All-Asian Cast Conquers Sondheim’s Ambitious All-American Musical ‘Pacific Overtures’ at Lyric Stage

May 17, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Cast of ‘Pacific Overtures’ at Lyric Stage)

by Linda Chin

‘Pacific Overtures’ – Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Book by John Weidman; Directed by Spiro Veloudos; Music Direction by Jonathan Goldberg; Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland; Costume Design by Gail Astrid Buckley; Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Choreography by Micheline Wu. Presented by Lyric Stage at 140 Clarendon St., Boston through June 16

Boston’s Lyric Stage caps its 10-production-in-20-seasons journey through the Stephen Sondheim songbook with Pacific Overtures, the story of the westernization of Japan – starting with Commodore Matthew Perry’s arrival at the port of Uraga in 1853. Arguably the most sophisticated of the composer’s scores, bold in its portrayal of American intrusion from the perspective of the Japanese, and a challenge to cast, Pacific Overtures is also the least performed. The 1976 Broadway production involved a large cast of Asian actors (mostly male), elaborate staging, choreography, sets and costumes, and incurred a large financial loss when it closed after 6 months. Other Greater Boston companies (North Shore Music Theatre, 2003; BU’s School of Theatre, 2012) have staged revivals with mixed reviews and audience reception, including some criticisms about casting non-Asian actors to portray Asians and other instances of stereotyping and cultural insensitivity. Pacific Overtures is not everyone’s cup of chrysanthemum tea.

THE CURIOUS SAVAGE – Renaissance City Theatre Inc.

May 16, 2019June 3, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Renaissance City Theatre Inc., the producing entity of Granite Theatre’s third show of their 19th season is “The Curious Savage” by John Patrick. We are transported back in time to 1950 where evil stepchildren send their philanthropic stepmother into a sanitarium because she wants to give their father’s 10 million dollars to charitable endeavors. It sounds more like something that would happen in our turbulent society of today. Ethel Savage is a kindly woman meets nicer people here than in her own family. The inmates (as they are called) include Hannibal, who believes he’s an accomplished violinist; Jeffrey, who was an airplane pilot in World War II and thinks his face is scarred; Florence, who carries a doll with her because of a tragic incident in her past; the plain-Jane, Fairy May who thinks she’s a beauty queen; and Mrs. Paddy who was told to shut up and never utters a word except to complain about things she hates. We observe how Ethel tries to outwit her greedy stepchildren, how she deals with her new roommates and how a doctor and nurse might be her salvation. The audience roots for Ethel to succeed in her quest because of all the negativity of the current times. We definitely need more positive and heartwarming stories like this in our lives these days. Director Jude Pescatello casts this heartwarming comedy splendidly and the audience enjoys and savors every moment of it. He mixes the comic and dramatic moments together perfectly, eliciting tears from the audience at the well written ending. I have many fond memories of this show as it was my first straight show in community theatre for Warwick Players back in 1979 when I played Hannibal.

THE BOYS IN THE BAND (MMAS Black Box Theater, Mansfield)

May 15, 2019June 9, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Back Row l to r) Ricky DeSisto of Holbrook, Bryant Vasquez Jr of Brockton, and Gary J Milnac of Dorchester. (On the couch ) Tylar Jahumpa of Cranson RI, John K McElroy II of Harrisville RI, Greg Smith of Brighton, and Christopher Crossen-Sills of Brockton. (Front Row) Max M Peters of Branford CT and André Meservey of Carver. Photo credit: Laura Gustafson

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

MMAS’s latest production is “The Boys in the Band” by Mart Crowley. The play revolves around a group of gay men who get together to celebrate their friend Harold’s birthday in an apartment in Greenwich Village in New York City. Written in 1968, the show was groundbreaking in its description and portrayal of gay life. The 50th anniversary of the original show inspired the recent Broadway revival which is up for the Tony Awards in 2019.

BLO’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Silences Its Most Crucial Role

May 11, 2019May 13, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Nicholas Whittaker

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ – Based on the novel by Margaret Atwood. Composed by Poul Ruders. Libretto by Paul Bentley. Conductor: David Angus. Stage Director: Anne Bogart. Movement Director: Shura Baryshnikov. Set and Costume Designer: James Schuette. Lighting Designer: Brian Scott. Sound Designer: J Jumbelic. Video Designer: Adam Thompson. Wig-Makeup Designer: Tom Watson. Presented by Boston Lyric Opera at the Ray Levietes Pavilion through May 12th

The operatic adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale raises eyebrows from the start, as does The Boston Opera Company decision to produce it in 2019. At this point, the 1985 novel has spawned a film adaptation, a Hulu television series (now three seasons in), two radio adaptations, a graphic novel, multiple stage plays, and a ballet. Atwood’s tale is arguably one of the most popular and revisited narratives in the modern canon. It is understandable, then, that one might want to tap into the zeitgeist and take advantage of this popularity by recycling the narrative in new forms. But each adaptation must justify its own existence, must explain why the story merits a retelling, what new work the ballet, play, film, and now opera does that the book (or one of the numerous other adaptations) did not. Such a task is lofty, but not impossible. Unfortunately, BLO’s Handmaid’s Tale fails to establish itself as a radical or exploratory addition to Atwood’s mythos, losing the most important pieces of the original text without compensating with substantial invention or imagination.

