRNE winning stalwarts as
Christopher Chew as Officer Lockstock the narrator and
Marianne Zschau in full voice as Ms. Pennywise, not
mention having IRNE winner Sean McGuirk as the
villain, Caldwell B. Cladwell. Then there's favorites
such as Peter A. Carey, Peter Edmund Haydu, and Robert
Saoud in supporting roles, along with IRNE winning
choreographer Ilyse Robbins in the cast leading her
own hilarious efforts. The show also introduces two
recent local grads, veterans of college musicals, Rob
Morrison as Bobby, and Jennifer Ellis as Hope, as the
unlikely--except in musicals--love interest between an
assistant at a Public Amenity and the millionaires
daughter. The pair bring a freshness to these roles,
not to mention real musical theatre voices. Let's
hope they don't run off to NYC too soon.
Support includes IRNE
winner Jonathan Goldberg as music director conducting
from the keyboard, an effective grungy set by Norton
awardee Janie E. Howland, expert lighting by IRNE
winner Karen Perlow, and appropriately Brechtian
costumes from Rafael Jean. As usual, the Lyric is
overflowing with topnotch local talent including an
engaging ensemble singing and dancing up a storm, and
changing costumes every few minutes as they switch
between the distressed lower classes and the
Cladwell's associates at Urine GoodHands Co. So "Hail
Malthus", "Don't Be The Bunny", and don't miss this
unique start to the small theatre musical season.
There's a special student performance on Tuesday,
Sept. 20 at rush prices, which are $10 for all shows
anyway.
"Urinetown" by Greg Kotis & Mark Hollman by Greg
Kotis & Mark Hollman, Sept 9 - Oct. 11
Lyric Stage Company at Copley Sq. YMCA
140 Clarendon, (617) 437 - 7172
Lyric Stage
Co.
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Carmen" by Georges Bizet
after Merimee’s novella
Quicktake on CARMEN
The show is accompanied by two grand pianos which
actually makes Bizet’s musical ideas clearer than the
re-orchestration which was done after his untimely
death only three months after Carmen’s disastrous
premiere. Most of the recitative has been replaced by
dialogue, all in clearly enunciated French sparingly
surtitled by Steven Epps, the company’s associate
director. The result is a show probably closer to
Bizet’s original inspiration than what’s normally
heard at opera houses. It’s a good start to the large
theatre season in town, close to but not over the top
in its inventiveness.
"Carmen" by Georges Bizet, libretto by Meilhac & Halevy
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "The Story" by Tracy Scott
Wilson
Date Mon, Sept 5, 11:01 AM
Quicktake on THE STORY
The center of the action
turns around the conflict between Nydia Calon's
Yvonne, a brash young reporter just hired at a major
urban newspaper, The Daily, and Pat, her boss, the
paper's veteran Black reporter, now in charge of
community news aka Outlook. Nydia Calon, first seen
here last spring in "Tooth & Claw" and Michelle Dowd,
seen in Zeitgeist's "Bee-Luther-Hatchee" and last
season in "Homebody/Kabul" play these parts to the
hilt and could be the whole play. Dowd's role,
incidentally, was originated at NYC's Public Theatre
by Phylicia Raschad. "The Story" however, adopts a
more cinematic approach, bringing in Yvonne's white
lover, Gabriel Field as Jeff, a rich young White
assistant editor on the Metro desk.For balance there's
Pat's protege, Neil, a sharp young Black reporter,
played by IRNE winner, Keedar Whittle. Field also
briefly plays Jeff Dunn, another rich White guy
teaching in an outreach program at an inner-city
school. The play's action is triggered when he's shot
driving at night not far from his school. His pregnant
wife, Jessica, played by Caryn Andrea Lindsey, says
the shooter was a black man.
The plot of course becomes
complicated. Neil immediately thinks "Charles Stuart"
and starts investigating the wife. Pat is worried
about her community's image and assigns Yvonne to
cover the positive activities at local community
centers. Yvonne, who really wants to work on "real
news" for Metro or preferably the National desk, finds
this boring. But she meets Latisha, a bright
youngster, perhaps an image of her earlier self, who
tells her that the killing was done by a member of a
previously unknown girl gang. "Latisha", played by a
Junior at Boston Arts Academy, Chantel Nicole Bibb,
is Yvonne's ticket to promotion as the story becomes
front page news. Predictably, thing unravel, given
the complex personalities involved and the internal
politics, personal and racist, at the paper, resulting
in a dramatic final moment 90 minutes into the play.
