A Triumphant “Angels in America” Graces Central Square

May 10, 2023May 10, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Maurice Emmanuel Parent and Zach Fike Hodges in *“Angels in America”* at Central Square

“Angels in America,” Written by Tony Kushner. Directed by Eric Tucker. Presented by Central Square Theater and Bedlam, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, extended through May 28.

by Michele Markarian

It is the year 1985. “Angels in America” opens with a funeral, a rabbi (Debra Wise) presiding over the body of an elderly woman who undertook a perilous journey to America to live “in this melting pot, where nothing melted.” The deceased is the grandmother of Louis Ironson (Zach Fike Hodges), a gay Jewish man who is too uptight to introduce his WASP boyfriend, Prior Walter (Eddie Shields), to his family. Later that evening, Prior reveals to Louis that he has Kaposi sarcoma, a symptom of what was then called the gay cancer, or AIDS. In another part of the city, Mormon couple Harper and Joe Pitt (Kari Buckley and Nael Nacer) are both struggling – Harper with a pill addiction and Joe with his latent homosexuality. Joe’s boss is the nefarious lawyer (and mentor to none other than Donald Trump, a fun fact not mentioned in the play) Roy Cohn (Steven Barkhimer, in this performance). Cohn also has AIDS but wants it to be on the record that it’s liver cancer. Cohn feels gays are effeminate and considers himself merely a man who likes to sleep with other men. As both couples fall apart – Louis can’t handle Prior’s illness, and Harper can’t handle the fact that Joe isn’t attracted to her – new connections are forged through dreams and reality.

The Precarious World of “Alma” at Central Square

February 28, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Karina Beleno Carney and Luz Lopez in ‘Alma’ at Central Square Theater

“Alma” – By Benjamin Benne. Directed by Elena Velasco. Presented by Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, through March 26.

by Michele Markarian

It is 2016, and Trump has won the election. Alma (Karina Beleno Carney) is the mother of Angel (Luz Lopez), a teenager preparing for college. Alma is excited; tomorrow is the day that Angel is going to take the SATS and ace them so that she can fulfill their shared dream of Angel going to UC Davis and becoming a veterinarian. Angel, however, has other plans, which Alma sees as a slap in the face for all of the sacrifice and money she’s put into this dream for her daughter.

‘The Chinese Lady’ Educates, Entertains

November 17, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Jae Woo as Atung, Sophori Ngin as Afong Moy in ‘The Chinese Lady’ at Central Square Theater. Photos: Nile Scott Studios.

Written by Lloyd Suh. Directed by Sarah Shin. Set Design by Qingan Zhang. Lighting Design by Kat C. Zhou. Costume Design by Sandra Zhihan Jia. Sound Design by Kai Bohlman. Presented in partnership with CHUANG Stage at Central Square Theater, Cambridge through December 11, 2022.

by Linda Chin

In November 1834, fresh off the boat from Guangdong, China, fourteen-year-old Afong Moy made her New York City debut. Brought to the U.S. by New England merchants Nathaniel and Frederick Carne, Moy was featured in an exhibit the Carnes created to promote their trade goods from the exotic East. In a full-size diorama filled with Chinese paintings, lanterns, vases, and other (inanimate) decorative objects, a Chinese Lady (Moy) in full theatrical makeup, elaborately embroidered silk clothing and seated in an ornamental chair was also on display. She demonstrated how one skillfully eats with chopsticks, properly pours and drinks tea, and walks gracefully in lotus shoes adorning her four-inch feet. A brief audience Q&A facilitated by interpreter Atung followed the performance. Confined in a box for eight hours a day, Moy diligently carried out her role of cultural ambassador, repeating her act over and over again for the “education and entertainment” of an estimated 2000 audience members/week.

“Ain’t Misbehavin’” Sets the Joint Jumpin’

May 5, 2022May 5, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Sheree Marcelle,* *Jackson Jirard*, *Lovely Hoffman, Christina Jones, and Anthony Pires, Jr. in* *‘Ain’t Misbehavin*‘ at Central Square Theater. *Photos by Nile Scott*

by Michele Markarian

“Ain’t Misbehavin’” – The Fats Waller Musical. Conceived by Richard Maltby Jr. and Murray Horowitz, Musical Adaptations, Orchestrations and Arrangements by Luther Henderson. Directed and Choreographed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent. Co-produced by The Nora@Central Square Theater, The Front Porch Arts Collective, and Greater Boston Stage Company, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, through May 29.

