Gloucester’s ‘Paradise Blue’ Personalizes the Myth of Urban Renewal

August 31, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

The cast of ‘Paradise Blue’ at Gloucester Stage. (L to R Alexandria Danielle King, Durrell Lyons, Darian Michael Garey, Dereks Thomas)

Paradise Blue – Elyse Joyner and Logan Pitts, Co-directors; Janie Howland, Scenic Designer; Nia Safarr Banks, Costume Designer; Aubrey Dube, Sound Designer; Toni Sterling, Lighting Designer. Presented by the Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main Street, Gloucester through September 18

by Mike Hoban

There’s no shortage of compelling human drama in Paradise Blue, the ambitious 2018 play by Obie Award-winning playwright Dominique Morisseau, now playing at Gloucester Stage. The noir-tinged play explores the lives of the denizens of Paradise Blue, a jazz club nestled in the entertainment district of Paradise Valley in Black Bottom, a predominantly black neighborhood in Detroit in the late 1940’s. But the drama inside the club pales next to the looming threat that lies outside the club’s door – the impending gentrification that will destroy the neighborhood in the years to come under the guise of “urban renewal”.

“See if this plan to clean up the city don’t mean to clean us out,” says one prescient character to his bandmate. “Get rid of all the n***ers. Just like the Mayor say in his campaign – we the blight he talkin’ ‘bout.”

NSMT’s ‘Buddy’ an Entertaining Musical Journey

August 25, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Matt McClure (Buddy Holly) and the cast of BUDDY – THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY playing at North Shore Music Theatre thru August 28. Photos by © Paul Lyden

‘Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story’ – Written by Alan James. Directed and choreographed by Marcos Santana. Music Direction by Milton Granger. At the North Shore Music Theatre through August 28.

by Linda Chin

In contrast to the multi-generational theatregoers who attended Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella in July (including many young girls wearing princess dresses), the crowd at Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story, skewed towards the older set – Baby Boomers who were eager for a fun night out reliving the rock and roll of their youth. So the audience for the third production in North Shore Music Theatre’s spectacular summer ‘22 lineup were likely familiar with the fact that Buddy’s story – his tragic death in a plane crash at age 22 – does not have a fairy tale ending.

Straight A’s for ‘School of Rock’ at Cape Cod Theatre Company

August 23, 2022August 23, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of ‘School of Rock’ at Cape Cod Theatre Company

School of Rock –Tristan Divincenzo, Director; Robert Wilder, Musical Director; Suzette Hutchinson, Choreographer; James P. Byrne, Scenic and Lighting Designer; Tristan Divincenzo, Projection Design; Robin McLaughlin, Costume Design; J. Hagenbuckle, Sound Design, Matt Kohler, Technical Direction. Presented by the Cape Cod Theatre Company, Harwich, through August 28.

by Linda Chin

With its current production of School of Rock, Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre reinforces its long-standing reputation as Cape Cod’s premier multi-generational theater. Based on the 2003 film, the musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Julian Fellowes originated on Broadway in 2015. School of Rock tells the story of an out-of-work rocker, Dewey Finn, who takes on a job as a substitute teacher at the prestigious Horace Green school and forms a rock and roll band of fifth graders to try to win the Battle of the Bands.

Reagle Concluding Inaugural Season Under Bertone with a Spirited ‘Pippin’

August 8, 2022August 9, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Davron Monroe (bottom), Kenny Lee (top) and cast in Reagle Music Theatre’s ‘Pippin’

‘Pippin’ – Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz; Book by Roger O. Hirson; Directed and Choreographed by Artistic Director Rachel Bertone; Music Direction by Dan Rodriguez; Cameron McEachern (Scenic Designer), Frank Meissner Jr (Lighting Design), Robby Davis (Sound Design), Costumes by Emerald City Theatrical. Presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI) at the Reagle Music Theatre, Waltham through August 13

by Mike Hoban

The themes from 1972’s Pippin, now being staged at the Reagle Theatre in Waltham through next weekend, are as relevant as ever – maybe even more so for Gen Z and the tail end of the millennial generation. Much like that demographic, protagonist Pippin, son of medieval emperor Charlemagne, wants more out of life than an ordinary existence, because well, “when you’re extraordinary, you gotta do extraordinary things!”). In Pippin’s case, though, those “extraordinary things” are a lot more than just inventing an app or accumulating TikTok followers. He is, after all, the son of the ruler of much of Western Europe in the late 8^th and early 9^th centuries. The Reagle production, directed by artistic director (and millennial) Rachel Bertone delivers a richly comic version of the classic on the heels of Reagle’s brilliant production of West Side Story in July.

