OK. I just saw the most exhilarating show of the season-- and YOU MUST SEE IT too! Presented by The Huntington in association with Front Porch Arts Collective: K-I-S-S-I-N-G is as sweet and lovely as that little jingle suggests- audience and actors "sittin' in a tree" in love with life and possibility! Supported by our [...]
Imagine over an hour of watching someone working flat out, every minute, center stage, almost desperate to hold our attention and make a point. Exhausting. And the teller? British Actress Clare Perkins in the title role and she is undeniably talented. The tale? The one told by Chaucer's bawdy, outspoken "The Wife of Bath" here [...]
Otherness. The state of being unlike whoever "we" think we are and all the issues that follow -- fear, power, safety-- are the hyper-relevant themes of two recent plays. Both works challenge the outsize dominance of "whiteness" over the non-white global majority, and one play requires the white minority not only to see itself, but [...]
A haunting and beautiful production of playwright August Wilson's most ruminative work, SEVEN GUITARS, is now onstage in the heart of Roxbury at historic Hibernian Hall. Mounted by Actors' Shakespeare Project with a compelling ensemble cast and directed by resident company member and award-winning actor/director Maurice Emmanuel Parent, the production is a glowing ember in [...]
The news is out! The BOSTON THEATER CRITICS ASSOCIATION of which I am proud to be President has officially announced that our season-end extravaganza known as The Elliot Norton Awards honoring the best of greater Boston theater is back LIVE and IN PERSON after three years! The Boston Globe ran the story today-- READ IT [...]
TWO WORLD PREMIERES hit the stage in Boston-- BOTH very much worth seeing. While not perfect, these works live at the edge of what's happening now, reminding us with urgency of what we already know and need to address. THE ART OF BURNING is onstage now at Huntington's Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. It's [...]
Two to see as we head into Christmas WEEKEND! Moonbox productions continually grows in stature as a presenter of first-rate productions in a consistently excellent repertoire! This time it's Harvey Fierstein's classic TORCH SONG (Fierstein's 2017 reworked and reduced revival of "Torch Song Trilogy") with a funny, tender performance by Peter Mill as Arnold Beckoff [...]
'Tis the season to be jolly! From the sacred to the profane, you'll find it all onstage now--with MUSIC! Hang onto your hot cocoa and here we go. Head on up to Stoneham to see one of the best productions ever mounted by Greater Boston Stage Company: LITTLE WOMEN The Broadway Musical! It's Louisa [...]
THREE TO SEE ONSTAGE NOW: "SIX The Musical" at the Emerson Colonial Theatre! I first saw it at the American Repertory Theater in 2019, reviewed it then (read what I said here), and haven't changed my mind about its problems, but this time I enjoyed it more. It's won a pair of Tonys for original [...]
The theater season is off and running! Here's my take on three productions that kicked the Fall into high gear! The newly renovated Huntington Theatre has returned to its physical home on Huntington Ave and its artistic home with August Wilson's JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE, the first of his plays produced by the Huntington [...]
