Tag Archives: Boston

May 21

Troubled Flight for “Icarus”

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With Austin Auh and Corianna Moffatt. Photo courtesy of Liars & Believers Facebook Page.

Presented by Liars & Believers
Directed by Faye Dupras

May 17 & 18, 2013 (Grab tickets while you can!)
Cambridge YMCA Theater in Central Square
Cambridge, MA
Liars & Believers Facebook Group

Gillian Daniels

Liars and Believers’ Icarus is a wobbly production, a Depression Era circus fable that limps when it pushes hard to soar.  Like a small bird, the show is both endearing but weak.  Its flourishes are strong: puppets, bluegrass, and robots.  The result gives the audience a series of intriguing set pieces but nothing that really coalesces into a grand story.

Jason Slavick packs a lot into the show, the separate parts fluid and vibrant.  The lead-up to the play itself includes burlesque and music, giving the centerpiece, Minnie Minoseczeck’s Menagerie of Marvels, a vaudevillean glamour.  The trimmings for the circus are convincing, complete with posters promising a minotaur and a flying woman, Penny (Corianna Moffatt). Continue reading →

May 16

Liars & Believers to Put on “Icarus”

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Presented by Liars & Believers
Directed by Faye Dupras

May 17 & 18, 2013 (Grab tickets while you can!)
Cambridge YMCA Theater in Central Square
Cambridge, MA
Liars & Believers Facebook Group

by Gillian Daniels

(Cambridge) This weekend, local Boston-area theater group Liars & Believers will be putting on its new show, Icarus.  It will be at the Cambridge YMCA Theater in Central Square this weekend only on May 17th and 18th.

Described as a show about poverty and transcendence, this American-bred tale uses the Great Depression as a backdrop as we follow Minnie Minoseczeck’s Menagerie of Marvels.  The play is written and directed by Jason Slavick with original music and lyrics by Nathan Leigh. Included in the production is puppetry, designed and directed by Faye Dupras.

The myth of Icarus is well known in the Western literary canon, a fable to illustrate the crippling nature of success.  A boy, given wings made from feathers and wax, is given the ability to fly.  Once airborne, Icarus flies so close to the sun, the wax that holds his wings together melts.  He plummets into the sea, a metaphor for the deadly foolishness of egotism and youth.

Liars & Believers is a mainly experimental troupe, one that prides itself on integrating different artistic pursuits into unique, chimera-like productions.  Their shows often include dance, song, aerial gymnastics, spoken text, and numerous interdisciplinary forms. Previous efforts this year include Lunar Labyrinth, a show loosely based on a short story by Neil Gaiman. Lunar Labyrinth combined and rejoiced in different storytelling methods, knotting its plot and themes into dreamy contortions.  Icarus promises to be a show in a similar mold.

May 14

“Mad Men” Set to Song and Dance: ON THE TOWN

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Photo by Mark S. Howard

Presented by Lyric Stage Company of Boston

Book and lyrics by Betty Comden & Adolph Green
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Based on an idea by Jerome Robbins
Directed by Spiro Veloudos
Music direction by Jonathan Goldberg
(kick-ass) Choreography & musical staging by Ilyse Robbins

May 10 – June 8, 2013
The Lyric Stage
Boston, MA
Lyric Stage Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) On the Town is a sweet little musical about what happens when three horny US Navy men seeking adventure visit NYC for 24 hours. As the plot thickens, they meet their equally horny female counterparts, do some healthy snogging, see some sights and return to duty. It’s mostly romantic. The  Lyric Stage delicately wraps these adult themes in saccharine sweet nostalgia, excellent choreography and Bernstein’s music. Although this could be for mature audiences only, it is presented as tasteful family-friendly material. Continue reading →

May 13

A Movement in Technicolor: IN THE HEIGHTS

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Photo: Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo

Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company
Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Book by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Directed by Paul Daigneault
Music directed by Nicholas James Connell
Choreography by Larry Sousa

Boston Center for the Arts
South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
Boston, MA
Speakeasy Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) In the Heights tackles heavy subjects such as endemic poverty, Immigration Reform, affordable education and racial stereotype with canny artistic expression. This community in Washington Heights might be needy but they are not poor. They are proud, hardworking and passionate people who strive for a better life. Just like you and me.

