Peterborough Players ‘Cabaret’ a Chilling Reminder That it Could Happen Here

June 28, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Peterborough Players’ ‘Cabaret’. (L to R: Matthew McGlloin, Isaac Phaman Reynolds, Zhang Bai-han, Kate Kenney, Max Elliott Braunstein, Gregory Coulter, Lucy Zukaitis, Katie Shults, Zaramaría Fas)

‘Cabaret’ – Book by Joe Masteroff; Based on the play by John Van Druten and Stories by Christopher Isherwood; Music by John Kander; Lyrics by Fred Ebb; Directed by Tom Frey; Choreographed by Ilyse Robbins; Music Directed by Jenny Kim-Godfrey. Presented by the Peterborough Players, 55 Hadley Road, Peterborough, NH through July 3^rd.

by Mike Hoban

The Peterborough Players return to the stage after a two-plus year layoff from indoor performances at their 250 seat theater, bring it back in grand style, mounting a winning production of Kander & Ebb’s Cabaret. The choice of this musical could not be more timely given recent events, resonating in a way we could not have dreamed of when it debuted on Broadway in 1966. It’s a chilling reminder that what happened in 1930s Germany could very well happen here in the 21^st century. Luckily for audiences looking to escape from what seems to be a daily onslaught of bad news, it’s also one of American Theater’s great musicals, with an equally strong book. The Peterborough Players production – buoyed by a strong cast, sure direction, and inventive choreography – delivers a compelling and enjoyable night of theater.

The Huntington’s ‘Common Ground Revisited’ Asks Bostonians to Stop Blaming Racism on the Rest of the Country and To Look Within Their Own House

June 20, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

The cast of *Common Ground Revisited* at The Huntington. Maurice Emmanuel Parent in foreground Photos: T Charles Erickson

by Michael Cox

Common Ground, Revisited – Co-conceived and adapted by Kirsten Greenidge; co-conceived and directed by Melia Bensussen; set design by Sara Brown; costume design by An-lin Dauber; lighting design by Brian J. Lilienthal; sound design by Pornchanok Kanchanabanca; projection design by Rasean Davonté Johnson; wig/hair and makeup design by J. Jared Janas; dramaturgy by Neema Avashia; stage-managed by Emily F. McMullen. Co-produced by The Huntington Theatre and ArtsEmerson at the Calderwood Pavilion/BCA through July 3, 2022.

When a group of people have no voice in the conversation, they interrupt. They make their voices heard through disruption. Colonial Boston did this back in 1765 when we enacted the first public act of defiance against the King of England and rioted in the streets, and we continued the tradition in the 1970s when U.S. District Judge Arthur Garrity Jr. ordered Boston to implement race-integrated busing.

In Common Ground, Revisited, The Huntington Theatre Company looks at the non-fiction book Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families, a Pulitzer Prize-winner which in many ways has come to define this city – because it disrupted us. It asked us to look in the mirror and examine – in microscopic detail – our racism.

Hanover Theatre’s ‘The Band’s Visit’ is a Charmer

June 17, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

‘The Band’s Visit’ – Based on the screenplay by Eran Kolirin; Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek; Book by Itimar Moses; Directed by David Comer. Presented at the Hanover Theatre & Conservatory at 2 Southbridge St, Worcester through June 19^th.

by Mike Hoban

It’s often said that music has the power to heal, and as we see in the The Band’s Visit, the Broadway touring production now playing at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, apparently so do the musicians who play it. Set in the “basically bleak and beige and blah, blah, blah…” town of Bet Hatikvah in Israel, this quirky and charming musical weaves a number of compelling storylines about troubled relationships and the path to healing, set to a gorgeous score that combines classic Broadway song structures with Middle Eastern-flavored music.

North Shore’s ‘Smokey Joe’s Café’ Delivers the Hits of Lieber and Stoller

June 14, 2022June 15, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*The cast of SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE at North Shore Music Theatre thru June 19. Photo Credits: Paul Lyden*

Smokey Joe’s Café – Originally produced on Broadway by Richard Frankel and Thomas Viertel; Direction and Choreography by Stephanie Pope Lofgren; Music Direction by Milton Granger; Scenic Design by Kyle Dixon; Costume Design by Kelly Baker; Lighting Design by Jack Mehler; Sound Design by Don Hann. Presented by North Shore Music Theatre, 54 Dunham Road, Beverly through June 19th

by Mike Hoban

The first act of Smokey Joe’s Café, now playing at the North Shore Music Theatre, is a little baffling. Not only is the show not set in a café (or even a nightclub), more importantly – given the prolific body of work of the songwriting team of Lieber and Stoller on whose work the show is based, as well as the obvious skill of the singers – the songs and performances lack any real smoke.

