A Spectacular & Spellbinding ‘A Strange Loop’ by SpeakEasy & Front Porch

May 5, 2024May 20, 2024 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Kai Clifton (center) and cast of ‘*A Strange Loop’* in Speakeasy/Front Porch production

SpeakEasy Stage Company & Front Porch Arts Collective present ‘A Strange Loop’. Book, Music and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson. Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent. Music Direction by David Freeman Coleman. Choreographed by Taavon Gamble. Intimacy Direction by Greg Geffrard. Scenic Design by Jon Savage. Costume Design by Becca Jewett. Lighting Design by Brian J. Lilienthal. Sound Design by David Remedios. At the Wimberly Theater at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, through May 25th.

By Linda Chin

As if the powerfully personal storytelling and rapturous standing ovation weren’t emotionally overwhelming enough, being part of the moment when director Maurice Emmanuel Parent shared the news that a special guest was in the house – and A Strange Loop’s creator Michael R. Jackson strolled onstage – made my head spin. Watching the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright praise the production and being so genuinely gracious to the cast, creatives, co-producers, crew, everyone – including the opening night crowds who supported the show’s Boston premiere – gave me goosebumps.

The Wheels Go ‘Round and ‘Round and ‘Round in SpeakEasy Stage/Front Porch’s ‘A Strange Loop.’

April 29, 2024May 10, 2024 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Kai Clifton (center) and the company of A STRANGE LOOP at Speakeasy Stage. From left: De’Lon Grant, Davron S. Monroe, Jonathan Melo, Aaron Michael Ray (background), Grant Evan, and Zion Middleton (kneeling). photos by Maggie Hall Photography.

‘A Strange Loop’ — Book, Music and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson. Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent. Music Direction by David Freeman Coleman. Choreographed by Taavon Gamble. Co-produced by SpeakEasy Stage and Front Porch Arts Collective at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, through May 25.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Playwright Michael R. Jackson, a heavy-set Black queer man, has brought the concept of sharing to a new level in his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical, “A Strange Loop.” The compulsively introspective show, which runs at 100 intermission-less minutes, spelunks into the deepest crevices of the anguished mind of its hero, Usher, a fat, Black, queer man writing a musical called “A Strange Loop” about a fat, Black queer man who’s writing a musical about a fat Black queer man.

No One Gets a Free Ride in Speakeasy’s Rich ‘Cost of Living’

March 23, 2024May 10, 2024 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Stephanie Gould and Lewis D. Wheeler in “Cost of Living” at Speakeasy Stage
Photos: Nile Scott Studios

Cost of Living – Written by Martyna Majok; Directed By Alex Lonati; Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Amanda E. Fallon; Sound Design by Anna Drummond. Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company at 527 Tremont St, Boston through March 30th, 2024.

By Shelley A. Sackett

At its heart, ‘Cost of Living,’ is about relationships: how two people meet; how and whether they connect, separate, and reconnect; and how they handle caring and being cared for.

In playwright Martyna Majok’s magic hands, the fact that one person in each relationship has a disability is secondary (though hardly unimportant). Rather, she focuses on the universal vicissitudes of life — emotional, financial, good luck and bad, good health and illness — and how we handle them. The delicacy and craftsmanship of that artistic feat won her the 2018 Pulitzer-Prize award for Drama.

Speakeasy’s ‘Cost of Living’ Teaches the Value of Connection

March 13, 2024March 13, 2024 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Gina Fonseca, Sean Leviashvill in Speakeasy’s ‘Cost of Living’

By Helen Ganley

White-washed windows frame silhouetted figures diffused by foggy panes of light-filled glass. Behind these panes are flocks of New Jerseyans – each with their routines, stories, and connections. In Cost of Living, Speakeasy Stage Company delves into the narratives behind these casements and the forces that draw their residents together.

A Crisis of Human Loneliness in SpeakEasy’s ‘A Case for the Existence of God’

February 5, 2024February 5, 2024 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Jesse Hinson and De’Lon Grant in Speakeasy Stage’s *“A Case for the Existence of God”.*
Photos: Nile Scott Studios

‘A Case for the Existence of God’ written by Samuel D. Hunter. Directed by Melinda Lopez. Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco. Costume Design by KJ Gilmer. Lighting Design by Elmer Martinez. Sound Design by Audrey Dube. Performing at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through February 17, 2024.

By Linda Chin

Playwright Samuel D. Hunter’s A Case for the Existence of God is set in Twin Falls, Idaho (population 51,807 and racial makeup 88.5% White, 0.7% African American), in the present or recent past. The municipal seal includes an illustration of the pair of waterfalls that gave the city its name, and with acres of natural beauty in abundance, Twin Falls and this area of south-central Idaho is often referred to as “God’s Country” – full of spirituality and soul, presumably where dreams are fulfilled, and hearts uplifted. The city’s motto, People Serving People, is borne out by institutions and businesses sizable and small, including a yogurt factory and supermarkets, banks and a mortgage company, schools, and a daycare center. But like most Americans in the present or recent past, many Twin Falls residents are suffering from a crisis of human loneliness.

