Tag Archives: 2012

Dec 25

A Somewhat Fun Yuletide Tradition: THE CHRISTMAS REVELS

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photo credit: The Christmas Revels

photo credit: The Christmas Revels

 

presented by Revels, Inc.

Directed by Patrick Swanson George Emlen, Music Director Sanders Theatre Cambridge, MA December 16th – 27th, 2012

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Cambridge) Christmas is perhaps the one time of the year when America adheres fiercely to tradition. Every family that celebrates Christmas has its rituals, whether it’s going to midnight mass or eating all of the red M&M’s on Christmas Eve and all of the green M&M’s on Christmas Day. The trick is to keep the rituals vibrant and alive, rather than go through the motions year after year. Continue reading →

Dec 17

Enduring Marriage: HALF N’ HALF N’ HALF

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Carol Halstead, Zoë Winters, Andrew Pastides and Jim Ortlieb. Photo by Meghan Moore.

Carol Halstead, Zoë Winters, Andrew Pastides and Jim Ortlieb. Photo by Meghan Moore.

by John Kolvenbach
directed by Kyle Fabel

Merrimack Repertory Theatre
50 East Merrimack Street
Lowell, MA
November 29th – December 23rd, 2012
Merrimack Repertory Theatre Facebook Page

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Lowell) It is frustrating to see a craftsman like playwright John Kolvenbach run rings around pedestrian writers.  His play Half n’ Half n’ Half shows that he understands how a play functions on a deep level and that he could write in any genre he chooses, from The Seagull to Lend Me a Tenor.  Kolvenbach toys with the audience in several genres with this comedy, while demonstrating his near-mastery of them all.  This is more than an exercise in play writing, however.  Throughout this script of multiple plays, Kolvenbach is able to document how a lifetime romantic commitment often drives us to need to be committed. Continue reading →

Dec 11

TCG Books: “Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue”

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TCG Books, New York, 2012

Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue
Quiara Alegria Hudes
TCG
New York
2012
www.tcg.org

1 of 3 plays by Hudes, others include:
Water by the Spoonful
The Happiest Song Plays Last (forthcoming)

Hudes’ work Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue spans 3 generations of military men. Hudes weaves the experiences of her uncle and her cousin, Elliot, into the narrative of Grandpop, Pop, the hero, Elliot, and Ginny, Elliot’s mother. All four attempt to balance their civilian lives while remaining devoted to their blood and service families. Continue reading →

Dec 06

A Decadent 18th Century Treat: “The Way of the World”

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Photo credit: The Boston Conservatory

Written by William Congreve
Directed by Christopher Webb
December 4 – 7, 2012

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Boston) For a tragically short engagement, The Boston Conservatory has decided to showcase the adultery comedy of manners, The Way of the World.  The theatrical effort revives the Restoration-era play by William Congreve (1670 – 1729) for the contemporary stage.  With everyone in powdered wigs and dimpled with fake moles, Mirabell (Marchant Davis) plots to marry the clever Mrs. Millamant (Emily Shankman) by outwitting her wealthy, mean-spirited aunt, Lady Wishfort (the delightful Jacqueline Harding, playing her role with zeal). Continue reading →

Dec 03

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

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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 →

Nov 29

Tender to the Touch:”Burning Up the Dictionary”

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Photo credit: Vagabond Theatre Group; Meyer and Hoover are about to suck face. Awesome.

presented by Vagabond Theatre Group
written by Meron Langsner
directed by James Peter Sotis
incidental music by Santiago Cardenas

November 28 – December 1, 2012
Rehearsal Hall A
Calderwood Pavilion
Boston Center for the Arts

Vagabond Theatre Group Facebook Page

(Boston) George (Tim Hoover) and Suzie-Fay (Cassandra Meyer) are best buds attempting to reconcile their friendship after ending their intense love affair. To say that “it’s complicated” would be putting it mildly. In this 2 act play by Meron Langsner, George and Suzie navigate their break-up and learn that sometimes love isn’t enough. Continue reading →

Nov 27

Charm and Spirit: “Sunset Blvd”

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Photo credit: Pentucket Players, Inc

presented by Pentucket Players, Inc.
Sunset Boulevard

Book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Based on the 1950 film of the same title
Movie directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, produced and co-written by Charles Brackett

Rogers Center for the Arts
Merrimack College
North Andover, MA
Review is based on the performance of Nov. 24 at 8pm.
Performances ran Nov. 16 – 24, 2012
Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(North Andover) Sunset Boulevard is based on the classic 1950 American noir film directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, and produced and co-written by Charles Brackett. It is named after the boulevard that runs through Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. William Holden played unlucky screenwriter Joe Gillis. Screen legend Gloria Swanson starred as the silent film star Norma Desmond. She ensnares Gillis with the luxury and excess only oodles of money can buy. What starts as an opportunity to reclaim their successes ends in tragedy for both. Continue reading →

Nov 20

“Betrayal”: Soured Love Affair in Reverse

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Photo credit: T. Charles Erickson

by Harold Pinter
Directed by Maria Aitken

presented by Huntington Theatre Company Website
Huntington Theatre Company Facebook Page
Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Nov 14 – Dec. 9, 2012

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Boston)With a plot that flows backward, a story about a long-ended affair becomes the story of how two people fell in love. Each layer of their relationship is stripped away, taking a couple who don’t seem to fit together in the least in 1977, chilly Emma (Gretchen Egolf) and the befuddled Jerry (Alan Cox), and re-framing them to reveal who they really are and what they used to be.
Continue reading →

Nov 18

Breaching the Dark: “The Man in The Couch”

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Photograph by Becca A. Lewis

Writer and director Alison Meirowitz/McCarthy
Now running, Nov. 2-18 Thurs-Sat 8pm, Sun 3pm
Review by Kitty Drexel
(Boston) The Man in the Couchis a hard candy nugget of science fiction and horror. On the surface it is smooth and hard and the characters’ inner depths continue to be the same. It isn’t sweet but it can offer some satisfaction. Our main characters are the rock and hard place that they have to breach in order to regain relative sanity/peace. It is reminiscent of The Twilight Zoneepisode “Nothing in the Dark” about an old woman shut away in an apartment to avoid meeting “Mr. Death” (the swoon-inducing Robert Redford). Continue reading →
Nov 17

Dance, The Way Ninjas Intended: “The Radio Show”

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Photo credits: Steven Schreiber and Renee Rosensteel.

 

WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts PRESENTS THE BOSTON DEBUT OF
Kyle Abraham / Abraham.in.Motion
Performing the Boston premiere of The Radio Show
Friday, November 16, 7:30 pm | Saturday, November 17, 8pm
The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
100 Northern Ave
Boston, MA 02210
Abraham.in.Motion Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) Kyle Abraham and his troupe move like dancing ninjas. We are very lucky that they aren’t because everyone knows that if you can see the (dancing) ninja, you are already dead.

The Radio Show is a celebration of music and its effects on personal history and cultural identity. The pieces included in this production are inspired by the closing of a Pittsburgh radio station that Abraham listened to growing up. The pre-show includes Duwop radio hits and Abraham himself chatting up the audience. “AM 860” and “106.7 FM” are two dance overtures that explore range of motion while delving deep into the cultural impacts of hip hop, R&B, rap and pop music. Continue reading →