Month: February 2024

A Sure Thing at the Emerson Colonial: Pretty Woman the Musical

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Crossroads Live presents PRETTY WOMAN The Musical. Book by Garry Marshall & J.F. Lawton. Music and Lyrics by Bryan Adams & Jim Vallance. Based on the Touchtone Pictures motion picture written by J.F. Lawton. Original Broadway Production Directed and Choreographed by Jerry Mitchell. Choreography Recreated by Rusty Mowery. Direction Recreated by DB Bonds. Music Supervision, Arrangements, and Orchestrations by Will Van Dyke. At the Emerson Colonial Theatre, Boylston Street, Boston, through March 3, 2024.

By Linda Chin

Once upon a time in Hollywood, sometime in the 1980s, a handsome corporate raider named Edward Lewis, in town to close a business deal, meets a very pretty woman named Vivian Ward at her “office” on Hollywood Boulevard. Vivian and Edward (Ellie Baker and Chase Wolfe play the now iconic roles made famous by Julia Roberts and Richard Gere) are from very different walks of life. Edward’s upbringing included prep school, polo matches, classical music, and opera, and he is wealthy, a billionaire, in fact. She doesn’t have a steady job, can barely make ends meet, and never finished high school, but is street smart – more adept at driving a stick shift than Edward, who admits that his first car was a limousine – and making small talk with people in the 99% than Edward, who has much less exposure and EQ.

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‘Pretty Woman the Musical’ Will Make You Forget There Ever Was a Movie Version

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Cast of ‘Pretty Woman’ at Emerson Colonial

“Pretty Woman the Musical” — Written by Garry Marshall and J.F. Lawton. Music and Lyrics by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. Based on the Touchstone picture written by J.F. Lawton. Direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell, recreated by DB Bonds and Rusty Mowery; Music Supervision, Arrangements and Orchestration by Will Van Dyke; Scenic Design by Christine Peters; Costume Design by Gregg Barnes; Lighting Design by Kenneth Posner and Philip S. Rosenberg; Sound Design by John Shivers. Presented by Crossroads Live at the Emerson Colonial Theatre, 106 Boylston St., Boston, through March 3.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Pretty Woman the Musical is much more than a theatrical remake of the 1990 rom-com film that launched the career of then-21-year-old Julia Roberts and her trademark mile-wide smile. The big-budget Broadway show stands on its own as a supremely enjoyable night of big pageantry, from the live orchestra, fabulous set, choreography, and humor to the terrific cast, who sing and dance their hearts out for two and a half hours (one intermission).

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Hunger for Love, Laughter, and Life in Lyric Stage’s ‘THIRST’       

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Michael Kaye and Aimee Doherty in ‘Thirst’ at The Lyric. Photos by Mark S. Howard

Lyric Stage of Boston presents THIRST by Ronán Noone.  Directed by Courtney O’Connor. Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland. Lighting Design by Karen Perlow. Costume Design by Mikayla Reid. Sound Design by David Remedios. Lyric Stage of Boston, Clarendon Street, Boston, through March 17, 2024.

By Linda Chin

Unlike Eugene O’Neill’s play Thirst (1914), about three people who are on a raft after a shipwreck – the Titanic – and dying of thirst, the three characters in Ronán Noone’s new play with the same title are inside a well-appointed kitchen in the seaside Connecticut home of the Tyrones (the well-to-do Irish family of O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into the Night) – and have plenty to drink. In Noone’s Thirst, the three featured characters are not the Tyrones themselves but three servants in their employ.

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“Thirst” a Story of Longing and Belonging

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Michael Kaye, Kate Fitzgerald and Aimee Doherty in ‘Thirst’ at The Lyric. Photos by Mark S. Howard

“Thirst” – Written by Ronan Noone. Directed by Courtney O’Connor. Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, through March 17.

By Michele Markarian

Set in Connecticut in 1912, “Thirst” cleverly takes place in the kitchen of the Tyrone (of “Long Day’s Journey into Night”) household, where cook Bridget (Aimee Doherty), her niece Cathleen (Kate Fitzgerald) and driver Jack Smythe (Michael Kaye) lie in wait to serve the erratic needs of the Tyrones. Bridget is from Ireland, forced to come to America for a so-called sin that she committed. Cathleen, her niece, is in her care. Cathleen also came over from Ireland on the Titanic, which she somehow managed to survive. Jack is a former alcoholic who credits the snappish Bridget for getting him sober and finding him his position as Mary Tyrone’s driver, despite the fact that Bridget drinks quite heavily herself.  

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P. Carl Invites the Audience on His Gender Transition Journey in the A.R.T.’s ‘Becoming a Man’

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Stacey Raymond, Petey Gibson in A.R.T.’s ‘Becoming a Man’
Photos by Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall

‘Becoming A Man’ — Written by P. Carl. Co-directed by Dianne Paulus and P. Carl. Scenic Design by Emmie Finckel; Costume Design by Qween Jean; Lighting Design by Cha See; Music and Sound Design by Paul James Prendergast; Video Design by Brittany Bland. Presented by the A.R.T. at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., through March 10.

By Shelley A. Sackett

P. Carl, an acclaimed educator, dramaturg, and writer, lived for 49 years as Polly, a woman who believed she had been born into the wrong body. The last 20 years were spent as a lesbian in a queer marriage to Lynette D’Amico, a writer and editor. Lynette had no idea the queer woman who was her wife suffered gender dysphoria, a condition that can — and in Polly’s case, did — lead to depression and anxiety and have a harmful impact on daily life.

