OK. Seth Meyers is officially a genius. He's the heir apparent to Jon Stewart as comic provocateur and skewerer of all things worth skewering from politics and pop culture to the metastatic media coverage that follows. Seth has now broadened his reach to include movie criticism and sociolinguistics. Yeah, we know he's from New Hampsha, but he knows a Bahstin accent when he [...]
IF you love Stephen Sondheim-- and what self-respecting theater-goer with any taste doesn't--get immediately over to the Lyric Stage and revel in their splendid production of SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM, a treasure trove of Sondheim tunes and tales, delivered by some of our most treasured local musical theater talents. The original production was conceived and directed on Broadway [...]
The Pulitzer Prize-winning DISGRACED by Ayad Akhtar presented by the Huntington Theatre Company and Long Wharf Theatre is a stellar production of an explosive piece of work. The material cuts to the quick of the racial, ethnic, religious, and social divide--embedded with assumptions, and laced with tribal allegiances; pile on the politically correct reactions triggered, and we've got a powder [...]
Absolutely dash up to the Apollinaire Theatre Co. in Chelsea and catch the last weekend of "A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes." It's a wild and horribly funny take on family dynamics as blood sport! A superb and physically fit ensemble of actors literally throw themselves into the action as 4 generations of the Wembly [...]
What an intense week. I cannot write anything else before expressing how heartbroken I was to learn that brilliant actor Alan Rickman and musical icon David Bowie died--both Londoners, both at age 69 of cancer. Bowie was an artistic visionary and sonic adventurer who cut an endlessly original and challenging swathe through the musical landscape. We find him [...]
I've got the music from this show stuck in my head--so my life is now a Disney musical! Such is the irresistible power of this Broadway in Boston production of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST once it gets going-- which is somewhere at the beginning of Act II. The long-running hit musical features a relentlessly catchy score, truly outstanding voices, clever staging, [...]
Though I've just begun writing this review, I am already at a loss for superlatives. NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 has to be one of the most fantastically alive and rapturous theatrical productions I've ever seen. THE 19th century Russian novel has come to dazzling life at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge after premiering off broadway and [...]
A flurry of fine films has just descended on the big screen in the last few weeks, almost too many to take in; but I did my best and here are my TOP FIVE FILMS of the year, some of which aren't due out until Christmas! 1) THE REVENANT-- A stunning 156 minute saga by award-winning Mexican director Alejandro G. Inarritu (BIRDMAN) starring Leonardo DiCaprio [...]
Never mind The Force-- I HAVE AWAKENED! The latest installment of STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS has pulled me out of the Doldrums of Prequel (a group of empty islands way off the coast of the Star Wars franchise) and takes us home, back to the tale's original charm, storytelling, irresistible characters, sense of adventure, humor and excitement, and creates new characters [...]
BUYER & CELLAR now on at THE LYRIC STAGE is a terrifically entertaining, laugh out loud (I did many times) riot! It's a one-man show set in the basement of the one-woman show that is forever BARBRA. As in STREISAND. As in fabulous. And now a word about the fabulous Phil Tayler. He is utterly divine, holding us all [...]