Unfortunately, it's not a real conclusion to the
drama. Like too many contemporary scripts, which seem
to be conceived to work for film or TV, "The Story" is
a good first and second act, leaving the audience to
finish the play on the way home.
.
However, Zeitgeist does an
impressive job getting to this moment with simple but
effective in-the-round staging. The cast handles
scenes of overlapping and intercut dialogue with
precision. A three woman ensemble, IRNE winner Kortney
Adams, IRNE nominee, W.Yvonne Murphy, and busy Kaili
Turner, switch between half a dozen minor roles
apiece, once by simple costume changes even
metamorphosing from three community center directors
into three of their teen-age charges onstage. They
could easily step into either of the major roles.
Wilson's cinematic script plays quite well under
Miller's careful direction and tight technical
support. Even without a dramatic conclusion, this
show is well worth seeing.
"The Story" by Tracy Scott Wilson,Sept. 2 - 24
Zeitgeist Stage Co. in BCA Black Box
539 Tremont St., (617) 933- 8600 (BTS)
Zeitgeist Stage
Co.
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2005 02:20:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: MikeyHammond@aol.com
Subject: Abyssinia - Shubert Theatre
- Michael -
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Abyssinia" by Kociolek &
Racheff
Date:Friday, Aug 26, 12:23 AM
Quicktake on ABYSSINIA
NSMT second "away" show
will be Lerner and Loewe's "Camelot", Sept 20 -Oct. 9,
just before Julie Andrew's production of "The
Boyfriend", the show which brought her to the States,
having its pre-Broadway tryout, Oct.11-23. The old
Schubert, which is looking quite spiffy these days,
hasn't seen this much music in years. NSMT is still
hopeful that they can be back on their own stage by
the first of November for "The Full Monty", in the
buff and in the round. Maybe some new friends from
downtown will be willing to head up to the North Shore
for a grand re-opening.
"Abyssinia" by Ted Kociolek & James Racheff, music, lyrics, and book, Aug 23 - Sept. 11
North Shore Music Theatre at Schubert Theatre
265 Tremont St., Boston / (800) 477-7400
North Shore Music
Theatre
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Hamlet" by Wm.
Shakespeare
Date: Insert date and time
Quicktake on HAMLET
"Hamlet" by Wm. Shakespeare,Aug. 12 - 21
Theatre Cooperative at Peabody House
277 Broadway, Somerville (617) 625 - 1300
Theatre Coop
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "The Sound of Music" by
Rodgers & Hammerstein
Date: Sat, Aug 13, 12:02 AM
Quicktake on THE SOUND OF MUSIC
It’s the music however that
makes “The Sound of Music.” Jenny Lynn Stewart, a
professional singer with a strong operatic background,
has toured internationally in the role of the Mother
Abbess. Her strong presence lifts the scenes in the
Abbey. She’s ably backed up by Marian Rambelle,
Rachelle Riehl, and Margie Quinlan as Srs. Berthe,
Margaretta, and Sophia, all trained and experienced
singers, who lead an ensemble totalling eighteen in
Rodgers Latin “Preludium” and the wedding
“Processional”. On the musical comedy side, Bob
Freschi, seen here last year in “The Music Man” and
Sylvia Ryne bring an urbane touch to Max and Elsa and
a depth of performance credits. Their sophistication
provides an essential contrast to Maria, especially
along with Davidson in Hammerstein's most Lorenz
Hart-like ditty, “How Can Love Survive?” And to round
out the Von Trapp household, Stan and Aurlie Alger,
Reagle stalwarts play Franz from Captain’s naval days
and Frau Schmidt the housekeeper. Everything’s
well-blended together in the effective revival under
Frank Roberts’ careful direction.
Of course, it’s the kids who
are the center of this show, and Reagle’s rounded up a
charming septet. Tisch student Molly O'Neal is Liesl,
and has a nice moment in the reprise of “Sixteen Going
on Seventeen” singing with Pfisterer. Steven Krueger
and Christian Johansen are the two brothers, Friedrich
and Kurt. Deanna Michelle Foltz is mischievous
Louisa, Charlotte Horan shines as truth-telling
Brigitta, while Claire Dickson and Ashley Learned
Kamal are the two youngest. And under Jennifer Honen's
tutelage, they do become the Trapp Family Singers.