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A Stunning ‘Steel Pier’ Marks Sullivan Rep’s Dazzling Debut

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Cast of Sullivan Rep’s ‘Steel Pier’

Sullivan Rep presents ‘Steel Pier’ – Book by David Thompson. Music & Lyrics by John Kander and Frank Ebb. Conceived by Scott Ellis, Susan Stroman, and David Thompson. Direction & Choreography by Daniel Sullivan. Musical Direction by J. Kathleen Castellanos. Lighting Design by Erik Fox. Props Design by Rick Grenier. Costume Design by DW. Hair/Makeup Design by Cara Guappone. Projection Design by Jacob Sherburne. Sound Design by Paul Roach.

By Linda Chin

Less known – and less produced – than Cabaret, Chicago, and other Kander & Ebb Broadway classics, Steel Pier proves to be the perfect choice for Sullivan Rep’s dazzling debut in the Greater Boston theater ecosystem. The new Newton-based company has also selected a perfect location – the American Legion Nonantum Post 440 – host to countless family celebrations and community events since receiving its charter in 1952 – for staging this show-within-a-show about the dance marathon craze that swept the nation post-WWI. Part staged performance and part genuine endurance contest, couples would dance/walk for 45 minutes of each hour, take a 15-minute break to eat/nap, and rinse and repeat for as many hours, days, and weeks as it took until there was one couple left standing to claim the cash prize. These events were held across the country, peaking during the Depression era in the ‘30s. Sullivan Rep’s founder and artistic director, Daniel Sullivan (also in his 30s and a talented actor, singer, and dancer himself), directs and choreographs a cast of nearly 30 other triple threats from the Greater Boston area.

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The Huntington’s Must-See ‘John Proctor Is the Villain’ Conjures Pure Theatrical Magic

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Isabel Van Natta, Jules Talbot, Victoria Omoregie, Haley Wong in ‘John Proctor is the Villain’ at The Huntington. Photo Credit: T Charles Erickson

‘John Proctor Is the Villain’ — Written by Kimberly Belflower. Directed by Margot Bordelon. Scenic Design by Kristen Robinson; Costume Design by Zöe Sundra; Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson; Sound Design by Sinan Reflik Zafar. Presented by The Huntington at Performing at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through March 10, 2024.

By Shelley A. Sackett

In 1692, a witchcraft panic in Salem, Massachusetts, led to the conviction and execution of 19 innocent people (14 women and five men) for a crime that not only was never committed but that never happened in the first place.

A mixture of irrational fear, unchecked religious and patriarchal power, and a persecuting mentality led to the emergence of witch hunts and subsequent witch trials.

Arthur Miller fictionalized and immortalized this historical event in 1953 with The Crucible, a mainstay of most high school English Literature curricula. He intended it as an allegory for and indictment of the rabid McCarthyism of the 1950s, when the U. S. government blithely persecuted citizens accused of being communists based, often, on nothing more than innuendo and hearsay.

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Theater Mirror interviews Karin Trachtenberg, Whose ‘My Mother Had Two Faces’ Makes its Boston Debut at The Rockwell

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My Mother Had Two Faces makes its Boston debut at The Rockwell at 255 Elm Street in Somerville, MA on Sunday, March 3rd at 2:00pm. Coming off a successful world premiere in Los Angeles, Boston is the second stop on the production’s tour before heading Off-Broadway for The United Solo Festival on March 14th and then onto the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August. The play is written and performed by local theater artist Karin Trachtenberg and directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson. For information and tickets, go to: https://www.therockwell.org/calendar/my-mother-had-two-faces-all-ages/

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Feminists Get the Green Light in The Huntington’s ‘John Proctor is the Villain’

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Cast of ‘John Proctor is the Villain’ at The Huntington. Photo Credit: T Charles Erickson

The Huntington presents ‘John Proctor is the Villain.’ Written by Kimberly Belflower. Directed by Margot Bordelon. Scenic Design by Kristen Robinson. Costume Design by Zoë Sundra. Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson. Sound Design by Sinan Refik Zafar. At the BCA’s Calderwood Pavilion through March 10, 2024.

by Linda Chin

The Huntington’s provocative John Proctor is the Villain, by playwright Kimberly Belflower, is set in the present day, in a small – and small-minded – town in Appalachian Georgia. Four female students of diverse backgrounds, frustrated/inspired by discussions in their co-ed 11th grade Honors English/Sex-Education class centered on male heroes in The Crucible and scientific descriptions of sex, are eager to start a new ‘Feminism Club.’ Not surprisingly, the teenagers have different definitions of what “feminism” means and “feminists” are, different (and evolving) understandings of why it matters, and what the club’s purpose would be. The four young feminists are all on board to be the club’s founders, but will the School Board of the one-stoplight town give them the green light?

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A Dually Death-Defying and Life-Affirming ‘Duel Reality’ at ArtsEmerson

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ArtsEmerson presents Duel Reality, by 7 Fingers. At the Cutler Majestic Theater, Tremont Street, Boston, through February 18th.

By Linda Chin

7 Fingers, the Montreal-based, globally-beloved troupe of theater artist-acrobats, is back in Boston with the US premiere of Duel Reality – their 7th show at ArtsEmerson. A love story that echoes Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, Duel Reality includes music, song, dance, fight choreography, a string of spectacular stunts and circus acts, and uplifting and heartbreaking moments. During this fast-paced one-hour production (with no intermission), I was both immersed in the storytelling and in awe of the storytellers’ physical process.

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