The Company Theatre’s ‘HAIR’ a High Note of the Summer

August 5, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of ‘Hair’ at Company Theatre Norwell

Book and Lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, Music by Galt MacDermot. Directed by Zoe Bradford, Musical Direction by Robert McDonough, Choreography by Sally Ashton Forrest, Costume Design by Hannah Schuurman, Lighting Design by Dean Palmer Jr., Set Design by Ryan Barrow. Presented by The Company Theatre, Norwell through August 21

by Linda Chin

After the house lights dim, signaling the audience to put conversations and concerns aside and settle in their seats, the stage lights come down and the words “when the moon…is in the seventh house” of the stirring anthem “Aquarius” emerge from the darkness (soloist Sarah Burke, as Ronny, makes their debut). When the stage is re-illuminated, revealing a full-size car covered with flower power decals (set design by Ryan Barrow, lighting design by Dean Palmer, Jr.) and a vibrantly-colored, bell-bottomed, bare-bellied Tribe (costume design by Hannah Schuurman), the audience – transported to New York City, circa 1968 – becomes electrified. The Company Theatre’s production of HAIR opens on a high note and sustains the momentum and kinetic energy for two hours.

Strong Performances Buoy Weston Drama Workshop’s Energetic ‘Something Rotten’

August 4, 2022August 23, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Cast of Weston Drama Workshop’s ‘Something Rotten’*

‘Something Rotten!’ – Book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell; Music and Lyrics by Karey Kirkpatrick and Wayne Kirkpatrick; Directed by Chris Brindley; Music Direction by Bethany Aiken; Choreography by Caroline Workman. Presented by the Weston Drama Workshop. Show closed 7/30.

by Mike Hoban

Weston Drama Workshop (WDW) closed their 2022 summer program with a bang, presenting a high-energy, full blown production (40+ performers) of Something Rotten, the 2015 Broadway musical featuring fictional Shakespeare contemporaries Nick and Nigel Bottom, whose careers are going nowhere in the shadow of the rockstar Bard. The production was given a monumental boost by a number of terrific performances by the leading players, as well as a handful of thoroughly entertaining BIG production numbers crafted by director Chris Brindley and choreographer Caroline Workman. Something Rotten successfully combines those production numbers with a Monty Python-esque premise that delivers what most musical comedies only aspire to – a welcome blast of creativity – when so many modern musicals lazily rely on recycling hit movies (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark– really?)

Theatre by the Sea Closes Season with Triumphant ‘Kinky Boots’

August 1, 2022November 29, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Tony Annicone

Theatre by the Sea’s closing musical of their 89th season is the 6 Time Tony Award winning musical “Kinky Boots” with book by Harvey Fierstein and music by Cyndi Lauper. Owner and producer Bill Hanney spares no expense in bringing the incredible musical to this historic Rhode Island Theatre. This show is based on true events in Northampton, England. After inheriting the shoe factory from his father, Charlie Price struggles to keep his family business open. He isn’t really interested in the family business due to his fiancée Nicola but in order to keep it afloat has to lay off 15 employees. Lola, a fabulous, sassy and popular female impersonator comes up with a wild and crazy way to save Charlie’s shoe business but also teaches people about love and acceptance of people who are different. Charlie and Lola create a partnership but also learn important lessons from each other. And with a little bit of understanding this unexpected pair learns to embrace their differences and create a line of stilettos unlike any the world has seen. Director/choreographer Kevin Hill casts this show marvelously and elicits brilliant performances from the entire cast while musical director Jacob Priddy brings out incredible vocals from them, as their voices soar off the charts. What sets this show about from others is the group choreography, with the drag performers doing their routines with everyone in perfect unison. Lola and the group steal many a scene with their breathtaking dance moves (in kinky boots) throughout the show. The singing, dancing and acting in this show is spectacular and wins the cast a thunderous and prolonged standing ovation.

80’s Greed Explored in Burbage Theatre’s Excellent ‘Junk’

August 1, 2022August 31, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Tony Annicone

After two long years, Burbage Theatre Company brings Ayad Akhtar’s Kennedy Prize winning drama “Junk” to audiences. It’s also the New England Premiere and their last show of their 10th season. Junk is based on a true story and it’s essentially The West Wing meets the Wolf of Wall Street. Junk is a sprawling epic about the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts of the 1980’s who make and break the rules of uncharted waters of finance while creating vast amounts of money for themselves. The money they garner is unbelievable as they engineer the first hostile takeover of a Dow Jones corporation and introduce the concept of debt as an asset. Is morality possible with the high stakes of involvement with money?

Gloucester Stage’s ‘Grand Horizons’ Asks, “After 50 Years of Marriage, What’s Love Got to Do with It?”

August 1, 2022August 22, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Gloucester Stage’s ‘Grand Horizons’

Written by Bess Wohl; Directed by Robert Walsh; Scenic Design by Jenna McFarland Lord; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Anshuman Bhatia; Sound Design by Dewey Dellay. Presented by Gloucester Stage through August 21.

by Shelley A. Sackett

Nancy and Bill (played by real life spouses and stellar actors Paula Plum and Richard Snee) are introduced in their cookie cutter split level house as they go about their chores preparing for dinner. Silently and robotically, they perform their choreographed rituals. Bill sets the table; Nancy dishes out the food. Is this a couple so in sync after so many years that they don’t need to talk or is each seething with rancor just below their calm demeanor?

Finally, Nancy speaks. “I think I would like a divorce,” she says matter-of-factly. “All right,” Bill responds.