Speakeasy Takes us Back to School For a Much Needed Lesson

May 11, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play – Photos by Maggie Hall Photography)

Review by James Wilkinson

School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play is presented by Speakeasy Stage Company. Written by Jocelyn Bioh. Directed by Summer L. Williams. Scene design by Baron E. Pugh. Costume Design by Miranda Kau Giurleo. Lighting Design by Devorah Kengmana. Sound Design by Allyssa Jones.

The cafeteria at an African all-girls school becomes a battleground in Speakeasy Stage’s new production, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play. The play by Jocelyn Bioh focuses on a group of girls attending the school and it earns the second half of its title. It’s the mid-80s and the girls are giddy with anticipation for the arrival of beauty pageant scout who will be coming to potentially pick a competitor for the Miss Ghana pageant. The one who gets the crown will go on to compete against the winners from countries all over the world. Resident Queen Bee, Paulina (Ireon Roach) seems a shoe-in to chosen, but a wrench gets thrown into her plan with the arrival of new student, Ericka (Victoria Byrd). Due to Ericka’s parentage (white mother and black father), her complexion is much fairer (i.e. whiter) than the rest of the girls at the school. The pageant scout almost immediately latches on to Ericka, thinking that her lighter complexion will make it easier for her to compete on the world stage. When Paulina senses the potential for her best laid plans to go up in smoke, she strikes out in a way that has consequences for everyone in the school.

Company One’s ‘Vietgone’: Stereotype-busting Superheroes

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Quentin Nguyen-Duy and Rob Chen in Company One’s ‘Vietgone’ – Photo by Paul Fox)

by Linda Chin

“Vietgone” – Written by Qui Nguyen. Michelle Aguillon, Director; Kadahj Bennett, Music Director; Misha Shields, Choreographer; Jessie Baxter, Dramaturg; Jasmine Brooks, Assistant Director; Jessica Scout Malone; Assistant Dramaturg & Intimacy Coach; Izmir Ickbal, Scenic & Projections Designer; Debra Kim Sivigny, Costume Designer; Jennifer Fok, Lighting Designer; Aubrey Dube, Sound Designer; Kelly Smith, Properties Designer; Nate DeMare, Technical Director; Jadira Figueroa, Assistant Stage Manager. Presented by Company One at the BCA Black Box Theater, 539 Tremont St., Boston in partnership with Pao Art Center through May 25.

Once upon a time shortly after the fall of Saigon in 1975, a strong and handsome 30-year old Vietnamese man named Quang and a strong and beautiful 30-year old Vietnamese woman named Tong fled their war-torn country and journeyed over 8000 miles to a land in the “middle of nowhere” called Arkansas, crossing paths for the very first time at a relocation center for evacuees. Except for their respective travel companions-turned-bunkmates (Quang’s best bud Nhan and Tong’s martyr-ish mom Huong) everything and everyone seemed foreign. Even though the meals included “too much meat” and the environs were not as “super nice” as “what was advertised” they came to accept that navigating and adapting to unfamiliar territory was part of their journey. For refugees, however, the stress-inducing immigration and assimilation processes are compounded by traumatic memories of violence, persecution and what they left behind. Tong, Huong, and Nhan are determined to give it a go but Quang, devastated about losing his family and country and wary of Americans’ negative attitudes towards “refugees who look like me/peeps reminding them of their enemy,” is determined to get home.

Is There Life on Mars?

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Jane Reagan, Mal Malme and Scot Colford in the ‘Earth Room’. Photo by Paul Fox)

Review by James Wilkinson

‘The Earth Room’ – Written by Marge Buckley. Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw. Scenic Design by Lindsay Fuori. Lighting Design by Abigail Wang. Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl. Prop Design by Victoria Hermann. Sound Design by Elizabeth Cahill. Fight Choreography by Omar Robinson. Presented by Fresh Ink Theatre at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave., Boston through May 18, 2019

Somewhere along the way, we all seem to have made the collective decision that in the future, everything will be chrome and minimalist, (the average interior design on an episode of an HGTV show suggests that we’re well on our way to making this new reality). Part of me wants to assign responsibility to Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey for implanting the aesthetic in our heads, but really, that film just extrapolates from earlier sci-fi depictions of the future. In any case, the design choice now exists as a kind of short hand for the audience, one that Fresh Ink Theatre’s new production, The Earth Room traffics in. It’s clear that we’re not in Kansas anymore (or anywhere else on Earth for that matter), when we step into the room with Lindsay Fuori’s set. In more ways than one, there’s a neatness to the room. There are tight, crisp edges to the (minimal) furniture. Geometric patterns line the walls, cocooning us in a grey shell. Conspicuously absent from the room are any sort of personal effects (as though the owner went the full-Kondo and decided that nothing they owned sparked joy). It’s a sci-fi world that we’re rocketing into, one with problems that both are and are not like those of us back on home.

