The Huntington’s Terrific ‘What The Constitution Means to Me’ Is A Timely Romp Through Murky Waters

February 24, 2022March 9, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Cassie Beck in the Huntington’s ‘What the Constitution Means to Me’ at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. Photos: Joan Marcus

by Shelley A. Sackett

‘What the Constitution Means To Me’ — Written by Heidi Schreck. Directed by Oliver Butler; Scenic Design by Rachel Hauck; Costume Design by Michael Krass; Lighting Design by Jen Schriever; Sound Design by Sinan Refik Zafar. Presented by Huntington Theater Company at Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre through March 20.

What The Constitution Means to Me asks us to think about and get personal with the US Constitution, and that request couldn’t come at a more timely moment. It seems that hallowed document is front and center in our daily lives, whether we invite it or not. We read the news and, while we were aware Trump was shredding the Constitution with the hope it could never be pieced back together again, we now have to wonder — did he also flush it down the toilet?

Huntington Theatre’s ‘The Bluest Eye’ Is A Triumph

February 7, 2022February 7, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Cast of The Huntington Theatre’s production of *The Bluest Eye* by Lydia R. Diamond

by Shelley A. Sackett

‘The Bluest Eye’ – Based on the book by Toni Morrison, adapted for stage by Lydia R. Diamond, Dramaturgy by Sandy Alexandre. Directed by Awoye Timpo; Set Design by Jason Ardizzone-West; Costume Design by Dede Ayite and Rodrigo Muñoz; Lighting Design by Adam Honoré; Sound Design by Aubrey Dube; Original Music by Justin Ellington; Choreography by Kurt Douglas; Music Direction by David Freeman Coleman. Presented by Huntington Theatre Company at Boston Center for the Arts through March 26. Digital recordings available Feb. 14 through April 9.

Brimming with sparkling ensemble acting, inspired staging and soulful song and dance, Huntington Theatre’s The Bluest Eye packs a wallop. Thanks to Lydia R. Diamond’s faithful yet nuanced adaptation, Toni Morrison’s groundbreaking début novel about two poor Black families in 1940s Lorain, Ohio is brought to the stage with all its poetry, pathos and humor intact. You can almost feel Morrison’s presence in the audience, beaming pride and approval.

Trinity Rep’s ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ Demonstrates the Power of Theater to Connect, Heal

January 28, 2022January 28, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

*Cast of Trinity Rep’s ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’*

by Linda Chin

Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed, adapted for stage by Nia Vardalos, co-conceived by Marshall Heyman, Thomas Kail, and Nia Vardalos. Directed by Curt Columbus; Set Design by Baron E. Pugh; Costume Design by Amanda Downing Carney; Lighting Design by Dawn Chiang; Sound Design by Peter Sasha Hurowitz; Music Direction by Gunnar Manchester. Presented by Trinity Repertory Theater, 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI through February 13th

For some of us theater-loving empaths who’ve been feeling isolated, helpless and theater-deprived these past two years, doing puzzles has been a popular pastime, providing some semblance of calm and control in these socially distanced and socially divided times. My newest addiction is the Wordle puzzle that has taken the internet by storm (Wordle, for the uninitiated, is a daily challenge to correctly guess a five-letter word in six tries, charts your progress, and offers the option to post your results – eg. 5/6 – on social media). Sharing the latter, with friends and/or publicly, sparks virtual “water cooler” conversations and stokes our human desire for connection. So you can imagine my excitement about attending a live performance of the play Tiny Beautiful Things at Trinity Rep, in the company of other living, breathing, and yes, flawed humans.

