GBSC’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ is a Horrific Good Time

June 23, 2025June 23, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Stephen Markarian, Kayla Shimizu in “Little Shop of Horrors.” Photo: Nile Scott Studios

‘Little Shop of Horrors’ – Written by Alan Menken; Book & Lyrics by Howard Ashman; Directed by Ilana Ransom Toeplitz; Music Direction by Bethany Aiken; Choreographed by Chris Shin; Stage managed by Shauwna Dias Grillo. Presented by Boston Stage Company, Stoneham, MA, through June 29.

By C.J. Williams

If you’ve never seen Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s Little Shop of Horrors, now is the time. You couldn’t catch a better rendition of this bitingly smart, gut-splittingly goofy musical if you drove to Manhattan for a Broadway show. Running for one more weekend in Stoneham, Little Shop is the classic story of a downtrodden orphan who gets a break – or does he? Menken and Ashman, as a team, have a blast both playing with – and tossing out – the classic tropes of love, rags-to-riches, and fairy godmother/good luck. By the time they’re done, we’re breathless.

History Unveils Itself in “Founding F%!#ers”

May 7, 2025May 7, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Cast of “Founding F%!#ers” at Greater Boston Stage

“Founding F%!#ers” by Conor Casey. Directed by Weylin Symes. Presented by Greater Boston Stage Co., 395 Main Street, Stoneham, through May 18.

by Michele Markarian

According to Napoleon, “History is a set of lies agreed upon.” But who decides what makes history? While history agrees that Ethan Allen was a hero and Benedict Arnold a traitor, Conor Casey’s play paints a comic version of the character of each man and the contentious rivalry that they had with one another during a tumultuous time in America’s history.

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.

GBSC’s “Being Earnest” Gives Wilde Classic a Superb Musical Reworking

September 16, 2018September 17, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Review by Tony Annicone

The 19th season opener of Greater Boston Stage is the East Coast premiere of “Being Earnest”, the musical version of “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde which was one of his most successful plays during his lifetime. The musical was written by Paul Gordon and Jay Gruska. The original show was a satirical drawing room comedy written in 1895 but the musical moves the time period up to 1965. The author explains that the social mores of 1965 (two years before the summer of love) were similar to those of the Victorian era. The fashion coming out on Carnaby Street in the 60’s was inspired by some of the fashion of the Victorian era. Gordon and Gruska adapted Wilde’s play and stayed true to its storyline, and added music with some of Wilde’s lines as lyrics for some of them.

Greater Boston Stage’s ‘She Loves Me’ a Joyful Musical Journey

November 26, 2017November 28, 2017 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Greater Stage of Boston’s winter show this year is Joe Masteroff’s 1963 musical, “She Loves Me” with music and lyrics by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (who also wrote “Fiddler on the Roof.”) This musical is based on a 1930’s play by Miklos Laszlo on which the movies “The Shop Around the Corner”, “In the Good Old Summertime” and “You’ve Got Mail” are also based. “She Loves Me” takes place in a perfume shop in Hungary in 1930 and the characters live in a world of love and longing.