A Spectacular & Spellbinding ‘A Strange Loop’ by SpeakEasy & Front Porch

May 5, 2024May 20, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Kai Clifton (center) and cast of ‘*A Strange Loop’* in Speakeasy/Front Porch production

SpeakEasy Stage Company & Front Porch Arts Collective present ‘A Strange Loop’. Book, Music and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson. Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent. Music Direction by David Freeman Coleman. Choreographed by Taavon Gamble. Intimacy Direction by Greg Geffrard. Scenic Design by Jon Savage. Costume Design by Becca Jewett. Lighting Design by Brian J. Lilienthal. Sound Design by David Remedios. At the Wimberly Theater at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, through May 25th.

By Linda Chin

As if the powerfully personal storytelling and rapturous standing ovation weren’t emotionally overwhelming enough, being part of the moment when director Maurice Emmanuel Parent shared the news that a special guest was in the house – and A Strange Loop’s creator Michael R. Jackson strolled onstage – made my head spin. Watching the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright praise the production and being so genuinely gracious to the cast, creatives, co-producers, crew, everyone – including the opening night crowds who supported the show’s Boston premiere – gave me goosebumps.

“Strange Loop” Dazzlingly Bucks and Challenges Norms

May 1, 2024May 5, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

‘A Strange Loop’ — Book, Music and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson. Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent. Music Direction by David Freeman Coleman. Choreographed by Taavon Gamble. Co-produced by SpeakEasy Stage and Front Porch Arts Collective at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, through May 25.

By Helen Ganley

Some days, escaping from your inner monologue feels impossible: apprehensions about upcoming appointments, embarrassment about a middle school memory, and tension about why a friend suddenly stopped speaking to you. Suddenly, it’s 3 AM, and you haven’t gotten a wink of sleep. The collaboration between Speakeasy Stage and Front Porch Arts Collective on A Strange Loop epitomizes this cognitive dissonance and the paths one must take to escape the labyrinths of one’s mind.

‘Black Odyssey Boston’ is Near-Perfection

May 7, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Ramona Lisa Alexander (Circe) and Brandon G. Green (Ulysses Lincoln) with Akili Jamal Haynes in the background in ‘Black Odyssey Boston’. Photo: Maggie Hall. Photo: Maggie Hall.

by Nicholas Whittaker

‘Black Odyssey Boston’ – Directed by Benny Sato Ambush. Written by Marcus Gardley. Choreographer: Melissa Alexis. Scenic Designer: Jon Savage. Lighting Designer: Aja M Jackson. Sound Designer: Dewey Dellay. Music/Choral Director: Allyssa Jones. Properties Designer: Elizabeth Rocha. Stage Manager: Phyllis Y. Smith. Assistant Stage Manager: Sara Hutchins. Presented by Front Porch Collective and Underground Railway Theater at Central Square Theater through May 19th

To call Black Odyssey Boston a retelling of the Greek myth of Ulysses “but with Black people” would be a gross mischaracterization. Such a play, after all, would be politically weak and artistically disappointing. What good is seeing Black bodies on stage if the stage is not affected by their Blackness, if Black folks are not allowed to tell their own narratives, rather than be stand-ins for a drama they do not know? And what good is a mere “retelling” of one of the oldest stories we have, a parroting of the past?

LYRIC STAGE & FRONT PORCH COLLECTIVE’S ‘BREATH AND IMAGINATION’ TAKES YOU TO CHURCH

December 6, 2018December 27, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Nicholas Whittaker

‘Breath and Imagination’ – Written by Daniel Beaty; Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent; Music Director, Asher Denburg; Additonal Music Direction, Doug Gerber; Scenic Design, Baron E. Pugh; Costume Design, Elisabetta Polito; Lighting Design, Aja M. Jackson; Sound Design, David Wilson. Presented by the Front Porch Collective and Lyric Stage Company at 140 Clarendon St. Boston through December 23

In the early movements of Breath and Imagination: The Story of Roland Hayes, a memory by Daniel Beaty, the eponymous character’s mother Angel Mo’ instructs her young son on a sung phrase. Together, they pore over the short phrase, focusing not on the precise notes, but on the spirit of the song, the intricacies of vocal flows and riffs and tone and emotion that characterize the tradition of Black gospel and church music. Together, they transform the phrasing from a mere collection of notes to a song, a deeply felt religious moment of love, joy, and community.