Get Your Kicks at ‘KINKY BOOTS’ at Ogunquit Playhouse

October 12, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Cast of ‘Kinky Boots’ at Ogunquit Playhouse. Photos by Gary Ng)

By Sheila Barth

BOX INFO: Two-act, popular Broadway musical hit, appearing at Ogunquit Playhouse, 10 Main St. Route 1N, Ogunquit, Maine, through October 27. Tickets start at $36; economy seats, $51. ogunquitplayhouse.org, 207-646-5511.

Kick up your heels, stride proudly, walk tall, and enjoy every minute of Ogunquit Playhouse’s spectacular production of “Kinky Boots,” Harvey Fierstein and Cindy Lauper’s popular Broadway musical hit. This is one show you don’t want to miss.

Don’t let the name of the play be off-putting. The musical isn’t about sexual kinkiness. It’s about two contrasting males who share what they perceive as the same shortcoming. They can’t live up to their fathers’ expectations. The main theme, though, is a clarion call for tolerance, love, and accepting people for who they are. The story is based on fact, writes Director-Choreographer Nathan Peck, former dance captain for the Broadway run. Thirty-something Steve Pateman of Northampton, England reluctantly took over his dad’s failing shoe business in the early 2000s. A woman who specialized in the sale of transgender women’s footwear saved Pateman’s business, by joining him and creating glamorous shoes. Their story was highlighted on BBC, and provided the heart of 2005 British film “Kinky Boots,” starring Joel Edgerton and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Book Clubs Get ‘Spinal Tap’ Treatment in Boston Playwrights Theatre’s ‘The Book Club Play’

October 9, 2019October 9, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Becca A. Lewis and Greg Mariao in Boston Playwrights Theatre’s ‘The Book Club Play’. Photos by Stratton MacCrady)

by Mike Hoban

The Book Club Play – Written by Karen Zacarías; Directed by Shana Gozansky; Scenic Design by Jeffrey Petersen; Lighting Design by Kat C. Zhou; Sound Design by Stephanie Lynn Yackovetsky; Costume Design by Kevin Morris. Presented by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, through October 13

There’s a saying that came out not long after the first photographs were developed, “The camera cannot lie”. And as those of us who are less-than-photogenic can attest, the truth isn’t always pretty. The same can be said of film, which is the premise of The Book Club Play, an updated version of the 2008 Karen Zacarías work now being given its Boston premiere at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.

As the title suggests, the focus of the play is a book club, which in turn is the focus of a documentary by a (fictional) acclaimed Danish documentary film maker, the amusingly named Lars Knudsen. He’s interested in documenting the distinctly American phenomenon of the book club, and has chosen one founded and led by Ana – pronounced “Ah-nuh” – (the gifted Becca A Lewis), a lifestyle columnist for the city’s daily paper that, as we soon learn, is more than a little bit controlling. We first meet her as she is speaking into the camera, describing Book Club as a “safe haven…a place to read, talk, and to be our authentic selves.”

Theatre on Fire Learns to Speak ‘Mountain Language’

October 8, 2019October 8, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

Mountain Language – Written by Harold Pinter. Directed by Darren Evans. Scenic and Sound Designer: Darren Evans. Costume Design: Erica Desautels. Lighting Design: Emily Bearce. Presented by Theatre on Fire at Charlestown Working Theater October 4-19, 2019.

I am occasionally accused of going on a bit too long when reviewing shows. And given that Theatre on Fire’s new production of Harold Pinter’s Mountain Language runs a brisk twenty-five minutes, start to finish, this seems like a good opportunity to try and practice exorcising some limits.

The show is excellent and I think you should go see it.

…Alright, now let’s see if we can work a bit more nuance into that statement…

WAITING FOR GODOT – Wilbury Theatre Group

October 8, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Tom Gleadow and Richard Donelly in WAITING FOR GODOT at The Wilbury Theatre Group, Providence RI; photo by Erin X. Smithers)

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Wilbury Theatre Group opens their ninth season with Samuel Beckett’s existential play “Waiting for Godot.” It first appeared on Broadway in April, 1956. It is about two tramps, Estragon and Vladimir and stars Richard Donelly as Gogo and Tom Gleadow as Didi. They sit waiting on a barren road for Godot. While they wait they run into three people as the two of them have long discussions with each other. They quarrel, make up, contemplate suicide, eat a carrot and gnaw on some chicken bones. One of the men that they meet is Pozzo. He is going to the market to sell his slave, Lucky. He converses with the two men while Lucky entertains them by dancing and thinking. Director Fred Sullivan masterfully takes us on this comic but informative journey about the meaning of life and how we explore it, awaiting the outcome and hoping for something or someone who gives us this positive energy. Are we waiting for a lover, for God or the path our life will take? Beckett lets the audience members decide what they think the meaning of this play is, leaving it up to them to solve the pathway of their lives.

