BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY

September 15, 2018October 12, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Sheila Barth

Two-act, two-hour dark urban comedy by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company, through Oct. 13: Boston Center for the Arts, Roberts Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion,527 Tremont St., Boston.

We meet a menagerie of characters, colorfully depicted and recreated, in SpeakEasy Stage Company’s production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’s two-act, two-hour 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning dark urban comedy, ”Between Riverside and Crazy”. The play is currently making its New England premiere through this Saturday, Oct. 13.

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HOW I LEARNED HOW TO DRIVE (Wilbury Theatre Group)

September 13, 2018September 24, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The current show at Wilbury Theatre Group is The Pulitzer Prize winning “How I Learned How to Drive” by Paula Vogel. The story revolves around a teenager’s driving lessons and still delivers an emotional punch this some twenty years later. “How I Learned How to Drive” traverses taboo territory with humor, heart and empathy. They sensitively establish the intense, if unhealthy rapport between a sympathetic pedophile and a niece who learns a lot more than she needs to know from him. This memory play contain the memories of the narrator, L’il Bit a grown woman looking back on her white-trash family and rural upbringing in Maryland in the 1960’s and 70’s.

“SISTER ACT” – Little Theatre of Fall River

September 12, 2018December 27, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Little Theatre of Fall River’s first musical of their season is “Sister Act”, the international smash hit musical based on the mega-hit, 1992 film that starred Whoppi Goldberg. This group spares no expense in bringing the highest quality costumes to this show. When disco diva, Deloris Van Cartier witnesses a murder, she is put in protective custody in one place that cops think she can’t be found: a convent. Disguised as a nun, she finds herself at odds with both the rigid lifestyle and the uptight Mother Superior. Using her unique talents to inspire the choir, Deloris breathes new life into the church, but in doing so, blows her cover. Soon it is nun-on-the-run time but she finds salvation in the heavenly power of her newly found sisterhood. This musical hit contains a vast array of musical styles from Motown, soul and funk to great big disco anthems and Barry White inspired musical comedy. Director Jeff Belanger always does a topnotch job with his musicals and “Sister Act” is no exception to that rule. He obtains high energy and topnotch quality from his whole cast with his keen insight into these comic characters. The terrific musical direction is by Bobby Perry who taught the infectious and melodic score to this talented cast. Dan Snizek conducts a eight piece orchestra, while the high energy choreography is by Erin Cote and Mary Wrobleski. The sets are by Jeff and scenic designer Shawn Elliott while the multitude of gorgeous costumes are by Trisha Berner with the nun costumes by Johnny Cagno. All their combined efforts plus hard working stage managers, John Nunes-Sylvia and Rick Couitt, create a topnotch musical treat that had the opening night audience on their feet cheering the talent of all these individuals.

Strong Performances Drive New Rep’s Engaging “Straight White Men”

September 10, 2018September 12, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Michele Markarian

“Straight White Men” – Written by Young Jean Lee. Directed by Elaine Vaan Hogue. Presented by New Repertory Theatre, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown through September 30.

“For a play entitled “Straight White Men”, the opening of Young Jean Lee’s New England premiere is more than a little curious. The action is framed by Person in Charge (Dev Blair) – a young person who appears to be black, non-binary, gay or trans – who, after a rousing curtain speech, poses the characters in position to begin the scene. Three brothers, Matt (Shelley Bolman), Drew (Michael Kaye) and Jake (Dennis Trainor Jr.) have all gathered in their childhood home to celebrate Christmas, along with their father, Ed (Ken Cheeseman). But Person in Charge is a huge part of the backbone of the boys’ thinking and upbringing. Their deceased Mom gave them a hyper-awareness of political correctness, even going so far as to create a game for them called “Privilege”, where players pick from two piles of cards, one labeled “Excuses” (“What I just said wasn’t racist/sexist/homophobic because I was joking. Pay $50 to an LGBT organization,” says Jake), and the other, Denial.

A.R.T’s “The Black Clown” a Searing New Work

September 7, 2018September 8, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

The Black Clown – Adapted from Langston Hughes poem by Davóne Tines and Michael Schachter; Music by Michael Schachter; Music Direction by Jaret Landon; Choreography by Chanel DaSilva; Directed by Zack Winokur; Scenic & Costume Design by Carlos Soto; Lighting Design by John Torres; Sound Design by Kai Harada. Presented by the American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Mainstage, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge through September 23

Reading Langston Hughes’ poem The Black Clown after experiencing the world premiere of this stunning new work of the same title, it’s pretty amazing to see how literal the interpretation of the poem is – especially considering the complexity of the music, dance and movement in the piece. The original poem is broken into two sections, “The Mood”, which essentially reads like bare-boned stage directions, and “The Poem”, which provides all of the lyrics for the entire production – despite being just 17 stanzas long. The Black Clown, said Hughes, is “a dramatic monologue to be spoken by a pure-blooded Negro in the white suit and hat of a clown, to the music of a piano or an orchestra.”