Years ago, for our parents’ 20th wedding anniversary, my siblings and I bought them tickets to see “Ain’t Misbehavin’”. I don’t remember why we picked this particular show, except that they liked musicals and this one was new. They came back from their evening raving about how incredible it was; they talked about it for days. From what I was hearing, it was the music that hooked them, as they didn’t tell us much in the way of the storyline. The memory of their experience stayed with me, for who doesn’t want to be deeply rocked by a musical? After seeing “Ain’t Misbehavin’” for the first time in Central Square, I totally get where they were coming from.

Central Square’s ‘Nerds’ Makes Strong Case for Why Representation Matters

March 16, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

James Ricardo Milord, Daniel Rios, Jr., Alison Yueming Qu, Kortney Adams, Lindsey McWhorter, and Karina Beleno Carney. Photos: Nile Scott Studios.

‘Young Nerds of Color’ – Arranged by Melinda Lopez; Directed by Dawn M. Simmons; Original Music Composed by Nona Hendryx; Set Design by Shelley Barish; Costume Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt; Lighting Design by Andrea Sofia Sala; Presented by the Underground Railway Theatre at Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge through March 20.

by Mike Hoban

As a young boy growing up in the sixties, my only exposure to scientists was through Saturday afternoon science fiction movies on “Creature Double Feature”, which showed mostly cheesy black-and-white films like The Deadly Mantis and It Came From Outer Space. The scientists were – nearly without exception – older white men, except when the offering was Destroy All Monsters or some other campy romp from Japan. As I grew older and my tastes matured somewhat, depictions of scientists on film and TV were still mostly old white guys, although white women scientists began to appear occasionally onscreen. What audiences didn’t see were scientists that were people of color.

Central Square Theatre Gives The Half-Life of Marie Curie

November 17, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Lee Mikeska Gardner & Debra Wise in “The Half-Life of Marie Curie” at the Central Square Theatre Photos by Nile Scott Studios*

by James Wilkinson

‘The Half-Life of Marie Curie’ – Written by Lauren Gunderson. Directed by Bryn Boice. Scenic Designer: Lindsay Genevieve Fuori. Costume Designer: Leslie Held. Lighting Designer: Whitney Brady-Guzman. Props Designer: Jennifer Butler. Sound Designer: Elizabeth Cahill. Presented by The Nora at Central Square Theater through December 12, 2021

I may eat these words by the end of the review but for now I’ll say that it’s hard to get too worked up about Central Square Theatre’s production of The Half-Life of Marie Curie; the play is so unassuming in its intentions. It seems content to keep its head down and do the work that it’s trying to do. So why not let it? Surely no one is going to be irreparably harmed by spending ninety minutes in its company. (I’ve yet to hear a credible story about anyone getting beheaded at the theater.) I’m not convinced that you’re going get anything substantial out of it, but while watching I did eventually reach a mindset of “Go on, take a few whacks at the pinata and see if anything tumbles out.” Is that something? The play by Lauren Gunderson is a loving portrait of the entwining of science and female friendship that’s quite possibly a bit too loving for its own good. It has an agenda, (which isn’t a crime, most plays do), and manages to clamp its teeth down so hard on that agenda that nothing else can get in. The title is a reference to the elemental decay studied by its characters, but in its own ironic way becomes strangely apt to the whole project. We’re only getting half of what we could be out of its subject.

Lee Mikeska Gardner & Debra Wise in “The Half-Life of Marie Curie” at the Central Square Theatre. Photos by Nile Scott Studios

Rush Delivers Tour de Force Performance in “Queens Girl in the World” at Central Square

October 7, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Jasmine M. Ru*sh in ‘Queens Girl in the World’ at Central Square *Theatre*

by Michele Markarian

“Queens Girl in the World” – Written by Caleen Sinnette Jennings. Directed by Dawn M. Simmons. Co-produced by The Nora@Central Square Theater, The Front Porch Arts Collective, and The Hangar Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, through October 31.