The Gold Dust Orphans Leave Ramrod Behind with a Bang as ‘Ebonic Woman’ Soars

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Rose Garcia as HOT TAMALE, Matt Kyle as MR. STRETCH, Qya Marie as THE EBONIC WOMAN, Felton Sparks as ALADDIN, Tim Lawton as BALD EAGLE, Jessica Barstis as POLLY WANNACRACKER in the Gold Dust Orphans’ ‘The Ebonic Woman’. All photos by Michael von Redlich)

By Mike Hoban

‘The Ebonic Woman’ – Written by Ryan Landry; Directed by Bubbles Goldberg (Kiki Samko); Scenic Design by Windsor Newton; Costumes by Scott Martino; Music Direction by Tim Lawton, Choreography by Matt Kyle; Lighting Design by Michael Clark Wonson; Sound Design by Roger Moore. Presented by the Gold Dust Orphans. At Machine, 1254 Boylston St., Boston through May 26.

Just before the start of the The Ebonic Woman, the latest disturbingly hilarious offering by Ryan Landry and the Gold Dust Orphans, the pre-show announcement welcomed the crowd to the “soon to be demolished Ramrod Center for the Performing Arts”. And while it’s always sad when a theater troupe loses its performance space, it is especially so for those of us that have been coming to the Ramrod (aka ‘Machine’) to see the Orphans and their demented parodies for literally (gulp) decades.

‘Black Odyssey Boston’ is Near-Perfection

May 7, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Ramona Lisa Alexander (Circe) and Brandon G. Green (Ulysses Lincoln) with Akili Jamal Haynes in the background in ‘Black Odyssey Boston’. Photo: Maggie Hall. Photo: Maggie Hall.

by Nicholas Whittaker

‘Black Odyssey Boston’ – Directed by Benny Sato Ambush. Written by Marcus Gardley. Choreographer: Melissa Alexis. Scenic Designer: Jon Savage. Lighting Designer: Aja M Jackson. Sound Designer: Dewey Dellay. Music/Choral Director: Allyssa Jones. Properties Designer: Elizabeth Rocha. Stage Manager: Phyllis Y. Smith. Assistant Stage Manager: Sara Hutchins. Presented by Front Porch Collective and Underground Railway Theater at Central Square Theater through May 19th

To call Black Odyssey Boston a retelling of the Greek myth of Ulysses “but with Black people” would be a gross mischaracterization. Such a play, after all, would be politically weak and artistically disappointing. What good is seeing Black bodies on stage if the stage is not affected by their Blackness, if Black folks are not allowed to tell their own narratives, rather than be stand-ins for a drama they do not know? And what good is a mere “retelling” of one of the oldest stories we have, a parroting of the past?

Huntington’s ‘Indecent’ Brilliantly Examines the Price of Truth in Art

May 6, 2019May 6, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Cast of ‘Indecent’, at the Huntington Theatre. Photo Credit: T Charles Erickson)

By Mike Hoban

Indecent – Written by Paula Vogel; Directed by Rebecca Taichman; Music Supervision by Lisa Gutkin; Scenic Design by Riccardo Hernandez; Choreography by David Dorfman; Sound Design by Matt Hubbs; Lighting Design by Christopher Akerlind; Costume Design by Emily Rebholz; Projection Design by Tal Yarden. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Huntington Avenue Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston through May 25

“There is a story we want to tell you…about a play that changed my life. Every night we tell this story, but somehow, I can never remember the end.”

So begins Lemml (Lou) the Stage Manager/Narrator of Indecent, at the outset of the Huntington Theatre’s spellbinding production of Paula Vogel’s Tony Award-winning play with music. This often surreal account of the history of the controversial Yiddish play God of Vengeance takes us from its beginnings at a workshop read in 1906, through its final performances by the original cast performing for Polish Jews in an attic in the Warsaw Ghetto. It’s a deeply moving and wildly entertaining theatrical experience featuring traditional Yiddish music and dance as well as snatches of the original play, but the compelling narrative that runs throughout the 100 minute piece is of the political difficulties of presenting truth in art – or in everyday life for that matter.