Moonbox’ “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” a Delightful Romp On the French Riviera

October 2, 2024October 5, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Matthew Zahnzinger and Julius P. Williams in Moonbox Production’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”
Photos by Molly Shoemaker

by Michele Markarian

“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”. Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek. Book by Jeffrey Lane. Directed by Allison Olivia Choat. Presented by Moonbox Productions, One Arrow Street, Cambridge, through Oct. 20.

There’s a lot to love – and a ton of talent – in Moonbox Productions’ “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” a musical tale of three con artists looking to grift off of the well-to-do in the fictional town of Beaumont sur Mer on the French Riviera. Based on the 1988 film with Steve Martin, Michael Caine and Glenne Hedley (actually a remake of a film from 1964 called “Bedtime Story”), “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” was made into a Broadway musical that opened in 2005 and starred John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott. Having enjoyed the 1988 film and the Broadway musical, I went to see the Moonbox production with high expectations. With strong direction, an excellent cast, and a wonderful ensemble of singers and dancers, it did not disappoint.

Moonbox’ “The Mermaid Hour” is an Emotional Roller Coaster

April 29, 2024May 25, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Monica Risi, Phil Tayler, Brenny O’Brien in Moonbox Productions’ ‘Mermaid Hour’
Photo Credits: Molly Shoemaker

By Michele Markarian

“The Mermaid Hour” by David Valdes. Directed by Bridget Kathleen O’Leary. Presented by Moonbox Productions, One Arrow Street, Cambridge, through May 19.

There’s a lot to unpack in David Valdes’s The Mermaid Hour, which deals with a trans child, her parents, her peers, and their parents, as well as marriage, the internet, and childrearing in general. If you happen to be a parent witnessing this production, it’s a pretty rocky ride indeed.

Seriously Motivated by Love, Moonbox presents a Stunning ‘Legally Blonde’

December 15, 2023December 16, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Moonbox Production’s ‘Legally Blonde’. Photos by Chelcy Garrett.

Moonbox Productions presents ‘Legally Blonde: The Musical.’ Music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin. Book by Heather Hach. Directed by Katie Ann Clark. Music Direction by Mindy Cimini. Choreographed by Taavon Gamble. Scenic Design by Sarabeth Spector. Lighting Design by Finn Bamber. Costume Design by William Andrew Young. Properties Design by Julia Wonkka. Sound Design by Gage Baker. At Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. Though Dec. 31.

By Linda Chin

Right on the heels of a masterful Sweeney Todd in October, Moonbox Productions has pulled off yet another big hairy audacious musical with ‘blood in the water’ – Legally Blonde. This time around, the venue is the BCA, the story is set in current-day SoCal and Cambridge (Sarabeth Spector, scenic, Finn Bamber, lighting, Julia Wonkka, properties design), and the cut-throats are lawyers and law students. Helmed by Katie Anne Clark (in her professional directorial debut), musical director Mindy Cimini, and Choreographer Taavon Gamble, the cast of 21 – 20 humans and one chihuahua – deliver energetic, pitch-perfect performances that keep the audience engaged and entertained from start to finish.

At Moonbox’s ‘The House of Ramón Iglesia’ Mi Casa Es Su Casa

April 22, 2023April 22, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Moonbox Productions’ ‘The House of Ramón Iglesia’. Photos by NIkolai Alexander

‘The House of Ramón Iglesia’ – Jose Rivera, Playwright. Arthur Gomez, Director. Cameron McEachern, Set Designer. Finn Bamber, Lighting Designer. Abraham Rebollo, Props Designer. Presented by Moonbox Productions, at The Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, through May 1, 2023.

by Linda Chin

Unlike a bottle of fine wine, or an oak barrel of Ron del Barrilito, Ramón Iglesia’s house in suburban NYC is not aging well. The septic system and water pump are often on the blink, and the furnace is busted. Ramón and his wife Dolores, who moved from Puerto Rico to the US nineteen years before to make a better life for their family, are also in failing health. Dolores is reclusive (refusing to learn English adds to her isolation) and has frequent fainting spells, and Ramón’s limp is getting more pronounced (excessive drinking aggravates his diabetes), making them appear older than they are and more needy of their three sons’ attention.

