Category Archives: Uncategorized

Oct 02

The Limits of Pretend: A BROTH OF A BOY

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Directed by Richard Smithies
Cead Mile Failte Productions
Arsenal Center for the Arts
in Black Box Theater
Watertown, MA
September 25th – October 7th, 2012
A Broth of a Boy Facebook Page

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Watertown) A one-person production can be an all-or-nothing proposition for theater going audiences. At its best, it can break the limits of human expression; at its worst, it can feel like watching someone tell a terrible joke at a party. Danny Venezia’s production of Broth of a Boy is best avoided unless you are a true lover of Irish history, for it never allows an audience to suspend disbelief that the show is anything but a lone man trying hard for us to believe in what he is seeing. Continue reading →

Oct 01

“Ragtime”: Bravo to the Cast and Crew!

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The Company in “Till We Reach That Day”
Photos by Matt McKee

Presented by Fiddlehead Theatre Company in conjunction with The American Civil Liberties Union

Book by Terrence McNally
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
based on the novel Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow

Directed by Meg Fofonoff
Musical Direction by Matthew Stern
Choreography by Anne McAlexander

September 28 – October 7, 2012
The Strand Theatre
543 Columbia Rd, Dorchester, MA

Fiddlehead Theatre Company Facebook Page
The American Civil Liberties Union Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Dorchester) Ragtime is an enormous success for The Strand Theatre and Fiddlehead Theatre Company! Bravo to the entire cast and the artistic staff! Your interpretation of the Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally script and music is spot on. You should be very proud of your performances. Continue reading →

Sep 24

Redemption in the Motherf**cker with the Hat

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Photo Credit: SpeakEasy Stage Company

by Stephen Adly Guirgis
Directed by David R. Gammons

presented by Speakeasy Stage Company
539 Tremont Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116
SpeakEasy Stage Company Facebook Page
September 14 – October 13, 2012

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Boston) Speakeasy Stage’s The Motherf**ker with the Hat is a dark comedy that never quite tips over into bleak. Its main characters are addicts, recovering and otherwise, but they either have a sense of humor about it or have learned to accept their shortcomings. Fresh out of jail, Jackie (Jaime Carrillo) tries to break the tight circuit of repeating behaviors that has him locked into a pattern of loving, drinking, and messing up. Continue reading →

Sep 21

A Tale of Class and Morality in Southie

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Photo Credit: T. Charles Erickson

Good People
by David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by Kate Whoriskey

presented by Huntington Theatre Company Website
Huntington Theatre Company Facebook Page
Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston
September 14 – October 14, 2012

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People is a modern comedy of errors that takes place in South Boston. This production toes the line between comedy and drama. It features a star-studded cast which embodies the beloved Boston stereotypes made famous by movies like The Town and Mystic River. Amidst a healthy peppering of Boston in-jokes, it explores class divisions while characters attempt to define what it is to be a “good person.”
Continue reading →

Aug 20

Globe on Screen: An Opportunity to Experience London’s Globe Theater via Film

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Photo Credit: Ed O’Keeffe via Google

Globe on Screen brings the legendary London Shakespeare theater to U.S. cinemas, featuring three classic plays, including Much Ado About Nothing, All’s Well That Ends Well and Doctor Faustus.  The plays, which are captured in front of a live audience and hit U.S. screens beginning October 11, give U.S. moviegoers the opportunity to experience what it’s like to be there, in the center of London’s legendary Globe Theatre.  The well-known casts include Eve Best (The King’s Speech, Nurse Jackie), Charles Edwards (Downton Abbey) and Arthur Darville (Pelican Blood, Dr. Who).  The full trailer can be viewed here:  http://youtu.be/mttLEbQ1dWs

In cinemas across the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand from September 2012.

Shakespeare’s Globe On Screen Trailer

Aug 13

The Pillowman Offers Dark, Bitter Comedy and Meditation on Art

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Flat Earth Theatre Presents The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

Photo Credit: Flat Earth Theatre

The Factory Theatre, 791 Tremont Street, Boston, MA

August 10, 11 2012 @ 8PM
Sunday, August 12, 2012 @ 2PM
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 8PM – Pay-What-You-Can
Friday, August 17, 18 2012 @ 8PM
Flat Earth Theatre Company               The Pillowman Facebook Page

Review by Gillian Daniels

Under a totalitarian government, writer Katurian (Cameron Beaty Gosselin) and his brother, Michal (Chris Chiampa) are unfortunate enough to be arrested by the corrupt police force of their unnamed country. Exactly why they have been taken into the custody of Detective Tuoplski (Juliet Bowler) and the violent Officer Ariel (James Bocock) is teased out minute by painful minute. In this bitter tragicomedy, playwright Martin McDonagh asks tough questions about the responsibility of art and crime. Continue reading →

Aug 10

Acoustica Electronica at OBERON: August 3, 10, 17, 24

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Photo Credit: Acoustica Electronica at Club Oberon

After their sold-out performances in February, they are back by popular demand bringing a new level of spectacle and excitement to Boston’s nightlife. They have added new members to our fold and created new improvements that will be sure to blow your mind.

They could not be more excited about our run of shows at 10:30pm on Fridays Aug. 3, 10, 17 and 24! They can’t wait to see you there for their craziest blend of classical music, electronic dance music, dance, immersive theatre, aerial silks and DJ’s :The WIG, David Day, Mike Swells, Randy Deshaies, Will Monotone, Joe Bermudez and John Barera.

Photo Credit: Acoustica Electronica

For more information: http://touchperformanceart.com/

Jun 28

NEW EMAIL ADDRESS:

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Due to changes that are happening, the primary email address for THE NEW ENGLAND THEATRE GEEK blog has been changed to: blognetheatregeek<at>gmail.com.

Please make a note of it in your contact lists.

Jan 25

Concert/World Premiere: “The Cat and the Moon”

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Photo credit: Ellen Mandel; The cat will not be performing.

Daniel Neer sings music by Ellen Mandel at the “Pianos Plus Concert”

New songs to poems by Thomas Hardy, Seamus Heaney, WB Yeats, e.e. cummings, and others, including a World Premiere of Yeats’ sweet  “The Cat and the Moon.”

New Gallery Concerts
Thurs January 31 at 7 PM
The Community Music Center of Boston
34 Warren Avenue, Boston, MA 02116

Ellen Mandel Facebook Page
more information:  (617) 254-4133
http://www.newgalleryconcertseries.org/

Also on the program: Pianists, Sarah Bob, Marti Epstein, and John McDonald, performing music by Barish, Epstein, McDonald, and Woolf, and an exhibit of works by multi-media artist Chelsea Revelle. Continue reading →