Lyric Stage’s ‘The Last Five Years’ Explores Joy and Pain of Love

November 18, 2021November 23, 2021 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

*Jared and Kira Troilo in Lyric Stages “The Last Five Years” Photos by Mark S. Howard*

by Mike Hoban

‘The Last Five Years’ – Written byJason Robert Brown; Directed by Leigh Barrett; Scenic Design by Jenna McFarland Lord; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will; Costume Design by David Lucey. Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston at 40 Clarendon St., Boston through December 5^th, 2021

As anyone who has gone through a divorce or bitter breakup can tell you, there are few things in life that can generate such deep emotional pain. Fortunately for music and theater fans, it’s also a great source of material for creative artists. Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years mines this fertile territory via a clever framing device that allows the audience to witness the joy of a young couple’s budding romance while simultaneously experiencing the soul-crushing agony of their breakup.

Lyric Stage’s ‘Be Here Now’ Asks: “What Price Happiness?”

October 4, 2021October 4, 2021 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

*Katherine C. Shaver, Barlow Adamson, Samantha Richert and Shani Farrell in The Lyric Stage Company* ‘*s ‘Be Here Now’. Photos by Mark S. Howard*

‘Be Here Now — Written by Deborah Zoe Laufer. Directed by Courtney O’Connor. Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland. Costume Design by Rachel Padula Shufelt. Lighting by Karen Perlow. Composition and Sound by Dewey Dellay. Starring Barlow Adamson, Shani Farrell, Samantha Richert and Katherine C. Shaver. Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston at 140 Clarendon St. through October 17.

by Shelley A. Sackett

Deborah Zoe Laufer’s deceptively profound Be Here Now opens with an almost slapstick scene. Three women (Patty and Luanne Cooper and Bari) sit on yoga mats as the blissed-out disembodied voice coaches them to look inside themselves and “let go.” Patty (Shani Farrell) and Luanne (Katherine C. Shaver), dressed appropriately in latex, comply, closing their eyes and sinking into their mats. Bari (Samantha Richert) clearly marches to a different drummer. She is fully dressed (as in a midi dress and huge coat-sweater) and keeps her eyes defiantly open, widening them at each suggestion she close them. Her face portrays the furthest state from bliss possible. This woman is irredeemably and unapologetically miserable.

Lyric’s ‘The Treasurer’ a Layered Family Dramedy

February 25, 2020 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(Cheryl McMahon and Ken Cheeseman in Lyric Stage’s “The Treasurer”. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)

By Michele Markarian

‘The Treasurer’ – Written by Max Posner. Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw. Scenic Design by Kristin Loeffler; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Chris Hudacs; Sound Design by Elizabeth Cahill. Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston through March 22.

At some point in life, whether you want to or not, you may find yourself in the unenviable position of having to care for an aging parent. I say unenviable because not everyone’s parent ages poorly; my parents’ parents, for example, died with their boots on in their nineties. Even as the poorly aging parent becomes financially helpless and less mentally with it, they often don’t wish to relinquish control or their former lifestyle. Such is the case with Ida Armstrong (Cheryl McMahon) in Max Posner’s complicated family dramedy, The Treasurer.

Lyric Stage Serves Delicious Fare With ‘The Cake’

January 18, 2020January 18, 2020 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(*Karen MacDonald, Chelsea Diehl, and Kris Sidberry in ‘The Cake’ at Lyric Stage*
*PHOTO: Mark S. Howard*)

by Julie-Anne Whitney

‘The Cake’ – Written by Bekah Brunstetter; Directed by Courtney O’Connor; Scenic Design by Matt Whiton; Costume Design by Charles Schoonmaker; Lighting Design by Aja Jackson; Original Music/Sound Design by Arshan Gailus; Intimacy Direction by Ted Hewlett; Stage Managed by Diane McClean. Presented by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston through February 9.

Inspired by the 2015 Craig v. Masterpiece Cakeshop lawsuit, Bekah Brunstetter’s play, The Cake, centers on a conservative Christian bakery owner, Della (Karen MacDonald), who is asked by her late friend’s daughter, Jen (Chelsea Diehl), to make a wedding cake. When Jen reveals that her future spouse is a black woman named Macy (Kris Sidberry), Della clumsily claims that she’s simply “too busy” to accommodate their request.

Lyric’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ Mashes Up Agatha Christie, ‘The Maltese Falcon’ and the Marx Brothers

December 2, 2019December 2, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(*Cast of Lyric Stage’s* *‘Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Expres*s’ *– Photo by Mark S. Howard)*

by Michael Cox

‘Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express’ – Adapted by Ken Ludwig. Directed by Spiro Veloudos. Scenic Design, Brynna Bloomfield; Costume Design, Gail Astrid Buckley; Lighting Design, Scott Clyve; Sound Design and Original Music, Dewey Dellay; Projection Design, Seaghan McKay. Presented by the Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA, through December 22.

In 1934, when “Murder on the Orient Express” was first published as a novel, this country was looking for a way out – a way out of the joblessness, poverty and the endless ache of day-to-day existence. The economic agony that the United States felt quickly spread to Europe and around the world. And it certainly hit Great Britain, where Agatha Christie’s prolific career as a mystery writer was well underway. Christie had an astounding career. According to her estate, she is the world’s most published English novelist, and only those who have read Shakespeare and the Holy Bible (King James) outnumber her readership. A key ingredient to Christie’s success is the escapism she provides. So it should come as no surprise that the era of “The Great Depression” is one of Christie’s most critically successful periods. This is interesting because although the characters in the “Murder on the Orient Express” are plagued by a variety of dramatic problems – kidnapping, extortion, death threats, suicide, and of course, murder – there is one thing that never troubles them. Money.

