Apr 15

Whistle It, Just A Little Bit***: Ryan Landry’s “M”

David Drake, Samantha Richert, Ellen Adair, Larry Coen, and Laura Latreille in the Huntington Theatre Company's production of RYAN LANDRY'S "M". March 30 - April 27, 2013 at the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. huntingtontheatre.org. Photo: T. Charles Erickson

David Drake, Samantha Richert, Ellen Adair, Larry Coen, and Laura Latreille in the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of RYAN LANDRY’S “M”. March 30 – April 27, 2013 at the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. huntingtontheatre.org. Photo: T. Charles Erickson

Presented by Huntington Theatre Company
Ryan Landry’s “M”
Directed by Caitlin Towland 

March 28-April 28
Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
Boston, MA
Huntington Theatre Co Facebook Page
Gold Dust Orphans Facebook Page

 Review by Noelani Kamelamela 

(Boston) Fritz Lang’s masterpiece M, released in 1931, revealed much of his hatred and compassion regarding German society at the time.  Ryan Landry’s M likewise breaks new ground while being observant of society’s duality. The Huntington’s production is ambitious with explosively funny results. Spoiler alert:  nothing written here can be a genuine spoiler, trust me.  A real spoiler would be able to point you towards a reasonable expectation of what will actually happen on stage.  Ha ha ha! Continue reading

Mar 25

Masterly, Fun Fiddling: NATALIE MACMASTER

Photo Credit: Care of the Natalie MacMaster Facebook Page

Presented by World Music/Crasharts Festival: Winter/Spring 2013

Sanders Theatre
Cambridge, MA
Saturday March 23, 2013
World Music/CRASHarts Facebook Page
Natalie MacMaster Facebook Page

Review by Craig Idebrook

(Cambridge) When done right, there is something so unpretentiously fun about the Celtic music that comes from the little Nova Scotian island of Cape Breton.  Rooted in Scottish musical traditions and honed in kitchen parties on long winter nights, it is a musical form that is vibrant, heartfelt and accessible.  And few Cape Breton products so embody the spirit of this musical scene better than Natalie MacMaster, a world-class fiddler from world-class fiddling stock.  Continue reading

Mar 17

Muito Obrigado: Ana Moura at the Berklee Performance Center

Photo borrowed from the lovely Ms. Moura's Facebook Page

Photo borrowed from the lovely Ms. Moura’s Facebook Page

World Music/CRASHarts presents, in collaboration with the Mass Cultural Council

Saturday, March 16, 2013
Berklee Performance Center
Boston, MA
World Music/CRASHarts Facebook Page
Ana Moura Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston by way of Portugal) While a large percentage of Bostonians were celebrating St. Patrick’s Day (a made up holiday to celebrate something that never happened) there was a smaller part of Boston reaping the benefits of Portuguese culture. The concert given by Ana Moura and her exquisite band (Portuguese guitar player Angelo Freire plays with incomparable skill. His performance was virtuosic.) on Saturday, March 16 was as near perfect as fate can make it. She performed traditional Fado, Portuguese folk, and jazz standard from her 2012 CD, Desfado. Continue reading

Dec 07

Pinch Yourself: “La Belle et la Bête”

The gate isn’t real. Shocking, right?

 

Presented by Lemiex Pilon 4D Art and Theatre du Nouveau Monde
Created and directed by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon
Created and written by Pierre Yves Lemieux
Translated by Maureen LaBonte

ArtsEmerson
Dec 5 – 9, 2012
Cutler Majestic Theater
Boston, MA

Theatre du Nouveau Monde Facebook Page
ArtsEmerson Facebook Page
Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) Lemieux Pilon 4D Art’s La Belle et la Bête (The Beauty and the Beast) is a masterpiece in technical design. The entire team draws from tradition as well as modern (pop culture) references to create this multi-disciplinary performance piece. This is easily the most awe-inspiring, visually stunning productions you will see all year. Continue reading

Dec 03

It’s a Weirdly Wonderful Life with ImprovBoston’s “Merry Christmas, Mister Lampost!”

