Hub Theater’s ‘46 Plays for America’s First Ladies’ a Darkly Comic History Lesson

July 31, 2024July 31, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of the Hub Theater Company’s “46 Plays for America’s First Ladies.” Photo: Andrew Keefe

‘46 Plays for America’s First Ladies‘ – Written by Genevra Gallo-Bayiates, Sharon Greene, Chloe Johnston, Bilal Dardai, and Andy Bayiates; Directed by Ilyse Robbins; Set Design by Justin Lahue; Lighting Design by Emily Bearce;Sound Design by Gage Baker; and Costumes by E. Rosser. Presented by Hub Theatre Company at Club Cafe, 209 Columbus Ave., Boston, MA.

By Mike Hoban

If you’re going to Hub Theater’s 46 Plays for America’s First Ladies expecting a fawning third-grade history treatment of the women who “stood behind their men,” you’re in for a surprise. That premise is obliterated in the opening vignette when Martha Washington tells the audience, “I loved slavery” and describes her time as First Lady as akin to being a “state prisoner” – which is an actual quote from the wife of the “Father of Our Country.” Wow.

Hub Theatre Gives ‘Steel Magnolias’ a Comic Makeover

July 24, 2019July 25, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Lauren Elias, Maureen Adduci, Catherine Lee Christie, June Kfoury, Liz Adams, Oye Ehikhamhen in Hub Theatre’s ‘Steel Magnolias’)

by Mike Hoban

Steel Magnolias – Written by Robert Harling. Directed by Paula Plum. Set Design by Cassie Chapados; Lighting Design by Chris Bocchiaro; Sound Design by Kyle Lampe; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl. Presented by Hub Theatre Company of Boston at Club Café, 209 Columbus Avenue, Boston through August 3.

Following a tragedy towards the end of the play Steel Magnolias, which is set entirely in an in-home beauty salon where women come as much for the sisterly camaraderie as the hair care, Truvy Jones, the owner of the salon, remarks to her customers/friends, “Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.”

In this highly entertaining production, now being presented by the Hub Theatre Company at Club Café in the South End, there’s plenty of laughter but a surprising dearth of tears, as director Paula Plum opts to emphasize the humor in the piece – creating a much-needed light summer offering. Plum, one of Boston’s premier comic actresses herself, has assembled a talented cast of new and seasoned talent to give the play a kind of comic makeover. I must confess that I have never seen the star-studded (Dolly Parton, Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis) movie version – or any previous version of the play for that matter – but my companion assured me early on in the performance that despite the non-stop one liners, that I should brace myself for a tear jerker. That never really occurs as the tragedy is given a bit of a softening, but to the untrained eye, Steel Magnolias works just fine as a comedy.

Hub Theatre Goes Red, White and Blue with “The Taming”

July 20, 2018July 20, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

‘The Taming’ – Written by Lauren Gunderson. Directed by Juliet Bowler. Presented by Hub Theatre Company. Assistant Director/Dramaturg: Jess Viator. Set Designer: Ben Lieberson. Scenic Artist: Megan Kinneen. Lighting Designer: Mike Wonson. Costume Designer: Erica Desautels. Sound Designer: Kyle Lampe. Props Designer: Cesara Walters. Pageant Consultant: Jamie-Shannon Ferguson. At the Club Cafe, 209 Columbus Ave., Boston through July 28

Politics.

…Yep. Simply stating the word will probably cause about half of the readers of this review to put their back up. In our contemporary twenty-four hour news cycle culture it’s become a dirty, even ugly word, conjuring up a host of unpleasant connotations including family arguments, fake news and an avalanche of think pieces detailing what new thing you should be outraged about this week and why. It’s exhausting and frustrating experience trying to be an informed American citizen these days, especially as both ends of the political spectrum circle their wagons and create their own echo chambers. Isn’t art, then, supposed to be the one place we can go to escape all of that noise? The one refuge we have from the suffocating media landscape?

Theater Mirror Interviews Rod Ferguson on his one-man show, “Some Others I’ve Seen”

October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 michaelhoban2 Comments

by Michael Cox

We sat down with the “wickedly funny” cabaret comedian Rod Ferguson to talk about his one-man show, “Some Others I’ve Seen,” the third in a series he has presented at Club Café featuring “the songs you love to hear with the stories I loves to tell.” This time the music is inspired by the swing era show tunes of the 1940s. Accompanied by Club Café’s own Brian Patton on the piano, “Some Others I’ve Seen” runs October 12, 19 and 26 at 7 PM. Tickets are available at clubcafe.com.

“Hair” Still Rocks at Fifty

October 2, 2017October 2, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Michele Markarian

“Hair” – Book and Lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni. Music by Galt MacDermont. Directed by Joey C. Pelletier. Presented by Heart and Dagger Productions at Club Café, 209 Columbus Avenue, Boston, through October 20.

I was a little kid when my parents bought the album of the original Broadway cast of “Hair”, after they’d gone to New York to see it. I thought the music was contagious and would sing along to the soundtrack. My naïve mother didn’t know the meaning of the words in “Sodomy” any more than I did, so the singing worked out nicely. Years later, I found a book in our local library by original cast member Lorrie Davis, called “Letting Down My Hair: Two Years With the Love Rock Tribe–From Dawning to Downing of Aquarius”. Fans of “Hair”, this book is not to be missed! ($30 used on Amazon.) I read and reread it cover to cover until my mother, who had wised up by then, got her hands on it and declared it “filthy”. Years later, as a young theater reviewer in college, I volunteered to see a Brown University production of “Hair”. The show itself was excellent, but I was disappointed to experience it as a piece of history, rather than something relevant to the times.

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