‘Marry Me A Little’ a String of Sondheim Pearls at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre

July 20, 2022November 29, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Brittany Rolfs as Woman, Sam Perwin as Man in ‘Marry Me a Little’ at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Conceived by Craig Lucas & Norman René; Directed by Christopher Ostrom; Musical direction by Kevin Quill; Scenic Design by Christopher Ostrom; Costume Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt; Lighting Design by Patricia M. Nichols; Sound Design by Sam Sewell. Presented by Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre through July 24

by Linda Chin

In the small, artsy seaside town of Wellfleet on the Outer Cape, home to galleries, studios, and oysters galore, a pearl of a production is currently playing at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater. Last summer’s Shipwrecked!, performed on a wooden ship with billowy sails built on an outdoor stage in their parking lot, was visually stunning though acoustically-strained. Schedule conflicts prevented me from seeing WHAT’s 2022 season kickoff (Straight White Men by Young Jean Lee, a “straight” play I enjoyed at Watertown’s New Rep years ago). But at the first opportunity, I hightailed it from Boston to see the second show of the five show season curated by Producing Artistic Director Christopher Ostrom: Marry Me A Little. Seeing live theater indoors again at the jewel that is Julie Harris Stage is a gift, in this case a string of Sondheim pearls.

A Round of Applause for Theatre in-the-Round: Cinderella at North Shore Music Theatre

July 18, 2022 Theater Mirror1 Comment

*Meadow Nguy (Ella), Stephen Brower (Topher), and the cast of ‘Cinderella” at North Shore Music Theatre thru July 24. Photos by Paul Lyden.*

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella – Music by Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II; New Book by Douglas Carter Beane; Original Book by Oscar Hammerstein II. Creative Team: Kevin P. Hill (Direction and Choreography), Milton Granger (Music Direction), Kyle Dixon (Scenic Design), Travis M. Grant (Original Costume Design), Kelly Baker (Costume Coordinator), Corey Whittemore (Lighting Design), Don Hanna (Sound Design), Rachel Padula-Shufelt (Hair and Wig Design). Presented by NSMT through special arrangement with R&H Theatricals at 54 Dunham Road, Beverly, MA through July 24

by Linda Chin

After being shuttered in 2020, then bringing back two previously produced shows (Mamma Mia – Encore, A Christmas Carol – 30^th Anniversary) in 2021, NSMT’s return to a six-show season with an impressive lineup of Broadway hits is in itself cause for celebration. Part of my excitement when going to NSMT is seeing how they transform productions that are typically staged proscenium-style to arena-style – with no curtain, multiple entrances and exits (including sub-terranean) and no back (or fourth) wall. In addition to the rousing standing ovation to the cast and orchestra on opening night, a well-deserved round of applause to the Director/Choreographer Kevin Hill, Music Director Milton Granger and creative team for using theatre-in-the round to its full advantage in their 2022 production of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella.

Swenson Shines Like a 14-carat Diamond in ‘Beautiful Noise’ at Emerson Colonial

July 12, 2022November 29, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Will Swenson as Neil Diamond in *A Beautiful Noise* at the Emerson Colonial. Photos by Matthew Murphy

A Beautiful Noise – Book by Anthony McCarten; Music and Lyrics by Neil Diamond. Music supervision and arrangements, Sonny Paladino. Choreography, Steven Hoggett. Directed by Michael Mayer. Design team: David Rockwell (scenic design); Emilio Sosa (costume design); Kevin Adams (lighting design) and Jessica Paz (sound design). Presented by the Ambassador Theatre Group at the Emerson Colonial Theatre, 106 Boylston St. Boston through August 7^th.

by Mike Hoban

It seems only fitting that the producers of the Neil Diamond musical bio A Beautiful Noise would stage the pre-Broadway run in Boston at the historic Emerson Colonial Theatre. Not only was the venue home to debut performances of iconic Broadway shows like Anything Goes, Porgy and Bess and Oklahoma! (and more recently, Moulin Rouge), but Diamond is forever bonded to Boston since his pop hit “Sweet Caroline” was adopted by the Red Sox as a theme song for the 8^th inning stretch in 2002. The song, with its audience participation lyric, “SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD!” became so wildly popular with fans that Diamond performed it on April 20, 2013, in the emotional first game back at Fenway Park after the Boston Marathon bombings. With that kind of passionate connection, maybe the Boston audience isn’t the best barometer of the quality of the show, but A Beautiful Noise – a joyous blast of fun with a surprisingly poignant book – seems destined to be a crowd-pleasing smash.

