“Nassim” — Written by Nassim Soleimanpour. Directed by Omar Elerian. A new guest performer for every show. Presented by The Huntington through October 27.
By Shelley A. Sackett
“White Rabbit, Red Rabbit,” Iranian Nassim Soleimanpour’s absurdist adventure, which sits on the boundary of comedy and drama and burst into London’s West End in 20212, changed my opinion about audience participation in theater. Not a big fan of the genre, I left the 2016 performance at New York City’s Westside Theatre a convert.
Emmy-winning actor Gordon Clapp (NYPD Blue) will bring his acclaimed portrayal of poet Robert Frost to Boston this Spring in the one-man show “Robert Frost: This Verse Business” by local playwright A.M. Dolan.The show portrays the great poet and platform legend whose public “talks” were hot tickets for nearly half a century. Theater Mirror spoke with Clapp as he prepared for the April 23-28 run at the Calderwood Pavilion in Boston.
by Mike Hoban
Theater Mirror: I understand that you’ve long had a love affair with Robert Frost’s work. How did you first discover him?
Gordon: It was the Kennedy inauguration (where Frost read “The Gift Outright”) – I’m that old – but I knew of him before that. Later in school, we were assigned “Out, Out,” which is a reference to “Out out brief candle!” (from Macbeth). It’s a very dark poem. In an idyllic setting, this horrific event happens. A boy gets his hand cut off by a buzzsaw in rural New England in the backyard of his home, and it really had an impact on me as a boy of that age in that setting, some fifty years later, and I just got addicted to Frost’s poetry. I would do little readings all through college, and a few years after college, I read his three-volume biography by Lawrence Thompson and said to myself, “I’ve got to bring this guy to the stage.” It took me thirty years to get around to it, but when I turned 60, I thought, “Now I can get away with playing the older Frost.”
Comedian Gabe Mollica brings his Off-Broadway comedy, “Solo: A Show About Friendship,” to the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA from April 16-21st. He dives deep into what it means to have friends in your 30s, his special relationship with Stephen Sondheim, working at a summer camp for children with chronic illnesses, and what happens when you break up with your best friend. Theater Mirror caught up with Gabe recently as he prepared for his Boston engagement.
Anthony Rapp in “Without You”. Photos by Russ Rowland
‘Without You,’ – Written and performed by Anthony Rapp. Songs by Jonathan Larson, Anthony Rapp, David Matos, and Joe Pisapia. Directed by Steven Maler. Scenic design and lighting design by Eric Southern. Costume design by Angela Vesco. Sound design by Brian Ronan. Projection design by David Bengali. Musical Director & Orchestrations: Daniel A. Weiss. Presented by Ambassador Theater Group at the BCA’s Wimberly Theater, Tremont Street, Boston, through April 14.
By Linda Chin
Since childhood, Anthony Rapp has loved singing, playing the lead in musicals such as Oliver, and delighting audiences in his hometown of Joliet, Illinois – especially his biggest fan, his mother, Mary Lee. After moving to NYC, Rapp appeared in a host of roles his mother wished were more “normal.” While working at Starbucks to, uh, pay the rent, Rapp got his big break at age 22 when he landed the principal role of Mark Cohen (the filmmaker and narrator) in the off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Jonathan Larson’s ground-breaking musical RENT.
Anthony Rapp in “Without You”. Photos by Russ Rowland
“Without You” by Anthony Rapp. Directed by Steven Maler. Presented by ATG Colonial at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through April 14.
By Michele Markarian
At twenty-two, Anthony Rapp, hailing from Joliet, Illinois, and living in the East Village with his brother, Adam, was broke. A chance audition, for which he was late, led him to be cast in a workshop production of a new musical called “Rent.” The composer, Jonathan Larson, was a quirky, friendly person who soon became a good friend to Rapp. “Rent,” Rapp told his young cast right before thanking them for being his new friends, was about his friends, most of them dead. He also infuriated one of Rapp’s party guests, who had asked Larson, “What do you do for a living?’ and was told, “I am the future of musical theater.” “Rent” was Larson’s labor of love based on one of his favorite operas, “La Boheme”; tragically, Larson did not live to see the musical mounted on Broadway or off after the success of its studio production. He died suddenly and unexpectedly the night before the show was supposed to have its Off-Broadway premiere.
2nd Act is a collective of artists in recovery that uses theatre, film, and drama therapy to address the impact of substance use by empowering diverse and inclusive communities to promote understanding in the face of stigma. Founded in 1984 by Lynn Bratley as the Improbable Players, the troupe performed “prevention plays” in middle and high schools for the first quarter century of their existence, with titles like “I’ll Never Do That!”, a four-person play about a family affected by alcohol and drug use, and “Stages,” a two-person play about how alcohol and other drugs affect us at every stage of our lives. The group merged with Rhode-Island based COAAST (Creating Outreach About Addiction Support Together) in 2021 and expanded its programming to include a Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Theatre program and a Drama Therapy program.