Tone-Perfect ‘A Case for the Existence of God’ Finds the Sacred in the Profane

January 31, 2024January 31, 2024 Theater Mirror1 Comment

“A Case for the Existence of God” — Written by Samuel D. Hunter. Directed by Melinda Lopez. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through February 17.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Once upon a time, there were two men who seemed to have little in common except their geographic histories in Twin Falls, Idaho, and the fact that their toddler daughters attend the same daycare.

Keith, a Black, gay mortgage broker, grew up living in a “nice house” in an intact family. His father, a lawyer, shared his love of travel with his children, exposing them to exotic places like Estonia at a young age. Keith is clearly in Twin Falls by choice. He even went away to college, earning a dual degree in Early Music and English, and returned. To Twin Falls. To be a mortgage broker.

Huntington, SpeakEasy’s Co-Production “The Band’s Visit” Serves Up A Sublime Slice of Life

November 20, 2023November 20, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

The cast of “The Band’s Visit” at the Huntington. Photo by T Charles Erickson

“The Band’s Visit” — Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek. Book by Itamar Moses. Based on the Screenplay by Eran Kolirin. Directed by Paul Daigneault; Choreography by Daniel Pelzig. Music Direction by José Delgado. Scenic Design by Wilson Chin and Jimmy Stubbs. Costume Design by Miranda Kau Giurleo. Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson. Sound Design by Joshua Millican. Produced by Huntington Theatre in collaboration with SpeakEasy Stage at 264 Huntington Ave. Boston through December 17.

By Shelley A. Sackett

The delightful musical “The Band’s Visit” is a welcome breath of air in the current asphyxiating climate surrounding the war between Israel and Hamas. Its focus is a single night in Bet Hatikva, a tiny Israeli town that feels more like a pit stop on the way to someplace more important than a destination.

“You probably didn’t hear about it,” says Dina (played by a magnificent Jennifer Apple in a star-making performance), the proprietor of Bet Hatikva’s only café and its resident narrator and cynic. “It wasn’t very important.”

SpeakEasy’s “POTUS” Soothes Our Distressed Political Souls With the Balm of Humor

September 30, 2023September 30, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Cast of SpeakEasy Stage’s production of “POTUS” (Courtesy Nile Scott Studios)

“POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” by Selina Fillinger. Directed by Paula Plum. Scenic Design by Jenna McFarland Lord. Sound Design by Aubrey Dube. Lighting Design by Karen Perlow. Costume Design by Rebecca Glick. Fight Choreography by Angie Jepson. Presented by Speakeasy Stage at the Calderwood Pavilion, Boston, through October 15.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Hands down, “POTUS” takes the prize for the most winning opening scene currently on stage in Boston. It is shriek-out-loud funny, clever, pithy, lightning-paced, and uncompromisingly no-nonsense.

The setting is The White House, not exactly the Trump administration, but also not exactly not the Trump administration. Two pantsuit-clad women are in mid-conversation when the audience joins them.

Chief of Staff Harriet (Lisa Yuen) is filling in Press Secretary Jean (Laura Latreille) on the morning’s diplomatic meeting and on what POTUS did that she, as press liaison, will have to spin at the press briefing that is about to start.

Speakeasy’s POTUS: A Farce to Be Reckoned With

September 23, 2023September 23, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Catia, Marianna Bassham, and Johanna Carlisle-Zepeda SpeakEasy Stage’s production of “POTUS” (Courtesy Nile Scott Studios)

By Linda Chin

U.S. presidents are the central figures of two productions running concurrently in Boston theatres this fall – Lyric’s Assassins, a musical about seven men and two women trying to kill the president by the legendary Stephen Sondheim, and Speakeasy’s POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, an uproariously funny ‘straight’ play that marked playwright Selina Fillinger’s recent Broadway debut. Fillinger’s commander-in-chief is not named or seen on stage; the play puts seven women who are typically behind the scenes front and center. Individually, the chief of staff, first lady, lover, press secretary, secretary, sister, and a White House reporter are forces of nature; banded together, they make POTUS a farce to be reckoned with.

Speakeasy’s ‘POTUS’ Mines Chaos, Laughs in the Oval Office

September 19, 2023September 19, 2023 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

“POTUS; Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” – Written by Selina Fillinger. Directed by Paula Plum. Scenic Design by Jenna McFarland Lord; Sound Design by Audrey Dube; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Costume Design by Rebecca Glick; Fight Choreography by Angie Jepson. Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston, through October 15

by Mike Hoban

There’s a lot to like about POTUS, the opening production for Speakeasy Stage’s 2023-2024 season. Featuring not only an all-female cast but an all-female production team, this lightning-paced farce sends up the absurdity of a crew of over-qualified, under-appreciated women propping up a misogynistic boob as he bumbles his way through his leadership role. Only in this case, it’s not an American corporation or institution; it’s the most pressure-packed job on the planet – the U.S. presidency.