‘The 39 Steps’ at The Cape Playhouse Is Pure Pleasure

September 5, 2024September 5, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of ‘The 39 Steps’ at The Cape Playhouse

The Cape Playhouse presents THE 39 STEPS by Patrick Barlow. From the novel by John Buchan. From the movie by Alfred Hitchcock. Directed by Kimberly Senior. Scenic Design by Frank J. Olivia. Costume Design by Sarina Fellows. Lighting Design by M.L.Geiger. Sound Design by Joanna Lynne Staub. Fight & Intimacy Choreography by Unkledave’s Fight-House. Dialect Coaching by JDR. At The Cape Playhouse at the Cape Cod Center for the Arts, Dennis, MA through September 7, 2024.

By Linda Chin

Summer is officially over, our post-Labor Day calendars are filling up with back-to-school, back-to-work responsibilities, and theater companies across New England are launching their 2024-25 seasons, but Cape Cod and the dunes of Provincetown need not just be a lovely memory in your Rear Window. There’s still time to head North by Northeast (from NYC), or South by Southeast (from Boston) to The Cape Playhouse to catch a performance of The 39 Steps, a mystery play adapted from a 1915 Scottish spy novel and the classic 1935 adventure film by Alfred Hitchcock.

Ogunquit’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Melds Dark Comedy with a Rockin’ Score

September 3, 2024September 19, 2024 michaelhoban2 Comments

Talia Suskauer, Etai Benson, and Adam Heller in *‘Little Shop of Horrors’* at Ogunquit Playhouse

‘Little Shop of Horrors’ – Book by Howard Ashman; Music by Alan Menken; Based on the film by Roger Corman, screenplay by Charles Griffith. Directed by Hunter Foster. Choreography by Mara Newbery Greer. Music Direction by Dan Pardo. Scenic Design by Scott Pask and Nate Bertone. Lighting Design by Richard Latta. Costume Design by Dustin Cross and Bryce Turgeon. Sound Design by Kevin Heard. Wig/Hair & Make-Up Design by Roxanne De Luna. Presented by Ogunquit Playhouse, Ogunquit, Maine, through September 21.

By Mike Hoban

With so many good or great movies turned into mediocre or outright awful stage musicals, Little Shop of Horrors stands out as a brilliant exception – turning a dreadful but campy 1950s sci-fi movie into one of the best of the rock ‘n’ roll-scored musicals. Ogunquit Playhouse’s production of Little Shop is a rollicking blast; from its opening 60s girl group title number to its whacked-out sci-fi conclusion, it delivers musically and comedically.

Madcap ‘POTUS’ Kicks Off Trinity Rep’s Season

September 1, 2024September 12, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The opening show of Trinity Repertory Company’s 61st season is Selina Fillinger’s political feminist farce called “POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.” It’s a contemporary farce about seven women at the White House trying to keep things running smoothly in spite of an incompetent and morally bankrupt head of the US. Sound familiar? When a PR problem that could have dire worldwide consequences pops up, it is up to these seven women to do damage control. These women include his wife, chief of staff, press secretary, mouthy ex-con sister, mousy secretary, young “innocent” girl from Iowa, and a nosy reporter who wants the inside scoop. Director Curt Columbus picks seven strong actresses to portray these diverse and extremely comical characters. The madcap adventures and roller coaster ride they bring us on leads to nonstop laughter from start to finish, helping us escape from the stressful 2024 election looming upon us in November. What a marvelous way to begin Trinity’s 61st season.

Gamm’s ‘The Effect’: Is it Love or Big Pharma?

September 1, 2024September 30, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Gamm Theatre’s “The Effect”. Photo credits: Cat Laine

by Tony Annicone

The opening show of GAMM Theatre’s 40th Anniversary season is the 2012 play “The Effect” by Lucy Prebble, who later became executive producer and writer for the hit HBO series “Succession”. “The Effect” is a 100-minute show that follows two patients, Tristan, a flirty drifter and jokester, and Connie, a wary and skeptical psychology student, at a clinical trial for an antidepressant. They are doing it for the cash. It requires them to be locked up in some asylum and undergo constant medical supervision. They then fall in love but wonder whether the happy feeling might just be the drug’s ability to mimic dopamine.