It’s the best family show so
far this summer--the possible exception being NSMT’s
burned-out “Cinderella”--with an effective hired set
spruced up considerably by Matt Rudman, and classic
costumes from Kansas City. Jeffrey P. Leonard gets a
full professional sound out of the pit. Speakeasy’s
Paul S. Katz has the able assistance with the music
direction from Dan Rodriguez, currently completing his
degree at Oberlin College and Conservatory. Fans of
the Hollywood classic should remember not to sing
along, however. Reagle regulars should also plan to
restrain themselves when Kirby and Beverly Ward bring
their Irving Berlin “Say It With Music” revue back the
weekend of Oct. 7-9.
"The Sound of Music" by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Aug
10 - 25
Reagle Players at Robinson Theatre
Waltham HIgh, (781) 891-5600
Reagle
Players
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Hal Harry Henry" adapted
from Wm. Shakespeare
Date: Thursday, July 28, 11:41 PM
Quicktake on HAL HARRY HENRY
This production is headed
for New York, and while the ensemble is energetic,
half the student actors simply aren't ready for prime
time. There's also the conceptual difficulty of having
Angela Aliki Basset play the boy Henry VI. She also
serves a narrative thread, quoting from various texts,
including "Hamlet", "Richard II", and "Midsummer...",
serving as the French Herald, as well as playing
Katherine of France, Henry VI's mother. She's most
successful in the last brief role. The double is too
pat. Cody needs to find a strong youth to play this
role, and could of course have him play Katherine
after the Elizabethan tradition. The reverse really
doesn't work. Richard II, as played by Sheila
Bandyopadhyay, one of the producers, is only slightly
successful. Most of the rest of the cast would be
perfectly fine in a collegiate production, providing
more rigorous attention was paid to their verse
speaking, which is far too colloquial. Only Julia
Niven as Hotspur's wife comes near the mark, as well
as Curt Klump when playing his father.
This historical pastiche
has some merit, but needs some dramaturgical scrutiny.
Since the second half is half the length of the first,
Cody might well want to intimate that the War of Roses
and snarling Dick is what comes next. The conceit that
what the audience is watching is an acting troupe
recounting Henry VI's family's history for the young
prince just isn't well-enough established to frame the
action. As long as "Hamlet" is being stirred into the
mix, Polonius' introduction for the players might be
used, and more Brechtian moments employed as the show
progresses. Right now, the staging is about on the
level of the best of the Globe High School Finals, and
the characterizations would generally get only a
passing grade. Klump might even get a B for
Northumberland, Percy's father, and Ancient Pistol.
"Hal Harry Henry" adapted from Wm. Shakespeare's
histories by Shawn Cody, July 27 - 31
Shakespeare East in Roberts Studio, Calderwood
Pavilion
BCA, 527 Tremont, (617) 933- 8600
Shakespeare
East
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Comedy of Errors" by Wm.
Shakespeare
Date: Thursday, July 28, 2005 8:34 AM
Quicktake on THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
Of course the twins are
instantly mistaken for one another, and indeed, can't
tell their own servants apart Hint: audience members
who might get confused should note their footwear.
The real mixups start when Carolyn Lawton, as Adriana
the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, drags his brother
into the house because he's late for supper--and
something more. Of course her husband shows up.
Dromio of Syracuse, having been told not to admit
anyone, bars the door, and gets into a shouting match
with his counterpart. The husband storms off, and the
audience soon discovers that the foreign Antipholus is
smitten with Adriana's sister, Luciana, played by Joy
Lamberton. The latter is not about to start fooling
around with her sister's husband, though she's
intrigued. But it's a comedy, everything works out at
the last minute. Egeon gets all his family back--and
his life--his sons each get a sister, and the Dromios
get the last laugh. Director Diego Arciniegas puts the
company through their paces in a sprightly manner.
Half of this cast is also in "Arcadia", which will now
play in weekly rotation with "Comedy of Errors" until
early September. Also the Young Company will be
presenting their version in early August.