ASP’s Stripped Down ‘King Lear’ Yields Mixed Results

October 8, 2019October 9, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Actors Shakespeare Project’s ‘King Lear’ Robert Walsh, Lear and Lydia Barnett-Mulligan, Regan. PHOTO CREDIT MAGGIE HALL)

‘King Lear’ – Written by William Shakespeare; Directed by Doug Lockwood. Scenic Design by Jon Savage; Lighting Design by Jeff Adelberg; Costume Design by Jesicca Pribble; Sound Design by David Reiffel. Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project at Chelsea Theatre Works, 189 Winnisimmet St, Chelsea, MA through October 27, 2019.

by Julie-Anne Whitney

Actors’ Shakespeare Project opens their 16th Season with a mystifying “near-future” production of King Lear at the Chelsea Theatre Works. The intimate black box theater in downtown Chelsea was the perfect space to stage this dark, ominous Shakespearean tragedy.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Alive and Well at the Huntington Theatre

October 7, 2019October 8, 2019 michaelhoban1 Comment

Will LeBow (Player), Jeremy Webb (Guildenstern), and Alex Hurt (Rosencrantz) in the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Photo: T Charles Erickson

By Michele Markarian

“Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead” – Written by Tom Stoppard. Directed by Peter DuBois. Scenic Design by Wilson Chin; Sound Design and Original Music by Obadiah Eaves; Costume Design by Ilona Somogyi; Lighting Design by David Lander; Projection Design by Zachary Borovay. Presented by Huntington Theatre Company, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston through October 20.

“What do you think happens to them?” teased my theater companion at the first intermission of Tom Stoppard’s very funny, very imaginative fill-in-the-blanks back story of Shakespeare’s Hamlet’s university friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. At the risk of sounding obtuse, even though I have seen and read “Hamlet” many times, the writing, acting and direction in “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” at the Huntington Theatre are so in the moment that I was, for a moment, not sure.

21 Pairs of Dancing Feet Dazzle in Umbrella Stage Company’s 42nd Street

October 4, 2019October 4, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Gillian Mariner Gordon and cast of 42nd Street – Photos by-Kai-Chao)

by Linda Chin

42nd Street – Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Al Dubin; Book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble; Directed by Brian Boruta; Music Direction by James Murphy; Musical Restaging and New Choreography by Lara Finn Banister; Scenic Design by Benjamin D. Rush; Lighting Design by Seifallah Sailotto-Cristobal; Sound Design by Elizabeth Havenor; Costume Design by Brian Simons, Properties Design by Sarajane Morse Mullins; Stage Managed by Michael Lacey. Presented by Umbrella Stage Company, 40 Stow St, Concord, MA through Oct 20th

With its stereotyped characters, dated dialogue, and thin plot, 42nd Street may not be representative of the bold, daring, innovative programming thatConcord’s Umbrella Stage Company promises to deliver (and has successfully shared with audiences for years). What is definitely daring, though, isproducing artistic director Brian Boruta’s decision to produce a show of this scale and complexity in a new facility that’s still unfamiliar and where the paint is barely dry. Bravo to Boruta (also the show’s director) and company for making this bold move, as the 21-member cast (yup, that’s 42 dancing feet) succeeds in proving that 42nd Street is a fitting opener for the Umbrella Stage Company’s inaugural season.

7 Fingers’ Journeys to New Heights with ‘Passengers’

October 1, 2019October 1, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Maude Parent and the cast of ‘Passengers’, now playing art ArtsEmerson’s Cutler Majestic Theatre – Photos by Alexandre Galliez)

By Mike Hoban

Passengers – Conceived, Directed and Choreographed by Shana Carroll. Music, Lyrics, Sound Design, and Arrangements by Colin Gagné. Presented by ArtsEmerson and performed by The 7 Fingers at Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont Street, Boston, MA, through October 13

Montreal-based The 7 Fingers returns to the Cutler Majestic Theatre to kick off ArtsEmerson’s 10^th season, and the latest offering from the circus arts troupe, Passengers, elevates the genre from mere circus performance to genuine art. While one surmises that this has long been the aim of the company, as someone who has seen most of the half-dozen 7 Fingers shows presented by ArtsEmerson in recent years, this is the one that truly fulfills that vision. And this in no way demeans previous shows. In addition to the oohs, ahhs, and nerve-wracking aerial stunts that any good circus arts show provides, 7 Fingers always reaches for something more in an artistic sense, but Passengers is in its own stratosphere.

SOMETHING ROTTEN (Providence College Theatre)

October 1, 2019November 1, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

SOMETHING ROTTEN
Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Providence College Theatre Department’s opening show is the regional College area premiere of “Something Rotten”, a very new and fresh musical from 2015. This hilarious original musical is set in 1595 and tells the story of Nick and Nigel Bottom and their arguments and disagreements with William Shakespeare who is a character in this play.

Riveting ‘JQA’ at GAMM Theatre

October 1, 2019December 27, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Candice Brown, Helena Tafuri in Gamm Theatre’s ‘JQA’)

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The second show of GAMM Theatre’s 35th season is the New England premiere of “JQA” by Aaron Posner. “JQA” tells the story about the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams. It unfolds in nine separate scenes and although it is the history of the man, Posner makes it applicable to current events. And it is a brilliant and excellently written play. Riveting and electrifying, the play shows great depth and emotion and isn’t dry as dust as one would expect from historical plays. It also has some famous people who knew JQA in each of the scenes including his father, John Adams, President George Washington, his British born wife, Louisa, his mother, Abigail Adams, his Secretary of State Henry Clay, his successor, Andrew Jackson, abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Director Tony Estrella casts this show with four strong performers to play multiple roles including each of them playing JQA himself. The adage “Do good and be good is required of every man in power” is told to JQA by his mother on her deathbed. And that is the lesson that needed to be learned back in the 1800’s as it needs to be learned now. Honor and dignity are what leaders of nations need back then and especially nowadays, too.