Category: Uncategorized

Central Square Theater & Front Porch Arts Collective Questions Societal Standards in “Next to Normal”

michaelhobanLeave a comment
Anthony Pires, Jr., Sherée Marcelle, Diego Cintrón in Central Square’s ‘Next to Normal’.
Photos by Maggie Hall

“Next to Normal.” –  Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey. Music by Tom Kitt. Directed and choreographed by Pascale Florestal. Voice and music directed by Katie Bickford. Scenic design by Erik D. Diaz. Costume design by Kiara Escalera. Lighting design by Michael Clark Wanson. Sound design by James Cannon. Stage Managed by Deirdre Benson. Presented by Central Square Theater & the Front Porch Arts Collective at Central Square Theater, 484 Mass. Ave through through June 30th, 2024

By Helen Ganley

Father rushes off to work, and mother is in the kitchen preparing lunches while daughter and son get ready for school. Peering into this world, one might see an archetypal family busy with the ups and downs of suburban life. Looks, however, can be deceiving. Central Square Theater & Front Porch Arts Collective’s production of “Next to Normal” illuminates the hidden depths of a seemingly perfect life.

Read more “Central Square Theater & Front Porch Arts Collective Questions Societal Standards in “Next to Normal””

A Heartwarming and Roof-Raising ‘tick, tick…Boom!’ at The Cape Playhouse

michaelhobanLeave a comment
Cast of tick, tick…Boom! at the Cape Playhouse

The Cape Playhouse presents TICK, TICK… BOOM! Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson. Directed by Eric Rosen. Costume Design by Demario D. Simmons. Lighting Design by Paul Miller. Sound Design by Jeff Sherwood. Projections Design by Steve Arnoczy. At The Cape Playhouse, Dennis Village, Cape Cod, MA, through June 15, 2024. 

By Linda Chin

Since its inception in 1927, The Cape Playhouse in Dennis, MA, the longest-running professional theater in the country, has attracted world-class talent to Cape Cod. The New York Times has referred to it as the “Place Where Broadway Goes to Summer,” and the summer of 2024 is no exception. 

Read more “A Heartwarming and Roof-Raising ‘tick, tick…Boom!’ at The Cape Playhouse”

A Special Creation of ‘La Cage Aux Folles’ at Trinity Rep

michaelhobanLeave a comment
Cast of ‘La Cage Aux Folles’ at Trinity Rep. Photos by Mark Turek.

‘La Cage Aux Folles‘ – Book by Harvey Fierstein. Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman. Based on the Play by Jean Poiret. Directed and Choreographed by Taavon Gamble. Music Direction and Orchestration by Andrew Smithson. Set Design by Janie E. Howland. Costume Design by Olivera Gajic. Lighting Design by Erica Lauren Maholmes. Sound Design by Larry Fowler, Jr. At Trinity Repertory Company, 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI, through June 30, 2024.

By Linda Chin

Trinity Rep proudly celebrates its 60th anniversary season for the entirety of Pride Month 2024   with Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman’s La Cage Aux Folles, the 1984 Tony Award-winning Best Musical about being who you are and loving who you want. With inspired direction and choreography by Taavon Gamble and a spirited artistic team, cast and orchestra, Trinity Rep’s production is a very special creation indeed.

Read more “A Special Creation of ‘La Cage Aux Folles’ at Trinity Rep”

The Vilna Shul and “The Dybbuk” Are A Match Made in Heaven in Arlekin Players’ Must-See Production

michaelhobanLeave a comment
Cast of Arlekin Players’ “The Dybbuk” at the Vilna Shul. Photos: Irina Danilova

‘The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds’ — Written by Roy Chen. Based on the original play by S. Ansky. Adapted by Igor Golyak and Dr. Rachel Merrill Moss with additional material from the translation by Joachim Neugroschel. Directed by Igor Golyak. Scenic Design by Igor Golyak with Sasha Kuznetsova. Presented by Arlekin Players Theatre at The Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture, 18 Philips St., Boston, through June 23.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Igor Golyak, the peerlessly talented founder and award-winning artistic director of Arlekin Players Theatre, has done it again. Known for his innovative approaches to traditional and virtual theater, his production of “The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds” takes the audience on a magic carpet ride straight into the beating heart of a turn-of-the-century Eastern European shtetl.

Read more “The Vilna Shul and “The Dybbuk” Are A Match Made in Heaven in Arlekin Players’ Must-See Production”

A Fresh and Exciting ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ for the Ages at NSMT

michaelhobanLeave a comment
Jeremy Radin and the cast of “Fiddler on the Roof” at North Shore Music Theatre.
Photos by Paul Lyden
 

‘Fiddler On The Roof’ – Book by Joseph Stein. Music by Jerry Bock. Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Direction by Robert W. Schneider. Music Direction by Miles Plant. Original Broadway Choreography by Jerome Robbins reproduced by Josh Assor. Scenic Design by Ryan M. Howell. Costume Coordination by Kelly Baker. Lighting Design by Jack Mehler. Sound Design by James Cannon. Hair & Wig Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt. At North Shore Music Theatre, Beverly, through June 16, 2024. 

By Linda Chin

A fresh and exciting production of one of the world’s most beloved musicals – Fiddler on the Roof –  is at the beloved North Shore Music Theatre in the round, giving patrons of all ages and abilities access to the action from no further than 12-15 rows from the stage. Jerome Robbins’ original Broadway choreography, which has been faithfully recreated by Josh Assor, is exuberantly performed by the 35-member cast. The circle dances of Jewish culture, inclusive of community rather than exclusively for couples, feel right at home on the circular stage. 

