Category Archives: Musicals and Opera

Apr 21

Growing up at the “Bee”

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25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin, Turtle Lane Playhouse, 4/13/12-4/29/12, http://www.turtlelane.org/showdetail.php?show=SpellingBee.

Reviewed by Becca Kidwell

(Auburndale, MA)  Healthy competition is good for children!–Well, that’s what everyone says.  The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee tells a story that soccer and hockey parents have been learning in the past few years:  kids still need to be kids.  It’s hard enough to adjust to the physical, social, emotional changes without being expected to act like an adult.  Continue reading →

Apr 06

Haunting Echoes of Brilliance: FLOYD COLLINS

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Phil Tayler as Floyd Collins, photo by Sharman Altshuler

Floyd Collins, Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettal, Book and Additional Lyrics by Tina Landau, Moonbox Productions, Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theatre, 4/5/12-4/15/12, http://www.moonboxproductions.org/.

Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston, MA) There are many ways to be trapped. For some thrill-seekers, the risk of death and the short life it might bring is a better alternative than dying incrementally in quiet desperation.   Continue reading →

Apr 01

Grey Gardens: Lavish, Detailed Musical for a Small Stage

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photo credits go to Brigid Davis

Grey Gardens, book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, lyrics by Michael Korie, Arlington Friends of Drama, 3/30/12-4/15/12, http://afdtheatre.org/greygardens.html.

Reviewed by Gillian Daniels

(Arlington, MA) With expert costuming and stage design, The Arlington Friends of the Drama succeed wildly in cramming the Broadway production of Grey Gardens onto its stage.

But Grey Gardens isn’t one musical Continue reading →

Mar 17

We Have Mental Illness: NEXT TO NORMAL

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A woman (Kerry A. Dowling) fantasizes about her psychopharmacologist (Chris Caron) in a scene from the SpeakEasy Stage Company production of Next to Normal, running now thru April 15th at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600/www.SpeakEasyStage.com. Photo: Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo.

Next to Normal; Music by Tom Kitt, Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Boston Center for the Arts Roberts Studio Theatre, 3/9/12-   4/15/12,   EXTENDED THROUGH 4/22/12 (Second and Final Extension)!!! http://www.speakeasystage.com/doc.php?section=showpage&page=normal.

Read Rebecca’s interview with Kerry Dowling here.

Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston, MA) Break a toe and you might end up with a sore back.  Twist an ankle and your knee might have trouble compensating.  A family is like that.  It is a group of humans that moves in concert and is much more adaptable than a body, for better or worse.  When a part of the social organism is injured, the other parts imperfectly try to take up the load.  What else can you do, amputate?

Speakeasy’s production of Next to Normal provides a clear window into the holistic impact the mental illness of one member of the family has on the family-body.  It realistically and powerfully illustrates how we all soldier on when there are pieces of us missing.  But this isn’t an “Eat-Your-Vegetables-and-Learn-About-Mental-Illness” production.  Next to Normal provides pitch-perfect comedic timing, layered action, great music and a stunning set.  Life flows through this play; though it is heartbreaking, it is not a requiem.  Tissues are a must, however. Continue reading →

Mar 17

A Muddled Shrubbery: INTO THE WOODS

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Into the Woods; music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine, Nextdoor Theater Company, Nextdoor Center for the Arts, 3/9/12-3/24/12,

http://www.nextdoortheater.org/Nextdoor_Theater/THEATER_SHOWS.html.

Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook

(Winchester, MA) Be careful what you wish for.  No, wait. It’s a jungle out there.  No, wait.  No day but today.  No, wait.  Teach your children well.  No, wait. Continue reading →

Mar 13

“Just Another Day” for Kerry Dowling

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Foreground: Chris Caron and Kerry A. Dowling. Rear from Left: Michael Tacconi, Christopher Chew, Sarah Drake, and Michael Levesque in a scene from the SpeakEasy Stage Company production of Next to Normal, running now thru April 15th at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600/www.SpeakEasyStage.com. Photo: Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo.