Reagle Music Theatre Delivers a Vibrant and Moving “West Side Story”

July 11, 2022July 11, 2022 Theater Mirror1 Comment

Cast of ‘West Side Story’ at Reagle Music Theatre. (w Bianca Rivera-Irons, foreground) Photos by Herb Philpott

by Michele Markarian

“West Side Story”. Book by Arthur Laurents. Music by Leonard Bernstein. Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Directed and Choreographed by Rachel Bertone. Music Direction by Dan Rodriguez. Presented by Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston, 617 Lexington Street, Waltham through July 16.

From the opening scene of “West Side Story” – chaotic and cacophonic– to the final image of Maria (Eevie Perez) kneeling alone in mourning onstage, we feel the heat and tension of New York, with its rival gangs, prejudice, and libido. No matter how many times I’ve seen this show, the music, choreography and storyline, based on Romeo and Juliet, never fail to hold my attention, with each director’s vision capturing something slightly different. Bertone’s version is no exception.

Peterborough Players ‘Cabaret’ a Chilling Reminder That it Could Happen Here

June 28, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Cast of Peterborough Players’ ‘Cabaret’. (L to R: Matthew McGlloin, Isaac Phaman Reynolds, Zhang Bai-han, Kate Kenney, Max Elliott Braunstein, Gregory Coulter, Lucy Zukaitis, Katie Shults, Zaramaría Fas)

‘Cabaret’ – Book by Joe Masteroff; Based on the play by John Van Druten and Stories by Christopher Isherwood; Music by John Kander; Lyrics by Fred Ebb; Directed by Tom Frey; Choreographed by Ilyse Robbins; Music Directed by Jenny Kim-Godfrey. Presented by the Peterborough Players, 55 Hadley Road, Peterborough, NH through July 3^rd.

by Mike Hoban

The Peterborough Players return to the stage after a two-plus year layoff from indoor performances at their 250 seat theater, bring it back in grand style, mounting a winning production of Kander & Ebb’s Cabaret. The choice of this musical could not be more timely given recent events, resonating in a way we could not have dreamed of when it debuted on Broadway in 1966. It’s a chilling reminder that what happened in 1930s Germany could very well happen here in the 21^st century. Luckily for audiences looking to escape from what seems to be a daily onslaught of bad news, it’s also one of American Theater’s great musicals, with an equally strong book. The Peterborough Players production – buoyed by a strong cast, sure direction, and inventive choreography – delivers a compelling and enjoyable night of theater.

The Huntington’s ‘Common Ground Revisited’ Asks Bostonians to Stop Blaming Racism on the Rest of the Country and To Look Within Their Own House

June 20, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

The cast of *Common Ground Revisited* at The Huntington. Maurice Emmanuel Parent in foreground Photos: T Charles Erickson

by Michael Cox

Common Ground, Revisited – Co-conceived and adapted by Kirsten Greenidge; co-conceived and directed by Melia Bensussen; set design by Sara Brown; costume design by An-lin Dauber; lighting design by Brian J. Lilienthal; sound design by Pornchanok Kanchanabanca; projection design by Rasean Davonté Johnson; wig/hair and makeup design by J. Jared Janas; dramaturgy by Neema Avashia; stage-managed by Emily F. McMullen. Co-produced by The Huntington Theatre and ArtsEmerson at the Calderwood Pavilion/BCA through July 3, 2022.

When a group of people have no voice in the conversation, they interrupt. They make their voices heard through disruption. Colonial Boston did this back in 1765 when we enacted the first public act of defiance against the King of England and rioted in the streets, and we continued the tradition in the 1970s when U.S. District Judge Arthur Garrity Jr. ordered Boston to implement race-integrated busing.

In Common Ground, Revisited, The Huntington Theatre Company looks at the non-fiction book Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families, a Pulitzer Prize-winner which in many ways has come to define this city – because it disrupted us. It asked us to look in the mirror and examine – in microscopic detail – our racism.

