Strong Performances Lift Theatre Uncorked’s ‘Blood Brothers’

November 18, 2025November 18, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Zach Fuller, Michael Mazzone, and Laurel Casey in Theatre Uncorked’s ‘Blood Brothers’

‘Blood Brothers’ − Book, Lyrics, and Music by Willy Russell. Directed by Audrey Seraphin; Music Direction by Gina Naggar; Set Design by Leonard Chasse; Sound Design by Tim Rose; Lighting Design by Erik Fox and Amber Kovacs; Costume Design by Richard Itczak; Presented by Theatre Uncorked at the BCA Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St, Boston, through November 23rd.

By Mike Hoban

At a time when the gap between the haves and have-nots is again approaching levels not seen since the Gilded Age, Theatre Uncorked’s powerful production of Blood Brothers could not be more well-timed. The stark difference between those who are “comfortable” and those who will struggle daily to meet their basic needs was driven home during the recent governmental shutdown. Food banks were overwhelmed, and the harsh reality of a paycheck-to-paycheck existence exposed the class divide in the world’s wealthiest nation. Blood Brothers may be set in 1960s and 1970s Liverpool, England, but it could easily be any city in post-industrial Western civilization.

Theatre Uncorked’s “Ruthless” a Wonderfully Demented Sendup of Theatre

November 27, 2019December 8, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

*Rene Bergeron (center) and cast of Theatre Uncorked’s “Ruthless: The Musical” – Photo Credits: Kai Chao*

By Mike Hoban

‘Ruthless! The Musical’ – Book and Lyrics by Joel Paley. Music by Marvin Laird; Directed by Russell R. Greene; Musical Direction, Gina Naggar; Choreographer, Kai Chao; Costume Design, Anna Silva/Shana Dirik; Set Design/Dressing, Shana Dirik; Lighting Design, Michael Clark Wonson; Sound Design, CRT. Presented by Theater UnCorkedat theCalderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through November 24

For those of us who find the humor in most musical comedies to be a little too tame for our deviant tastes, Ruthless! The Musical is the perfect antidote. This darkly comic sendup of Broadway musicals delivers rapid-fire laughs from material that one would expect more from a pre-Hairspray John Waters production than a musical comedy. Produced by Theatre Uncorked in a four-day run last weekend at the BCA, the all-female cast of Ruthless hits its comic marks with such frequency that the musical numbers (a handful of which are actually quite good, musically speaking) almost seem to serve solely as vehicles for Joel Paley’s wickedly acerbic lyrics.

Few Bones to Pick with Theatre UnCorked’s ‘Sylvia’

April 20, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(Mayo, McLure and Dirik in Theatre Uncorked’s ‘Sylvia)

By Linda Chin

‘Sylvia’ – Written by A.R. Gurney; Directed by Michelle M. Aguillon; Presented by Theatre UnCorked at the Deanne Hall, Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, Boston through April 21

Sylvia, the 1995 comedy about a Manhattan romantic triangle – Gregg, Kate and their new dog Sylvia – is a love letter to man’s best friend but mostly to the whimsical, wonderful writing of A.R. Gurney.
Great American playwright A.R. Gurney died in 2017 at the age of 87, and left us with a body of work that should be staged more frequently for audiences to appreciate. Gurney is most known for Love Letters, but Sylvia, Sylvia, wherefore art thou Sylvia? With its universal themes, of love, loyalty, and marriage, who can’t relate? In 2019 who doesn’t need to laugh (non-stop) for 2 hours (including intermission). It seems relatively easy to do on a limited budget, set mostly in a Manhattan apartment, a bench in the park, a therapist’s office and the 2W, 2M (flexible casting) are all meaty roles with delicious dialogue.