Theatergoers Looking for Love Will Find It in ‘Torch Song’

December 13, 2022December 13, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Peter Mill in Moonbox Production’s ‘Torch Song’. Photos by Nikolai Alexander

Torch Song – Written by Harvey Fierstein. Presented by Moonbox Productions. Producer, Sharman Altshuler; Director, Allison Olivia-Choat; Set Designer, Cameron McEachern; Lighting Designer, Finn Bamber; Costume Designer, Joe Michienzie, Sound Designer, Aubrey Dube; Props Designer, Addie Pates. At Calderwood Pavilion, Roberts Studio Theater, Boston, through December 23^rd.

by Linda Chin

Legendary storyteller Harvey Firestein’s semi-autobiographical Torch Song Trilogy, a trio of one-acts chronicling the life of gay, Jewish protagonist Arnold Beckoff, a drag queen in 1970s New York City, made their Broadway debut in 1982 and earned two Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Actor. The 1983 ceremony hinted at the closeted culture of the time, when homosexuality was a taboo topic for public discussion. Presenter Diahann Carroll’s scripted note cards described nominee Torch Song Trilogy as a “devastating comic play…about the merciless mayhem that love wreaks,” and when producer John Glines wrapped up his acceptance speech by acknowledging the support of his male partner and lover, the broadcast moved swiftly to a music/commercial break (Had the internet existed “back then” it surely would have broken).

Moonbox Offers End-of-Year Delights with ‘Passing Strange’

December 14, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Moonbox Productions’ ‘Passing Strange’ Photos: Nikolai Alexander

by James Wilkinson

‘Passing Strange’ – Book and Lyrics by Stew. Music By Stew and Heidi Rodewald. Created in collaboration with Annie Dorsen. Directed by Arthur Gomez. Associate Director: Regine Vital. Music Director: Julius LaFlamme. Associate Music Director: David Freeman Coleman. Set Designer: Lindsay Fuori. Lighting Designer: Aja M. Jackson. Choreographer: Elmer Martinez. Costume Design: Chelsea Kerl. Sound Design: James Cannon. Props Design: Michelle Sparks. Presented by Moonbox Productions at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, December 10, 2021-January 1, 2021.

It’s all about the atmosphere here. That’s the vibe you get when you walk into Moonbox Productions’ Passing Strange and the stage is awash in electric blue light. The performance space is devoid of furniture, the musicians haven’t yet taken their places on the side, but the theater already has a crisp glow to it. Get ready. Musicals as an artform tend to veer toward the bombastic. Even for supposedly intimate chamber pieces, it’s all about getting to that moment when mere dialogue doesn’t do the emotions justice and the songs explode out of the characters diaphragms. Passing Strange is working on a different wave length. It’s not that the show lacks big musical moments that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, (they’re here and they rip), it’s that it gets to those moments in a much more circuitous way. Moonbox’s production is one that you slide right into and it feels as lived-in as a memoir. Everything we witness is through the eyes of our lead character; we’re practically under his skin.

Moonbox Productions’ Brings ‘Light in the Darkness’ with ‘Rocky Horror’

October 18, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Cast of Moonbox Productions’ ‘Rocky Horror Show’. Photos by* *Molly Shoemaker*

by Mike Hoban

‘The Rocky Horror Show’ – Directed by David Lucey; Music Directed by Mindy Cimini; Assistant Director/Associate Choreographer, Joy Clark; Scenic Design/Prop Design, Cameron McEachern; Sound Design, James Cannon; Lighting Design, Samuel J. Biondolillo; Choreographer, Daniel Forest Sullivan; Assistant Choreographer, Janis Hudson; Costume Design, David Lucey. Presented by Moonbox Productions at 25 Brattle St. Cambridge through October 31st.

Moonbox Productions has emerged from the 18-month in-person theater blackout with an encore presentation of The Rocky Horror Show, a production that brings back all of the twisted fun of the movie version that ran at the Harvard Square theater for 28 years.

