Jomama Jones and ‘Black Light’ Shine Brightly at Oberon

September 24, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Jomama Jones in ‘Black Light’ at Oberon. Photos by Yazi Ferrufino)

by Mike Hoban

Black Light – Original Songs by Jomama Jones. With Bobby Halvorson, Laura Jean Anderson, Dylan Meek, Josh Quat. Additional Music by Samora Pinderhughes, Tariq Al-Sabir; Costume Design by Oana Botez; OBERON Lighting Design by Justin Paice; OBERON Sound Design; Alex Giorgetti. Presented by theAmerican Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Oberon, 2 Arrow Street, Cambridgethrough September 29

“What if I told you it’s going to be alright?, asks Jomama Jones, the glamorous and statuesque star of Black Light at the opening of her compelling and entertaining cabaret style piece now playing at Oberon. If you’re one of those folks who sometimes wakes in the morning wondering whether or not you (and all of us) ARE going to be alright, Jomama and Black Light may be just the diversion you’re looking for. Employing a diverse list of original R&B, disco and pop songs that sounds like they could have been lifted from a 1970’s episode of Soul Train, and mixing in stories from her childhood that are initially hilarious but ultimately moving, this is a show that moves beyond simple entertainment and touches the realm of the spiritual.

Porkalob’s ‘Dragon Lady’ a Class Act

March 25, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Linda Chin

‘Dragon Lady’ – Creator & Performer: Sara Porkalob, Director: Andrew Russell; Lighting Design: Amith Chandrashaker; Sound Design: Erin Bednarz; Original Music: Peter Irving, Band: Hot Damn Scandal, Assistant Director: Michael Rosegrant, PSM: Kate Hauser. Presented by the American Repertory Theater as part of the A.R.T. Breakout series at Oberon, 2 Arrow St. Cambridge through April 6

Sara Porkalob is a multi-hyphenate wonder: a Filipinx American activist-feminist and actor-writer-singer-producer-director-storyteller. Let’s add educator to this 29 year old’s list, as experiencing her remarkable show Dragon Lady is akin to taking a master class. A master class from a superhero, that is, as in this tightly crafted show written in homage to her grandmother, Porkalob the Wonder Woman takes us on a journey through time and space. Each vignette in Dragon Lady reveals part of Maria Porkalob Sr.’s life story – working in a nightclub owned by the Philippine mafia, immigrating to America, raising five children in a trailer park, sharing time-honored wisdom with her granddaughter Sara – and each is a pearl.

ART/Company One’s ‘Miss You Like Hell’ a Musical Latina Road Trip

January 16, 2019January 20, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘Miss You Like Hell’ – Book & Lyrics by Quiara Alegría Hudes; Music & Lyrics by Erin McKeown; Directed by Summer L. Williams; Music Director: David Coleman; Scenic Designer: Erik D. Diaz; Costume Designer: Danielle Domingue Sumi; Lighting Designer: Justin Paice; Sound Designer: Rachel Neubauer. Co-produced with American Repertory Theater as part of the A.R.T. Breakout Series at Oberon, 3 Arrow St. Cambridge through January 27.

Company One and the A.R.T. couldn’t have picked a better time to stage Miss You Like Hell, a mother-daughter road trip musical by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes (who also wrote the book for the Tony Award-winning In the Heights) and singer-songwriter Erin McKeown. With the anti-immigrant rhetoric being spewed on a seemingly daily basis throughout the midterms and into the New Year by the president and his supporters, the plight of the undocumented in this country is top of mind for many – and front and center of this flawed but entertaining work.

It’s the End of the World as We Know It, So Let’s “Burn All Night”

August 29, 2017November 8, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Mike Hoban

‘Burn All Night’ – Book and Lyrics by Andy Mientus. Music by Van Hughes, Nicholas LaGrasta, and Brett Moses. Directed by Jenny Koons. Scenic Design by Sara Brown; Choreography by Sam Pinkleton; Costume Design by Evan Prizant, Lighting Design by Bradley King; Sound Design by Jessica Paz; Music Direction by Cian McCarthy. Produced by the American Repertory Theater at Oberon, 2 Arrow St, Cambridge, through Sept. 8

There’s a scene in the second act of “Burn All Night”, the millennial musical now making its world premiere at Oberon, where four friends are partying hard while waiting for the apocalypse, when they decide to engage in a faux philosophical game of “What would you do if the world were ending tomorrow?” The answer by one of them – that he would essentially get spectacularly wasted – angers the alleged deep thinker of the group, who was undoubtedly hoping for something a little more substantial. The unintentional irony is that the same holds true for much of “Burn” a frothy new work by Broadway and television star (and first time playwright) Andy Mientus, who has created a show that delivers high energy entertainment – but little of its promised depth.