In Lyric’s ‘Mr. Parent’, Actor Takes on Most Important Role

January 25, 2022January 28, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Maurice Emmanuel in Lyric’ Stage’s ‘Mr. Parent’

by Mike Hoban

“Mr. Parent” Written by Melinda Lopez with Maurice Emmanual Parent. Conceived with and Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian. Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Sound Design/Composer, Arshan Gailus; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Costume Design by Yao Chen. Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon St. through Feb. 6

For most anyone working in the arts – save for the top echelon of folks that are able to actually earn a living doing what they love – the thrill of being in the spotlight is all too often offset by the rigors of a day job. For some that means working in occupations that are solely about earning a paycheck, and for others it means their career clearly trumps the artistic endeavor. For Boston actor Maurice Emmanuel Parent, what started out as a way to earn a living and pay down his massive student loans eventually became much more than just a job, as he took on his most important role – that of a schoolteacher in the Boston Public School system.

Believe the Hype- ‘Imagine Van Gogh’ at SoWa Power Station Is A Knockout

December 23, 2021December 23, 2021 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Shelley A. Sackett

‘Imagine Van Gogh the Original Immersive Exhibition in Image Totale©” is at the SoWa Power Station, Boston, through March 19, 2022. For tickets or more information, go to www.imagine-vangogh.com .

“Imagine Van Gogh the Original Immersive Exhibition in Image Totale©” has been advertising its arrival in Boston since last March. At last, the wait is over and, in a nutshell, it was well worth it.

It is hard to overstate the impact of walking into a 24,000 square foot architectural wonder that has been transformed into a blank canvas for multi-projections of 200 of the Dutch artist’s most vibrant and famous paintings. Viewers don’t just enter a gallery; they enter a world, miraculously passing through a magical keyhole that allows us to become part of these masterpieces.

An Invigorating “Fiddler on the Roof” Comes to Emerson Colonial

December 23, 2021 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Cast of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ at Emerson Colonial. Photos by Joan Marcus

by Michele Markarian

‘Fiddler on the Roof’ – Book by Joseph Stein. Music by Jerry Bock. Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick Original Direction by Bartlett Sher; Direction Recreated by Sari Ketter and Shirley Butler. Presented by NETworks Presentations, Emerson Colonial Theatre, 106 Boylston Street, Boston through December 26.

I love “Fiddler on the Roof”. I have seen this show more times than I can count, including a middle school production in Rhode Island with a then twelve-year old Andrew Burnap, winner of this year’s Tony award for his role in “Inheritance”, as a very convincing Tevye. It’s a great show, and it’s hard to imagine that any one production could make it even greater. But last night’s show at the Emerson Colonial did exactly that.

Christmas Revels Returns to Sanders Theater

December 22, 2021December 23, 2021 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

William Fournier and Carolyn Saxon with cast in ‘Christmas Revels’- Photos by Shep Ferguson

by Mike Hoban

‘The Christmas Revels: In Celebration of the Winter Solstice’ – Directed by Patrick Swanson; Musical Direction by George Emlen, Edmar Colon, Associate Music Director; Set Design by Jeremy Barnett; Sound Design by Bill Winn; Lighting Design by Jeff Adelberg; Choreography by Kelli Edwards; Costume Design by Kelli Edwards, Gillian Stewart, Tony Tucker; Heidi A. Hermiller; Projection Designer; Presented by Revels at The Sanders Theater at Harvard University, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, through December 23rd (run cut short by COVID concerns)

Following a year when the Christmas Revels celebrated its 50^th anniversary with a virtual performance made up mostly of taped snippets from the previous 49 years of shows, the Celebration of the Winter Solstice returns live once again to the magnificent Sanders Theater with its truly traditional holiday-themed fare. And while previous editions have taken us back in time to various locales of the northern hemisphere to celebrate traditions around the Winter Solstice (the shortest day), this year’s performance is set in a present-day English pub, where the patrons gather to sing traditional English village carols, led by pub owners Rita (Revels veteran Carolyn Saxon) and her partner (William Forchion). The pub is visited by time travelers from the Elizabethan era (or a Renaissance fair), who threaten to revoke the Christmas Revels charter for their failure to comply with some vague rules of conduct. It’s an interesting set up to a show that offers a number of creative twists to the standard programming.