The organizations have performed for well over a million audience members during their “extended run.” 2nd Act will hold its annual spring fundraiser on Tuesday, May 23rd at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion in Boston from 6:00-8:00 pm. The evening will kick off with a VIP reception, including mocktails and light fare, followed by a premiere staged reading of our newest prevention play; I’ll Be There For You. This new show will be performed by actors in recovery and is based on interviews with Queer and BIPOC youth in recovery from Substance Use Disorder, and will highlight their voices as under-served members of our community. This premiere is intended to raise funds for I’ll Be There For You to tour middle and high schools in New England in the coming school year.
Cast of ‘English’ at Speakeasy Stage.From left: Deniz Khateri, Josephine Moshiri Elwood, Lily Gilan James, Zaven Ovian, and Leyla Modirzadeh. Photos by Nile Scott Studios.
“English” – By Sanaz Toossi. Directed by Melory Mirashrafi. Presented by Speakeasy Stage, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA through November 19.
by Michele Markarian
“Why do we learn language?” Marjan, a teacher (Deniz Khateri) asks her four Iranian students, who are taking her English class to prepare for the TOEFL exam. The year is 2008, the place is Karaj, Iran. The students are Roya, a grandmother (Leyla Modirzadeh), Elham, a young woman (Josephine Moshiri Elwood), teenager Goli (Lily Gilan James) and Omid (Zaven Ovian).
Jared Reinfeldt (left center), Eddie Shields (right center), and members of the cast of SpeakEasy Stage’s ‘The Inheritance’. Photos by Nile Scott Studios.
by Julie-Anne Whitney
‘The Inheritance’ – Written by Matthew López; directed by Paul Daigneault; movement and intimacy direction by Yo-El Cassell; scenic design by Cristina Todesco; costume design by Charles Schoonmaker; lighting design by Karen Perlow; sound design by Dewey Dellay; stage-managed by Thomas M. Kauffman. Produced by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the BCA/Calderwood Pavilion through June 11, 2022.
Matthew López’s Tony Award-winning play, The Inheritance, loosely transposes E.M. Forster’s 1910 novel, Howard’s End, to 21st Century New York where Forster (a closeted gay man all his life) acts as a spiritual guide to a group of young gay men, teaching them the art of effective storytelling. The group then collectively narrates the fictional tale of three generations of gay men from different social and economic backgrounds whose lives become inexplicably linked by way of friendship, betrayal, loss, and love. The story they write follows 50-something billionaire real estate owner Henry and his long-time partner Walter, both of whom become emotionally tied to 35-year-old activist Eric, whose self-destructive playwright boyfriend, Toby, falls for their new actor friend, Adam. Toby ends up befriending and becoming lovers with a lonely 19-year-old sex worker named Leo, who later is saved by Eric’s unwavering kindness.
‘Yerma’ – Conceived by Melinda Lopez and Melia Bensussen, Adapted and Translated by Melinda Lopez, based on the play by Federico Garcia Lorca. Directed by Melia Bensussen; Scenic Design by Cameron Anderson; Costume Design by Olivera Gajic; Lighting Design by Brian J. Lilienthal; Sound Design by Brendan F. Doyle & Mark Bennett; Original Music by Mark Bennett; Music Direction by Jesse Sanchez; Choreography by Misha Shields. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston through June 30
Right from the outset of Yerma, the absorbing and surrealistic adaptation/translation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s 1934 work by Boston playwright Melinda Lopez, there are subtle hints that, despite appearances, there may be trouble on the horizon for the marriage of the title character and her husband Juan. But that foreshadowing is unlikely to prepare us for the path that this strange and poetic story will take, as it morphs into an unsettling tale of obsession and eventually, madness. The Huntington Theatre Company is presenting this world premiere play with music at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Calderwood Pavilion through June 30th.
In the Forest She Grew Fangs – Written by Stephen Spotswood. Directed by Kelly Smith. Scenic/Properties Designer: Maggie Kearnan. Lighting Designer: Samuel J. Biondolillo. Assistant Lighting Designer: Brian Ward. Sound Designer: Julianne Mason. Costume Designer: Rachael Linker. Movement Designer: Jessica Scout Malone. Produced by AKA Theatre at The Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts November 16-December 2, 2018.
AKA Theatre’s production of Stephen Spotswood’s In the Forest She Grew Fangs is a mad fever dream of a play. The events occur in a recognizable Smalltown, USA, but the production is chasing after something much more heightened. The dead branches of the surrounding woods are closing in like the claws of a wild animal. At every opportunity, the performance space is soaked with burning reds and deep blues. Acts of violence lurk somewhere on the periphery of the characters’ daily routines. A hunter finds an animal that’s been torn to pieces. It hints at a greater threat hidden within the characters that will erupt center stage in the play’s final stretch.
