Lyric’s ‘The Thanksgiving Play’ a Cornucopia Overflowing with Clever Theatrical Treats

October 27, 2019October 27, 2019 michaelhoban1 Comment

(Jesse Hinson, Barlow Adamson, Grace Experience and Amanda Collins in ‘The Thanksgiving Play’ at Lyric Stage Company of Boston. Photos: Glenn Perry)

by Linda Chin

The Thanksgiving Play – Written by Larissa FastHorse; Directed by Scott Edmiston; Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland; Sound Design/Original Music by Dewey Dellay; Costume Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow. Presented by Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon St., Boston through Nov. 10

In the opening scene of The Thanksgiving Play, now being presented at the Lyric Stage, the first of several children’s Thanksgiving limericks and songs within the play starts with verse, sung by a single white male Pilgrim (Barlow Adamson) to the familiar tune of the “Twelve Days of Christmas.”

On the fourth day of Thanksgiving, the natives gave to me –
4 Cornucopias,
3 Chief headdresses,
2 turkey gobblers and,
A pumpki-in in a pumpkin patch.

All-Asian Cast Conquers Sondheim’s Ambitious All-American Musical ‘Pacific Overtures’ at Lyric Stage

May 17, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Cast of ‘Pacific Overtures’ at Lyric Stage)

by Linda Chin

‘Pacific Overtures’ – Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Book by John Weidman; Directed by Spiro Veloudos; Music Direction by Jonathan Goldberg; Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland; Costume Design by Gail Astrid Buckley; Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Choreography by Micheline Wu. Presented by Lyric Stage at 140 Clarendon St., Boston through June 16

Boston’s Lyric Stage caps its 10-production-in-20-seasons journey through the Stephen Sondheim songbook with Pacific Overtures, the story of the westernization of Japan – starting with Commodore Matthew Perry’s arrival at the port of Uraga in 1853. Arguably the most sophisticated of the composer’s scores, bold in its portrayal of American intrusion from the perspective of the Japanese, and a challenge to cast, Pacific Overtures is also the least performed. The 1976 Broadway production involved a large cast of Asian actors (mostly male), elaborate staging, choreography, sets and costumes, and incurred a large financial loss when it closed after 6 months. Other Greater Boston companies (North Shore Music Theatre, 2003; BU’s School of Theatre, 2012) have staged revivals with mixed reviews and audience reception, including some criticisms about casting non-Asian actors to portray Asians and other instances of stereotyping and cultural insensitivity. Pacific Overtures is not everyone’s cup of chrysanthemum tea.

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.

Lyric Casts a Seductive Spell with “Kiss of the Spider Woman”

September 4, 2018September 4, 2018 michaelhoban1 Comment

By Michele Markarian

‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ – Book by Terrence McNally. Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb. Based on the novel by Manuel Puig. Directed and Choreographed by Rachel Bertone. Musical Director, Dan Rodriguez. Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland. Costume Design by Marian Bertone. Lighting Design by Frank Meissner Jr. Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will. Presented by Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA, through October 7.

I have to admit, I had little curiosity about this musical. The score is not something you hear a lot, with the exception of “Kiss of the Spider Woman”, and I’d never seen the film – too many of my gay friends had complained about William Hurt’s performance not being authentic enough. The Lyric Stage’s production is a marvelous revelation, with wonderful acting and a sophisticated score that will leave you wondering why this musical isn’t performed more often.

Lyric’s KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN a Gritty, Liberating Love Story

September 4, 2018 michaelhoban2 Comments

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Lyric Stage of Boston’s first show of their season is “Kiss of the Spider Woman”, the winner of the 1993 Tony Award. “Kiss of the Spider Woman” recounts a harrowing tale of persecution into a dazzling spectacle that juxtaposes gritty realities with liberating fantasies about two very different cell mates. The cell mates are in a Latin American prison, Valentin is a tough revolutionary journalist undergoing torture and Molina is an “unabashed homosexual” serving eight years for deviant behavior.

Lyric’s ‘The Wiz’ Wows

May 24, 2018May 24, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Michele Markarian

The Wiz. Book by William F. Brown. Music and Lyrics by Charlie Smalls, from the story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum. Directed by Dawn M. Simmons. Musical Director Allyssa Jones. Presented by Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA, through July 1.

