MRT’s ‘Cambodian Rock Band’ will Rock & Raise, Connect & Bind Us

October 21, 2019October 31, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Matthew Yee, Peter Sipla, Aja Wiltshire, Eileen Doan, Greg Watanabe in MRT’s “Cambodian Rock Band”. Courtesy Photo Victory Gardens Theater, Pittsburgh, PA/Kristi Jan Hoover)

by Linda Chin

‘Cambodian Rock Band’ – Written by Lauren Yee; Directed by Marti Lyons; Scenic Designer by Yu Shibagaki; Costume Design by Izumi Inaba; Lighting Design by Keith Parham; Sound Design by Mikhail Fiskel; Music Direction by Matt MacNelly. Presented with Victory Gardens Theater and City Theatre Company at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre, at 50 East Merrimack Street through November 10, 2019.

In a classic conversation between parent and child, the child/adolescent/adult-child says, or shouts:
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
And the parent stumbles and stammers in response:
“It’s grown-up business. I didn’t want you to worry. Or, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you wanted to know.”
Or my late mom’s guilt-inducing favorite:
“You’ll understand when you become a mother.”

Trayf is in Eye of the Beholder in New Rep’s ‘Trayf’

October 21, 2019October 21, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Jonathan (Nile Scott Hawver), Zalmy (Ben Swimmer) and Shmuel (David Picariello) in New Rep’s ‘Trayf’*

“Trayf”. Written by Lindsay Joelle. Directed by Celine Rosenthal. Scenic Design: Grace Laubacher. Lighting Design: Marcella Barbeau. Costume Design: Becca Jewett. Sound Design: Aubrey Dube. Stage Manager: Jenna Worden. Produced by New Repertory Theatre in partnership with Jewish Arts Collaborative, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown through November 3.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Hasidic teenagers Zalmy and Shmuel, the main characters of the New Repertory Theatre’s “Trayf,” are, at face value, typical 1990s adolescents. They love cruising around New York City in their brand-new van, blasting their favorite music and singing along at the top of their lungs. Their good-natured banter, conversational short cuts and puppy-like rapport reveal a chemistry borne of lifelong friendship. They talk about everything, from music to families to the riddle of sex. Any mother would be proud to claim them as her budding mensches.

Harvard Square Comes Alive Again with “The Rocky Horror Show”

October 20, 2019October 21, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*(Cast of Moonbox Productions’ “Rocky Horror Show” – Photos by Sharman Altshuler )*

“The Rocky Horror Show”. Music, Lyrics and Book by Richard O’Brien. Directed by David Lucey. Presented by Moonbox Productions, 25 Brattle Street, Cambridge, through November 2.

Recent developments in Cambridge’s iconic Harvard Square have been pretty depressing. An entire block of buildings that once housed Curious George as well as my dentist’s office is now kaput, torn down to make way for – get this – a mall. Storefronts that once held funky shops are now banks or empty. Cheap restaurants have all but disappeared. From now until November 2, however, Harvard Square gets its mojo back with Moonbox Productions’ electrifying, dynamic and sexy “The Rocky Horror Show”. The bold and beautiful signage that adorns the windows and door of the former site of Hidden Sweets is the tipoff: this is no ordinary production. Interestingly enough, the film version of the stage show ran at midnight for 28 years at another empty space, the AMC Loew’s Theater.

Good, Clean Fun Abounds in “The SpongeBob Musical”

October 18, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Michele Markarian

“The SpongeBob Musical”. Based on the series by Stephen Hillenburg. Book by Kyle Jarrow. Music by various artists. Musical Production Conceived and Directed by Tina Landau. Presented by NETworks Presentations at the Boch Center, Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont Street, Boston, through October 27.

