“Spamilton” a Hilarious Love Letter to Broadway

February 16, 2019 michaelhobanLeave 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 michaelhobanLeave 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 michaelhobanLeave 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 michaelhoban1 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 michaelhobanLeave 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 michaelhobanLeave 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?”

Confessions of a Revolutionary Preacher – ASP’s ‘Nat Turner in Jerusalem’

February 5, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Brandon G. Green, Lewis D. Wheeler in ‘Nat Turner in Jerusalem’ (Photos by Nile Scott Shots)

by Deanna Dement Myers

‘Nat Turner in Jerusalem’ – Written by Nathan Alan Davis. Directed by Benny Sato Ambush; Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland Director; Costume Design by A.W. Nadine Grant,; Sound Design by Dewey Dellay; Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson. Presented by the Actors Shakespeare Project in collaboration with Hibernian Hall, at Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley St., Roxbury through February 24

“The uprisings will never cease until injustice ceases.”

In August 1831, thrice-sold Nat Turner, an educated preacher, led a two-day uprising of enslaved and free African American people that shook not only Jerusalem, Virginia, but our whole nation. Turner acted upon visions and signs from God, who called him to lead his people out of bondage. Approximately fifty white men, women and children were killed in the uprising, and the militia that retaliated murdered twice as many people of color, most who were not rebels. No white person was ever tried for their part in this horrific event. This insurrection lead to oppressive legislation designed to prohibit the education, movement and assembly of enslaved people. Turner was caught after two months on the run, tried, convicted and sentenced to hang until dead, dead, dead.