‘Amadeus’ – Written by Peter Shaffer. Directed by Tony Estrella. Music Direction and Composition by Judith Lynn Stillman. Set Design by Jessica Hill Kidd. Costume Design by Mikayla Reid. Lighting Design by Steve McLellan. Sound Design by Peter Sasha Horowitz. Presented by The Gamm Theatre, Warwick, Rhode Island, through December 7th.
By Linda Chin
With the power of music to soothe one’s soul and heal, create, and unite communities, seeing The Gamm Theatre’s production of Amadeus may be the perfect panacea for daylight savings – and/or post-election – blues. Set in 1781-1791 & 1823 Vienna, Amadeus tells the fictionalized story of a rival relationship between two 18th-century composers, the Salzburg-born young prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the more senior but lesser-known Italian composer Antonio Salieri.
‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’by David Catlin. Directed by Brian Isaac Phillips. Scenic Design by Sam Reno. Costume Design by Rainy Edwards, Lighting Design by Jeff Adelberg, Projection Design by Robert Carleton Simmel, Sound Design by Zack Bennett. Produced by the Merrimack Repertory Theater in partnership with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre at Liberty Hall, 50 E. Merrimack St., Lowell, through November 24.
By Mike Hoban
If you’re heading to Merrimack Rep hoping for a post-Halloween fright fest (as if the election results weren’t horrifying enough) based on the Boris Karloff Frankenstein films, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment. But if you’re looking for a high-quality theatrical production that eschews special effects and makeup in favor of a staging that brings psychological and emotional terror to the stage, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein delivers brilliantly.
Merrimack Rep has once again teamed with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, a year after their intriguing Gaslight production enjoyed runs at both theaters. Playwright David Catlin combines the Frankenstein novel with real-life occurrences, including the “ghost story” competition that spawned the book, but also draws upon the personal trials and tragedies of Mary Shelley’s life that informed the work – the death of her firstborn daughter Clara 12 days after birth, and the tumultuous relationship with her husband.
The play opens in 1816 (two years before “Frankenstein” was published) with English Romantic poets and writers Percy Bysshe Shelley (John Patrick Hayden), Lord Byron (Jay Wade), Dr. John Polidori (Billy Chace), Mary (Jasimine Bouldin), and Mary’s pregnant stepsister Claire Clairmont (Alexis Bronkovic) vacationing on a lake near Geneva, Switzerland. Housebound due to inclement weather, the male writers engage in a horror-themed storytelling contest, which Shelley believes he has won handily until his wife Mary begins to spin her yarn.
Mary’s story melds the pain of the death of her child with the hope of bringing her back to life through galvanism (an 18th and 19th-century scientific theory that held that electric shocks could reanimate the human body) and transforms them into a morality play about the consequences of withholding love and connection. As she tells the story, the cast morphs into the characters in the novel – Percy Shelley becomes Victor Frankenstein, Lord Byron becomes the Creature, Mary becomes Victor’s adopted sister Elizabeth, and Claire and the doctor assume multiple roles.
The opening minutes are essentially a display of literary one-upmanship as we endure the insufferably erudite writers jab at each other with witticisms, but the brilliance of the original novel, interwoven with Shelley’s personal anguish, soon reclaims center stage. Frankenstein is a morality play in which a mortal attempts to conquer death itself – not for the good of humankind but for his own deification – as evidenced by this passage from the original novel: “I began the creation of a human being… a new species would bless me as its creator and source…owe their being to me,” says Frankenstein, who after his experiment goes horribly wrong, refers to the life he created as a “wretch – the miserable monster whom I had created.” It’s that rejection that ultimately drives the unloved and feared Creature to (inadvertently) kill the innocent and gain revenge on his creator and his loved ones.
The acting is superb, led by Hayden’s transformation from the grandiose Shelley to Victor Frankenstein – initially as a loving brother to Elizabeth and later to the wild-eyed, obsessed madman portrayed by every actor from Karloff to Gene Wilder – and he holds his own against those iconic portrayals. Bouldin embraces the pain and suffering of Mary/Elizabeth while projecting the strength of a young woman who will not kowtow to her husband or his male counterparts. Wade thoroughly embodies the hurt of the misunderstood Creature and delightfully captures the haughtiness of the pompous Lord Byron. Chace is solid in his characterizations of high-status Englishmen, and Bronkovic is a treasure in a wide range of roles, from Claire to an Irish innkeeper. The production team (including projection designer Robert Carleton Simmel) also deserves praise for seamlessly creating two simultaneous universes while delivering the appropriate sound and lighting jolts that great horror stories require.
One note to those planning to attend this thought-provoking and stirring production. Unless you are familiar with the novel and/or the life of Mary Shelley, it is strongly advised to take the time to read the program before the show. The details of her life play a significant role in how the novel evolved, and the backstory adds to the richness of this fine production. For tickets and information, go to: https://mrt.org/
‘Dinner for One’ – Written by Christina Baldwin, Sun Mee Chomet, and Jim Lichtscheidl. Weylin Symes (Director); Katy Monthei (Scenic Designer); Jeff Adelberg (Lighting Designer); Deirdre Gerrard (Costume Designer); David Remedios (Sound Design); Tim Goss (Music Director). Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company through November 17, 2024.
The Greater Boston Stage Company has opened its 2024-2025 season with a new look, renovating its historic theater (originally built in 1917) including new seats, re-configuring its seating area to create a more intimate feel, and eliminating the poorly conceived all-gender restrooms (much to the relief of its older patrons, one imagines). But it’s the addition of comic powerhouse Paul Melendy to the company’s stable of talent that has given the theater its biggest boost in recent years. While that assessment may be a bit hyperbolic, there’s no underestimating the impact his performances have had on the company since Boston theater emerged from the pandemic in 2021. Since then, he’s appeared in a half-dozen (mostly comic) productions at GBSC, including the brilliant one-man show “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” which earned him the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Solo Performance in 2022.
Bill Hanney’s North Shore Music Theatre presents ‘Titanic the Musical’. Story & Book by Peter Stone. Music & Lyrics by Maury Yeston. Directed and choreographed by Kevin P. Hill. Music Direction by Milton Granger. Scenic & Lighting Design by Jack Mahler. Original Costume Design by Jeffrey Meek. Sound Design by Alex Berg. Hair & Wig Design by Rachel Padilla-Shufelt. At North Shore Music Theatre, Beverly, MA through November 10, 2024.
by Linda Chin
Putting away the deck chairs for the winter or rearranging the metaphorical deck chairs at work getting you down? Wondering how a single sociopathic businessman’s desire for power and fame can drive a decision that trumps others’ safety and happiness? Hungry for the power of live musical performance to unite, create, and heal communities?