Lyric Stage Invites ‘Round ‘The Little Foxes’

February 22, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

“Little Foxes” (Photos by Mark S. Howard)

Review by James Wilkinson

The Little Foxes – Written by Lillian Hellman. Directed by Scott Edmiston. Assistant Director: Kate Franklin. Scenic Design: Janie E. Howland. Costume Design: Gail Astrid Buckley. Lighting Design: Karen Perlow. Sound Design/Original Music: Dewey Dellay. Fight Director: Jesse Hinson. Presented by Lyric Stage Company at 140 Clarendon St. Boston through March 17

At the first intermission of Lyric Stage Company’s production of The Little Foxes the woman next to me bumped into my leg as she got up from her seat. “I’m so sorry” she said, looking a little unsteady on her feet. “It’s just that it’s so visceral.” I smiled and nodded because I’m the kind of person who likes to play my cards very close to the chest. I also try to reserve judgement until I’ve taken the whole thing in, but I knew what the woman meant. So much of Lyric’s production aims to overpower you and I think that on a technical level, there’s no question that it achieves that goal. It’s a solid piece of work, put together in a way that makes you want to stand back and admire the craft at work. The play is Lillian Hellman’s best-known and has (I think) rightfully earned its place not just as a classic but as a uniquely American classic. It’s the play’s American spirit that I think the Lyric’s production is trying to tap into.

New Rep’s ‘Still Standing’ is Meaningful Theater

February 19, 2019February 19, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Nicholas Whittaker

‘Still Standing: A Musical Survival Guide for Life’s Catastrophes,’ written and directed by Anita Hollander. Scenic Design: Afsoon Pajoufar. Stage Manager: Renee E. Yancey. Master Electrician: Katie Hoolsema. Props Manager: Zack Stern. Technical Director: Nathan Lee. Sound Engineer: Lee Schuna. Presented by New Rep Theater in residence at the Mosesian Center of the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown.

“Cripples ain’t supposed to be happy,” Anita Hollander sneers halfway through New Rep’s Still Standing. The sentiment, out of context, may sound surprising from Hollander’s lips. Hollander is the sole writer and performer of Still Standing, an intensely personal musical detailing Hollander’s own experience as a cancer survivor who lost her leg due to complications with her illness. The callous sentiment expressed above is thus not Hollander’s own, but one she admits she frequently comes across. Still Standing is Hollander’s attempt to prove it wrong. Disability, for Hollander, is neither a burden to bear nor an obstacle to overcome, but a complex, emotional, and ultimately integral part of her life and identity. In this, the show is a success. Hollander is able to reclaim the personhood of which disabled performers and characters are often deprived, asserting herself as the center and driving force of her narrative. This is, Hollander’s show argues, is what it truly means to survive.

Seacoast Rep Delivers Heartfelt ‘Billy Eliot’

February 18, 2019February 19, 2019 Theater Mirror1 Comment

‘Billy Eliot’ – Directed and Choreographed by Rachel Bertone; Musical Direction by Kathleen Castellanos; Scenic and Costume Design by The Mad Men of Oopsy Daisy; Sound Design by Andrew Cameron; Lighting Design by Michael Wingate Seavey; Properties Design by Kate Dugan. Presented by Seacoast Repertory Theatre at 125 Bow St, Portsmouth, NH through March 9

By Linda Chin

Set in a small town in northern England circa 1984, Billy Elliot is the story of a working class boy who wants to be a ballet dancer. His mum’s dead, his family is still grieving, and the community is being torn apart by a miners’ strike, the most bitter industrial dispute in British history. The story explores themes that include labor rights, homophobia, gender stereotypes and class struggles. I was fortunate to see the show in London’s West End, and since it crossed the Atlantic a decade ago, I’ve seen so many performances (over 100?) – on Broadway, the first national tour in Chicago, Broadway in Boston, revivals at professional regional and community theaters in New England (including Wheelock, Palace, North Shore, Ogunquit, Marblehead, Company) – that I’ve lost count.

A Powerful Urge to Communicate in Apollinaire’s ‘The Christians’

February 18, 2019February 18, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Deanna Dement Myers

‘The Christians’, written by Lucas Hnath. Directed by Brooks Reeves. Music Direction & Sound Design: David Reiffel; Design: Danielle Fauteux Jacques; Set Design: Joseph Dunn; Stage Manager: Maurine Heberden; Assistant Stage Manager: Jaime Hernandez. Presented by the Apollinaire Theater at the Chelsea Theater Works, 189 Winnisimmet St., Chelsea through March 9.

“Build your hope on things eternal”

A Charismatic white man, with an open, kind face, shakes hands and connects with the audience, bringing us into his personal space. A young man of color works the crowd coming from the opposite direction. Other leaders take their places on the stage, flanked by microphones. An excellent choir, made up of people of all genders, abilities and races, files in singing hymns that have us clapping, eager to hear the words of wisdom that have brought us all to the Chelsea Theater Works cum pews a nondenominational megachurch. We become the flock, and with familiarity born of years of weekend services, settle in to watch the action unfold.

“Spamilton” a Hilarious Love Letter to Broadway

February 16, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(Cast of “Spamilton” – Photos by Roger Mastroianni)

By Michele Markarian

“Spamilton” – Created, Written and Directed by Gerard Alessandrini. Presented by Huntington Theatre Company, Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through April 7.

