‘The Great Leap’ Tackles Bigger Issues Than Basketball

March 17, 2023March 17, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Tyler Simahk, Barlow Adamson, and Gary Thomas Ng in *The Great Leap* at Lyric Stage

The Great Leap – Written by Lauren Yee. Directed by Michael Hisamoto. Scenic Design by Baron E. Pugh. Costume Design by Seth Bodie. Lighting Design by Michael Clark Wonson. Sound Design by Elizabeth Cahill. Presented by Lyric Stage Company of Boston through March 19, 2023.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Award-winning playwright Lauren Yee has skin in the game with her play, ‘The Great Leap,’ now making its Boston premiere at Lyric Stage Company. Her father, a rare 6’1” Asian-American basketball player, was part of the 1981 team the US sent to China for a “friendship game” between Beijing University and the University of San Francisco. The Americans were demolished during the exhibition games.

Yee suspects the team, composed of non-NBA, non-college players, was hand-picked by the Chinese so the Americans would lose. Her father, who recounted his experiences to her as she wrote her play, was very helpful. “On stage, you’ll see a version of my father; it’s not pretending to be him,” Yee says in the program notes.

‘Boulevard of Bold Dreams’ Shines a Light on Hattie McDaniel and Her 1940 Oscar

March 14, 2023March 14, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Samantha Jane Williams, Michelle Fenelon, and Stewart Evan Smith in *‘Boulevard of Bold Dreams’* at GBSC. Photos by Nile Scott Studios

‘Boulevard of Bold Dreams’ — Written by LaDarrion Williams; Directed by Taavon Gamble; Scenic Design by Rachel Rose Burke; Lighting Design by Corey Whittemore; Costume Design by Klara Escalera; Sound Design by James Cannon; Property Design by Emily Allinson. Presented by the Greater Boston Stage Company at 395 Main St., Stoneham, MA through March 19.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Playwright LaDarrion Williams has cherry-picked a dramatic moment in history to explore in his well-crafted ‘Boulevard of Bold Dreams.’ The date is February 29, 1940, the night of the Academy Awards. The setting is Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel bar, outside the grand ballroom where the awards will be presented.

Before the ceremony even starts, this year’s Oscars have made history. Hattie McDaniel is the first Black actor to be nominated for an award. She is up for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as Scarlett O’Hara’s ‘mammy’ in the Civil War era blockbuster, “Gone With the Wind.”

Broadway Icon Brings ‘An Evening with Laura Benanti’ to Concord

March 8, 2023March 8, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

This weekend, the “glamorously witty” Tony Award winner, TV and film actor Laura Benanti will perform her one-woman show (which includes longtime musical director and collaborator Todd Almond) at the Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, MA. Theater Mirror’s Mike Hoban spoke with Laura to learn more about her and what audiences can expect at ‘An Evening with Laura Benanti’. The show spans two nights and limited tickets were still available at press time. For tickets and information, go to: https://theumbrellaarts.org/performing-arts/concerts

Don’t Let the Play’s Title Keep You From Seeing Gamm’s Compelling ‘Bad Jews’

March 8, 2023March 9, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

The cast of ‘Bad Jews’ now playing at the Gamm Theatre. Photos by Cat Laine

‘Bad Jews’ – Written by Josh Harmon; Directed by Tony Estrella; Set Design by Patrick Lynch; Costume Design by Jessie Darrell Jarbadan; Lighting Design byDavid Roy; Sound Design by Peter Sasha Hurowitz, Presented by The Gamm Theatre at 1245 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, RI through March 26.

by Mike Hoban

At a time when anti-Semitism and violence against Jews are disturbingly on the rise, attending a play with the name Bad Jews may not seem like such a great way to spend an evening. A dozen or so protesters connected with the RI Coalition for Israel thought so, picketing the show outside the theater on the day of the press performance – not based on the content of the play (which one imagines they have not seen), but the title. Once inside, Gamm artistic director Tony Estrella assured the audience that the company respects the right to free speech, “both on the sidewalk and in the theater.” Having seen the play, let me assure you that the title is in no way a condemnation of the Jewish religion or culture. Instead, it’s a self-reference by one of the play’s Jewish characters on how poorly he practices his faith, much like Catholics who only show up for church on Christmas and Easter would describe themselves as a “bad Catholics.”