Moonbox Offers End-of-Year Delights with ‘Passing Strange’

December 14, 2021 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Cast of Moonbox Productions’ ‘Passing Strange’ Photos: Nikolai Alexander

by James Wilkinson

‘Passing Strange’ – Book and Lyrics by Stew. Music By Stew and Heidi Rodewald. Created in collaboration with Annie Dorsen. Directed by Arthur Gomez. Associate Director: Regine Vital. Music Director: Julius LaFlamme. Associate Music Director: David Freeman Coleman. Set Designer: Lindsay Fuori. Lighting Designer: Aja M. Jackson. Choreographer: Elmer Martinez. Costume Design: Chelsea Kerl. Sound Design: James Cannon. Props Design: Michelle Sparks. Presented by Moonbox Productions at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, December 10, 2021-January 1, 2021.

It’s all about the atmosphere here. That’s the vibe you get when you walk into Moonbox Productions’ Passing Strange and the stage is awash in electric blue light. The performance space is devoid of furniture, the musicians haven’t yet taken their places on the side, but the theater already has a crisp glow to it. Get ready. Musicals as an artform tend to veer toward the bombastic. Even for supposedly intimate chamber pieces, it’s all about getting to that moment when mere dialogue doesn’t do the emotions justice and the songs explode out of the characters diaphragms. Passing Strange is working on a different wave length. It’s not that the show lacks big musical moments that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, (they’re here and they rip), it’s that it gets to those moments in a much more circuitous way. Moonbox’s production is one that you slide right into and it feels as lived-in as a memoir. Everything we witness is through the eyes of our lead character; we’re practically under his skin.

“Wild: A Musical Becoming” Soars at A.R.T.

December 12, 2021December 23, 2021 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Cast of “Wild: A Musical Becoming” at A.R.T. Photo Credits Maggie Hall – Nile Scott Studios

by Michele Markarian

“Wild: A Musical Becoming”. Book by V (formerly Eve Ensler). Music by Justin Tranter and Caroline Pennell, with contributions by Eren Cannata. Lyrics by Justin Tranter, Caroline Pennell and V, with contributions by Idina Menzel. Directed by Diane Paulus. Presented by American Repertory Theater, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, through January 2.

Admittedly, I was not 100% enthused about seeing a musical theater piece about climate change that was billed as a script-in-hand, concert production, but being a huge Idina Menzel fan, as well as a concerned citizen for the climate, I decided it might be worth it. Having seen it, I can say with conviction that even if you are not an Idina Menzel fan and are oblivious to the climate crisis, run, don’t walk, to your keyboard and order tickets to this musical happening. This is by far one of the most electrifying and energizing shows I have seen all year, delivering its urgent message with heart and hope. From the exuberant, toe tapping opening number by the entire cast of “Mouths to Feed”, the audience knew we were in for something special.

Huntington Theatre’s Ambitious ‘Teenage Dick’ Challenges Our Assumptions

December 10, 2021 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Louis Reyes McWilliams, Shannon DeVido, Emily Townley, Portland Thomas, Gregg Mozgala in ‘Teenage Dick’, at The Huntington Calderwood/BCA. Photos: Teresa Castracane

‘Teenage Dick’ – Written by Mike Lew; Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel; Scenic Design by Wilson Chin; Sound Design by Palmer Hefferan; Lighting Design by Amith Chandrashaker; Choreography by Jennifer Weber; Fight Choreography by Robb Hunter. Presented by The Huntington Theatre Company at The Calderwood Pavillion, 527 Tremont St., Boston through January 2, 2022.

by Shelley A. Sackett

From the moment he walks onto the bare stage and addresses the audience in the first of many private monologues, it’s clear 17-year-old Roseland High School junior Richard Gloucester (Gregg Mozgala) has an angle beyond just establishing a connection with the audience. What that angle is is less clear, and will shape-shift with dizzying speed during the next 70 minutes until the audience is left in a delicious murky space of questioning almost everything they thought they knew about both Richard and themselves.