Huntington’s ‘Common Ground, Revisited’ Asks Us to Look Back In Order to Move Forward

June 13, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

The cast of *Common Ground Revisited* at The Huntington. Photos: T Charles Erickson

by Julie-Anne Whitney

Kirsten Greenidge’s new play, Common Ground, Revisited is inspired by and based in part on J. Anthony Lukas’1986 Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction book, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families. The primary focus of both texts is on class and racial tensions in Boston during the 1974 busing crisis when U.S. District Judge Arthur Garrity Jr. ordered nearly 20,000 Black and white students to be bused to/from the city’s geographically segregated public schools. The mandate led to years of violent protesting, significant demographic changes in the city and surrounding suburbs, and a dramatic decrease in enrollment in area schools that continues to this day. Fifty years after the 1972 Morgan v Hennigan case that led to Garrity’s ruling, Boston’s public schools are even more divided than they were back then with “two-thirds of BPS students attend[ing] intensely segregated schools where students of color make up 90% or more of the total enrollment.”

Gloucester Stage Company’s ‘Gloria’ Provocatively Asks, “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?”

June 9, 2022June 13, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Cast of Gloucester Stage’s production of “Gloria” by Branden Jacob Jenkins. Photos: Shawn G. Henry*

‘Gloria’ — written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Directed by Bryn Boice. Scenic Design by Jeffrey Petersen; Costume Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt; Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson; Sound Design by David Remedios. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main St., Gloucester through June 26.

by Shelley A. Sackett

‘Gloria’ takes us on a ride inside the rollercoaster that is the essence of a 2010s Manhattan cultural magazine’s editorial assistant bullpen subculture. (Its playwright, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, worked at The New Yorker for three years). These players are unapologetic and clear about their singular goal: to leave their dead end stepping-stone jobs, climb out of the low prestige depths of editorial assistantship and secure a book deal before turning thirty. Each is constantly on the backstabbing prowl in search of that tipping point moment that will catapult them out of their murky office pit.

Carter, Odetoyinbo Shine in ‘The Light’ at Lyric

June 8, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Yewande Odetoyinbo and Dominic Carter in ‘The Light’ at Lyric Stage. Photos by Mark S. Howard

by Mike Hoban

‘The Light’ – Written by Loy A. Webb; Directed by Jacqui Parker; Scenic Design by Baron E. Pugh; Sound Design by Owen Meadows; Lighting Design by Elmer Martinez; Costume Design by Jez Insalaco. Presented by the Lyric Stage Company at 140 Clarendon St. Boston through June 26.

The opening scene of The Light, the final offering of the 2021-2022 seasonat Lyric Stage, has the look and feel of a lighthearted rom-com. Rashad, a single dad who works as a fireman, is frantically straightening up the apartment of his girlfriend Genesis, a principal at a Chicago charter school, as he nervously prepares to ask her to marry him. When she arrives, she suspects something is up, but wonders if he has remembered that this is the two-year anniversary of their first date. What sounds like the premise of a thousand sitcoms soon takes a decidedly more serious tone. So instead of a comic romp, we get a highly-charged story loaded with twists and turns that becomes a serious discussion of how men and women – particularly Black women – view the issue of sexual violence against women in the post #MeToo world.

A.R.T. Delivers a Rousing Pre-Broadway Run of America’s Origin Story, ‘1776’

June 6, 2022June 7, 2022 michaelhoban1 Comment

Cast of ‘1776’ at American Repertory Theatre

‘1776’ – Music and Lyrics by Sherman Edwards; Book by Peter Stone; Based on a concept by Sherman Edwards Directed by Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus; Choreography by Jeffrey L. Page; Music Direction by Ryan Cantwell; Scenic Design by Scott Pask; Costume Design by Emilio Sosa; Lighting Design by Jen Schriever; Sound Design by Jonathan Deans; Projection Design by David Bengali. Co-presented by the Roundabout Theatre Company (RTC) and the American Repertory Theatre, at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St. Cambridge through July 24th.

by Mike Hoban

I must admit I was not overly enthused on my way to Brattle Street for the pre-Broadway opening of the musical 1776. The A.R.T.s 2021-2022 season, with the exception of the marvelous opening tap showcase, Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic, has largely been one of well-intentioned activism superseding any meaningful art, resulting in a string of preaching-to-the-choir productions that made me long for the dopey good fun of something like Waitress (which also had a pre-Broadway opening at the A.R.T.). A pair of climate change-themed shows Wild (great score, but a book that seemed like it was penned by Sid & Marty Kroft of “H.R. Pufnstuf” fame), and the spectacularly dreadful Ocean Filibuster made me wonder if this once-venerable institution had lost its way and would no longer deliver the creative energy blasts of shows like Six, Jagged Little Pill, The Black Clown, and Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.

Cirque du Soleil Celebrates a Stunning Return to Boston with “Crystal”

June 5, 2022June 5, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Michael Cox

The 42nd original show from this live entertainment leader since it’s inception in 1984, Crystal is a high-energy ice ballet, featuring light comedy, music, dance and the signature high-flying acrobatics that defines what the circus has become in this day and age.

Sure, we’ve lost the lions, the elephants, the freaks, the geeks and the ring master that wrangles all these things together. No problem, we have the essentials — the greatest of acrobats and the most charming of clowns. Those two things have kept this institution charging into the 21st Century.