A few years back, a friend and I drove to New York to see the latest incarnation of “Boys in the Band”. While we waited for the show to start, we started chatting with the older guy next to us, who turned out to be a frequent theatregoer and Manhattan resident. “What’s the best show you’ve seen all year?” we asked him. “This may sound a little crazy, but The SpongeBob Musical”, he told us, before revealing that he’d seen it something like three times. We looked at each other sideways, but were intrigued enough to jump on the opportunity to see “The SpongeBob Musical” when it rolled into town. Sure enough, the guy was right. From start to finish, it’s fun, engaging, and spectacular to look at.

‘Saltonstall’s Trial’ An Eerie Reminder of Mob Rule

October 17, 2019October 26, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of ‘Saltonstall’s Trial’ at the Larcom Theatre in Beverly

By Sheila Barth

BOX INFO: The original play, “Saltonstall’s Trial,” continues with its full production debut October 25-27: Oct. 24-26 at 7:30 p.m., and Oct. 26, 27, at 2:30 p.m. at the 560-seat Larcom Theatre, 13 Wallis St., downtown Beverly. Tickets start at $19.50. punctuate4.org, 978-390-2425, thelarcom.org.

There are many reasons to see Punctuate4’s production of playwright-director Miriam Cyr and Michael Cormier’s timely, two-act, two-and-a-half-hour production of “Saltonstall: One Man’s Stand Against the Salem Witch Trials” this week.

Throughout October, the entire North Shore resonates with eerie, bizarre reminders of our forefathers’ shame – the two-year scourge of witchcraft hysteria – when pious-but-bad neighbors accused innocents of bearing the “mark of the devil” and committing supernatural, evil acts, usually during the night. Accusers further claimed the “witch” conjured up demonic helpers, throwing young church-going girls and everyone else into uncontrollable fits, hysterical fear, and illness.

Exploring Native Gardens at Gloucester Stage

October 13, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Leigh Strimbeck, Alaina Fragoso, Eduardo Ruiz, Patrick Shea in ‘Native Gardens’ at Gloucester Stage. Photos by Jason Grow)

Review by James Wilkinson

Native Gardens – Written by Karen Zacarias. Directed by Kelly Galvin. Scenic Design: Lindsay Genevieve Fuori. Lighting Design: Marcella Barbeau. Costume Design: Chelsea Kerl. Sound Design: Alexis Rappaport. Props Design: Emme Shaw. Produced by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 E. Main St., Gloucester through October 20.

It was idle curiosity, more than any other factor, that brought me to Gloucester Stage Company’s production of Native Gardens. The play by Karen Zacarias made Theatre Communication Group’s list of the most produced plays for the 2018/2019 season (tying for placement with Paula Vogel’s Indecent), and I think that the achievement means something about where we (and that’s the collective “we”) are right now. In an age where more plays than ever are being written and with the canon of producible plays being so vast, something about this play managed to capture the attention of audiences across the country (or maybe it’s more appropriate to say that it managed to captured the attention of the regional theater Artistic Directors). All art is reflective of the artist, but popular art is reflective of the culture. I missed the Merrimack Repertory Theatre production last year, but now the play has come to Gloucester Stage and I wasn’t going to miss the chance to partake and see just who it is we all are.

Get Your Kicks at ‘KINKY BOOTS’ at Ogunquit Playhouse

October 12, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Cast of ‘Kinky Boots’ at Ogunquit Playhouse. Photos by Gary Ng)

By Sheila Barth

BOX INFO: Two-act, popular Broadway musical hit, appearing at Ogunquit Playhouse, 10 Main St. Route 1N, Ogunquit, Maine, through October 27. Tickets start at $36; economy seats, $51. ogunquitplayhouse.org, 207-646-5511.

Kick up your heels, stride proudly, walk tall, and enjoy every minute of Ogunquit Playhouse’s spectacular production of “Kinky Boots,” Harvey Fierstein and Cindy Lauper’s popular Broadway musical hit. This is one show you don’t want to miss.

