It has stayed with me all week: ZEITGEIST Stage Company's production of LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! A line of men in white tulle; they are performing "Swan Lake" in drag. It's a scream--and heartrending. They are like angels appearing and disappearing, AIDS waiting in the wings, hovering over their lives, in the shadows of one summer [...]
I've been running all over town to catch what's onstage and there's a stockpile of fantastic shows waiting to be seen--beginning with what I just saw at the Ramrod Center for The Performing Arts! I nearly laughed myself into insanity at what Ryan Landry and his GOLD DUST ORPHANS have rustled up: BROKELAHOMO! It's "Brokeback [...]
The rhythm IS going to get you, whether you like it or not. So strap yourself in if you don't want to be seen in a conga line up the aisles of the Opera House! ON YOUR FEET:THE EMILIO & GLORIA ESTEFAN BROADWAY MUSICAL has just hit Boston with a dynamite cast, and [...]
As president of The Boston Theater Critics Association (BTCA) I am pleased to report MORE GOOD NEWS: the one and only Randy Rainbow, comedian, actor, and internet sensation will be our Guest of Honor at the 36th Annual Elliot Norton Awards on Monday, May 21, 2018 at 7 PM, at the Huntington Avenue Theatre!! [...]
THE NORTIE NOMINATIONS ARE IN!! CONGRATULATIONS ONE AND ALL!! As president of The Boston Theater Critics Association (BTCA) I am happy to announce two dozen nominations of outstanding productions, actors, directors, designers and ensembles, with winners to be revealed at the 36th Annual Elliot Norton Awards on Monday, May 21, 2018 at 7 PM, at the [...]
Beauty, Bakelite, and a dead Russian's diary are all the subjects of three quasi-interesting theatrical productions now onstage in the area. I sat through them all and only fell asleep at one: THE BAKELITE MASTERPIECE at NEW REP THEATRE through April 8. It's based on the true story of a masterpiece famously forged and laminated [...]
I've seen a heap o' histrionics lately, and despite a few purported hits in town, nothing quite hit a home run for me-- though some came close: THE HUMANS at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre comes trailing a 2016 Tony Award for Stephen Karam's play as well as a slew of critics awards and a [...]
Now that OSCAR has "officially" put last year's movie season to bed, here's what's kept me woke lately on stage: ORLANDO: This attractive, jam-packed production bursts from the compact LYRIC STAGE. Sets and costumes are stripped down, beautiful, and efficient-- allowing for the fleet passage of time! Sara Ruhl's play is adapted from Virginia Woolf's satiric, [...]
Daniel Gerroll, Patricia Kalember, Karen Pittman, and Jim Poulos in The White Card. Photo: Gretjen Helene Photography It is accepted wisdom that "Seeing is believing," and seeing is precisely what THE WHITE CARD requires: seeing what is assumed and unexamined, namely the white card which gives those who have it a hidden pass, [...]
WAITRESS--I saw this show hot out of the oven at its 2015 Broadway-bound world premiere at the A.R.T. Based on a charming, offbeat film and turned into a scrumptious slice of musical theater by Diane Paulus and an all female team, it depends on a key ingredient: a score by Grammy award-winning pop artist Sara [...]
