THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE (The Wilbury Group, Providence, RI)

May 22, 2017May 22, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The Wilbury Group’s closing show of their season is “The Pirates of Penzance” by Gilbert and Sullivan wildly adapted by Sean Graney and Kevin O’Donnell. The show first opened on December 31, 1879 but this version is a fresh take on their most popular comic opera. This subversive, loopy, and fantastically eccentric take on Gilbert and Sullivan’s preposterous musical took audiences in Chicago by storm when presented by rebel theatre makers The Hipocrites.

Ellis A Revelation in Speakeasy’s “The Bridges of Madison County”

May 20, 2017May 21, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Michele Markarian

‘The Bridges of Madison County’ – Book by Marsha Norman. Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Based on the novel by Robert James Waller. Directed by M. Bevan O’Gara. Music Direction by Matthew Stern. Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through June 3.

From the opening strains of a sole, mournful cello, you get a sense that the story about to unfold is a sad one. Let me clarify by saying I may have been the only person in the audience unfamiliar with the book or film. Which is a good thing, because I find musical adaptations of films in general to be lackluster, pallid affairs. But M. Bevan O’Gara and the cast of Speakeasy Stage Company’s “The Bridges of Madison County” do such a great job creating an alternate reality that I was truly transported. Adding to the magic is the score, which is very, very intriguing.

“BEEHIVE” (Theatre by the Sea)

May 13, 2017June 3, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Bill Hanney’s Theatre by the Sea’s first musical of their 84th season is “Beehive”, the 1960’s musical. This musical is a wild toe-tapping, head shakin’ musical tribute to the rockin’ women who made the 60’s and 70’s so special. It includes everyone from Lesley Gore to Janis Joplin, from the Shirelles to the Supremes, Aretha Franklin to Tina Turner and everyone in between. “Beehive” will have you dancing in the aisles. It starts off with Beehive hairdos and long skirts to free flowing hair and hippie fashions.

THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (The Players, Barker Playhouse, Providence, RI)

May 12, 2017May 12, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The Players last show of their 109th season is “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”, the musical mystery by Rupert Holmes based on Charles Dickens unfinished novel. It gives the audience a chance to solve the mystery because author Charles Dickens passed away before he could finish the novel. He suffered a fatal stroke on June 8, 1870 and died the next day after finishing Chapter 22 of the novel. The show opened on Broadway on December 2, 1985 and ran for 603 performances, winning 3 Tony Awards for Rupert Holmes. This musical will remind you of “My Fair Lady”, “Sweeney Todd” and “Phantom of the Opera” with its score. In Holmes version the audience decides the ending to the show, who killed Drood or is Drood really dead? “Drood” is a play within a play about an acting troupe from the Music Hall Royale. The darker side of the plot involves the “disappearance” of a young architect, Edwin Drood after a Christmas Eve night of festivities. He has been promised to Rosa Bud, a voice student of his obsessed uncle, John Jasper. The audience meets several unsavory characters during the proceedings. The energetic and talented cast under the direction of Joan Dillenback and musical direction of Joe Carvalho as well as the incredible and dynamic choreography of Michael Maio win appreciative and thunderous applause at the close of the show. You must also try to solve the whodunnit aspect of this musical with a clever twist.

SPRING AWAKENING (Wilbury Theatre Group – Providence, RI)

May 10, 2017May 21, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

“SPRING AWAKENING”

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Wilbury Theatre Group’s closing show of their season is “Spring Awakening”, the 2007 Tony Award winning musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater which won 7 Tonys. This musical ran for 888 performances on Broadway and is a fusion of morality, sexuality and rock n’ roll that explores the journey from adolescence to adulthood. The musical is an adaptation of the controversial 1891 play with the same name by Frank Wedekind which was banned in Germany due to its portrayal of abortion, homosexuality, rape, child abuse and suicide.

“VICTOR VICTORIA” Ocean State Theatre Company

May 1, 2017May 4, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The current musical at Ocean State Theatre Company is “Victor Victoria”, the 1995 musical which is based on the 1982 movie starring Robert Preston and Julie Andrews. The 1982 movie was a remake of movie from 1933 called “Viktor Viktoria”, a German film comedy. A penniless soprano, named Victoria Grant, colludes with a struggling gay impresario to disguise herself as a man named Victor, who entertains as a female impersonator known as “Victoria.” This down on her luck singer finds fame as a drag queen.

“YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN” Shining Lights Productions, Stadium Theatre, Woonsocket, RI

April 29, 2017May 7, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone
Shining Lights Productions current show at the Stadium Theatre is “Young Frankenstein” by Mel Brooks. This musical is the inspired reimaging of the Frankenstein legend based on Mel Brooks classic comic movie masterpiece. The story follows bright young Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (that’s Fronkenstein) as he attempts to complete his grandfather’s unfinished masterwork of bringing a corpse to life.

‘Altar Boyz’ A Heavenly Romp

April 3, 2017April 3, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Michele Markarian

Altar Boyz – Music and Lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker. Book by Kevin Del Aguila. Co-Directed by Tyler Rosati and Ceit Zweil, with Music Direction by Matthew Stern. Presented by Stoneham Theatre, 395 Main Street, Stoneham, through April 9.

The first image one gets of the Altar Boyz is five hooded figures in long white robes, silver crosses on their backs, entering the stage to ominous sounding music from the four-piece band behind them. It’s a Spinal Tap moment, and one that made me laugh out loud. For the next eighty minutes, if I wasn’t laughing, I was smiling. A lot. This is one super fun show with a tight and talented cast.

Rousing Folk Rock in Stoneham’s ‘Jonah’ as Real as It Gets

March 1, 2017March 13, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By CJ Williams

Jonah and the Whale – Book written by Tyler Mills; Music and Lyrics by David Barrow and Blake Thomas; Directed by Weylin Symes; Scenic Design by Katheryn Monthei; Costume Design by Deirdre Gerrard: Lighting Design by Christopher Fournier; Sound Design by John Stone. Presented by The Stoneham Theatre 395 Main Street, Stoneham, MA 02180 through March 12.

“It wasn’t real,” says a character at one point in ‘Jonah’, the newish musical now making its New England premiere at the Stoneham Theatre. But in this rousing new folk-rock musical, that’s not the answer, rather, it’s a question, and one that runs through the length of the show. As we get our sea legs, so to speak, on the theatrical ship, we’re pressed more and more to ask about reality, both what and why – What makes life worth living? What makes us human? But like that first statement, the answers the play gives are often more questions in disguise.

“THE FANTASTICKS” – Ivoryton Playhouse (CT)

February 25, 2017March 25, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

“THE FANTASTICKS”
Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The historic Ivoryton Playhouse’s first show of their season is The Fantasticks”, a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmitt and lyrics by Tom Jones. The original show opened off Broadway on May 3, 1960, ran for 17,162 performances, closing on January 13, 2002. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play “Les Romanesques” by Edmond Rostond, concerning two parents who put a wall up between their two houses to ensure that their children fall in love, because they know children always do what their parents forbid.