Tag Archives: Craig Idlebrook

Jul 15

A Sinking Feeling: DISNEY’S A LITTLE MERMAID

Posted on by
Adrienne Eller as Ariel in North Shore Music Theatre's Production of Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID running July 8 - 27, 2014. Photo©Paul Lyden

Adrienne Eller as Ariel in North Shore Music Theatre’s Production of Disney’s THE LITTLE MERMAID running July 8 – 27, 2014. Photo©Paul Lyden

Presented by North Shore Music Theatre
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater
Book by Doug Wright
Based on the Hans Christian Andersen Story and the Disney Film produced by Howard Ashman & John Musker and written & directed by John Musker and Ron Clements
Direction by Michael Heitzman
Music directed by Bruce Barnes
Choreography by AC Ciulla

July 8th – July 27th, 2014
62 Dunham Road
Beverly, MA
NSMT on Facebook

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Beverly) Whenever you are suspending disbelief, there are rules that must be followed to create a new reality. It doesn’t matter if you are writing Game of Thrones or playing make-believe with a 2-year-old, the ground rules, once established, have to be enforced or the whole thing falls apart.

That is perhaps the main reason why the musical version of Disney’s A Little Mermaid, playing at the North Shore Music Theatre, couldn’t hook either me or for my 8-year-old daughter. This show is largely aquatic, but director Michael Heitzman fails to create a sea for our imagination. Sometimes, the merpeople and fish hobble awkwardly in tight fin-like gear; other times, they use the same wires and pulleys to occupy the same air as the seagull. Merpeople aren’t allowed on land, until they are at the end of the play. Too often, they crossed the streams. Continue reading →

Jun 16

The Smartest Play in Town: SMART PEOPLE

Posted on by
Roderick Hill as Brian White and McKinley Belcher III as Jackson Moore in Smart People. Photo: T. Charles Erickson

Roderick Hill as Brian White and McKinley Belcher III as Jackson Moore in Smart People. Photo: T. Charles Erickson

Presented by the Huntington Theatre
Written by Lydia R. Diamond
Directed by Peter DuBois

June 25th – July 6th, 2014
Calderwood Pavelion
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
Huntington Theatre on Facebook

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston) How we view race defines us, but we often don’t like to examine how we view race, at least not directly. To write well about race in America requires both a deep understanding of society and a deeper self-examination of one’s own feelings to sort out fact from feeling, and to know when to use both to create an artistic vision. Successful attempts to write well in fiction about this dicey subject are rare; most either skitter across the surface or descend into lecture. Continue reading →

Jun 16

Informal Enlightenment: EATING MY GARBAGE

Posted on by

IMG_7787

 

 

Written and performed by David Mogolov
Directed by Steve Kleinedler
Music by Ryan Walsh and Evan Sicuranza

June 12th through June 20th, 2014
Davis Square Theatre
255 Elm Street
Somerville, MA 02114
Mogolov on Facebook

Review by Craig Idlebrook

 

 

(Somerville) In the midst of the blockbuster movie season, it’s quite refreshing to see the captivating power of good storytelling. With his one-person play, Eating My Garbage, David Mogolov owns the stage, despite an absence of blocking, props, and special effects, by letting us get a clear picture of how his unique synapses fire to draw quirky insight into the human condition. Continue reading →

Jun 02

A Robust Spectacle: THE TEMPEST

Posted on by
Photo: The Smith Center/Geri Kodey

Photo: The Smith Center/Geri Kodey

Presented by the American Repertory Theatre
By William Shakespeare
Adapted and Directed by Aaron Posner and Teller
Magic by Teller
Songs by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
Choreography by Matt Kent, Pilobolus
Magic Design by Johnny Thompson
Magic Engineering and Construction by Thom Rubino
Music Direction and Arrangements by Shaina Taub

May 11th – June 15th
Cambridge, MA

Reviews by Craig Idlebrook and Clara Idlebrook

(Editorial note – Reviewer Craig Idlebrook attended The Tempest with his family. The American Repertory Theatre asked that he include his 8-year-old daughter’s take on the show. Clara Idlebrook’s review appears below Craig’s.)

Craig’s Take:

There is something so delicious about watching artists at work who have mastered their craft enough to disregard public opinion and create something exquisitely weird. American Repertory Theatre’s staging of the Tempest feels like a transcendent late-night jam session between William Shakespeare, veteran magician Teller, and musical sabotage specialists Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan. You could picture this production being a traveling troupe’s one-shot staging done during a layover, and someone happened to hit the record button on an iPhone. Continue reading →

May 05

Profound Confusion: ANGELS IN AMERICA

Posted on by

PART 1 MILLENNIUM APPROACHES

Presented by The Umbrella Community Arts Center
Written by Tony Kushner
Directed by Nancy Curran Willis

April 18 – April 27th, 2014
Concord, MA
Umbrella Community Arts on Facebook

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Concord) There was a time we would like to forget in U.S. history when AIDS was a painful, quick, and lonely death sentence, one largely suffered by gay men. The gay community was stratified into victims and survivors, and everyone was scared and scarred. Yet amidst this plague, the gay community did not break, having developed an inner strength in the face of years of oppression that galvanized it to action. Continue reading →

Apr 25

You Can’t Stop Her. Hell, She Can’t Stop Her: PAULA POUNDSTONE

Posted on by

Acquisitioned from the NSMT facebook site

Presented by North Shore Music Theatre
Beverly, MA
April 19th, 2014
NSMT on Facebook

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Beverly) If a career coach ever did an aptitude test on a young Paula Poundstone and didn’t find she was cut out to be a comedian, that coach was a loser. Angular, socially awkward, and blessed and cursed with OCD that causes her to let loose a constant stream of sarcastic chatter, Poundstone found her calling on the comedy stage. She owned the North Shore Music Theatre for one night this past April and left the crowd feeling happy and confused. Continue reading →