‘Beyond Words’ at Central Square Theater Opens Our Ears and Hearts

March 25, 2024March 25, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Stephanie Clayman, Jon Vellante in ‘Beyond Words’ at Central Square Theater.
Photos by Maggie Hall

‘Beyond Words’ – Written by Laura Maria Censabella; Directed by Cassie Chapados; Scenic Design by Qingan Zhang; Costume Design by Sandra Zhihan Jia; Lighting Design by Amanda Fallon; Sound Design by Anna Drummond. Presented by Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Productions at Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, through April 14, 2024

By Helen Ganley

In the eye of a tornado of falling feathers, a scientist lies in a heap. Surrounded by a fluorescent-lit lab cheekily bedecked with “Birds at Work” signage and decals of African Grey parrots, the tornado emanates from Dr. Irene Pepperberg as she sweeps us back to the beginning of her story. Central Square Theater’s production of Beyond Words invokes a central question of humanity: How intelligent is the rest of the animal kingdom?

No One Gets a Free Ride in Speakeasy’s Rich ‘Cost of Living’

March 23, 2024May 10, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Stephanie Gould and Lewis D. Wheeler in “Cost of Living” at Speakeasy Stage
Photos: Nile Scott Studios

Cost of Living – Written by Martyna Majok; Directed By Alex Lonati; Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Amanda E. Fallon; Sound Design by Anna Drummond. Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company at 527 Tremont St, Boston through March 30th, 2024.

By Shelley A. Sackett

At its heart, ‘Cost of Living,’ is about relationships: how two people meet; how and whether they connect, separate, and reconnect; and how they handle caring and being cared for.

In playwright Martyna Majok’s magic hands, the fact that one person in each relationship has a disability is secondary (though hardly unimportant). Rather, she focuses on the universal vicissitudes of life — emotional, financial, good luck and bad, good health and illness — and how we handle them. The delicacy and craftsmanship of that artistic feat won her the 2018 Pulitzer-Prize award for Drama.

Going to Great Lengths to Get the Girl: ‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder’ at The Company Theatre

March 22, 2024March 22, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

The Company Theatre presents A Gentleman’s Guide To Love and Murder by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak. Co-Directed by Zoe Bradford and Sally Ashton Forrest. Musical Direction by Robert McDonough. Lighting Design by Dean Palmer Jr. Costume Design by Joe Michienzie. Set Design by Ryan Barrow. Specialty Costume Pieces designed by Kathryn Ridder. At the Company Theatre, Norwell, through March 30th, 2024

By Linda Chin

An anchor of theater in MA’s South Shore, The Company Theatre goes to great lengths to mount a great shows. Their recent production of Born to Do This, the original Joan of Arc musical (created by Zoe Bradford, Michael Hammond and Mel Carubia) was acknowledged – from a very crowded field of “post-COVID’ contenders – in “Theater Mirror’s Reviewers ‘Top 10’ Lists for 2023.” Company’s 2022 production of Sweeney Todd, starring Peter Adams and MaryAnn Zschau in the leading roles, was “Meaty Material Performed to Perfection.” Like Sweeney, Gentleman’s Guide is a story of love, murder, and revenge set in London of yore, but it is not a dark drama. Rather it is a British satire meant to be murderously funny, and that consistent with Company’s mission to entertain and educate, comments on classicism and racism by keeping you laughing, which we can all use these days. Like Sweeney, Gentleman’s Guide is a Tony Award-winning Best Musical (2014) – but the book and music aren’t Sondheim (nor Bradford, Hammond, Carubia for that matter).

ASP’s Impressive ‘King Hedley II’ Is a Requiem to a Dream

March 20, 2024March 20, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

James Ricardo Milord and Omar Robinson in Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s production of August Wilson’s *King Hedley II*. Photo by Maggie Hall Photography.

‘King Hedley II’ – Written by August Wilson; Directed by Summer L. Williams; Scenic Designer: Jon Savage; Costume Designer: Becca Jewett; Lighting Designer: Anshuman Bhatia; Sound Designer: Caroline Eng. Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project at Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley St, Roxbury, through April 7, 2024

By Shelley A. Sackett

August Wilson’s King Hedley II, the Pulitzer Prize nominated play, is set in 1985 in the same Pittsburgh Hill District backyard where Wilson set his previous work, Seven Guitars (which received a knock out production in 2023 by Actor’s Shakespeare Project). Jon Savage’s same terrific set (and Anshuman Bhatia’s spot-on lighting) adds continuity and interest.

It’s now 40 years and several generations later, and the upbeat, soulful guitar blues arias soundtrack of Seven Guitars has been replaced by a thrumming funeral march set in a minor key.

Dance Musical ‘Message In A Bottle’ Featuring the Music of Sting, Comes to Emerson Colonial (Interview)

March 20, 2024March 20, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

The Emerson Colonial Theatre’s will present a seven show run of the touring dance/theater production Message In A Bottle, based on the music of Sting and works from his band The Police. Featuring 28 songs, some re-mastered and re-interpreted, and developed by Kate Prince, Artistic Director of ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company, Message tells the story of displaced refugees and their struggle to find a new home. Theater Mirror’s Mike Hoban spoke with Associate Choreographer Lukas McFarlane in anticipation of the show’s opening on March 26 (through March 30).

by Mike Hoban

Theater Mirror: How did the idea for Message in a Bottle come about?

Lukas: Kate Prince (the show’s creator) grew up with the music of Sting and the Police and is huge fan. One day she was listening to Sting’s “Desert Rose” and thought, what if we (put together) a show using the music of Sting and the Police? She wrote an email to one of our producers, Sadler’s Wells, and within a couple weeks Sadler’s had her in a meeting with Sting in a hotel lobby pitching this idea to him, which was really cool and quite surreal for her.