A.R.T’s ‘Wife of Willesden’ is a Pleasure with a Capital P

March 7, 2023March 7, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Clare Perkins in ‘*The Wife of Willesden’* at the A.R.T. Photo Credits: Marc Brenner

‘The Wife of Willesden’ – Adapted by Zadie Smith from Chaucer’s ‘The Wife of Bath’ from The Canterbury Tales; Directed by Kiln Theatre Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham; Design by Robert Jones, Lighting Design by Guy Hoare; Composition and Sound Design by Drama Desk Ben and Max Ringham. The Wife of Willesden is a Kiln Theatre Production and is presented in association with BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA through March 17

by Shelley A. Sackett

Whether by design or chance, the slightly tardy start to “The Wife of Willesden” gifted the audience with a few bonus minutes to soak in the vibe of Robert Jones’s magnificent set while seat dancing to disco party tunes. The stage, meant to represent a pub in Willesden (a multi-racial part of North London’s Brent) feels more like a holy shrine to drink and camaraderie. Six triple-case bays are filled floor to ceiling with glimmering bottles. A disco ball sparkles from above. A barmaid cuts fruit while local revelers mill about. Members of the audience sit at small tables on the stage, further breaking down the fourth wall. The effect is, well, intoxicating.

And then boom! The play starts.

Perkins is a Dynamo in A.R.T.’s ‘Wife of Willesden’

March 6, 2023March 6, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Marcus Adolphy, Clare Perkins, George Eggay, Andrew Frame, and the company of ***The Wife of Willesden*** at the A.R.T. Photo Credits: Marc Brenner

by Mike Hoban

What do women want?

Clearly, it depends on whom you ask (please shut up, men), but if you ask Alvita, the central character in The Wife of Willesden, the British import production now playing a limited engagement at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, a heaping helping of sex is a good start. As she rhetorically tells her five husbands as she spins her tale, “I demand pleasure. That is your debt to me…You’ll agree to owe me love, and good sex, and that when we marry, your body and soul will be mine as long as we’re a thing. From that time till we’re done, your body is my playground, (and) it’s for me, not for you.”

Don’t Throw Away Your Shot, See Lyric’s ‘The Great Leap’

March 3, 2023March 5, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Barlow Adamson, Tyler Simahk, Gary Thomas Ng in *The Great Leap* at Lyric Stage

by Linda Chin

Boston Lyric Stage’s current production of The Great Leap by award-winning playwright Lauren Yee – now making its Boston premiere – elegantly explores and brilliantly blends the complicated worlds of basketball and US-China politics.

‘The Inferior Sex’ Sets Record Straight at Trinity Rep

March 1, 2023March 24, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Cast of ‘The Inferior Sex’ at Trinity Rep. Photo by Mark Turek

by Tony Annicone

Trinity Rep’s season continues with the new production of “The Inferior Sex” by Jaqueline E. Lawton. The play takes place back in the summer of 1972 and is centered on congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and her decision to run for president. The Equal Rights Amendment is front and center as the fervor to pass it builds throughout the country. A group of women in midtown who support this amendment have created a magazine for feminists who love fashion. Meanwhile, the war in Vietnam rages on and the scandal of Watergate bursts President Nixon’s ruling of the country without consequences from either side of the aisle. The women involved with this magazine have differing opinions about the social and political dealings of the day, and it challenges their friendships and the very unsure future of their beloved magazine. Lawton creates comic and poignant moments with her brand-new play and makes the audience aware of the struggles to attain Equal Rights in a very real and up-close look at the past. Director Tatyana-Marie Carlo casts some powerful actresses to portray these roles as she brings the audience back to 1972. There’s an amazing set by Sara Brown and authentic and breathtaking 1970’s vintage costumes by Amanda Downing Carney. The costumes worn by the character of Shirley Chisholm were handmade by Amanda after looking at the outfits the real congresswoman wore back then. Tatyana and her talented nine-member cast’s reward is the spontaneous standing ovation they receive at the curtain call.

The Precarious World of “Alma” at Central Square

February 28, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave 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.

Manual Cinema Marries Biography to Classic Novel with Wildly Imaginative ‘Frankenstein’

February 25, 2023March 17, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Manual Cinema Co-Artistic Director Sarah Forance as Dr. Frankenstein

Manual Cinema’s ‘Frankenstein’ – Adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley; Concept and Storyboards by Drew Dir; Devised by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, and Julia Miller; Original Music and Sound Design by Ben Kauffman and Kyle Vegter. Presented by Arts Emerson, Emerson Paramount Center, 559 Washington Street, Boston, through February 26.

by Mike Hoban

Watching a Manual Cinema production is a lot like eating at the old Benihana in Cambridge – not only do you get to enjoy what you came for; you get to see how it’s made right in front of your eyes. But instead of chefs artfully chopping and slicing food over a flaming hibachi grill, the Chicago-based troupe uses puppets, shadow silhouette cutouts beamed via overhead projectors (yes, the ones from a 1970s high school biology class) to a giant screen, and a live band playing a veritable “mad scientist laboratory of instruments” to deliver a brilliant and original retelling of Frankenstein.