Rocky Horror combines 50’s science fiction, pre-slasher ‘B’ horror movies and a tale of sexual awakenings set to a rock n roll score to deliver musical theater lovers their first full-scale musical in Greater Boston since the pandemic. It’s a much-needed blast of full-throttle exuberance.

Moonbox Productions’ ‘Parade’ is an Ugly Tale, Beautifully Told

December 16, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Phil Tayler (center) and cast of Moonbox Productions’ “Parade” – Photos: Sharman Altshuler*

By Julie-Anne Whitney

‘Parade’ – Book by Alfred Uhry, Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown; Produced by Sharman Altshuler; Directed by Jason Modica; Music Direction by Catherine Stornetta; Choreography by Kira Trolio; Set Design by Lindsay Fuori; Lighting Design by Steve Shack; Sound Design by Elizabeth Cahill; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Stage Managed by Cesara Walters; Dramaturgy by Allison Olivia Choat; Presented by Moonbox Productions at the Boston Center for the Arts (Roberts Theatre) through December 28, 2019.

In the early hours of August 17, 1915, a rabble of twenty-five men stormed a prison farm in Milledgeville, Georgia and captured Leo Frank, a Brooklyn-raised Jewish man wrongfully accused of raping and murdering Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old factory worker in his employ. After driving more than 100 miles back to Phagan’s hometown of Marietta, the angry mob hoisted Frank on top of a table under a large oak tree and demanded an admission of guilt. 31-year-old Frank repeatedly proclaimed his innocence – and was promptly hanged by the neck until dead. One month after the lynching, members of the group, The Knights of Mary Phagan, gathered around a burning cross on Stone Mountain near Atlanta, Georgia and ignited the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan.

Harvard Square Comes Alive Again with “The Rocky Horror Show”

October 20, 2019October 21, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*(Cast of Moonbox Productions’ “Rocky Horror Show” – Photos by Sharman Altshuler )*

“The Rocky Horror Show”. Music, Lyrics and Book by Richard O’Brien. Directed by David Lucey. Presented by Moonbox Productions, 25 Brattle Street, Cambridge, through November 2.

Recent developments in Cambridge’s iconic Harvard Square have been pretty depressing. An entire block of buildings that once housed Curious George as well as my dentist’s office is now kaput, torn down to make way for – get this – a mall. Storefronts that once held funky shops are now banks or empty. Cheap restaurants have all but disappeared. From now until November 2, however, Harvard Square gets its mojo back with Moonbox Productions’ electrifying, dynamic and sexy “The Rocky Horror Show”. The bold and beautiful signage that adorns the windows and door of the former site of Hidden Sweets is the tipoff: this is no ordinary production. Interestingly enough, the film version of the stage show ran at midnight for 28 years at another empty space, the AMC Loew’s Theater.

Restlessness and Reclamation in “Caroline or Change”

April 26, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Pier Lamia Porter, Davron Monroe, and Yewande Odetoyinbo in Monnbox’ ‘Caroline or Change’)

By Michele Markarian

“Caroline or Change”. Book and lyrics by Tony Kushner; Score by Jeanine Tesori; Directed by Allison Olivia Choat; Presented by Moonbox Productions at Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, Boston through May 11.

“39 and still a maid,” sings Caroline (Yewande Odetoyinbo), who, in 1963’s Lake Charles, Louisiana, is a single mother of four children, one of whom is serving in Vietnam. She works for a Jewish family, the Gellmans, who have just suffered a crisis of their own – Betty, the mother, has died of cancer. Widow Stuart (Robert Orzalli) has decided to marry his deceased wife’s best friend, Rose (Sarah Kornfeld). His eight-year old son, Noah (Ben Choi-Harris) does not like his stepmother, much to her sad consternation. He is attached to Caroline, who lets him light her cigarettes. She also delivers some pithy advice: “When cancer eat people Noah, it God eating them. God sometimes eat people like a hungry wolf. He make this whole world as a test. Cancer was your momma’s test, and her death is your test.” Sounds harsh, but ultimately more comforting than what the emotionally detached Stuart has to offer his son with “There Is No God, Noah”.