Read more “A Fresh and Exciting ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ for the Ages at NSMT”

Sullivan Rep’s Sumptuous ‘A Little Night Music’ 

michaelhobanLeave a comment
Cast of Sullivan Rep’s ‘A Little Night Music’ at Newton City Hall

Sullivan Rep presents ‘A Little Night Music’. Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by Hugh Wheeler. Direction and Choreography by Dan Sullivan. Music Direction by Jenny Tsai. Lighting Design by Erik Fox. Properties Design by Rick Grenier. Costume Design by DW. Hair and Makeup Design by Bridget Sullivan. Sound Design by Paul Roach. At Newton City Hall, Newton, MA, through June 8, 2024. 

By Linda Chin

For two weekends in June, Sullivan Rep presents the second show of its inaugural season – A Little Night Music by the late musical genius Stephen Sondheim. Like his more popular musicals – the macabre Sweeney Todd or the fanciful Into the Woods, A Little Night Music has the masterful score and brilliant lyrics that are Sondheim’s trademark and is a story about love, longing, and romantic pairings that don’t have fairy tale endings. With a book penned by Hugh Wheeler, A Little Night Music is part operetta, part social commentary, and part bedroom farce and includes melancholic and laugh-out-loud moments.

Read more “Sullivan Rep’s Sumptuous ‘A Little Night Music’ “

A Deeply Moving, Hauntingly Beautiful “Dybbuk”

michaelhobanLeave a comment
Cast of Arlekin Players’ ‘The Dybbuk’ at the Vilna Shul. Photos: Irina Danilova

“The Dybbuk”.  Written by Roy Chen. Based on the original play by S. Ansky and adapted by Igor Golyak with Dr. Rachel Merrill Moss.  Directed by Igor Golyak. Presented by Arlekin Players Theatre at the Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture, 18 Phillips Street, Beacon Hill, Boston, through June 23rd.

By Michele Markarian

There’s an Old World, otherworldly feeling of the Vilna Shul, one of the oldest immigrant synagogues in the United States, with its high, cracked ceilings, elaborate chandeliers and  Hebrew names engraved on the walls. Plastic and scaffolding are in the center of the long rectangular room, with the sound of water dripping. The house manager announces that the show will be one hour and fifty minutes without an intermission. My friend and I look at each other; the dismay and fear on her face mirrors my own. Little did we know that one hour and fifty minutes later, we wouldn’t want “The Dybbuk” to end. It’s a stunning, spiritual production where the worlds of the living and the dead are never far from one another. While this is a world premiere, coincidentally, Ansky’s original version was performed in Yiddish by the Vilna Troupe.

Read more “A Deeply Moving, Hauntingly Beautiful “Dybbuk””

Gloucester Stage’s ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’ Sends Up Middle-aged Family Dysfunction

michaelhobanLeave a comment
Cast of Gloucester Stage’s ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’. Photos by Jason Grow

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike – By Christopher Durang; Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw.  Set Design by Kristin Loeffler; Costumes by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Anshuman Bhatia; Sound Design by Melanie Chen Cole. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, through June 23

By Mike Hoban

In the opening scene of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Gloucester Stage Company’s first offering of its 34th season, we meet Sonia (Adrianne Krstansky) and Vanya (Diego Arciniegas), having coffee in their picturesque farmhouse overlooking a pond in Buck’s County, PA. Although they are brother and sister (Sonia is adopted), they banter like an eccentric middle-aged (50s) married couple: The fire’s gone out, but they’re too indifferent to move on. Sonia has turned wallowing in self-pity into an Olympic sport, while Vanya seems more resigned to his fate. The pair has spent the last 15 years of their life taking care of their elderly, now deceased, parents. They lament not what could have been but how meaningless their lives are, particularly in contrast to their sister Masha – the B-list movie star who rose to fame as the protagonist of the wildly popular B-movie “Sexy Killer,” which she milked for four sequels.

Read more “Gloucester Stage’s ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’ Sends Up Middle-aged Family Dysfunction”

Huntington’s “Toni Stone” Tells the Story of One of the Best Baseball Players You Never Heard of

michaelhobanLeave a comment
The cast of Toni Stone at The Huntington Theatre. Photos by T. Charles Erickson.

‘Toni Stone’ — Written and Directed by Lydia R. Diamond. Inspired by “Curveball: The Remarkable True Story of Tony Stone” by Martha Ackmann. Presented by the Huntington, in an arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French. At the Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston, through June 16.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Toni Stone, the subject and title of playwright Lydia R. Diamond’s new drama, has one helluva story to tell. As played by the pitch-perfect Jennifer Mogbock, she is also one helluva terrific storyteller and more than up to the task of narrating the events of her remarkable life.

Which is a good thing, because “Toni Stone,” now at the Huntington, ran almost three hours (with a long intermission and delayed start) on opening night last Wednesday.

Read more “Huntington’s “Toni Stone” Tells the Story of One of the Best Baseball Players You Never Heard of”

‘Bluey’ Comes to Life in Boston

michaelhobanLeave a comment
Bluey’s Big Play at the Boch Wang Center. Photo Credit: Darren Thomas

“Bluey’s Big Play” — Story by Joe Brumm. Music by Joff Bush. Presented by BBC Studios and Andrew Kay in association with Windmill Theatre Co. at the Boch Center Wang Theatre. Run has ended.

By Shelley A. Sackett

It’s true what they say about grandparenthood — there is nothing like it. There are so many things you didn’t even consider doing when childcare duties sucked your days dry of time and energy. But now that those children are grown and have children of their own (and are willing to drive them to meet you at the theater!), the opportunity to not just attend but actually enjoy such events as “Bluey’s Big Play” are the payoff.

Which I did last Saturday with my Bluey-obsessed three-year-old grandson. We had a blast.

Read more “‘Bluey’ Comes to Life in Boston”