Gloucester Stage’s ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ Finds Ray of Light in the Darkness

June 13, 2018June 18, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

Dancing at Lughnasa; Written by Brian Friel; Directed by Benny Sato Ambush; Scenic Design, Janie Howland; Sound Design, Arshan Gailus; Lighting Design, Karen Perlow; Costume Design, Miranda Giurleo. Presented by Gloucester Stage at 267 E. Main St., Gloucester through July 8.

Is it possible to leave a theater with a smile on your face knowing that two of the play’s endearingly forlorn characters will die lonely deaths and that their siblings will live out the remainder their lives devoid of any real fulfillment? If you’ve just seen the Gloucester Stage production of Brian Friel’s classic work, Dancing at Lughnasa, then the answer is a resounding yes. Superbly acted by an exceptional ensemble and brilliantly directed by Benny Sato Ambush, the play explores the bleak but hopeful existence of the five Mundy sisters in the tiny village of Ballybeg in County Donegal during the Celtic harvest festival of the play’s title. Narrated in flashback from the point of view of Michael (Ed Hoopman), the now grown up son of the youngest sister, unwed mother Christina, the play details the summer of his seventh year, when forces from within and without conspired to push the heretofore resilient family to its breaking point.

Greater Boston Stage Celebrates Late Stages of Beauty with ‘Calendar Girls’

June 12, 2018June 19, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Calendar Girls – Based on the Miramax Motion Picture by Juliette Towhidi and Tim Firth; Directed by Nancy E. Carroll; Scenic Design, Jenna McFarland Lord; Costume Design, Gail Astrid Buckley; Lighting Design, Karen Perlow; Sound Design, Dewey Dellay;Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company, 395 Main Street Stoneham, MA through May June 17

By Alicia Googins

The women of “Calendar Girls” show enormous courage under fire. Fire, that is, of the camera snapping shots of them in the buff for an annual calendar. Based on the true story of the English Ladies Club members who bared it all in the name of love and scientific research, the play follows six women as they wade into the unknown waters of artistic nudity. To be fair (a phrase used often by the most modest and endearing of the lot, Ruth (Sarah DeLima), the photos are tasteful, and the women insist on referring to their state of undress as “nude,” not naked. But there’s plenty of room for scandal nonetheless.

Reagle’s A CHORUS LINE is a Singular Sensation

June 10, 2018June 10, 2018 Theater Mirror1 Comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston’s first musical of their historic 50th season is “A Chorus Line”, the 1976 winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Book and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It is a musical based on the lives and experiences of Broadway dancers. Original director/choreographer Michael Bennett wanted to do a show with the spotlight on the class of performers known as gypsies. The action takes place in an empty theatre, on a bare stage, where the casting for a new Broadway musical is almost complete.

A.R.T. Transforms ‘Jagged Little Pill’ Into a Musical for Our Times

May 29, 2018June 4, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

Jagged Little Pill – Music by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard; Lyrics by Alanis Morissette; Book by Diablo Cody; Additional Music by Michael Farrell and Guy Sigsworth; Directed by Diane Paulus; Scenic Design, Riccardo Hernandez; Costume Design, Emily Rebholz; Lighting Design, Justin Townsend; Sound Design, Jonathan Deans; Video Design, Finn Ross; Music Director, Bryan Perri; Music Supervision, Orchestrations and Arrangements, Tom Kitt; Choreography, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Presented by the American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge through July 15

When I first heard Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” on my car radio when it was released in 1995, it nearly blew a hole in my speakers. It was the kind of raw, unhinged fury that I mostly heard in late 70’s punk clubs or on college stations, but here it was on commercial radio, sung by one very pissed off, very young woman (19 years old) no less. It was a revelation then and it inarguably still stands as the single most magnificently rageful song in popular music. When a string of hit singles from the album were released, we got to experience a more thoughtful, almost spiritual side of Morissette. The album became not only one of the best-selling albums of all time – selling 33 million copies – but also something that spoke to a generation of young women while appealing to a broader audience.

“Allegiance” a Piece of America’s Dark History

May 13, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Michele Markarian

‘Allegiance’ – Book by Marc Acito, Jay Kuo, and Lorenzo Thione, Music and Lyrics by Jay Kuo. Directed by Paul Daigneault. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, through June 2.

“Every Pearl Harbor Day, they trot me out to prove that I’m still alive”, says the elderly Sam Kimura (Gary Thomas Ng), a decorated World War II war hero. If Sam sounds bitter, it is because the bombing of Pearl Harbor produced a declaration of war against Japan that adversely affected loyal Japanese Americans, including Sam and his family. It was just a few months afterwards that the US government forcibly rounded up 110,000 Japanese American from California, Washington, Arizona and Oregon. Families, just by virtue of looking like the enemy, had to sell their homes, businesses and items for a pittance of what they were worth to take up residence in camps, interned behind barbed wire.