Darkly Comic ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Rocks the Lyric Stage

September 5, 2019September 10, 2019 Theater Mirror2 Comments

(Katrina Z Pavao, Dan Prior, and Audrey II in ‘Little Shop of Horror’ at the Lyric Stage Company – Photos by Mark S. Howard)

‘Little Shop of Horrors’ – Book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman; Music by Alan Menken; Directed and Choreographed by Rachel Bertone; Music Direction by Dan Rodriguez. Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland; Costume Design by Marian Bertone; Sound Design by AndrewDuncan Will; Lighting Design by Frank Meissner, Jr.; Puppet Design by Cameron McEachern. Presented by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston at 140 Clarendon St, Boston through October 6th.

By Mike Hoban

The promotional materials in the press kit for the Lyric Stage’s 45th season promise “Music, Mystery, Murder & Mirth”, and with their stellar opening production of Little Shop of Horrors, the theater company makes good on all counts right out of the gate. Directed by multiple IRNE winner Rachel Bertone and performed by a first-rate cast, the revival of this 1980’s horror/comedy delivers not only as a musical, but as a legitimately funny comedy as well. From its opening 60’s girl group title number to it’s wacked out sci-fi conclusion, Little Shop is a rollicking blast.

Lyric Stage Invites ‘Round ‘The Little Foxes’

February 22, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

“Little Foxes” (Photos by Mark S. Howard)

Review by James Wilkinson

The Little Foxes – Written by Lillian Hellman. Directed by Scott Edmiston. Assistant Director: Kate Franklin. Scenic Design: Janie E. Howland. Costume Design: Gail Astrid Buckley. Lighting Design: Karen Perlow. Sound Design/Original Music: Dewey Dellay. Fight Director: Jesse Hinson. Presented by Lyric Stage Company at 140 Clarendon St. Boston through March 17

At the first intermission of Lyric Stage Company’s production of The Little Foxes the woman next to me bumped into my leg as she got up from her seat. “I’m so sorry” she said, looking a little unsteady on her feet. “It’s just that it’s so visceral.” I smiled and nodded because I’m the kind of person who likes to play my cards very close to the chest. I also try to reserve judgement until I’ve taken the whole thing in, but I knew what the woman meant. So much of Lyric’s production aims to overpower you and I think that on a technical level, there’s no question that it achieves that goal. It’s a solid piece of work, put together in a way that makes you want to stand back and admire the craft at work. The play is Lillian Hellman’s best-known and has (I think) rightfully earned its place not just as a classic but as a uniquely American classic. It’s the play’s American spirit that I think the Lyric’s production is trying to tap into.

LYRIC’S ‘THE WOLVES’ A TITLE IX WINNER

January 20, 2019January 20, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Linda Chin

THE WOLVES – Written by Sarah DeLappe. Directed by A. Nora Long; Scenic Design by Shelley Barish; Costume Design by Amanda Mujica; Sound Design by Elizabeth Cahill; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow. Cast: Lydia Barnett-Mulligan, Sarah Elizabeth Bedard, Simone Black, Olivia Z. Cote, Chelsea Evered, Grace Experience, Laura Latreille, Julia Lennon, Valerie Terranova, Jarielle Whitney. Presented by Lyric Stage Company ay 40 Clarendon St., Boston through February 3

2017 Pulitzer finalist Sarah DeLappe titled her impressive debut play The Wolves after the story’s subject, a soccer team of sixteen and seventeen-year old young women. Nine actors play the team members, identified to the audience and each other during the five weeks the action takes place by their jersey numbers. Not until the last scene do we hear a series of girls’ names, and connect that player #7 is Alex and #14 is Megan. Out of earshot of adults, the Wolves freely discuss a range of mature topics – abortion, pads vs. tampons, eating disorders, Mexican children locked in cages, and various adult figures – parents, coaches, and Cambodian genocide leader Pol Pot with a familiar vernacular (#11: “but it’s like he’s old”; #25: “he murdered thousands of people”). Not until close to the end of the play does the tenth and only adult cast member (Soccer mom) appear, and not surprisingly the group dynamic and flow of the conversation changes with her presence.

Lyric’s ‘Roadshow’ Showcases Lesser Known Sondheim Work

January 22, 2018January 22, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Book by John Weidman; Co-Directed by Spiro Veloudos and Ilyse Robbins; Music Direction by Jonathan Goldberg; Choreography by Ilyse Robbins; Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Lighting Design by John R. Malinowski; Sound Design by Elizabeth Cahill; Costume Design by Amanda Mujica. Presented by The Lyric stage Company of Boston, 40 Clarendon St., Boston through February 11

Watching Steven Sondheim’s Roadshow is a lot like listening to Magical Mystery Tour or Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. You know it’s not in the same league as say, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band or Abbey Road, but there’s certainly enough good material there to warrant a listen. Such is the case with Roadshow, now being presented by the Lyric Stage Company. It’s no Into the Woods or A Little Night Music, but much like the lesser Beatles works, there are the flashes of brilliance that one would expect from any Sondheim musical.