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.
Jun
28
Jun
28
Addendum To Our Reviewing Policy
Some of our reviewers are active theatre people. If they are involved with a certain show and/or a specific company we will not review that show and/or company-if it’s a long-time engagement. We will, however, be happy to write previews, features, or post announcements about the shows. (6/28/12)
Jun
25
ADHD NPR – CAR TALK: THE MUSICAL
The cast in a scene from Underground Railway Theater’s and Suffolk University’s co-production of Car Talk: The Musical!!! running from June 14 – August 12 at Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA. Tickets & Information: 866.811.4111 or CentralSquareTheater.org. Photo: A.R. Sinclair Photography.
Car Talk: The Musical, book and lyrics Wesley Savick, original music by Michael Wartofsky, Underground Railway Theater & Suffolk University, Central Square Theater, 6/14/12-8/12/12, http://www.centralsquaretheater.org.
Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook
Charisma can carry a show a long way. Just look at what it did for Tom and Ray Magliozzi, a pair of goofball (and genius) brother-mechanics who talked their way into a hit show on National Public Radio. For 35 years, the pair has giggled their way through thousands of calls from car owners with mystery questions, strewing terrible puns and corny humor on the road as they went.
And now, on the eve of the brothers’ retirement from “Car Talk”, they have gotten themselves involved in a musical, written by Wesley Savick, with music by Michael Wartofsky. Continue reading
Jun
22
No Room For Wishing Workshop Performance
No Room for Wishing by Danny Bryck, 6/29/12 at 8pm, Central Square Theatre, http://www.facebook.com/events/245151495599844/.
Check out my podcast with Danny Bryck!
“NO ROOM FOR WISHING is a one-man documentary play about Occupy Boston. Using only the exact words of people involved in the Occupy movement, the show pieces together the voices and experiences of various individuals into the larger story of the Occupy movement in Boston and as a whole.” (copy from event description)
Jun
22
It’s Cabaret Series Time Again!
Get Ready, A Cabaret, The Cabaret Series, 6/25/12 at 7:30pm at Central Square Theatre, http://www.facebook.com/events/168039596660963/.
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“Spring: Time to renew and reenergize, but it’s also a time for change. GET READY to enjoy this whimsical look at life’s twists and turns with the cast of the Cabaret Series as they shake off winter hibernation and gear up for the joys and challenges of spring renewal.Directed By:
Megan Sandberg-Zakian Featuring: To Purchase Tickets: (copy from event announcement)
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Jun
21
Cirque du Soleil: Serenity Under the Big Top
photo credit: Evan Witek
Totem, Cirque du Soleil, Marine Industrial Park, 6/10/12-7/15/12, http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/totem/default.aspx.
(Boston, MA) It’s not logical or, frankly, believable that a circus featuring so many acrobats in body stockings could be capable of such grace. In performance, style, and message, though, Cirque du Soleil’s Totem is enthralling. I found the show unique and lovely among Boston’s other attractions this month. Continue reading
Jun
19
A Chorus Line: Meant for One, Singular Audience (That May Not Be You)
Allison Russell as Maggie, Aimee Doherty as Sheila and Hannah Shihdanian as Bebe in A CHORUS LINE at Reagle Music Theatre June 15-24, photo credit Herb Philpott.
A Chorus Line, music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, Reagle Music Theatre, 6/15/12-6/24/12, http://www.reagleplayers.com/current.html.
Reviewed by Gillian Daniels
(Waltham, MA) The Reagle Music Theatre is a supportive, intimate venue I remember with pleasure from when I visited it to review Christmas Time. Reagle puts on the same high quality production in A Chorus Line, too, despite some difficulty with the microphones halfway through the play I sat through.
A Chorus Line fits for the Reagle even if the original material hasn’t aged well. Continue reading
Jun
16
Awesomeness on Wheels: ROLLER DISCO: THE MUSICAL
photo credit: Ministry of Theater
Roller Disco: The Musical, book by Sam Forman and Jen Wineman, lyrics by Sam Forman, music by Eli Bolin, Ministry of Theater and Club Oberon, 5/30/12-8/30/12, http://www.rollerdiscothemusical.com/Home.html.
Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook
(Cambridge, MA) Sometimes, you come across a play that works so effortlessly on so many levels that it skates circles around your standard theatrical fare. Club Oberon’s Roller Disco, glittery, vacant, hyper and hysterical, draws the audience into a disco-soaked world from the theme song’s opening strands. We have no choice but to harken back to striped tube socks, gritty skating rinks and cheesy eighties movies. Heck, we never even put up a fight. Continue reading
Jun
14
Glittery, but Not Grabbing: HELLO DOLLY!
“Hello, Dolly!” Jacquelyn Piro Donovan (Dolly Gallagher Levi) and the ensemble of North Shore Music Theatre’s production of HELLO, DOLLY! Photo by Paul Lyden
Hello Dolly!, book by Michael Stewart, music by Jerry Herman, North Shore Music Theatre, 6/12/12-6/24/12, http://www.nsmt.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=969.
Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook
Since Elizabethan times, some plays have been built around the concept of a character as a force of nature. As a playwright, it’s often a good strategy that allows a great actor to cover plotline foibles with a powerful performance. But such a strategy also can backfire, because when your lead can’t will the play to life, a weak plot is exposed all the more. Continue reading
Jun
12
Ken Davenport’s Notice: Don’t Miss The Beautiful City of GODSPELL
photo by Jeremy Daniel from Playbill
Godspell, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by John-Michael Tebelak, Circle In The Square Theatre (Broadway), 10/13/11-6/24/12, http://www.godspell.com/. DON’T MISS THIS BRILLIANT & EXCITING SHOW!! (Directed by Huntington’s God of Carnage director, Daniel Goldstein)
(source: http://www.godspellblog.com/the-godspell-update-we-built-a-beautiful-city)
Ken Davenport, the lead producer of Godspell, wrote this note on his blog:
“I just left the Circle in the Square Theatre moments ago, where with a very heavy heart I told the cast and crew that Godspell will play its final performance on Sunday, June 24th. While we certainly had hoped our show would run for years and years, we’re all very proud of the beautiful city we built.
Over the last nine months, our sensational cast has spread the joy of Godspell to over 153,000 people (and blasted them with over 1,000 pounds of confetti). And while this production of Godspell may not be at Circle in the Square past the 24th of June, it will be in our hearts and the hearts of everyone who saw it forever.