Hilarity and Faith Abound in “Two Jews Walk Into a War”

May 9, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Michele Markarian

“Two Jews Walk Into a War”, by Seth Rozin. Directed by Will LeBow. Presented by New Repertory Theatre, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown through May 20.

What do you do if you are the last two Jews in Afghanistan, and you don’t get along? Such is the hilarious, conflict-ridden, deeply-layered premise of Seth Rozin’s two-hander, “Two Jews Walk Into a War”.

“Still, now” Effectively Combines Movement, Drama

May 9, 2018May 9, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

Still, now – Written by Katie Bender; Directed by Amy Meyer; Scenic Designer, Rebecca Lehrhoff; Costume Designer, Sophia Giordano; Lighting Designer, Sophia Giordano; Sound Designer, Amy Meyer. Presented by Heart & Dagger Productions at Martin Hall at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston through May 13

Long before spiritual posers like Oprah and Anthony Robbins began extolling the virtues of “failure” to the masses, there was 19th-century Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma, who once imparted, “There is no failure. It’s only unfinished success.” So what we often view as failure in the traditional sense can actually be valuable lessons learned that we can pull out of our consciousness when we are truly ready to apply them. That would appear to be the one of central themes of playwright Katie Bender’s moving and insightful new play, Still, now, currently being given its world premiere for an all-too-short run (it closes this weekend) at Martin Hall at the Boston Center for the Arts.

The Underlings Close Strong with a Crackling ‘Tour’

May 8, 2018May 12, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

The Tour – Written by Alice Abracen. Directed by Lelaina Vogel. Scenic Design: Duncan Kennedy. Lighting Design: Kat Zhou. Fight Choreography: Matt Dray. Costume Design: Evelyn Quinn. Sound Design: Brittany Lawrence. Dialect Coaching: Daniel Thomas Blackwell. The Tour is presented by The Underlings’ Theatre Co. at Chelsea Theater Works May 4-12, 2018

The conventional wisdom that good things come in small packages was created for situations like this. The Underlings’ Theatre Co.’s production of Alice Abracen’s The Tour clocks in at a brief seventy minute run time, but it manages to pack a hell of a punch. The show closes out the young theater company’s first season and to my mind is the strongest of the three shows that they’ve offered. There’s an admirable sense of ambition to the work as it tries (and I think mostly succeeds) to speak to the present political moment in the world. That it manages to makes its points without grandstanding or lecturing the audience is nothing short of incredible (I cannot count the number of other plays that fall victim to that particular trap). Instead it presents its audience members with a beautiful little knot of problem for them to figure out for themselves after they’ve left the theater.

Merrimack Rep Brings a Literal Supermom to Life

May 3, 2018May 3, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

The Villains’ Supper Club – Written by Lila Rose Kaplan. Directed by Sean Daniels. Scenic Design: Apollo Mark Weaver. Costume Design: Arthur Oliver. Lighting Design: Brian J. Lilienthal. Sound Design: David Remedios. Projection Design: Elizabeth Dombek. Illustrator: Chad Cunningham. Fight Director: Angie Jepson. Presented by Merrimack Repertory Theatre, 50 East Merrimack Street, Lowell through Mat 20^th

The fact that Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s production of Lila Rose Kaplan’s The Villains’ Supper Club is opening on the same weekend Avengers: Infinity War is being released is either a wonderful bit of serendipity or a brilliant marketing ploy. Either way, it’s a win for us. I have to confess that superhero stories are not exactly my forte. I think I’ve seen about three of the movies in the Marvel cinematic universe and I’ve leafed through only maybe a handful of comic books in my life. So when I went to this production, I went without any real attachment to the genre. I can therefore report back that if you can’t quite keep who Doctor Strange and Iron Man are straight in your head, you shouldn’t let that deter you from seeing this fiercely intelligent production. Playwright Kaplan and director Sean Daniels have concocted a wonderfully fun evening of theater that also manages to inject some topical issues on representation and motherhood into the proceedings.

Boston Children’s Theatre’s “1984” Captures Current Zeitgeist (Quick Take)

April 26, 2018April 29, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

1984 – Written by George Orwell; Adapted for the stage by Robert Owens, Wilton E. Hall Jr., and William A. Miles; Directed by Burgess Clark; Boston Children’s Theatre’s New England Theatreworks’ production of 1984 runs through April 29 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center of the Arts, 527 Tremont St, Boston through April 29.

As anyone who saw Boston Children’s Theatre’s powerful production of The Diary of Anne Frank (I did) or last year’s controversial production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (I did not), knows that BCT ain’t just for kids. So it should come as little surprise that the company is taking on this challenging work, given its relevance to what is going on politically in our own country and around the globe. Nearly 70 years after the book’s publication, 1984 still paints a chilling portrait of what may come to be, and director Burgess Clark and his young cast do a credible job of creating that sense of impending doom that re-emerges with each fresh news cycle.