The Vilna Shul and “The Dybbuk” Are A Match Made in Heaven in Arlekin Players’ Must-See Production

June 7, 2024June 7, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Arlekin Players’ “The Dybbuk” at the Vilna Shul. Photos: Irina Danilova

‘The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds’ — Written by Roy Chen. Based on the original play by S. Ansky. Adapted by Igor Golyak and Dr. Rachel Merrill Moss with additional material from the translation by Joachim Neugroschel. Directed by Igor Golyak. Scenic Design by Igor Golyak with Sasha Kuznetsova. Presented by Arlekin Players Theatre at The Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture, 18 Philips St., Boston, through June 23.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Igor Golyak, the peerlessly talented founder and award-winning artistic director of Arlekin Players Theatre, has done it again. Known for his innovative approaches to traditional and virtual theater, his production of “The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds” takes the audience on a magic carpet ride straight into the beating heart of a turn-of-the-century Eastern European shtetl.

A Fresh and Exciting ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ for the Ages at NSMT

June 7, 2024June 7, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Jeremy Radin and the cast of “Fiddler on the Roof” at North Shore Music Theatre.
Photos by Paul Lyden

‘Fiddler On The Roof’ – Book by Joseph Stein. Music by Jerry Bock. Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Direction by Robert W. Schneider. Music Direction by Miles Plant. Original Broadway Choreography by Jerome Robbins reproduced by Josh Assor. Scenic Design by Ryan M. Howell. Costume Coordination by Kelly Baker. Lighting Design by Jack Mehler. Sound Design by James Cannon. Hair & Wig Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt. At North Shore Music Theatre, Beverly, through June 16, 2024.

By Linda Chin

A fresh and exciting production of one of the world’s most beloved musicals – Fiddler on the Roof – is at the beloved North Shore Music Theatre in the round, giving patrons of all ages and abilities access to the action from no further than 12-15 rows from the stage. Jerome Robbins’ original Broadway choreography, which has been faithfully recreated by Josh Assor, is exuberantly performed by the 35-member cast. The circle dances of Jewish culture, inclusive of community rather than exclusively for couples, feel right at home on the circular stage.

Sullivan Rep’s Sumptuous ‘A Little Night Music’

June 6, 2024June 6, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Sullivan Rep’s ‘A Little Night Music’ at Newton City Hall

Sullivan Rep presents ‘A Little Night Music’. Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by Hugh Wheeler. Direction and Choreography by Dan Sullivan. Music Direction by Jenny Tsai. Lighting Design by Erik Fox. Properties Design by Rick Grenier. Costume Design by DW. Hair and Makeup Design by Bridget Sullivan. Sound Design by Paul Roach. At Newton City Hall, Newton, MA, through June 8, 2024.

By Linda Chin

For two weekends in June, Sullivan Rep presents the second show of its inaugural season – A Little Night Music by the late musical genius Stephen Sondheim. Like his more popular musicals – the macabre Sweeney Todd or the fanciful Into the Woods, A Little Night Music has the masterful score and brilliant lyrics that are Sondheim’s trademark and is a story about love, longing, and romantic pairings that don’t have fairy tale endings. With a book penned by Hugh Wheeler, A Little Night Music is part operetta, part social commentary, and part bedroom farce and includes melancholic and laugh-out-loud moments.

A Deeply Moving, Hauntingly Beautiful “Dybbuk”

June 6, 2024June 6, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

“The Dybbuk”. Written by Roy Chen. Based on the original play by S. Ansky and adapted by Igor Golyak with Dr. Rachel Merrill Moss. Directed by Igor Golyak. Presented by Arlekin Players Theatre at the Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture, 18 Phillips Street, Beacon Hill, Boston, through June 23^rd.

By Michele Markarian

There’s an Old World, otherworldly feeling of the Vilna Shul, one of the oldest immigrant synagogues in the United States, with its high, cracked ceilings, elaborate chandeliers and Hebrew names engraved on the walls. Plastic and scaffolding are in the center of the long rectangular room, with the sound of water dripping. The house manager announces that the show will be one hour and fifty minutes without an intermission. My friend and I look at each other; the dismay and fear on her face mirrors my own. Little did we know that one hour and fifty minutes later, we wouldn’t want “The Dybbuk” to end. It’s a stunning, spiritual production where the worlds of the living and the dead are never far from one another. While this is a world premiere, coincidentally, Ansky’s original version was performed in Yiddish by the Vilna Troupe.

Gloucester Stage’s ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’ Sends Up Middle-aged Family Dysfunction

June 5, 2024June 8, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Gloucester Stage’s ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’. Photos by Jason Grow

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike – By Christopher Durang; Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw. Set Design by Kristin Loeffler; Costumes by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Anshuman Bhatia; Sound Design by Melanie Chen Cole. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, through June 23

By Mike Hoban

In the opening scene of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Gloucester Stage Company’s first offering of its 34^th season, we meet Sonia (Adrianne Krstansky) and Vanya (Diego Arciniegas), having coffee in their picturesque farmhouse overlooking a pond in Buck’s County, PA. Although they are brother and sister (Sonia is adopted), they banter like an eccentric middle-aged (50s) married couple: The fire’s gone out, but they’re too indifferent to move on. Sonia has turned wallowing in self-pity into an Olympic sport, while Vanya seems more resigned to his fate. The pair has spent the last 15 years of their life taking care of their elderly, now deceased, parents. They lament not what could have been but how meaningless their lives are, particularly in contrast to their sister Masha – the B-list movie star who rose to fame as the protagonist of the wildly popular B-movie “Sexy Killer,” which she milked for four sequels.