An Immersive, Intoxicating ‘Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812’ at Seacoast Rep

March 20, 2024March 20, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of ‘Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812’ at Seacoast Rep

The Seacoast Repertory Theatre presents ‘Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812’ by Dave Molloy. Directed by Ben Hart & Brandon James. Music Direction by Kennedy McAlister and Aidan Campbell. Choreography by Jason Faria and Alyssa Dumas. Lighting Design by Zachary Ahmad-Kahloon. Sound Design by Andrew Cameron. Properties Design by Gretchen Gray and Elise Marshall. Costume Design by DW. Set Design by Ben Hart & Brandon James. ‘Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812’ runs at the Seacoast Repertory Theatre, Portsmouth, NH through April 7, 2024.

By Linda Chin

Producing theater is a risky business – and executive artistic directors Ben Hart and Brandon James’ decision to mount a show as mammoth as Dave Molloy’s Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 was an ambitious choice. Based on 70 pages from Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, multi-hyphenate Molloy (composer-lyricist-playwright-actor) reframed the love story about Russian aristocrats in the 19^th century with a contemporary lens, and created a sumptuous score with diverse musical genres (Russian folk, classical, klezmer, rock, and electronic dance music). For its Broadway run at the Imperial, the set was also extravagant and lush – runways jutting into the orchestra replaced 200 of the theatre’s seats, tables and chairs and banquettes provided on-stage seating, and velvet curtains and paintings in gold frames added texture and sparkle.

ASP’s ‘King Hedley II’ Brilliantly Examines the Bleak Underbelly of the American Dream

March 14, 2024March 20, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

James Ricardo Milord, Naheem Garcia, and Omar Robinson in Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s production of August Wilson’s *King Hedley II*. Photo by Maggie Hall Photography.

‘King Hedley II’ – Written by August Wilson; Directed by Summer L. Williams; Scenic Designer: Jon Savage; Costume Designer: Becca Jewett; Lighting Designer: Anshuman Bhatia; Sound Designer:Caroline Eng. Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project at Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley St, Roxbury, through April 7, 2024

by Mike Hoban

There’s a folksy adage in recovery circles that goes, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” The implication is that if you don’t fundamentally change your behavior, you’re not going to be able to overcome what is keeping you from being your best self – whether it involves booze, drugs, food, sex, shopping, or any behavior that dominates your life.

Speakeasy’s ‘Cost of Living’ Teaches the Value of Connection

March 13, 2024March 13, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Gina Fonseca, Sean Leviashvill in Speakeasy’s ‘Cost of Living’

By Helen Ganley

White-washed windows frame silhouetted figures diffused by foggy panes of light-filled glass. Behind these panes are flocks of New Jerseyans – each with their routines, stories, and connections. In Cost of Living, Speakeasy Stage Company delves into the narratives behind these casements and the forces that draw their residents together.

Starboard, Overboard, Never Bored in GBSC’s ‘Titanish’

March 13, 2024March 13, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

‘Titanish’ – Written by Jeff Shell & Ryan Dobosh. Music by Mark Siano. Directed by Tyler Rosati. Music Direction by Avery Bargar. Scenic Design by Rachel Rose Burke. Lighting Design by John Holmes. Costume Design by Bethany Mullins. Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will. Properties Design by Emily Allinson. At Greater Boston Stage Company, 395 Main Street, Stoneham, MA, through March 17, 2024

by Linda Chin

Making its East Coast premiere at Greater Boston Stage Company, the play Titanish, by Jeff Shell and Ryan Dobos, is a parody – not of the tragic event of 1912 that killed nearly 1500 people, nor the Broadway production of 1977 that won five Tony Awards, including “Best Musical,” but of the Oscar-winning “Best Picture” of 1998 that was the first to gross $1 billion worldwide. I don’t associate the movie ‘Titanic’ – nor its characters Jack and Rose (the roles that thrust Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet into stardom overnight) with comedy. In fact, the only time I recall laughing with the Titanic as the subject matter is the old joke with the punchline, “Iceberg, Goldberg, what’s the difference?”

“The Minutes” a Tragicomic Glimpse into the Nature of People and Power

March 11, 2024March 20, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Scot Colford and cast of ‘The Minutes’ at Umbrella Stage Company. Photos by Jim Sabitus

By Michele Markarian

“The Minutes” – Written by Tracy Letts. Directed by Scott Edmiston. Sound Design by James Cannon. Lighting Design by SeifAllah Salotto-Cristobal. Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland. Costume Design by Bethany Mullins. Presented by The Umbrella Stage Company, 40 Stow Street, Concord, through March 24.

“Democracy’s messy,” says Mayor Superba (Steve Barkhimer) to his newest town council member, the young and eager to assimilate Mr. Peel (Ryan MacPherson). Mr. Peel is new to Big Cherry, having moved there for his wife, who grew up there. He is a “joiner,” signing up for various activities to gain a foothold in the community. His mother recently passed, causing him to miss the last council meeting for her funeral. When he returns, he discovers that Mr. Carp (Jeremiah Kissel), a man he’d been working with on a project, has disappeared, and none of the other council members will tell him what happened. Oddly enough, the minutes for the meeting have disappeared as well. Over the course of the ninety-minute play, we learn not only what happened to Mr. Carp but also the truth behind the town’s infamous battle of Mattie Creek and the hero’s journey that has been drilled into each citizen through the teachings of the church and school.