"Comedy of Errors" by Wm. Shakespeare, July 21 -
Sept. 10
Publick Theatre in Herter Park
1400 Soldiers Field Rd. Brighton, (617) 782- 5425
Publick
Theatre
From: “will stackman” profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject:
Quicktake - “The Learned Ladies” by Moliere,
translator - Richard Wilbur
Date: Sat, July 23,
9:59 AM
Quicktake on THE LEARNED LADIES
__________________
“The Learned Ladies” by Moliere, July 21 - Aug. 6
Vokes Players at Beatrice Hereford’s Vokes
Theatre
Rt. 20, Wayland, (508) 358 - 2011
Vokes
Players
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "The Syringa Tree" by
Pamela Gien
Date: Thurs, July 21,
Quicktake on THE SYRINGA TREE
"The Syringa Tree" by Pamela Gien, July 15 - Aug.
7
presented by ART at Loeb Theatre
64 Brattle St. Harvard Sq., (617) 547 - 8300
American Repertory
Theatre
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Pippin " by Stephen
Schwartz & Roger O. Hirson
Date: Thur, July 7, 2005 12:01 AM
Quicktake on PIPPIN - seen in preview
While director James
Tallach has pulled together an effective, mostly
young, ensemble, the two principal's seen in the
preview, Shanna McEachern as the MC of this morality
play, and Russell Peck as its title character, didn't
make enough audience contact to make the action
compelling. Patricia Strauss' choreography, which
echoes the novel moves of the show's original director
Bob Fosse, matches the capabilities of her dancers.
However, this style has become so ingrained in
American Musical Theatre that their use today, even
in a show where they were first showcased, becomes
something of a parody. Perhaps what "Pippin" needs is
not revival, but renovation. TLP's current
production will satisfy those nostalgic for its
period, who remember numbers like "Magic to Do" or
even "Extra-Ordinary." Wayne Ward has done his usual
solid job as music director. Jeff Gardiner's set is
sufficient, if not displayed to its best under TLP's
meager lighting capabilities. Robert Itszack's
costume plot echoes the original medieval circus motif
but doesn't quite come together; some of the painted
clowns seem overdone while the story characters seem
unfinished. All-in-all, a pleasant enough
presentation of a show whose juvenile concerns have
lost much of their relevance, unless sold by extremely
compelling performances.
"Pippin" by Stephen Schwartz & Roger O. Hirson, July
8 - Aug. 14
Turtle Lane Playhouse a
283 Melrose St. Auburndale, (617) 244 - 0169
Turtle Lane
Playhouse
From: "will stackman" profwlll@yahoo.com
Subject: Quicktake - "Arcadia" by Tom
Stoppard
Date: Wed, July 6, 2005 11:26 PM
Quicktake on ARCADIA
Publick Theatre's fine
ensemble casts includes Susanne Nitter as Hannah and
Nigel Gore as Bernard, two feuding academics in the
present. In the past there's Kelly Adair as Thomasina
Coverly, a naive genius, and Lewis Wheeler as Septimus
Hodge, her tutor, a rakish young University man. The
action takes place on her father, Lord Cooms' estate,
where Lady Cooms (Caroline Lawton) has her eye on
Septimus, Septimus is dallying with Mrs. Chater, the
wife of a local poet, who's also of interest to
Milady's brother, dashing Captain Brice (Bill Mootos).
The erstwhile poet, Ezra Chater(Owen Doyle), is
determined to call Septimus out, but is continually
dissuaded by his charm, even though the young rascal
has published a scathing review of Chater's first
book. Meanwhile, eager Rich. Noakes(Gerard Slattery),
a very up-to-date--for 1812--landscape architect, is
busy turning the Arcadian Cooms' landscape into a
Romantic wilderness--complete with a hermitage.
Now back in the present,
Valentine Coverley(Eric Hamel), a University
mathematician has taken to referring to Hannah, some
20 years his senior as his "fiance." Val's hoydenish
sister Chloe(Joy Lamberton) has fallen for Prof.
Bernard, and their pathologically shy younger brother
Gus(Will Ford) won't speak but knows everything that's
going on, and where to find the proof. Will also
plays Augustus, Thomasina's haughty brother, as the
past and the present come together at the end of the
action, where the mysteries of what probably
happened to who become clear, and the audience
finds out what Jellaby the butler (Bill Gardiner) knew
all along. Some characters in the plot never appear
onstage, but the dozen who do are vividly drawn in the
production under Diego Arciniegas' expert
direction.
"Arcadia" runs through Sept.
4th and will be joined in repertory by "The Comedy of
Errors" on July 21st. The unit set for both is an
impressive set of pillars and the great outdoors.
There's plenty of free parking a