Lyric Casts a Seductive Spell with “Kiss of the Spider Woman”

September 4, 2018September 4, 2018 michaelhoban1 Comment

By Michele Markarian

‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ – Book by Terrence McNally. Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb. Based on the novel by Manuel Puig. Directed and Choreographed by Rachel Bertone. Musical Director, Dan Rodriguez. Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland. Costume Design by Marian Bertone. Lighting Design by Frank Meissner Jr. Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will. Presented by Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA, through October 7.

I have to admit, I had little curiosity about this musical. The score is not something you hear a lot, with the exception of “Kiss of the Spider Woman”, and I’d never seen the film – too many of my gay friends had complained about William Hurt’s performance not being authentic enough. The Lyric Stage’s production is a marvelous revelation, with wonderful acting and a sophisticated score that will leave you wondering why this musical isn’t performed more often.

Lyric’s KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN a Gritty, Liberating Love Story

September 4, 2018 michaelhoban2 Comments

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Lyric Stage of Boston’s first show of their season is “Kiss of the Spider Woman”, the winner of the 1993 Tony Award. “Kiss of the Spider Woman” recounts a harrowing tale of persecution into a dazzling spectacle that juxtaposes gritty realities with liberating fantasies about two very different cell mates. The cell mates are in a Latin American prison, Valentin is a tough revolutionary journalist undergoing torture and Molina is an “unabashed homosexual” serving eight years for deviant behavior.

Gloucester Stage Delivers a Tragicomic Gem with ‘True West’

August 31, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘True West’ – Written by Sam Shepard; Directed by Joe Short; Scenic Design by Jon Savage; Lighting Design by Marcella Barbeau; Costume Design, Miranda Kau Giurleo; Sound Design, David Reiffel. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company at 267 E. Main St., Gloucester through September 8

Some brothers work out their conflicts in therapy, others in a court of law, and still others bring their unresolved issues to the grave – sometimes courtesy of the hand of the other brother. Austin and Lee, the protagonists of Sam Shepard’s classic “True West”, have their own messy way of working things out, and Gloucester Stage provides us with a front row seat to the process, staging a superb version of the 1980 classic that is alternately comically charged and deeply unsettling.

Off The Grid’s “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord” – Takes Teen Angst to New Levels

August 22, 2018September 15, 2019 michaelhoban1 Comment

by Mike Hoban

Our Dear Dead Drug Lord – Written by Alexis Scheer. Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw. Scenic Design: Kristin Loeffler; Lighting Design: Aja M. Jackson; Costume Design: Rachel Padula; Sound Design: Julian Crocamo. Presented by Off the Grid Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Calderwood Pavilion, Roberts Studio Theatre, 527 Tremont St. Boston, through September 1

It’s 2008, right before the historic presidential election, and four teen girls are convening in the childhood treehouse belonging to Pipe, the apparent ringleader of the group. But they’re not there to play music, smoke cigarettes (or weed) and talk about boys/girls. They’ve clearly got something more important on their minds. So as one of the girls unfurls a poster to hang on the wall – not one of the Jonas Brothers, mind you, but a mugshot of deceased drug kingpin Pablo Escobar – and another exclaims, “Oh my God, I want to turn this poster into a blanket and lose my virginity on it,” you suspect it’s about to get a whole lot weirder than an “Afterschool Special”. And when the girls anoint themselves with the blood of a small, freshly killed creature as part of a ritual to commune with the spirit of Escobar – those suspicions are pretty much confirmed.

Theatre by the Sea Delivers Rollicking ‘CHICAGO’

August 18, 2018August 20, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Welcome to the 1920’s with the final musical at Theatre by the Sea’s 85th season. Director Bob Richard and his wife, Diane Laurenson, the choreographer transports the audience to the prison atmosphere needed for this musical “Chicago.” Kander and Ebb’s 1975 vaudeville type show is based on the 1926 play by Maurine Watkins. The 1997 musical version won six Tony Awards and the 2003 movie version won the Academy Award. In roaring twenties Chicago, married chorine Roxie Hart murders her faithless lover, Fred Casely, and convinces her hapless husband, Amos, to take the rap for her. That is until he finds out he has been duped and turns on her. She and fellow murderess, Velma Kelly, both on death row, vie for the headlines and spotlight, hoping the publicity will launch them to fame, freedom and successful stage careers with the help of slick lawyer, Billy Flynn. The story is a satire on the corruption of criminal justice system and logic of “celebrity criminal” and works perfectly in the current day situation of this country of fake news and reality TV shows. Keep them off balance and they won’t realize what is really going on. It also worked much better in the late 1990’s after the OJ trial travesty which was a lot like the circus like atmosphere of Chicago in the 1920’s. Bob blocks the show beautifully and Diane creates wonderful choreography. Both of them bring out the best in their talented cast members.