Matthew Patrick Quinn and Amaya Braganza in ‘Hadestown’ atthe Boch Wang Center. Photo by T. Charles Erickson
‘Hadestown’ – Music, Lyrics & Book by Anaïs Mitchell. Developed with & Directed by Rachel Chavkin. Music Supervisor & Vocal Arrangements by Liam Robinson. Choreographed by David Neumann. At the Boch Wang Center through April 28
By Helen Ganley
The train releases belts of smoke, picking up passengers as it flies down the track toward Hadestown. Members of the Greek pantheon stand statuesque, chiseled into the set as the audience is warned: “It’s a sad tale. It’s a tragedy.” The tour of “Hadestown” at the Boch Center Wang Theatre weaves this epic saga with threads of hope and harmony.
J.Antonio-Rodriguez and Amaya Braganza in ‘Hadestown’ Photos by T Charles Erickson
Next week, the national touring company of Hadestown, winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards (including Best Musical) and the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, rolls into Boston for a limited run at the Boch Center Wang Theater, April 23-28. Theater Mirror’s Mike Hoban caught up with Amaya Braganza, ‘Hadestown’s’Eurydice to talk about her transition from child performer to Broadway lead.
By Mike Hoban
Theater Mirror: I know that you did Annie on Broadway when you were 10, and obviously, they didn’t just pick you out of a crowd, so how did your career start?
Amaya: I grew up in California and started doing musical theater in community shows when I was about five. My first show was Annie, as one of the orphans – and I still have a picture from that show. When I was eight, I was part of a musical theater program where we took dance classes and did competitions and shows. That’s where I met my best childhood friend, Mia. She told me about this open call in New York for Annie on Broadway and we decided to go. Her mom had airplane and hotel points, and they took me to New York. It was an open call, and I think there were almost 1000 people there, with a bunch of kids lined up outside of a New York high school. I did the open call, and then I kept getting callbacks throughout the week, and then I ended up booking the show and found I had a real love for theater.
Jeff Kelly (center) in National Touring Production of ‘Annie’, coming to Boch Center February6-11
Jeff Kelley, who plays Rooster Hannigan in the national touring production of Annie that lands next week at the Boch Center Wang Theatre, was not your typical theater kid. Unlike much of the theater community in his age group (almost 33), the Barnstable native did not grow up with ‘Rent’ posters on his wall and didn’t even try his hand at acting until he was in college. After some struggles with his major (earth science) at UMass Amherst, he decided to switch to music as a major (he was a jazz drummer) and took a semester off to focus on auditioning for the school’s music program.
The tour of Cirque Dreams’ Holidaze will make a stop at the Boch Center the weekend of December 10-12. The Broadway-style musical, inspired by the ‘Nutcracker’ ballet, is infused with over 20 contemporary circus artists and features over 300 costumes as ballerinas, snowmen, penguins, reindeer, ethereal aerialists, gingerbread people, carolers and colossal ornaments fly, balance, and juggle around a Christmas-themed storyline. The show also features Broadway singers performing renditions of holiday classics as well as original music.
Theater Mirror had the chance to speak with aerialist Hana Bible, the lead in the show, who is making her debut with Cirque Dreams as Clara, the young girl from the story of the ‘Nutcracker’.
THEATER MIRROR: When did you first get involved in performing?
HANA: I’ve been a performer since I was very young, and the story is actually pretty ironic. I started as a dancer, and the reason I started dancing was because I wanted to play the role of Clara in the Nutcracker. I started dancing ballet when I was six, but when I was old enough to play the role (typically around age 12) I wasn’t cast because I tended to play the parts that usually went to boys because I was athletic and could tumble and leap. I was actually cast as the Nutcracker instead, because at my dance studio the role called for an athletic performer. So from the time I was 11 until the age of 18 I was the Nutcracker. Eventually I aged out of the opportunity, but I was in love with dancing by that point, so I just kept going. I moved to LA (from San Francisco) to go to college, and after I graduated, I went back to dancing because it was my first love. I was doing hip-hop and modern dance but it was for the love – it was mostly unpaid. Then I got a few professional dancing jobs, got an agent and began auditioning for TV shows and commercials and musical theater. A few years in, I realized I needed to expand my horizons as a performer, and I began to get into the circus arts, primarily the aerial silks.
‘Irving Berlin’s White Christmas: The Musical’ – Music
and Lyrics by Irving Berlin; Book by David Ives and Paul Blake; Based on the
Paramount Pictures film written for the screen by Norman Krasna, Norman Panama
and Melvin Frank; Directed and Choreographed by Randy Skinner; Musical
Direction by Michael Horsley; Scenic Design by Anna Louizos; Scenic Adaptation
by Kenneth Foy; Costume Design by Carrie Robbins; Lighting Design by Ken
Billington; Sound Design by Keith Caggiano; Orchestrations by Larry Blank; Vocal
and Dance Arrangements by Bruce Pomahac. Presented by Work Light Productions at
the Boch Center Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont St., through Dec. 29.
From before the curtain rises until well after it has fallen, the live orchestra of ‘Irving Berlin’s White Christmas: The Musical,’ infuses the stage and the audience at Boston’s magnificent Boch Center Wang Theatre with wholesome, happy, good vibrations. This is a grandly old-fashioned and thoroughly enjoyable theatrical experience, with tap dancing, fabulous costumes, stunning sets and, most importantly, an incomparable score by the equally incomparable Irving Berlin.
“The SpongeBob Musical”. Based on the
series by Stephen Hillenburg. Book by Kyle Jarrow. Music by various artists. Musical Production
Conceived and Directed by Tina Landau. Presented
by NETworks Presentations at the Boch Center, Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont Street,
Boston, through October 27.
A few years back, a friend and I drove to New York to see the latest incarnation of “Boys in the Band”. While we waited for the show to start, we started chatting with the older guy next to us, who turned out to be a frequent theatregoer and Manhattan resident. “What’s the best show you’ve seen all year?” we asked him. “This may sound a little crazy, but The SpongeBob Musical”, he told us, before revealing that he’d seen it something like three times. We looked at each other sideways, but were intrigued enough to jump on the opportunity to see “The SpongeBob Musical” when it rolled into town. Sure enough, the guy was right. From start to finish, it’s fun, engaging, and spectacular to look at.
