Speakeasy’s ‘Fun Home’ a Creepily Entertaining Coming of Age Story

June 13, 2019June 14, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Marissa Simeqi, Amy Jo Jackson, & Ellie van Amerongen in Speakeasy’s ‘Fun Home’/Photo Nile Scott Studios)

by Mike Hoban

‘Fun Home’ Music by Jeanine Tesori; Book & Lyrics by Lisa Kron; Based on the Graphic Novel by Alison Bechdel; Directed By Paul Daigneault; Music Direction by Matthew Stern; Choreography by Sarah Crane; Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Costume Design by Charles Schoonmaker; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will. Presented by the SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. Boston through June 30

Fun Home is not your typical musical. In fact, it, based on its tragicomic nature and lack of any show-stopping musical numbers, it might more accurately be called a play with music. But this Tony Award-winning coming out/coming of age adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic novel memoir is still a pretty gratifying work, due to its compelling storyline and effective performances by the cast.

Boston Theater Icon Leigh Barrett is Young Ben Choi-Harris’ “Best Girl” in Reagle Music Theatre’s “Mame”

June 13, 2019June 15, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Leigh Barrett, Ben Choi-Harris in Reagle Music Theatre’s ‘Mame’ – Photo by Herb Philpott)

by Linda Chin

Tony Award winning musical Mame will soon enjoy another revival in Greater Boston at Reagle Music Theatre (June 14 – July 23), and though life “is a banquet” but comes with few guarantees, we theatergoers can be confident that a cast led by professional actors Leigh Barrett* (Mame Dennis), Maureen Keiller* (her “Bosom Buddy” Vera), and Mark Linehan* (her southern suitor Beau) will more than do justice to the theatrical jousting and joyous Jerry Herman score. The title song Mame is one of those first act finales that sends people humming and dancing into intermission (and inspires many spontaneous sing-a-longs), and the festive We Need a Little Christmas is one of those show tunes that’s become a holiday season staple. These two crowd-pleasing production numbers and Mame’s poignant solo, If He Walked Into My Life, are the three classics usually included in lists of top 100 Broadway musical hits from the 30s to 80s.

Once Upon a Time at Wellesley Rep Theatre

June 12, 2019June 17, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Danny Bolton, Meredith Gosselin, Erin Eva Butcher and J Taylor D’Andrea in Wellesley Rep’s This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing’. Photo: Maggie Hall)

Review by James Wilkinson

‘This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing’ – Written by Finegan Kruckemeyer. Directed by Marta Rainer. Set Design: Janie E. Howland. Sound Design: George Cooke. Costume Design: Chelsea Kerl. Lighting Design: Bridget Doyle. Fight Director: Sarah Flanagan. Presented by Wellesley Repertory Theatre at the Ruth Nagel Jones Theater at Wellesley College June 5-30, 2019.

Wellesley Repertory Theatre would like to tell you a story. It’s a story about a trio of sisters and the adventures they had. There are Vikings and far-away lands. There are friendly woodland critters and curmudgeonly lighthouse keepers. There are whole towns moving under the power of a team of thirty horses and entire cities of people who have never seen the sun or danced a two-step jig. There’s a whole wide world explored before finally returning to the comfort of home. All of this and more can be found in Finegan Kruckemeyer’s play This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing now in production at Wellesley Rep. If any of the above sounds like it belongs in a tale by the Brother’s Grimm, that’s by design. Kruckemeyer’s play draws heavily from a number of classic fairytale sources, proudly wearing those inspirations on its sleeve. I have to say, though, that a few days after having seen the production, I’m struggling to decide just how successful the whole thing is. It’s not that the production doesn’t have charm (it does) and it’s not that the quality of the artistic team is deficient in any way (it’s not). It’s that given the subject matter, the production just didn’t spark the sense of wonder that I wanted it to and which had me leaving the theater feeling unfulfilled.

Humor Trumps Horror in Speakeasy’s Tragicomic Musical ‘The View Upstairs’

June 10, 2019June 10, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Cast of Speakeasy Stage Company’s ‘The View Upstairs’ All photos by Nile Scott Studios)

By Mike Hoban

‘The View Upstairs’ – Written by Max Vernon; Directed by Paul Daigneault; Scenic Design by Abby Shenker; Costume Design by Dustin Todd Rennells; Lighting Design by Abigail Wang; Sound Design by Elektra T. Newman. Presented by the Speakeasy Stage Company at the BCA Plaza Theatre through June 22.

Given that The View Upstairs is a fictional retelling of the final night of the Upstairs Lounge, the New Orleans gay bar that was turned into a fiery deathtrap by an arsonist’s match in 1973 (claiming the lives of 32 people), it’s a bit hard to find the proper descriptor without sounding disrespectful. But the truth of the matter is that this musical, now being given its New England premiere by Speakeasy Stage, is often funny and joyful – for the first 95 minutes anyway – despite its dark undertones. Equal parts Twilight Zone episode, gay sitcom, documentary, and cautionary tale on the ways that the obsession with social media is stealing our collective souls, View is first and foremost a worthwhile entertainment.

