“ASSASSINS” MMAS, (Mansfield, MA)

October 1, 2018December 27, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The second show of MMAS’s season is “Assassins” by Stephen Sondheim which won five Tony Awards in 2004 including Best Revival. “Assassins” lays bare the lives of the nine individuals who assassinated or attempted to assassinate the President of the United States in an historical “revuiscal” that explores the dark side of the American experience while using the premise of a murderous carnival game. From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, Sondheim and John Weidman bend the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish roller coaster ride in which assassins and would be assassins from different time periods meet, interact and in an intense final scene inspire each other to a harrowing act on their way to the American Dream. The score contains pastiches of American music through the ages from folk to rock to 1970’s soft rock. Director Adam Joy assembles 24 talented cast members to fill these roles while musical director Eli Bigelow taught them this intricate score and Adam who is also the choreographer, supplies them with inventive dance moves, winning them a thunderous standing ovation at the close of this thought provoking musical.

SYLVIA (Newport Playhouse)

October 1, 2018October 18, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Newport Playhouse’s current show is “Sylvia” by A.R. Gurney. It is the male viewpoint of a man’s midlife crisis. Gurney uses a female dog as the metaphor for the other woman in this man’s life. The love and affection of this female dog helps the man escape from his nagging, jealous wife. The talking dog helps the man cope with his problems and eventually brings the couple together by the end of the show. Add three other characters to the mix and you have the ingredients for Mr. Gurney’s solution on marital problems. Michael Johnson directs the show with a deft hand, blending the comedy and the pathos together to create a show that the audience can savor and enjoy.

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Muppet Gone Wild – Hijinx Theatre’s ‘Meet Fred’ is a Darkly Comic Gem

September 29, 2018September 29, 2018 Theater Mirror1 Comment

‘Meet Fred’ – Performance by Hijinx Theatre; Presented by Puppet Showplace Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA), Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St., Boston.

It really makes no difference whether you’re a fan of puppetry or not. Hijinx Theatre’s wonderfully absurd Meet Fred is bound to be one of the funniest and most original productions you’ll see this year. Meet Fred tells the story of Fred, a puppet in search of his humanity. Operated by three puppeteers (one for the head and voice, one for legs, the other for arms) he embarks on a journey that takes him through life’s essentials – work, love, regrets and revelations – all in a tidy 80 minutes. Along the way we’re treated to laugh-out-loud comedy that is definitely not for the kiddies.

NSMT’s JEKYLL & HYDE a Musical Masterpiece

September 28, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Bill Hanney’s North Shore Music Theatre’s latest show is the blockbuster musical “Jekyll and Hyde which is adapted from the 1886 novella “The Strange Case of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson. The original stage conception was by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn with music by Wildhorn and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. The musical ran on Broadway for 1,543 performances from April 28, 1997 to January 7, 2001. It tells the story of Dr. Henry Jekyll, a brilliant young doctor who is distraught over his father’s mental illness. He tries to find a cure by using himself as a test subject but the experiment backfires and gives life to his evil alter ego, Edward Hyde, a vile murderer who brings a killing spree to the city of London in the late nineteenth century. This epic musical’s not done very often but NSMT brings the original star of the musical Robert Cuccioli in to direct this phenomenal production with a multitalented 22 member cast. This production also boosts expert musical direction by Milton Granger and stunning, energetic choreography by Kelli Barclay to induce the 1500 seat theatre to erupt into a spontaneous standing ovation at the curtain call. Their combined expertise makes “Jekyll and Hyde” the must see musical of this autumn season.

Abolition and Women’s Suffrage Leaders Fight for Rights in ‘The Agitators’ at Gloucester

September 28, 2018October 8, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Sheila Barth

BOX INFO: Two-act, two-hour, two-person play, written by Mat Smart, directed by renowned playwright-actress-director Jacqui Parker, making its New England premiere through Oct. 7: Wednesday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; matinees, Saturday, Sunday, 2 p.m., 267 East Main St., Gloucester. $35-$45, discount tickets for senior citizens,18-year-olds and younger, and Cape Ann residents. 978-281-4433, gloucesterstage.com.

“I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand.” – Susan B. Anthony

“I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted.”