This music incorporates traditional Latin dance with Rap, Hiphop, and Flow poetry, among many others. The dancing looks like it is straight from America’s Best Dance Crew. The ensemble dance scenes are electric and justifiably make the show the stand-out production that it is. The cast adapts to the different styles and each other with such ease it’s as if they studied at the same school. Continue reading →

May 13

Normal Adolescent Madness: PUNK ROCK

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Photo by Jeff Adelberg

Presented by Zeitgeist Stage Company
by Simon Stephens
Directed by David J. Miller

At Plaza Black Box
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
May 3rd – May 25th, 2013
Zeitgeist Facebook Page

Review by Craig Idlebrook

There is nowhere for the audience to escape from the horrors of adolescence in Zeitgeist Stage Company’s production of Punk Rock, playing at the Black Box Theatre.  We can only recognize our own cruelties, failures and flailings as a group of high schoolers try to make some sense of their universe.  This kind of play would drive me to drink if it weren’t drawn so brightly and crisply, thanks to a fearless cast which doesn’t shy away from the awkward intimacy. Continue reading →

Apr 29

Spunk without Charm: PIPPI LONGSTOCKING

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Photo by Gary Ng. Sirena Abalian as Pippi Longstocking.

Presented by Wheelock Family Theatre
Story by Astrid Lindgren
Adapted for the stage by Thomas W. Olson
Music by Roberta Carlson
Directed by Wendy Lement

Boston, Massachusetts
April 12th – May 12th, 2013
Autism Friendly Modified Performance: Saturday April 27 at 10:00am
ASL/AD: Friday May 10 at 7:30 & Sunday May 12 at 3:00
All performances offer Open Captioning
Wheelock Family Theatre Facebook Page

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston) Why is everyone in such a hurry to update our iconic and innocent redheads?  A cover for a new edition of Anne of Green Gables ditches her red hair and makes her uncomfortably shapely.  The pigtailed girl in the Wendy’s logo seems to have grown up and has nothing more to do than disparage other peoples’ lunches.  And now we have Pippi Longstocking to add to the list. Continue reading →

Apr 29

The Love That Spawned A Million Campaigns: “She Kills Monsters”

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2013 Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo — with Meredith Saran, Stewart Evan Smith Jr, Noam Ash, Dobs Ebiama and Jordan Clark.
White hot nerdity and geekery abound!

Presented by Company One
by Qui Nguyen
Directed by Shira Milikowsky

April 12-May 11
Plaza Theatre at the BCA
Boston, MA
Company One Facebook Page

Review by Noelani Kamelamela

(Boston) The Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company at Center Stage, NY has been centered around making theatre that engages an audience of like-minded people.  Mainly popular entertainment, most productions incorporate a large amount of stage combat as well as clever use of props and costumes.   Company One brings indie sensibilities to a production that fans the heart flames of con-going die-hard gamers (both LARP and video) as well as n00bs for an overall shiny audience experience. Continue reading →

Apr 26

Perils, Pirates, Prostitutes, and the Peculiarity of “Pericles”

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Omar Robinson, Johnny Lee Davenport*, and Johnnie McQuarley in the foreground, with Jesse Hinson* (Pericles) and the cast in the background.
Photo: Stratton McCrady Photography

Presented by Actor’s Shakespeare Project
by William Shakespeare
directed by Allyn Burrows

The Modern Theatre at Suffolk University
525 Washington St., Boston
April 17 – May 12, 2013
ASP Facebook Page

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Boston) It’s easy to see why Pericles, Prince of Tyre isn’t one of Shakespeare’s best loved plays.  The plot is often as lost at sea as the titular character, who drifts from one melodramatic episode to the next on an unending voyage.  Pericles’ journey begins with villainous incest and the threat of death and, after abandoning this thread, continues on to tragic storms, kidnappings, and brothels.  Taking on this play means a potential mess. Continue reading →

Apr 21

We Are The Casualties of War: “Trojan Women”

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PHOTO CREDIT - Richard Termine

Rich scene painting, solid theatre. Bravi tutti! PHOTO CREDIT – Richard Termine

 

My sincere apologies to the cast and crew of Siti Company and ArtsEmerson. This review is late because of the traumatic events of Friday, April 19. In my own personal turmoil, I was unable to write your review. I humbly beg your pardon!

presented by ArtsEmerson
adapted by Jocelyn Clarke from Trojan Women (After Euripides)
directed by Anne Bogart
created and performed by Siti Company
Original music composed and performed by the insanely talented Christian Frederickson

The Paramount Center
Paramount Mainstage
559 Washington Street
Boston, MA
April 17 – 21
ArtsEmerson Facebook Page
Siti Company Facebook Page
90 minutes with no intermission because the subject matter is so heavy that people might leave.

(Boston) The bodies of women are the casualties of wars. Even today in places such as The (Republic of) Congo, Uganda, Afghanistan, Syria, Steubenville and even late night in Harvard Square, women are held responsible for the violent decisions of men eager to wield their entitlement in public arenas. There is a political war in The Congo and every Spring there is a war against women on the streets. In any situation, women are blamed for the violence. Excuses range from acting in ways unbefitting a lady or luring men with our bodies. In reality, it is the perpetrators who are to blame. Rape, like other acts of violence, is never about sexuality; it is always about power. In Siti Company’s production of Trojan Women, this is still true. Continue reading →

Apr 15

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

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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 →