IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, A RADIO PLAY at GAMM

November 30, 2023December 12, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Fred Sullivan, Jr., Lynsey Ford, Tony Estrella, Jim O’Brien, Andrew Iacovelli, Background L to R: Helena Tafuri, Milly Massey in GAMM Theatre’s production of ‘It’s A Wonderful Life, A Radio Play’. Photos by Nile Scott Studios

Review by Tony Annicone

This year, GAMM Theatre’s holiday production is “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live A Radio Play,” adapted by Joe Landry. It’s their fifth presentation of this show. Seven performers plus a sound effects man deliver all the lines of all the characters in the Frank Capra movie. This beloved American holiday classic comes to captivating life as a live radio broadcast in Warwick, RI. It is staged as an old-fashioned 1940s radio show. The audience is transported back in time as a radio audience watching an ensemble of performers bringing dozens of characters to life on stage. The “broadcast” is interspersed with live commercials about Greenwood Credit Union and Gamm Theatre. Before the show, there is a sing-a-long with cast members doing “Jingle Bells” and “12 Days of Christmas,” with the Foley Artist doing sound effects for each day while doing them faster and faster each time. Relive the story of the idealistic George Bailey as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve. This is a fully realized version of the story initially brought to life by Frank Capra in the movie that starred Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. Directed previously by Damon Kiely and remounted this year as well as last year by Tony Estrella, who molds these eight talented performers (including himself) into these iconic characters from the movie perfectly, obtains incredible performances from them, and blends the comedy and pathos to get them many laughs and tears on their journey. Tony plays George once again and also appeared in that role in the past three versions of this show. A spontaneous standing ovation is their well-deserved reward at the end of the performance.

Huntington and SpeakEasy’s co-production of ‘The Band’s Visit’ Makes the World Go Round

November 21, 2023November 21, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Jennifer Apple, Brian Thomas Abraham in the “The Band’s Visit” at the Huntington.
Photos by T Charles Erickson

“The Band’s Visit” — Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek. Book by Itamar Moses. Based on the Screenplay by Eran Kolirin. Directed by Paul Daigneault; Choreography by Daniel Pelzig. Music Direction by José Delgado. Scenic Design by Wilson Chin and Jimmy Stubbs. Costume Design by Miranda Kau Giurleo. Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson. Sound Design by Joshua Millican. Produced by Huntington Theatre in collaboration with SpeakEasy Stage at 264 Huntington Ave. Boston through December 17.

By Linda Chin

As the house lights go down and the overture (conducted by music director extraordinaire José Delgado) begins, a message is projected on a large-screen: “Once, not long ago, a group of musicians came to Israel from Egypt. You probably didn’t hear about it. It wasn’t very important.” Bookending the production, this message is reiterated at the show’s conclusion by Dina (a dazzling Jennifer Apple), the owner of a café in Bet Hatikvah (a fictional town), Israel, 1996, where an Egyptian police band led by Tewfiq (solidly portrayed by Brian Thomas Abraham) has mistakenly arrived. The next bus doesn’t depart until the next day, and the band is hungry, tired, and stranded.

Huntington, SpeakEasy’s Co-Production “The Band’s Visit” Serves Up A Sublime Slice of Life

November 20, 2023November 20, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

The cast of “The Band’s Visit” at the Huntington. Photo by T Charles Erickson

By Shelley A. Sackett

The delightful musical “The Band’s Visit” is a welcome breath of air in the current asphyxiating climate surrounding the war between Israel and Hamas. Its focus is a single night in Bet Hatikva, a tiny Israeli town that feels more like a pit stop on the way to someplace more important than a destination.

“You probably didn’t hear about it,” says Dina (played by a magnificent Jennifer Apple in a star-making performance), the proprietor of Bet Hatikva’s only café and its resident narrator and cynic. “It wasn’t very important.”

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical Lands in Boston on Friday

November 19, 2023December 26, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical at the Boch Centre Shubert Nov. 24-26

On Black Friday, the touring company of the iconic Christmas TV classic Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer will land at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre for a seven-show weekend run. The musical faithfully adapts the holiday classic and runs from November 24^th until November 26. Theater Mirror caught up with Talia Gloster, the performer who plays Rudolph, during rehearsals for the show before the tour.

TM: How have rehearsals been so far?

Talia: It’s been an incredibly smooth process. We have a bunch of performers who have done the tour in the past and are returning this year, and the new people are picking things up so quickly, which means we’re going to have a lot of time to fine-tune things and make sure everything is as sharp as it can be before we head out on the road.

Lyric Stage’s ‘The Game’s Afoot’ Delivers the Gift of Laughter

November 18, 2023November 18, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Maureen Keiller, Kelby T. Akin, Dan Garcia, Gabrielle McCauley, Remo Airaldi, Pamela Lambert and Sarah Sinclair in “The Game’s Afoot” at Lyric Stage Photo: Mark S, Howard

‘The Game’s Afoot: Holmes for the Holidays’ by Ken Ludwig. Fred Sullivan Jr., Director. Janie E. Howland, Scenic Designer. John Malinowski, Lighting Designer. Chelsea Kerl, Costume Designer. Andrew Duncan Will, Sound Designer. Jennifer Butler, Props Artisan. At Lyric Stage, Clarendon Street, Boston through December 17.

by Linda Chin

Lyric Stage’s long-term Producing Artistic Director, the larger-than-life Spiro Veloudos – now a giant in the sky – knew his audiences well, especially the subscribers who filled the matinees. He invited them to his Clarendon Street “castle” to see a play or musical, have a good time, and to come back again.