Jacqueline Marie Butler (Jasmine M. Rush) is a black girl living in Queens, the overprotected daughter of middle-class parents, a doctor from the Caribbean and his elegant wife, Grace. Her friend Persephone – “I hate Persephone Wilson when she’s not my best friend” – lives next door. Jacqueline Marie’s proper mother dispenses such as advice as “Once a lady lays down in the gutter, she can never be a lady again.” Once Jacqueline Marie is discovered in the company of Earl Waddlington, a boy she meets inadvertently through Persephone, Grace decides that Jacqueline Marie needs to associate with a different class of people. Instead of going to her local PS, Jacqueline finds herself taking the train into Manhattan’s Greenwich Village to attend the primarily Jewish Irwin School, where she is one of three black students. Nonetheless, she finds friendship, love, and care from the students and faculty there, even though, as she says, “I’m always afraid. Afraid of being the wrong me in the wrong place.” Manhattan Jacqueline is very different from Queens Jacqueline.

Appreciation: Michael Ricca’s ‘What Matters Most’

March 10, 2020October 24, 2020 michaelhoban1 Comment

by Linda Chin

Michael Ricca performed his new one-man show, ‘What Matters Most’at the Central Square Theater in Cambridge from March 6-8.

After a week of Super Tuesday shock and disappointment, working on a grueling but rewarding project, and reports of the increasing number of Coronavirus cases close to home, being a recluse on Friday night was certainly tempting. But seeing singer Michael Ricca perform his new one-man show, What Matters Mostat the Central Square Theater in Cambridge to a packed house was exactly what the doctor ordered to elevate my mood.

It’s a Mad, Mad (Victorian) World in Central Square’s ‘Vanity Fair’

February 5, 2020 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Nora Theatre’s ‘Vanity Fair; at Central Square Theatre

By Julie-Anne Whitney

Vanity Fair (an im-morality play) – Written by Kate Hamill, adapted from William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel; direction and scenic design by David R. Gammons; lighting design by Jeff Adelberg; sound design by David Wilson; costume design by Leslie Held; properties coordinated by Ciara McAloon; dramaturgy by Hilary Rappaport; stage managed by Elizabeth Yyvette Ramirez. Produced by Underground Railway Theater through February 23, 2020 at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA.

William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fairwas first published in 1847 as a 19-volume serial novel released in monthly installments for Punch, a British magazine known for its satirical content. The 800-page work was published in a single volume in 1848 with the subtitle A Novel Without A Hero. Arguably Thackeray’s most successful and enduring work, Vanity Fair has been adapted into radio broadcasts, silent and sound films, television series, and plays.

Central Square Theatre’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ Warmly Stirs Memories

December 12, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

‘A Christmas Carol’ – Based on the novel by Charles Dickens. Adapted and Directed by Debra Wise. Scenic Designer: David Fichter. Costume Design: Leslie Held. Costume & Properties Designer: Elizabeth Rocha. Lighting Designer: John Malinowski. Sound Designer: Mark Bruckner. Dialect Design: Charles Linshaw. Choreographer: Susan Dibble. Presented by Central Square Theatre at 450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge through December 29, 2019

I suspect that there are some theater critics who approach the holiday season with a higher than usual sense of dread, (I mean, don’t we all have some degree of dread at this time of year?). The sunsets arrive earlier, the cold weather streams in, and all of the theaters whip out their annual holiday show for another go-around. The source of dread isn’t the prospect of watching these productions, (which are often delightful); it’s the idea of trying to come up with something new to say about a show that you’ve seen any number of times before and will see any number of times again. (For the record, this is my first time reviewing a production of A Christmas Carol, but seeing as I have no plans of checking out anytime soon, I know it’ll be far from the last.) Add in the additional hurdle that the sources for so many of the holiday theater shows are fairly well ingrained in our collective pop culture. When everyone goes in already knowing the story, beats, and even individual lines, just what is a critic supposed to do?