With ‘Royally Unseen’ Alan White Looks to be Seen

November 8, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

‘Royally Unseen’ – Written and performed by Alan White. Directed by Pacale Florestale. Projection/Video Design: Alan White. Royally Unseen is being performed at the Green Room in Somerville November 3-18, 2018.

You can sometimes forget how little you actually need for an engaging evening of theater. When a production pulls out all of the stops with large casts, enormous sets and an array of stage effects, it’s easy to be dazzled. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the bells and whistles as much as the next patron. At the end of the day, though, theatre is supposed to be about human connection and all you need for that is a human, speaking clearly and honestly. Alan White’s one-person show Royally Unseen is a play that operates on that idea of simple human connection. You won’t have the bells and whistles, but you’ll have the chance of capturing something much more profound.

Never Grow Up: Hub Theater Presents ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’

November 5, 2018November 12, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Deanna Dement Myers

IRNE award winner and recipient of the 2018 Bob Jolly Award director Sarah Gazdowicz along with music director Bethany Aiken lead a cast of some of the area’s finest actors in ‘Peter and The Starcatcher’ by Rick Elice, music by Wayne Barker; based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. Production Team includes Kiki Samko, Movement Coach; Kat Long, Production Manager; Allison Davis, Stage Manager; Lauren Elias, Producer; Cassie Chapados, Set Design; Cesara Walters, Props Design; Chris Bocchiaro, Lighting Design; Erica Desautels, Costume Design. Presented by Hub Theatre Company of Boston, Friday, November 2 through Saturday November 17 at First Church Boston, 66 Marlborough St.

When I was boy, I dreamt I could fly.

There is a sense of wonder upon walking into the cozy theater at the First Church of Boston. With seating arranged three quarters around the stage, the audience gets the sensation of sitting in the eaves of a large attic playroom. Mismatched furniture, layered rugs and the suggestion of a slanted ceiling reinforce that feeling.

Lyric’s ‘The Roommate’ an ‘Odd Couple’ with Bite

November 3, 2018November 7, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

‘The Roommate’ – Written by Jen Silverman, Directed by Spiro Veloudos; Scenic Design, Jenna McFarland Lord; Costume Design, Tobi Rinaldi; Lighting Design, Chris Hudacs; Sound Design & Original Music, Dewey Dellay; Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston through November 18, 2018

If you’re thinking that the plot from The Roommate – two middle-aged people who couldn’t be more different from one another find themselves living together – sounds a little too familiar, forget about it. Other than the basic set-up and delivering a lot of laughs (early on anyway), The Roommate couldn’t be more different from The Odd Couple than say, Felix is from Oscar. And in the case of the Lyric’s twistedly comic production, that’s a good thing.

You ‘Can’t Stop the Beat’ with NSMT’s HAIRSPRAY

November 1, 2018November 7, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The Broadway show won 8 Tony Awards and is based on the 1988 John Waters film which starred Divine and Ricki Lake. The show is set in 1962 in Baltimore and is about teenager, Tracy Turnblad, a large girl with big dreams and even bigger hair who has an abundant joie de vivre and rhythm in every inch of her body. She will do whatever it takes to win a spot on the Corny Collins Show, a popular TV dance show, win the heart of Link Larkin, the show’s resident dreamboat and turn the town upside down in her efforts to racially integrate television.

‘Rock of Ages’ Lets the Music Do the Talking

October 27, 2018October 28, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Rock of Ages – Featuring a book by Chris D’Arienzo and arrangements and orchestrations by Ethan Popp, the tenth anniversary tour is being directed by Martha Banta and choreographed by Janet Rothermel. At the Boch Center Wang Theatre, Boston through 10/28

You don’t have to have been a child of MTV to enjoy Rock of Ages, the jukebox musical now rocking the Boch Center Wang Theatre – but it certainly helps. Featuring songs by bands that helped launch the channel back in its early days – Twisted Sister, Quarterflash, REO Speedwagon, Whitesnake, Foreigner, Journey and Pat Benatar – the show is a essentially comic sendup of every dumb rock and roll movie ever made from Beach Blanket Bingo to Rock n Roll High School, and it’s a blast.

Newport Playhouse’s “A Doublewide Texas Christmas

October 26, 2018November 26, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Sue Nedar

Newport Playhouse’s holiday offering is, “A Doublewide Texas Christmas” by Jones, Hope, & Wooten. Somewhere in the Texas heartland, lies the brand new town of Doublewide – Population, 10. It’s Christmas time, and things are complicated. You see, Doublewide is being double crossed by the county, there’s a nativity competition to worry about, and there’s a pack of overly aggressive raccoons hanging around just outside the door. All the makings of raucous Yule time comedy.

