Jenece Upton Channels Billie Holiday Body and Soul in ‘Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill’ at MRT

February 23, 2025February 23, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Jenece Upton in Merrimack Rep’s ‘Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill’

‘Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill’ by Lanie Robertson. Directed by Candice Handy. Music Direction by David Freeman Coleman. Scenic Design by Tony Hardin. Costume Design by Yao Chen. Lighting Design by Brian Lillienthal. Sound Design by David Remedios. At Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lowell, MA. Run has ended.

By Shelley A. Sackett

I was lucky enough to squeeze into the next to the last balcony row at the sold-out last performance of ‘Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill’ at Merrimack Repertory Theatre. Based on comments by colleagues and friends, Jenece Upton in the title role was this season’s not-to-be-missed performance.

Merrimack Rep’s ‘Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill’ is a Testament to the Power of Music and Resilience

February 12, 2025February 12, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Linda Chin

Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s mesmerizing revival of Lady Day (last produced in 1998 and “one of MRT audiences’ favorite plays of all time”) transports us back to 1959 to the fictional club in South Philly, where jazz legend Billie Holiday gave one of her last concerts about four months before her passing at 44 years young. Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill serves up slices of American music history peppered with pieces of Holiday’s personal history and blends in some lesser-known facts (e.g. the origin of the nickname “Lady Day” is attributed to prominent saxophonist Lester Young from Count Basie’s Orchestra). Audience members, young or old, and familiar with her music and life story (or not) will find this production (ninety minutes without intermission) entertaining, educational, and engaging.

MRT’s ‘Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ Blends Horror, Human Stories

November 13, 2024November 26, 2024 Theater Mirror1 Comment

John Patrick Hayden in MRT’s ‘Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’. Photos by Photo: Mikki Schaffner

‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ by David Catlin. Directed by Brian Isaac Phillips. Scenic Design by Sam Reno. Costume Design by Rainy Edwards, Lighting Design by Jeff Adelberg, Projection Design by Robert Carleton Simmel, Sound Design by Zack Bennett. Produced by the Merrimack Repertory Theater in partnership with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre at Liberty Hall, 50 E. Merrimack St., Lowell, through November 24.

By Mike Hoban

If you’re heading to Merrimack Rep hoping for a post-Halloween fright fest (as if the election results weren’t horrifying enough) based on the Boris Karloff Frankenstein films, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment. But if you’re looking for a high-quality theatrical production that eschews special effects and makeup in favor of a staging that brings psychological and emotional terror to the stage, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein delivers brilliantly.

MRT’s Psychological Thriller ‘Gaslight’ a Portrait of Courage in the Face of Evil

November 1, 2023November 1, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Jim Hopkins, Kristin Yancy, and Karen MacDonald in MRT’s ‘Gaslight’

‘Gaslight’ – Based on the play by Patrick Hamilton. Adapted for the stage by Steven Dietz. Directed by Courtney Sale; Scenic Design by Samantha Reno; Lighting Design by Laura Glover; Costume Design by Rainy Edwards; Sound Design by Robert Carlton Stimmel. Produced by Merrimack Repertory Theater in partnership with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre at Liberty Hall, 50 E. Merrimack St., Lowell, through November 5.

By Mike Hoban

There could hardly be a more fitting time for a play entitled Gaslight, given that we are now living in a world that asks us to bend reality to suit our own cultural and political beliefs rather than to believe what we see and hear with our own eyes and ears. This engaging production is also a reminder of the courage it takes to fight back against the forces of evil, whether it’s on a personal or global scale, and that fight is vital to our very survival.

Much Merriment at Merrimack’s Musical, ‘Murder for Two’

October 22, 2018October 24, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Deanna Dement Myers

Murder for Two – An original musical with book and music by Joe Kinosian and book and lyrics by Kellen Blair. JC Clementz directs. Creative team includes Regina Garcia, Scenic Designer; Misti Bradford, Costumer Designer; Aimee Hanyzewski, Lighting Designer; and David Remedio, Sound Designer. Presented by the Merrimack Repertory Theater at 50 E Merrimack St, Lowell, MA through November 11

“Will someone kill the lights?”

The cozy stage at the Merrimack Repertory Theater is sparsely dressed to look like an old New England family home and is dominated by a red grand piano. It soon becomes clear that the piano is a defacto third actor adding to the two-person cast of the musical murder mystery, Murder for Two, the second show of the MRT’s 40th season.