The Roaring 20’s are alive and well at Reagle Music Theatre’s 51st season opener “Mame.” This musical version was originally titled “My Best Girl”, which became a hit song in the show. “Mame” is based on the 1955 fictional novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and a 1956 play starring Rosalind Russell. The musical version by Jerry Herman opened on Broadway on May 24, 1966, ran for 1,508 performances. It starred Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur who both won Tony Awards for their roles as Mame and Vera. Mame Dennis is the leading character, who lives a wild and carefree life in 1920’s New York until she unexpectedly becomes the guardian of her ten year old nephew, Patrick when her snooty brother passes away.
(Trinidad Ramkissoon, Laura Chowenhill in Flat Earth’s ‘King of Shadows’)
Review by James
Wilkinson
‘King of Shadows’ –
Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Directed by Michael Hisamoto. Scenic
design: Ryan Bates. Costume Design: Erica Desautels. Props Design: Emily Penta.
Lighting Design: PJ Strachman. Sound Design: Bram Xu. Puppetry Consultant:
Libby Schap. Presented by Flat Earth
Theatre at the Black Box at the Mosesian Center for the Arts through June 22
The titular character from Flat Earth Theatre’s new production, The King of Shadows, never makes an onstage appearance. At least, not a flesh and blood one. In Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s play, he makes his presence and the presence of his companion, the Green Lady, felt in other, much more nefarious ways. Characters are left peeking over their shoulder, looking out of the corner of their eye, speaking about him in hushed tones. They’re aware that something is coming, something bad, but never quite able to put their finger on what’s happening. He acts as a kind of distant cousin to the Slender Man, a dark figure who kidnaps children and takes them away to another world, (Slender Man having his own origins in the story of the Pied Piper and about half a dozen other mythical child-snatching creatures). He’s like the weather, uncontrollable and unstoppable. Flat Earth’s production goes to great lengths to try to make you as afraid of the King of Shadows as the characters and I’m sorry to report back that I never got anywhere close. Despite some valiant efforts by the cast to sell the story on the page, there just isn’t enough here for the production to lift off.
Sophorl Ngin (Edward), Aislinn Brophy (Ellen), Joshua Wolf Coleman (Betty), Stephanie Clayman (Clive), Kody Grassett (Maud), and Marge Dunn (Joshua) in Act 1 of Cloud 9. Photo: Nile Scott Studios.
by Michele Markarian
“Cloud Nine”, by Caryl Churchill. Directed by Lee Mikeska Gardner. Presented by The Nora Theatre Company, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, through June 30.
Given our current climate of the contraction/expansion of sexuality and all of its permutations, the decision of The Nora Theatre Company to produce Caryl Churchill’s “Cloud Nine” is an apt and timely one. Churchill presents us with sexuality in all of its extremes, often hilariously, sometimes disturbingly. Lee Mikeska Gardner’s excellent direction and the stellar acting by the seven-member cast make this an unforgettable theater-going experience.
(Marissa Simeqi, Amy Jo Jackson, & Ellie van Amerongen in Speakeasy’s ‘Fun Home’/Photo Nile Scott Studios)
by Mike Hoban
‘Fun Home’ Music by Jeanine Tesori; Book & Lyrics by Lisa Kron; Based on the Graphic Novel by Alison Bechdel; Directed By Paul Daigneault; Music Direction by Matthew Stern; Choreography by Sarah Crane; Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Costume Design by Charles Schoonmaker; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will. Presented by the SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. Boston through June 30
Fun Home is not your typical musical. In fact, it, based on its tragicomic nature and lack of any show-stopping musical numbers, it might more accurately be called a play with music. But this Tony Award-winning coming out/coming of age adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic novel memoir is still a pretty gratifying work, due to its compelling storyline and effective performances by the cast.
(Leigh Barrett, Ben Choi-Harris in Reagle Music Theatre’s ‘Mame’ – Photo by Herb Philpott)
by
Linda Chin
Tony Award winning musical Mame will soon enjoy another revival in Greater Boston at Reagle Music Theatre (June 14 – July 23), and though life “is a banquet” but comes with few guarantees, we theatergoers can be confident that a cast led by professional actors Leigh Barrett* (Mame Dennis), Maureen Keiller* (her “Bosom Buddy” Vera), and Mark Linehan* (her southern suitor Beau) will more than do justice to the theatrical jousting and joyous Jerry Herman score. The title song Mame is one of those first act finales that sends people humming and dancing into intermission (and inspires many spontaneous sing-a-longs), and the festive We Need a Little Christmas is one of those show tunes that’s become a holiday season staple. These two crowd-pleasing production numbers and Mame’s poignant solo, If He Walked Into My Life, are the three classics usually included in lists of top 100 Broadway musical hits from the 30s to 80s.
(Danny Bolton, Meredith Gosselin, Erin Eva Butcher and J Taylor D’Andrea in Wellesley Rep’s This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing’. Photo: Maggie Hall)
Review by James
Wilkinson
‘This Girl Laughs,
This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing’ – Written by Finegan
Kruckemeyer. Directed by Marta Rainer. Set Design: Janie E. Howland. Sound
Design: George Cooke. Costume Design: Chelsea Kerl. Lighting Design: Bridget
Doyle. Fight Director: Sarah Flanagan. Presented
by Wellesley Repertory Theatre at the Ruth Nagel Jones Theater at Wellesley
College June 5-30, 2019.
