What to see now ONSTAGE? There are a slew of good productions playing, and I am going to give you thumbnail reviews to catch up and let you know where I think your time is best spent beginning with the following DO NOT MISS SHOW: --The miraculous BEDLAM'S ST. JOAN presented by Underground Railway Theater and directed by Eric Tucker [...]
The world premiere musical FINDING NEVERLAND now playing at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge is part magic and mostly schlock-- which might be a recipe for a Broadway smash (It's headed there in March 2015) but left me hungry for the production I believe it can be. The show is based on the 2004 [...]
From the minute you enter the American Repertory Theater mainstage in Cambridge, MA. there's a tingle in the air, like the one that Shakespeare's Prospero must have felt when years before, exiled by his usurping brother, he and his infant daughter Miranda washed up shipwrecked on the shores of a magical island. This production of [...]
The A.R.T does it again with WITNESS UGANDA a vibrant, moving world premiere production, that tells a modern true story of the power and the dark side of philanthropy(!) and stars the actual gay, black, Christian man who lived it. That man is the ultra-personable Griffin Matthews, a charismatic young performer who was kicked out [...]
What do THE HEART OF ROBIN HOOD and Shakespeare's HENRY VIII have in common? They're both onstage in the area right now, and both involve decapitation. I lost my head over one, but not the other. I'll begin with the one that also left me breathless, that timeless Sherwood Forest caper excitingly re-imagined over at [...]
It's a jungle out there! Two powerful productions take us for a walk on the wild side-- of politics, and a child's imagination! THE JUNGLE BOOK the Huntington Theatre Company's season opener is based on Rudyard Kipling's stories by way of Walt Disney's animated musical of a boy who can talk to the animals! Tony [...]
There are three musicals now onstage in Boston. Only one really gave me a lift: The Tony award-winning IN THE HEIGHTS which has just been extended at The SpeakEasy Stage! Their production is MUCH better than the bloodless hip-jiggling, shoulder-shimmying Broadway roadshow that salsa-ed through town a few seasons ago. I thought it prosaic with [...]
Tennessee Williams' lyrical soul has come to life onstage at the A.R.T. in a play that can break your heart. THE GLASS MENAGERIE is a poignant masterpiece about a southern family searching for solace in a rough world that has left them shattered and picking up the pieces. The autobiographical work was a Pulitzer Prize-winning [...]
Christie Brinkley, Jack Kerouac, Andrew Jackson, and a beloved "war horse"-- all trod the boards this Fall! Here's what I'm looking forward to: WAR HORSE* I saw “the horse” in preview and I still can’t believe that three men, some sticks, and a bunch of metal and fabric brought the animal to life before my [...]
It pains me to have to say this-- which is why I've probably put it off-- but the A.R.T.s latest production and world premiere-- is the biggest disappointment of the season: WILD SWANS is a real turkey. There's a good chance you were one of the more than 13 million who read Jung Chang's 1991 [...]