Interview by Becca Kidwell

Continuing its electrifying season, SpeakEasy Stage Company is presenting now thru April 15th the 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal.  The overwhelming demand for tickets prompted SpeakEasy to extend the run one additional week before the show even opened – an unprecedented move in the company’s 20-year history.    http://www.speakeasystage.com/doc.php?section=showpage&page=normal Continue reading →

Mar 03

Monsters: A Midlife Musical Meltdown

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Photo Credit: Mak Kramer Photography

Monsters! A Midlife Musical Meltdown; The Regent Theatre, GP Productions, and Image Theater, 2/25/12-3/10/12, http://www.regenttheatre.com/details/monsters_the_musical.

Reviewed by Becca Kidwell

(Arlington, MA) We’ve all been there (well, at least anyone 25 or older).  Years pass; we have successes and failures.  And then it hits us–where did all those years go?  Remember the wide-eyed 18 year old who thought he/she had everything figured out?  Monsters! A Midlife Musical looks at what happens when all of the insecurities, all of the doubts, and all of the concessions that have been made in Samantha’s life confront her on her 40th birthday. Continue reading →

Feb 19

Daddy Long Legs: Musical Humor and Charm

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Robert Adelman Hancock & Megan McGinnis, photo by Meghan Moore

Daddy Long Legs, Music and Lyrics by Paul Gordon, Book by John Caird, Based on the novel by Jean Webster, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, 2/9/12-3/4/12

Reviewed by Anthony Geehan

(Lowell, MA) The concept of love at first sight is something that has been around in theater and literature since the times of ancient mythology. There is another and more complicated hook for a love story however, in which two people fall in love without ever seeing each other. Such pieces as Mask, Sleepless in Seattle, and Parfumerie have taken on the concept that love can spark purely on personality and intrigue without any physical attributes taken into account. So it is with the musical Daddy Long Legs, a new performance being hosted by The Merrimack Repertory Theatre based off the book by John Caird. Continue reading →

Jan 30

A Well-Done Introduction to a Classic: THE WIZARD OF OZ

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Katherine Leigh Doherty as Dorothy and ensemble in the Wheelock Family Theatre production of The Wizard of Oz. photo by Tony Paradiso.

The Wizard of Oz, By L. Frank Baum, music and lyrics by E. Y. Harburg, adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company, based upon the Classic Motion Picture owned by Turner Entertainment Co. and disbuted in all media by Warner Bros, Wheelock Family Theatre, 1/27/12-2/26/12, http://www.wheelockfamilytheatre.org/feature-performance.aspx.

Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston, MA) If I hear one more mediocre stage actress imitate Judy Garland’s tortured delivery of Dorothy Gale from the movie version of The Wizard of Oz, I will buy the Wicked Witch of the West a poncho.  Inadequate productions of L. Frank Baum’s bizarre story often parrot the rampant overacting of the movie, with disastrous results.

Luckily, Wheelock Family Theatre director James P. Byrne and actress Katherine Leigh Doherty (Dorothy) set a fresh and nuanced tone to their production of The Wizard of Oz, rallying most of the cast to create characters that are both vibrant and familiar.  Continue reading →

Dec 17

A Good-Hearted Mashup: What the Dickens?!

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What the Dickens?! Music & Lyrics by Adam Brooks and TC Cheever; Book by TC Cheever, ImprovBoston, 12/15/11-12/23/11, http://www.improvboston.com/whatthedickens.

Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook

(Cambridge, MA) The holiday season is littered with entertainment chestnuts that get trotted out every year.  Some can get worn thin, like poorer productions of A Christmas Carol; others take on a hipster status, like the television special A Charlie Brown Christmas.

If you want to enjoy two holiday traditions at once, come see What the Dickens?!, a mashup musical that populates Dickens’ classic Christmas morality tale with Schultz’s Peanuts characters.  Watching this play is like downing an invented drink mixed at a holiday party: the two flavors may mix curiously, but it’s all good.  Continue reading →