Exiled Theatre’s ‘Hauntings’ Reveals the Evil Within

November 17, 2023November 17, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

“Hauntings I Have Lived Through” – Written and Directed by James Wilkinson. Presented by Exiled Theatre at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, through November 19.

by Mike Hoban

Halloween may be over, but that doesn’t mean our love of horror has abated. No, we’re not talking about REAL horrors, like the horrific attack on Israel or the war in Gaza that is now raging, or even Donald Trump’s plans for bringing back early 20th-century European fascism to America if re-elected. The horror we speak of resides where it always does – between our ears, and it’s jolted back to life in Exiled Theatre’s compelling Hauntings I Have Lived Through, now playing at the Boston Playwrights Theatre. Written and directed by Exiled’s co-founder James Wilkinson, Hauntings is three monologues delivered by female narrators, weaving tales from the realm of the supernatural.

A Gritty, Rollicking, ‘Rocky Horror’ at Central Square

November 12, 2023November 12, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Nico Ochoa, Emma Na-yun Downs, Michael J. Mahoney, and Matti Steriti in “The Rocky Horror Show” at Central Square Theatre Photo by: Nile Scott Studios

By Michele Markarian

“The Rocky Horror Show” by Richard O’Brien. Directed by Lee Mikesha Gardner and Jo Michael Rezes. Music Director, Sandy Sahar Gooen; Choreographer, Ilyse Robbins. Presented by Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, through November 26.

Most people are introduced to “The Rocky Horror Show” by its film version, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which dominated the Exeter Street Theater with frequent midnight showings back when I was in college. The film celebrated sexuality, gay, straight, whatever, which was probably why it was such a big hit with college students. Tim Curry was charming, abusive, and on the prowl. I loved him.

ASP’s Not-to-Be-Missed “How I Learned to Drive” Explores Abuse and Memory in a Tour de Force Production

November 9, 2023November 18, 2023 michaelhoban2 Comments

Dennis Trainor, Jr. and Jennifer Rohn in Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s *‘How I Learned to Drive’*
(Photo Credit: Nile Scott Studios)

‘How I Learned to Drive’ — Written by Paula Vogel. Directed by Elaine Vaan Hogue. Scenic Design by Baron E. Pugh; Lighting Design by Marcella Barbeau; Costume Design by Marissa Wolf; Sound Design by Mackenzie Adamick. Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St., Boston through November 25.

By Shelley A. Sackett

“You and Driver Education — Safety First,” a voice announces as the lights dim. A middle-aged woman steps onto a bare set, composing herself. She turns to face the audience, addressing them as though mid-conversation.

“Sometimes, to tell a secret, you first have to teach a lesson,” she says. “We’re going to start our lesson tonight on an early, warm summer evening.”

So begins Paula Vogel’s brilliant Pulitzer Prize Award-winning play, “How I Learned to Drive,” in which she examines the complicated ways in which we process the trauma, shame, and blame associated with pedophilia and family complicity. If the topic sounds heart-wrenching and heavy, that’s because it is.

ELVIS Is Another NSMT Crowd Pleaser

November 6, 2023November 6, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Dan Berry in “Elvis” at the North Shore Music Theatre. Photo © David Costa Photography

‘Elvis: A Musical Revolution’ at North Shore Music Theatre. Book by Sean Cercone and David Abbinanti. Based on a concept by Floyd Mutrux. Direction and Choreography by Kevin P. Hill. Co-Music Direction by Milton Granger and Robert L. Ruckinski. Scenic Design by Kyle Dixon. Costume Design by Travis M. Grant. Lighting Design by Jack Mehler. Sound Design by Alex Berg. Wig and Hair Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt. At the North Shore Music Theatre through November 12.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Who can resist the charm, energy and smoldering heat of that hip-swinging, pelvis-grinding consummate crooner and actor known as Elvis? At Bill Hanney’s award-winning North Shore Music Theatre, fans and fans-to-be of the “King of Rock and Roll” can spend a toe-tapping two and one-half hours (one intermission) as over 40 of Elvis’ most famous songs are belted out by talented Dan Berry while a cast of 29 sings and dances their hearts out to a live orchestra of nine.

Throw in the theater-in-the-round setting with its intimacy and excitement, and you’ve got all the ingredients for an evening of sheer entertainment.

Blue Man Group Presses the Refresh Button while Keeping the Best of Its Core

November 6, 2023November 6, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

‘Blue Man Group’ – Created, Written and Directed by Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton and Chris Wink. Lighting Design by Matthew McCarthy; Set Design by David Gallo; Video Design by Caryl Glaab. Presented by Blue Man Productions at The Charles Playhouse, 74 Warrenton St., Boston. Ongoing.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Blue Man Group is a global entertainment phenomenon known for its award-winning theatrical productions, unique characters and multiple creative explorations. With its all-new 2024 show at The Charles Playhouse, it has upped the ante on its high-energy production with new music, two new acts and a finale that feels like a Las Vegas New Year’s Eve celebration, complete with streamers, confetti and bubbles.