Wellesley Repertory Theatre would like to tell you a story. It’s a story about a trio of sisters and the adventures they had. There are Vikings and far-away lands. There are friendly woodland critters and curmudgeonly lighthouse keepers. There are whole towns moving under the power of a team of thirty horses and entire cities of people who have never seen the sun or danced a two-step jig. There’s a whole wide world explored before finally returning to the comfort of home. All of this and more can be found in Finegan Kruckemeyer’s play This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing now in production at Wellesley Rep. If any of the above sounds like it belongs in a tale by the Brother’s Grimm, that’s by design. Kruckemeyer’s play draws heavily from a number of classic fairytale sources, proudly wearing those inspirations on its sleeve. I have to say, though, that a few days after having seen the production, I’m struggling to decide just how successful the whole thing is. It’s not that the production doesn’t have charm (it does) and it’s not that the quality of the artistic team is deficient in any way (it’s not). It’s that given the subject matter, the production just didn’t spark the sense of wonder that I wanted it to and which had me leaving the theater feeling unfulfilled.
(Cast of Speakeasy Stage Company’s ‘The View Upstairs’ All photos by Nile Scott Studios)
By Mike Hoban
‘The View Upstairs’ – Written by Max Vernon; Directed by Paul Daigneault; Scenic Design by Abby Shenker; Costume Design by Dustin Todd Rennells; Lighting Design by Abigail Wang; Sound Design by Elektra T. Newman. Presented by the Speakeasy Stage Company at the BCA Plaza Theatre through June 22.
Given that The View Upstairs is a fictional retelling of the final night of the Upstairs Lounge, the New Orleans gay bar that was turned into a fiery deathtrap by an arsonist’s match in 1973 (claiming the lives of 32 people), it’s a bit hard to find the proper descriptor without sounding disrespectful. But the truth of the matter is that this musical, now being given its New England premiere by Speakeasy Stage, is often funny and joyful – for the first 95 minutes anyway – despite its dark undertones. Equal parts Twilight Zone episode, gay sitcom, documentary, and cautionary tale on the ways that the obsession with social media is stealing our collective souls, View is first and foremost a worthwhile entertainment.
(Lyndsay Allyn Cox, Paige Clark, Marc Pierre, James Ricardo Milord, Tonasia Jones, Stewart Evan Smith in GBSC, Front Porch Arts Collective’s ‘The Three Musketeers’ – Photo credit: Maggie Hall Photography)
Reviewed by
Tony Annicone
Chivalry comes to life with a comic, swashbuckling and intriguing version of The Three Musketeers at Greater Boston Stage in collaboration with the Front Porch Arts Collective, who seek to advance racial equity in Boston. D’Artagnan, a country boy, is determined to join the prestigious Musketeers in defending one and all from the evil Cardinal Richelieu. Director Dawn M. Simmons presents a gender bending version of the show as they take us on an exciting journey into yesteryear. The show is written by Catherine Bush and adapted from Alexander Dumas’ novel. It celebrates honor, lust for life, romance and true friendship. Of course there are many evil plots and schemes to avert by these Musketeers and their young protégé. Their friendship is what endures during their struggles with adversity and how sticking together through thick and thin wins the day. The astounding swordfights, fights and pratfalls are breathtaking and directed perfectly by Angie Jepson, while the costumes by Amanda Mujica are beautiful.
‘Oklahoma!’ –Music by Richard
Rodgers; Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II; Directed by Charles Repole;
Choreography by Mara Newbery Greer; Music Direction by Mark Hartman. Presented
by North Shore Music Theatre, 62 Dunham Rd., Beverly, through June 16.
Just when the cold, wet slog of spring 2019 was about to wear down all hope that summer would ever arrive, NSMT comes to the rescue with a first-rate production of the 1943 classic, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘Oklahoma!’ Perfect for theatre-in-the-round staging, this Broadway masterpiece has everything: a snappy, foot-stomping score, impressive choreography and a captivating story that is more complex and bleak than many may remember.
“Oklahoma” is the classic Broadway musical that launched Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first collaboration back in 1943. So to celebrate North Shore Music Theatre’s 64th season, owner and producer Bill Hanney brings it in as his opening musical of his 10th season at this historic theatre. The story is about Curly, the cowboy, and Laurey, the farmer, who pretend they dislike each other until another unsavory suitor, handyman Jud, makes a play for her. Curly then becomes the hero who must step up to save the damsel in distress. Laurey is guided by her strong willed Aunt Eller. She also is supported by her flirty friend, Ado Annie, who likes to keep many beaus on a string, including handsome, dancing Will Parker who has seen the big city lights and the womanizing peddler, Ali Hakim. Throw in Annie’s strong willed father, Andrew and a singing and dancing chorus that will knock your socks off and you have the ingredients for this sensational high energy musical extravaganza.