Measure for Measure, a Russian Investigation of Shakespeare’s Problem Play

October 25, 2018November 7, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

*(MEASURE FOR MEASURE by Shakespeare, , Writer – William Shakespeare, Director – Declan Donnellan, Designer – Nick Ormerod, Lighting – Sergei Skornetsky, Paris, 2015, Credit: Johan Persson/)*

By Deanna Dement Myers

ArtsEmerson welcomes Cheek by Jowl (UK) and The Pushkin Theatre Moscow (Russia) with Measure for Measure. This production by the international award-winning Director Declan Donnellan and Designer Nick Ormerod asks vital and unsettling questions about how we are governed and, in the process, unmasks the true nature of authority, love and justice. The creative team includes Assistant Director Kirill Sbitnev, Lighting Designer Sergey Skornetskiy, Composer Pavel Akimkin, and Choreographer Irina Kashuba. The limited run of only six performances takes place October 24 through 28, 2018 at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. Tickets may be purchased at www.ArtsEmerson.org.

“The tempter or the tempted, who sins the most?”

Power and purity are explored in this production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Performed entirely in Russian on a stage bare except for four, enormous, red cubes, this modern interpretation has a stark beauty and a fluid physical presentation that transcends the need to understand the language. Government corruption and licentious behavior is easily understood without the overhead captioning. The entire cast is present during most scenes, gliding at times like a school of fish, at another as a phalanx, with characters and set pieces peeling off and rejoining the array as the scene requires. Part dance and part stagehands, the non-speaking cast members offer commentary and witness, much like a Greek chorus.

“THE QUEENS OF THE GOLDEN MASK” at Ivoryton Playhouse

October 15, 2018November 5, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

“The Queens of the Golden Mask”, a world premiere, is currently running at the historic Ivoryton Playhouse. Carole Lockwood’s new play pulls aside the Cotton Curtain to reveal a piece of history that tells a little known story and also raises a warning. It starts off in 1961 and moves two years later in Act 2. The normalizing of hate is dangerous and toxic, not only to the objects of the hatred but eventually destroying those who are caught up in its comfortable complacency. The play is based on the experiences of Elizabeth H. Cobbs written by Petric Smith who also wrote the autobiographical “Long Time Coming: An Insiders Story of the Birmingham Church Bombing That Rocked the World”. Smith’s work provides more than an insiders account of one of the most atrocious events of the civil rights era; it is also the personal journey of a woman inside the world of the most extreme opponents of racial justice. In the violent world of the Klan, women were subservient; men beat their wives with impunity in order to maintain white male supremacy But there were many who, quietly and with great moral courage, put their lives on the line. This is their story. They hide behind a religious facade while performing despicable actions, pretending they are only in a patriotic social club.

Huntington’s ‘Sherlock’s Last Case’ a Wildly Comic Caper

October 15, 2018October 15, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘Sherlock’s Last Case’ – Written by Charles Marowitz, Directed by Maria Aitken; Scenic Design, Hugh Landwehr; Costume Design, Fabio Toblini; Lighting Design, Philip S. Rosenberg; Sound Design, Mic Pool. Presented by Huntington Theatre Company at 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston through October 28

There’s nothing elementary about the Huntington’s production of Sherlock’s Last Case, director Maria Aitken’s revival of Charles Marowitz’ 1987 fan fiction piece. This very clever and often laugh-out-loud take on the world’s most famous fictional figure comes up with a surprising premise that is actually quite logical – given the nature of resentments – to anyone even remotely familiar with Sherlock Holmes (Rufus Collins) and his unassuming sidekick, Dr. Watson (Mark Zeisler). As someone who is more familiar with the parodies and reinterpretations of the Sherlock Holmes tales than the original works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I may not be the best judge of how well Sherlock’s Last Case measures up to the best of the stories of the “World’s Greatest Detective”, but there are certainly enough plot developments to keep you guessing throughout.

PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (Beacon Theatre Workshop)

October 10, 2018November 10, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Beacon Theatre Workshop is bringing Neverland to RI. “Peter and the Starcatcher”, a play by Rick Elice, is a prequel story based on the novel by David Barry and Ridley Pearson. The show won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2012. This production will bring you right back to your childhood to relive memories of watching Mary Martin in “Peter Pan” on TV for many years as well as pretending to be this impish character, too. This show is interactive and encourages audience participation on a wild ride of fun involving pirates, secret treasure, action, adventure and even a little magic. This immersive theatre experience is full of captivating musical performances and surprises around every corner. Director Jason LeClair picks 17 of the most talented students around to star in this energetic fantasy with 13 year olds played by these high school students, good guys, bad guys, exploits at sea, mermaids, islanders called mollusks, “star stuff,” and a band of pitiful pirates to capture your imagination and entertain you all night long.