“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons or property will be safe.” – Frederick Douglass

GBSC’s ‘BEING EARNEST’ Adds 60’s Twist to Wilde Classic

September 28, 2018September 28, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Sheila Barth

BOX INFO: Two-act, two-hour musical comedic interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” by Paul Gordon and Jay Gruska, appearing through Oct. 7, at 395 Main St., Stoneham: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. (sold out) ; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.$50-$60; seniors, $45-$55; students with valid ID, $20. stoneham.greaterbostonstage.org, 781-279-2200.

Oscar Wilde’s social satiric comedy, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” takes a modernized, musical twist in Paul Gordon and Jay Gruska’s two-act, two-hour play, “Being Earnest, appearing through Sunday, at Greater Boston Stage Company.

Everyone Could Use a Pops to Protect Their Rent-Controlled Apartment, Legacy and Identity

September 27, 2018December 27, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Linda Chin Workman

‘Between Riverside and Crazy’ – Written by Stephen Adly Guirgis; Directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene; Set Design: Erik D. Diaz; Costume Design: A.W. Nadine Grant; Lighting Design: Daisy Long; Sound Design: Nathan Leigh. Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company at the BCA Roberts’ Theater, 527 Tremont St., Boston through October 13

Between a riveting script and crazy talented actors, Speakeasy Stage Company’s production of Between Riverside and Crazy is a surefire hit. Upon entering the BCA’s Roberts’ Theater, you are transported to a spacious pre-war railroad flat on Manhattan’s west side with high ceilings and wood trim, furnishings that show generations of wear, and the clutter of daily urban life – handsomely and meticulously designed by Erik D. Diaz. This apartment is indeed full of character – and is inhabited by a cast of colorful characters – insightfully and delightfully directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene.

Political Comedy No Longer an Oxymoron with MRT’s ‘Native Gardens’

September 25, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘Native Gardens’ – Written by Karen Zacarías; Directed by Giovanna Sardelli; Scenic Design by Alexis Distler; Costume Design by Miranda Kau Giurleo; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Original Music & Sound Design by Ursula Kwong-Brown and Daniel Erdberg. Produced by the Merrimack Repertory Theater, 50 East Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA, through October 7.

Political comedy may be the most difficult of all of the genres to get right, even more so in these deeply divided times. Since many of us have lost the ability to even entertain the possibility that other points of view might have some validity, when politically charged issues are presented on stage, all too often good comic writing takes a back seat to caricature or cheap preaching-to-the-choir grandstanding.

ArtsEmerson Delivers a Compelling, Layered “Hamnet”

September 24, 2018September 25, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Photos by Gianmarco Bresadola

by Michele Markarian

“Hamnet” (Dead Centre) – Written and directed by Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd. Presented by ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage at The Emerson Paramount, 559 Washington Street, Boston through October 7.

“Look, there you are,” I said to my husband, pointing at a projection onstage, as he entered our row at the theater. This isn’t a play about audience reaction – you are only dimly aware of the audience projected when the lights go down – but the duality and point of view of two worlds, two perspectives, in this extraordinary production of grief, fatherhood, and the shadow of those we love and miss. It’s an imagining of the relationship that did – or didn’t – exist between Shakespeare and his son, Hamnet. Of his three children, only Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, died in childhood.

‘Truth Values’ Returns to the Central Square Theater

September 17, 2018September 17, 2018 Theater Mirror2 Comments

by Deanna Dement Myers

‘Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze’ – Written and acted by Gioia De Cari: Directed by Joey Brenneman. Scenic Designer, Brian Freeland; Costume Designer, Heather Carey; Lighting Designer, Kate August; Sound Design, Andy Evan Cohen. Presented September 12-23, 2018 at the Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, (617) 576-9278.

What is truth?

This is the first question actor and playwright Gioia De Cari grapples with in her award-winning autobiographical play Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze. Returning to the Central Square Theater to be a part of this venue’s 10^th anniversary, Truth Values fills the stage with over 30 characters that tell the story of one woman’s time in the world of elite mathematics as she pursues a doctoral degree. De Cari uses humor to reveal the gender inequality of MIT and mathematics in general, something that resonates today as it did in the late 80s when she was a student.