Don’t let the name of the play be off-putting. The musical isn’t about sexual kinkiness. It’s about two contrasting males who share what they perceive as the same shortcoming. They can’t live up to their fathers’ expectations. The main theme, though, is a clarion call for tolerance, love, and accepting people for who they are. The story is based on fact, writes Director-Choreographer Nathan Peck, former dance captain for the Broadway run. Thirty-something Steve Pateman of Northampton, England reluctantly took over his dad’s failing shoe business in the early 2000s. A woman who specialized in the sale of transgender women’s footwear saved Pateman’s business, by joining him and creating glamorous shoes. Their story was highlighted on BBC, and provided the heart of 2005 British film “Kinky Boots,” starring Joel Edgerton and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Book Clubs Get ‘Spinal Tap’ Treatment in Boston Playwrights Theatre’s ‘The Book Club Play’

October 9, 2019October 9, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Becca A. Lewis and Greg Mariao in Boston Playwrights Theatre’s ‘The Book Club Play’. Photos by Stratton MacCrady)

by Mike Hoban

The Book Club Play – Written by Karen Zacarías; Directed by Shana Gozansky; Scenic Design by Jeffrey Petersen; Lighting Design by Kat C. Zhou; Sound Design by Stephanie Lynn Yackovetsky; Costume Design by Kevin Morris. Presented by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, through October 13

There’s a saying that came out not long after the first photographs were developed, “The camera cannot lie”. And as those of us who are less-than-photogenic can attest, the truth isn’t always pretty. The same can be said of film, which is the premise of The Book Club Play, an updated version of the 2008 Karen Zacarías work now being given its Boston premiere at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.

As the title suggests, the focus of the play is a book club, which in turn is the focus of a documentary by a (fictional) acclaimed Danish documentary film maker, the amusingly named Lars Knudsen. He’s interested in documenting the distinctly American phenomenon of the book club, and has chosen one founded and led by Ana – pronounced “Ah-nuh” – (the gifted Becca A Lewis), a lifestyle columnist for the city’s daily paper that, as we soon learn, is more than a little bit controlling. We first meet her as she is speaking into the camera, describing Book Club as a “safe haven…a place to read, talk, and to be our authentic selves.”

Theatre on Fire Learns to Speak ‘Mountain Language’

October 8, 2019October 8, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

Mountain Language – Written by Harold Pinter. Directed by Darren Evans. Scenic and Sound Designer: Darren Evans. Costume Design: Erica Desautels. Lighting Design: Emily Bearce. Presented by Theatre on Fire at Charlestown Working Theater October 4-19, 2019.

I am occasionally accused of going on a bit too long when reviewing shows. And given that Theatre on Fire’s new production of Harold Pinter’s Mountain Language runs a brisk twenty-five minutes, start to finish, this seems like a good opportunity to try and practice exorcising some limits.

The show is excellent and I think you should go see it.

…Alright, now let’s see if we can work a bit more nuance into that statement…

WAITING FOR GODOT – Wilbury Theatre Group

October 8, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Tom Gleadow and Richard Donelly in WAITING FOR GODOT at The Wilbury Theatre Group, Providence RI; photo by Erin X. Smithers)

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Wilbury Theatre Group opens their ninth season with Samuel Beckett’s existential play “Waiting for Godot.” It first appeared on Broadway in April, 1956. It is about two tramps, Estragon and Vladimir and stars Richard Donelly as Gogo and Tom Gleadow as Didi. They sit waiting on a barren road for Godot. While they wait they run into three people as the two of them have long discussions with each other. They quarrel, make up, contemplate suicide, eat a carrot and gnaw on some chicken bones. One of the men that they meet is Pozzo. He is going to the market to sell his slave, Lucky. He converses with the two men while Lucky entertains them by dancing and thinking. Director Fred Sullivan masterfully takes us on this comic but informative journey about the meaning of life and how we explore it, awaiting the outcome and hoping for something or someone who gives us this positive energy. Are we waiting for a lover, for God or the path our life will take? Beckett lets the audience members decide what they think the meaning of this play is, leaving it up to them to solve the pathway of their lives.