Long before Hamilton came into existence – okay, the 1970s – there were musicals that we theater geeks revered, their music and lyrics working their way into our vernacular. A Chorus Line was one. The Wiz was another, making a pop star of its Dorothy, the young, talented Stephanie Mills.

“Who does this show?” I practically shouted at my husband, upon learning of the Lyric Stage’s production of The Wiz, grateful that for once, I wouldn’t have to twist his arm to go see something.

Read more “Lyric’s ‘The Wiz’ Wows”

A Beguiling “Anna Christie” at Lyric

April 13, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Michele Markarian

‘Anna Christie’ – Written by Eugene O’Neill. Adapted and directed by Scott Edmiston. Presented by Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA, through May 6.

Eugene O’Neill won his second Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1922 for Anna Christie. Originally a four-act play with far more actors than Edmiston’s stripped down five, it must have been shocking and sordid in its day. Anna Christie is a story of a prostitute believing herself to be too far gone for redemption reuniting with her father, a frightened former boson convinced that the lure and lull of the sea is a curse for him and his family. “This is a very weird play,” I said to my husband as we left, but somehow, this excellent cast makes it all seem hazily credible. Weirder still – and I assure you this never happens – I dreamed I was conversing with some of the play’s characters the night I saw it. If that’s not a sign that a play hasn’t gotten under your skin, I don’t know what is. Scott Edmiston has an eye for mise en scene, which helps.

Lawton Shines in Lyric’s Gender Bending ‘Orlando’

March 6, 2018March 6, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

From the novel by Virginia Woolf; Adapted by Sarah Ruhl; Directed by A.Nora Long; Scenic Design by Richard Wadsworth Chambers; Lighting Design by Steven McIntosh; Costume Design by Steven McIntosh. Presented by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston at 140 Clarendon St., Boston through March 25

At a time when the lines of gender identity are becoming increasingly blurred (in some corners anyway), the production of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando certainly seems like a natural choice for the Lyric Stage’s opener for the second half of the 2017-2018 season. Adapted by Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl, who also wrote last season’s gut-busting Stage Kiss (also at the Lyric) – arguably the best comedy of last season on any Greater Boston stage – Orlando makes for an entertaining evening, thanks in part to the charms of its enchanting lead, Caroline Lawton.

Lyric’s ‘Hold These Truths’ Brings Light to Dark Chapter of American History

December 7, 2017December 11, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘Hold These Truths’ – Written by Jeanne Sakata; Directed by Benny Sato Ambush; Scenic Design by Shelley Barish; Sound Design and Original Music by Arshan Gailus; Choreography by Jubilith Moore; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Costume Design by Tobi Rinaldi. Presented by Lyric Stage at 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, through December 31

Theater often reflects the times we live in. As a result, 2017 has been a year where productions have often left audiences with the horrible sense of dread that what we thought could never happen again, may indeed be happening again. Local theatre companies have produced a number of Nazi-themed plays like Tony Kushner’s A Bright Room Called Day, Arthur Miller’s Incident at Vichy, and Brecht on Brecht, while a national tour of the revival of Cabaret rolled into Boston just days after the inauguration. There were also a handful plays (To Kill A Mockingbird, Thurgood) that served as reminders that maybe those bad old days of institutional racism may not yet be over.

Lyric, Barrett Open Season With Winning “Gypsy”

September 13, 2017September 17, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘Gypsy’ – Music by Jules Styne, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by Arthur Laurents. Directed and Choreographed by Rachel Bertone; Music Direction by Dan Rodriguez; Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland; Costume Design by Rafael Jaen; Lighting Design by Franklin Meissner, Jr. ; Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will. Presented by Lyric Stage Company at 140 Clarendon St. through October 8.

The Lyric Stage opens its 2017-2018 season with a bang, tackling the (stage) mother of all musicals, Gypsy – widely regarded as one of musical theater’s greatest works – and delivering one of the year’s best musical productions. Fueled by a powerhouse performance by Boston favorite Leigh Barrett, Gypsy paints the seriocomic portrait of Rose Hovick, the fame-seeking mother of renowned Depression-era exotic dancer Gypsy Rose Lee, who wisecracked (and stripped) her way into the hearts of adoring burlesque house audiences across the nation.