GBSC, Front Porch Collective Comically Re-Invent ‘The Three Musketeers’

June 9, 2019June 9, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Lyndsay Allyn Cox, Paige Clark, Marc Pierre, James Ricardo Milord, Tonasia Jones, Stewart Evan Smith in GBSC, Front Porch Arts Collective’s ‘The Three Musketeers’ – Photo credit: Maggie Hall Photography)

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Chivalry comes to life with a comic, swashbuckling and intriguing version of The Three Musketeers at Greater Boston Stage in collaboration with the Front Porch Arts Collective, who seek to advance racial equity in Boston. D’Artagnan, a country boy, is determined to join the prestigious Musketeers in defending one and all from the evil Cardinal Richelieu. Director Dawn M. Simmons presents a gender bending version of the show as they take us on an exciting journey into yesteryear. The show is written by Catherine Bush and adapted from Alexander Dumas’ novel. It celebrates honor, lust for life, romance and true friendship. Of course there are many evil plots and schemes to avert by these Musketeers and their young protégé. Their friendship is what endures during their struggles with adversity and how sticking together through thick and thin wins the day. The astounding swordfights, fights and pratfalls are breathtaking and directed perfectly by Angie Jepson, while the costumes by Amanda Mujica are beautiful.

North Shore Music Theatre’s ‘Oklahoma’ Is a Rollicking Kick Off to its 64th Season

June 8, 2019June 14, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Shelley A. Sackett

‘Oklahoma!’ –Music by Richard Rodgers; Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II; Directed by Charles Repole; Choreography by Mara Newbery Greer; Music Direction by Mark Hartman. Presented by North Shore Music Theatre, 62 Dunham Rd., Beverly, through June 16.

Just when the cold, wet slog of spring 2019 was about to wear down all hope that summer would ever arrive, NSMT comes to the rescue with a first-rate production of the 1943 classic, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘Oklahoma!’ Perfect for theatre-in-the-round staging, this Broadway masterpiece has everything: a snappy, foot-stomping score, impressive choreography and a captivating story that is more complex and bleak than many may remember.

NSMT’s ‘Oklahoma’ – A True Classic

June 7, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

“Oklahoma” is the classic Broadway musical that launched Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first collaboration back in 1943. So to celebrate North Shore Music Theatre’s 64th season, owner and producer Bill Hanney brings it in as his opening musical of his 10th season at this historic theatre. The story is about Curly, the cowboy, and Laurey, the farmer, who pretend they dislike each other until another unsavory suitor, handyman Jud, makes a play for her. Curly then becomes the hero who must step up to save the damsel in distress. Laurey is guided by her strong willed Aunt Eller. She also is supported by her flirty friend, Ado Annie, who likes to keep many beaus on a string, including handsome, dancing Will Parker who has seen the big city lights and the womanizing peddler, Ali Hakim. Throw in Annie’s strong willed father, Andrew and a singing and dancing chorus that will knock your socks off and you have the ingredients for this sensational high energy musical extravaganza.

‘The Nature Plays’ Bring Mt. Auburn Cemetery to Life in a Spectacular Plein Air Tour de Force

June 5, 2019June 5, 2019 michaelhoban2 Comments

‘The Nature Plays’ at Mt. Auburn Cemetery

by Shelley A. Sackett

‘The Nature Plays’ – Written by Patrick Gabridge; Directed by Courtney O’Connor. Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge. Through June 9

Mt. Auburn Cemetery and its rich, natural environment is a heaven-made set for playwright Patrick Gabridge’s spectacular first set of five site-specific one-act plays, collectively titled, “The Nature Plays.” Each ten-minute play touches on a topic germane to its particular setting in the 174-acre cemetery, which is also an arboretum and National Historic Landmark District. The plays run through June 9 with another series of five short plays, “The American Plays,” scheduled to run September 14-22.

A Brief History and Highlights of the IRNEs

June 3, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Beverly Creasey

1988 on: Precursor of the IRNEs: Activist/journalists in Boston have banded together and are intensifying their coverage of (a lack of) diversity in the arts. Papers large and small shine a light on institutions like the MFA. (The Gorilla Girls point out that the only way women are represented in museums is on a canvas and in the nude.) This small group of activist writers marches in support of the ICA when city counselor Albert ‘Dapper’ O’Neill threatens to close down the Mapplethorpe exhibit. There is a proliferation of new companies on the theater front and one member of the group, writing for the Journal Newspapers, realizes that these new companies are doing exceptional work and for the most part, are not being recognized. She forms another organization to honor their work, joining writers from the brand new, pioneering world of internet review sites (Theater Mirror and Aisle Say being the earliest of their ilk). Other papers join up. By the ‘90s they’re known as the “outer critics” to indicate that they do not write for the big papers. A confluence of events propels the group to its mission.

World Premiere of ‘Love and Other Fables’ – a Comic Gem

June 2, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Blake Hammond (King Croesus), Brian Sears (Aesop), Peter Saide (Philocalus) and the cast of the World Premiere of LOVE AND OTHER FABLES playing at Theatre By The Sea thru June 16, 2019. Photos by Steven Richard Photography.

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The world has been waiting thousands of years for this musical about Aesop and his friends, but fortunately it has taken only 86 years for a World Premiere to come to Bill Hanney’s Theatre by the Sea. The first show of this historic theatre’s 86th season is “Love and Other Fables” written by John McMahon and Jay Jeffries. This comic musical which is bawdy and burlesque-like is set in 600 B.C. on the island of Samos in Greece. Aesop who later in life becomes a famous writer, is still a slave in this show. He yearns to become famous, win the girl of his dreams (who doesn’t find him attractive), outwit the King of Egypt to obtain his freedom by solving three conundrums and become renowned for his spinning of his stories.