North Shore’s ‘Smokey Joe’s Café’ Delivers the Hits of Lieber and Stoller

June 14, 2022June 15, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

*The cast of SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE at North Shore Music Theatre thru June 19. Photo Credits: Paul Lyden*

Smokey Joe’s Café – Originally produced on Broadway by Richard Frankel and Thomas Viertel; Direction and Choreography by Stephanie Pope Lofgren; Music Direction by Milton Granger; Scenic Design by Kyle Dixon; Costume Design by Kelly Baker; Lighting Design by Jack Mehler; Sound Design by Don Hann. Presented by North Shore Music Theatre, 54 Dunham Road, Beverly through June 19th

by Mike Hoban

The first act of Smokey Joe’s Café, now playing at the North Shore Music Theatre, is a little baffling. Not only is the show not set in a café (or even a nightclub), more importantly – given the prolific body of work of the songwriting team of Lieber and Stoller on whose work the show is based, as well as the obvious skill of the singers – the songs and performances lack any real smoke.

Huntington’s ‘Common Ground, Revisited’ Asks Us to Look Back In Order to Move Forward

June 13, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

The cast of *Common Ground Revisited* at The Huntington. Photos: T Charles Erickson

by Julie-Anne Whitney

Kirsten Greenidge’s new play, Common Ground, Revisited is inspired by and based in part on J. Anthony Lukas’1986 Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction book, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families. The primary focus of both texts is on class and racial tensions in Boston during the 1974 busing crisis when U.S. District Judge Arthur Garrity Jr. ordered nearly 20,000 Black and white students to be bused to/from the city’s geographically segregated public schools. The mandate led to years of violent protesting, significant demographic changes in the city and surrounding suburbs, and a dramatic decrease in enrollment in area schools that continues to this day. Fifty years after the 1972 Morgan v Hennigan case that led to Garrity’s ruling, Boston’s public schools are even more divided than they were back then with “two-thirds of BPS students attend[ing] intensely segregated schools where students of color make up 90% or more of the total enrollment.”

Gloucester Stage Company’s ‘Gloria’ Provocatively Asks, “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?”

June 9, 2022June 13, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

*Cast of Gloucester Stage’s production of “Gloria” by Branden Jacob Jenkins. Photos: Shawn G. Henry*

‘Gloria’ — written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Directed by Bryn Boice. Scenic Design by Jeffrey Petersen; Costume Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt; Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson; Sound Design by David Remedios. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main St., Gloucester through June 26.

by Shelley A. Sackett

‘Gloria’ takes us on a ride inside the rollercoaster that is the essence of a 2010s Manhattan cultural magazine’s editorial assistant bullpen subculture. (Its playwright, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, worked at The New Yorker for three years). These players are unapologetic and clear about their singular goal: to leave their dead end stepping-stone jobs, climb out of the low prestige depths of editorial assistantship and secure a book deal before turning thirty. Each is constantly on the backstabbing prowl in search of that tipping point moment that will catapult them out of their murky office pit.

Carter, Odetoyinbo Shine in ‘The Light’ at Lyric

June 8, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Yewande Odetoyinbo and Dominic Carter in ‘The Light’ at Lyric Stage. Photos by Mark S. Howard

by Mike Hoban

‘The Light’ – Written by Loy A. Webb; Directed by Jacqui Parker; Scenic Design by Baron E. Pugh; Sound Design by Owen Meadows; Lighting Design by Elmer Martinez; Costume Design by Jez Insalaco. Presented by the Lyric Stage Company at 140 Clarendon St. Boston through June 26.

The opening scene of The Light, the final offering of the 2021-2022 seasonat Lyric Stage, has the look and feel of a lighthearted rom-com. Rashad, a single dad who works as a fireman, is frantically straightening up the apartment of his girlfriend Genesis, a principal at a Chicago charter school, as he nervously prepares to ask her to marry him. When she arrives, she suspects something is up, but wonders if he has remembered that this is the two-year anniversary of their first date. What sounds like the premise of a thousand sitcoms soon takes a decidedly more serious tone. So instead of a comic romp, we get a highly-charged story loaded with twists and turns that becomes a serious discussion of how men and women – particularly Black women – view the issue of sexual violence against women in the post #MeToo world.