I'd heard about this show all the way from London's West End, which went on to Broadway and became a Tony Award-winning hit. I thought, "How good could a show with a title like OPERATION MINCEMEAT be???" Damn good. Astoundingly good. Based on an outlandish but true tale that helped the Allies win WWII, it [...]
Would that Aaron Sorkin had taken Emily Dickinson's ironic poem about "split[ting] the lark --and you'll find the music" to heart. The first thing we hear is violinist Ashley Frith whose music is a thing of beauty. Then Sorkin takes an ax to Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and does exactly that. Presented by [...]
It's a spooky time of year and area theater companies are in the spirit-- here's a wrap up of the latest onstage! Thalia Gerloff, Paul Melendy, Doug Lockwood in DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS/Benjamin Rose Photography My fave to date: DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS opens the 23rd season for Actors' Shakespeare Project. [...]
ALL MY SONS hit me like a sledgehammer. LYRIC STAGE BOSTON has kicked off its fall season with a shattering production of Arthur Miller's classic about family, personal success, and communal responsibility. An exceptional ensemble brings it home which is exactly where Miller wanted it to go--straight to the heart of America 1947, as it [...]
In case you hadn't heard me giving a shout out to COME FROM AWAY on The Culture Show --hear me now! NORTH SHORE MUSIC THEATRE has mounted an excellent production of this moving musical about the impact of 9/11 on the tiny Newfoundland town of Gander and the 7000 airline passengers grounded there from all [...]
Some fine productions have just opened in the last week all around town! Here's my first choice to kick off the fall theater season! Omari K. Chancellor in Purpose; photo by Marc J Franklin PURPOSE at the HUNTINGTON's Calderwood Pavilion, first made me laugh-- then made my head explode. The Huntington continues to [...]
I'm back! After weeks of vacation I am happy to review one of the best productions mounted by American Repertory Theater:RHINOCEROS by Eugene Ionesco starring two of our finest actors, John Turturro and Paul Giamatti. Together, they ride the rhythms of Ionesco's "absurdist" play adapted by the A.R.T. to underscore the obvious: absurdity is as [...]
A NEW ERA is a new play that uncovers old layers of Black history hiding in plain sight. This world premiere presented by COMPANY ONE THEATRE opens with its cast in modern dress at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester. The ensemble then pivots to the stage where we find them shedding their contemporary duds to [...]
THE ODYSSEY. What a trip. As envisioned by that cinematic master of epic tales Christopher Nolan, Homer's 2700 year old archetypal saga is pumped up with modern insight and stripped down to its visceral thrills. Shot the hard way on noisy 70mm IMAX cameras, the film delivers an immersive experience which has propelled audiences off [...]
I jumped a foot out of my seat in the first act of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY the terrifically entertaining theatrical production currently scaring the pants off Boston audiences-- bring an extra pair. Now in a strictly limited PRE-BROADWAY run at the EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE, this brilliantly calibrated thrill fest is so much better than the hit [...]