Where to start with this show? Well, in the Obamas’s bedroom, where Barack puts on the cast recording of “Hamilton” before he and Michelle go to sleep. Lo and behold, Lin-Manuel Miranda (Adrian Lopez) is onstage, in full “Hamilton” garb, and the first number is a spoof on him (“In New York you can be a real ham” sung to the tune of “Alexander Hamilton”). I don’t know where they found Lopez, but onstage he is the spitting image of Miranda, and captures his vocal inflections perfectly. It’s uncanny to watch. Daveed Diggs (Dominic Pecikonis) and Aaron Burr (Datus Puryear) provide their own admonishments, but lest you think you’re in for an entire evening of roasting Lin-Manuel, the show, under the excellent musical direction and accompaniment of Curtis Reynolds, spins into a loving roast of Broadway itself, past and present.

Company Theatre’s ‘American Idiot’ Soars

February 14, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(‘American Idiot’ – Photos by Zoe Bradford)

by Linda Chin

‘American Idiot’- Book and Lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong, with additional book by Michael Mayer; Music and Lyrics by Green Day; Directed and Choreographed by Corinne M. Mason; Music Direction by Steve Bass. Presented by Company Theatre, 30 Accord Park Dr., Norwell, MA through February 17

In opening 2019 with Green Day’s American Idiot, Company Theatre continues its 40-year track record of presenting productions with high artistic quality and audience appeal, and of bringing beloved Tony-award winning shows to South Shore audiences. Last year’s fabulous production of Ragtime was a well-executed revival of the Broadway hit musical (including an exact replica Model T Ford on stage, set pieces from the original Broadway national tour, and Boston Equity actor Peter Adams reprising his role as Father from the national tour as a headliner).

To Bare or Not to Bare?

February 11, 2019February 11, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(Kevin Cirone, Ashley Risteen in ‘bare stage’ – Kippy Goldfarb photos)

by Michele Markarian

‘bare stage’ by Michael Walker. Directed by A. Nora Long. Presented by Festival Theatre Company, in association with Paul Gregory and Alex Kenton at the Plaza Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02116

Years ago, there was a Boston casting director who mounted a production of a show that he asked actresses – not actors – to appear in certain scenes topless. The script didn’t call for it, and when a beautiful young friend of mine refused, she was taunted for not being “real” enough – or some strange foolishness – but allowed onstage anyway. Two of the other beautiful young women, including the lead, had already agreed to appear bare-breasted, so the director was able to get his rocks off while satisfying himself with the ability to make vulnerable young actresses do his bidding. Watching the scenes was uncomfortable, as the nudity was uncalled for. Across the river, a few years later, a Cambridge director did the same thing with the same result. Happily, for playwright Michael Walker, the nudity in bare stage is an integral part of the piece.

Fresh Ink’s ‘Girlish’ – Young Women to Watch

February 8, 2019February 9, 2019 Theater Mirror1 Comment

(Atlee Jensen and Willa Eigo in Frsh Ink’s “Girlish”)

By Linda Chin

‘Girlish’ – Written by Alexa Derman; Directed by Melanie Garber; Scenic Design by Michelle Sparks; Lighting Design by Harrison Pearse Burke; Costume Design by Liz Fenstermaker; Sound Design by Benjamin Finn. Presented by Fresh Ink Theatre at the Plaza Blackbox at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston through February 16

Greater Boston’s theater companies do not generally plan their seasons in concert with each other, so in the cornucopia of play offerings by companies large, mid-size and small, professional/commercial and fringe, it is a jackpot when multiple stories featuring underrepresented demographics make it to the stage. With the Lyric Stage’s recent production of The Wolves, Company One-ART’s co-production of Miss You Like Hell, and Fresh Ink’s current production of Girlish, 2019 has already been a theatrical trifecta of teenage coming-of-age stories featuring very talented theater artists.

Bedlam Takes ‘My Fair Lady’ Back to its Unsentimental Roots With Glorious ‘Pygmalion’

February 8, 2019August 14, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(Vaishnavi Sharma, Eric Tucker in ‘Bedlam’s Pygmalion’ – Nile Scott photos)

by Mike Hoban

‘Pygmalion’ – Written by George Bernard Shaw; Directed by Eric Tucker; Costume Design by Charlotte Palmer-Lane; Lighting Design by Les Dickert; Sound Design by Eric Tucker; Properties Coordination by Elizabeth Rocha and Joseph Stallone. Presented by Bedlam and The Underground Railway Theatre at Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge through March 3

If you’re heading to Central Square Theater to see Bedlam’s Pygmalion with the expectation that you’re going to see a kind of non-musical version of the rom-com-ish My Fair Lady, you may be in for a bit of disappointment. That’s because The New York-based troupe is presenting their own superb take on George Bernard Shaw’s century-old classic in its original form. Which, while still wildly comical, is more of a searing indictment of the early 20^th century classicism, misogyny, and anti-immigrant attitudes of the British monied class – that sadly doesn’t look much different than most western societies today – than a lighthearted comedy of manners.

The Musical Revelation of “Who is Eartha Mae?”

February 6, 2019February 6, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Jade Wheeler in “Who Is Eartha Mae” (photos by Andrew Brilliant)

by Michele Markarian

“Who is Eartha Mae?” by Jade Wheeler. Directed by Caitlin Doran. Scenic Design by Esme Allen; Costume Design by Kathleen Doyle; Wig Design by Rayo Cole; Lighting Design by Laura Hillebrand; Sound Design by Jason Rosenman; Properties by Joe Stallone. Presented by Bridge Repertory Theater, Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, 41 2^nd Street, Cambridge, through February 23.

You know you’re in for an intimate experience when producing artistic director Olivia D’Ambrosio urges you, during her charmingly disarming curtain speech, to introduce yourself to your closest neighbor. Something about the gesture of doing so is relaxing, open, and prepares you well to receive the very talented and engaging Jade Wheeler, in her entertaining and revealing one woman show, “Who is Eartha Mae?”