Image Credit: ImprovBoston

presented by ImprovBoston

ImprovBoston
40 Prospect St.
Cambridge, MA 02139
December, Fridays at 10pm
ImprovBoston Facebook Page

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Cambridge) Criticized as saccharine on its initial release, It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) is probably one of the most watched Christmas movies of the era. In it, Jimmy Stuart stars as George Bailey, an unlucky small town businessman who gains a new lease on life when his guardian angel shows him how awfully the world would get on without him. Continue reading

Oct 15

The Complete Gospel of The Reduced Shakespeare Company Unabridged (sorta)

l to r (Reed Martin, Dominic Conti, and Austin Tichenor)

The Complete History of America (Abridged), on tour throughout America NOW (abridged) with the Reduced Shakespeare Company, http://www.reducedshakespeare.com/.

the gospel according to Becca Kidwell

In The Beginning there was the word. And the word was boring. So some old dudes tried to manipulate it through tools called poetry and philosophy and it was less boring. However, people still preferred to watch people getting mocked and maimed in crazy ways such as being eaten by lions, burned at the stake, and hung upside down by their ankles over boiling vats of oil.

In the age known for its rebirth, a chap from the English countryside named Bill, who really liked the poetry

Continue reading

Oct 01

UMass Lowell, MRT to Bring Beat Authors, Kerouac Contempora​ries to ‘Beat Generation​’

BOOK-SIGNINGS AND POST-SHOW DISCUSSIONS TO OCCUR AT SELECT PERFORMANCES OF JACK KEROUAC’S ‘BEAT GENERATIONContinue reading

Sep 26

“Immaterial Girl” as an Old-Fashioned Haunted House (Episode 1 of Blood Rose Rising)

Photo Credit: Honest Ghost Productions LLC

Episode 1 of Blood Rose Rising
presented by Honest Ghost Productions
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, starting September 14 – November 18
NAGA Nightclub, Central Square
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Blood Rose Rising Facebook Page

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Cambridge) A real gothic story isn’t about tragic romance, torture, or death, but houses. Houses with long histories and dark secrets. In the contemporary setting of Cambridge, Immaterial Girl offers the beginning to an old-fashioned gothic serial centered on the haunted Blackwood Manor. Continue reading

Sep 25

9/30 Huntington​’s Humanities Forum Features Globe Reporter Billy Baker

Image Credit: Huntington Theatre Co.

Huntington Theatre co.’s GOOD PEOPLE Humanities Forum

September 30 FEATURES Boston Globe REPORTER AND

SOUTH BOSTON NATIVE BILLY BAKER

WHAT: Huntington Theatre Company’s Good People Humanities Forum to feature Billy Baker of The Boston Globe.
WHEN: Sunday, September 30, 2012 at approximately 4pm. Immediately following the 2pm performance of Good People
WHERE:    The Huntington’s main stage on the Avenue of the Arts / Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston
TICKETS: FREE and open to the public. Tickets to Good People are sold separately at huntingtontheatre.org/goodpeople. Continue reading

Sep 22

Theater meets Chaos Theory: Jay Scheib’s “World of Wires”

Photo Credit: Jay Scheib’s “World of Wires”, Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston

presented by The Institute of Contemporary Art/ Boston

The Institute of Art/Boston Website
Jay Scheib’s World of Wires Facebook Page
Friday + Saturday, September 21 + 22, 2012 , 7:30 pm
100 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02210 – directions

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) Jay Scheib’s World of Wires is a live-cinema presentation that utilizes the mediums of television, live theater, the internet, music and all manners of spectating. It is an exhibition that posits that human experience on the internet is both defined by and created through actual and simulated human interaction. The result is a chaotic melodrama birthed by an obsessive zeitgeist. Continue reading