Tag Archives: Kitty Drexel

Jul 02

Fear and Loneliness in El Serano: “Fade”

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Photo via Teatro Chelsea Facebook page.

Presented by Teatro Chelsea
By Tanya Saracho
Directed by Armando Rivera
Movement direction by Audrey Johnson
Intimacy direction by Olivia Dumaine
Featuring: Luz Lopez & Cristhian Mancinas Garcia

June 19th – 30, 2024
Chelsea Theatre Works
181 Winnisimmet Street
Chelsea, MA 02150

Teatro Chelsea in METRMAG

Critique by Kitty Drexel

The play is presented in English and some Spanish. Run time is approximately 106 minutes with no intermission.

CHELSEA, Mass. — Teatro Chelsea’s Fade at Chelsea Theatre Works was excellent. At 106 minutes in a wee black box, it was compact and intimate. Congratulations to the cast and crew on a successful run and a sold-out final performance! 

Mexican-born novelist Lucia (Luz Lopez) moves to El Sereno, Los Angeles to write for a copaganda TV series. She forges an unexpected friendship with the Mexican American custodian, Abel (Cristhian Mancinas Garcia), because she is homesick, and he speaks Spanish. As their friendship grows, Abel trusts Lucia with the details of his life. The boundaries between his stories and hers fade.  Continue reading →

Jun 26

Critiques and Commentary: Moonbox’s 3rd Annual Boston New Works Festival

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Presented by Moonbox Productions as part of the 3rd Annual
Boston New Works Festival Partnered with the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund

June 20-23, 2024
Calderwood Pavilion
Boston Center for the Arts
527 Tremont St 
Boston, MA

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — Moonbox had its 3rd annual Boston New Works Festival at the BCA. The three performances I attended on different two days were well attended. This is a hopeful sign that the Boston theatre ecology is healing from lockdown. We love to see it.

The festival hosted readings and staged performances of new works by living playwrights over four days. The BCA’s foyers were alive with visual art by local artists. Actors, crew, and designers bustled from show to show with audience members. Moonbox did a good job of telling attendees they were in the right place: brave, tireless volunteers handed out playbill inserts and directed attendees; free pins awaited pickup on tables with festival information.

The bathrooms were atrocious, but that’s a festival for you. Transfer times from show to show were rushed, but that should be expected, too.

The vibes were otherwise positive and the seats had butts in them. Theatre is a lifestyle choice, and it was a good weekend to choose the theatre.

Moonbox partnered with TCBF to produce the 2024 3rd Annual Boston New Works Festival. TCBF provides financial relief to its community members in times of need. It is a venerable organization. Please consider donating. No donation is too large.

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Jun 17

Take A Soul, Leave A Soul: “Guys & Dolls”

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Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
Book by Abe Burrows & Jo Swerling
Music & Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Choreographed and directed by Ceit Zweil
Music direction by Dan Rodriguez
Dramaturgy by Sydney Grant
Fight and Intimacy Direction by Angie Jepson
EDI Consultant: Kira Troilo, Art & Soul Consulting LLC

Online Playbill

June 7 – 30, 2024
Greater Boston Stage Company
395 Main Street
​Stoneham, MA 02180

Critique by Kitty Drexel

STONEHAM, Mass. — It’s a tale as old as time: A bookie attempts to set up a roving craps game to avoid the cops and, in doing so, arranges a love match between a perma-bachelor and a devote missionary. Guys and Dolls plays at Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham through June 30. 

Gambler, Nathan Detroit (Arthur Gomez), tries to find the cash to set up the biggest craps game in town while the authorities breathe down his neck; meanwhile, his girlfriend and nightclub performer, Adelaide (Sara Coombs), laments that they’ve been engaged for fourteen years. Nathan turns to fellow gambler, Sky Masterson (Jared Troilo), for the dough, and Sky ends up chasing the strait-laced missionary, Sarah Brown (Lisa Kate Joyce).  Continue reading →

Jun 14

Something Elegant and Threatening: “Gatsby: An American Myth”

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Presented by American Repertory Theater
Based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Music by Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett
Lyrics by Florence Welch
Book by Martyna Majok
Music Directed by Wiley DeWeese
Choreographed by Sonya Tayeh
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
Dramaturgy by Nissy Aya
Fight and Intimacy Direction by Rocío Mendez

July 23 – August 3, 2024
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

This production contains depictions of suicide, violence, loud noises, gunshot sounds, bright and flashing lights, fog, and haze. Recommended for ninth grade and up.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Chavkin, Majok, and Welch’s Gatsby: An American Myth uplifts the plight of America’s laboring proletariat in ways F Scott Fitzgerald could never, would never imagine. It is a work of striking work of intersectional feminism that denudes the superficial morality of ultra-privileged one-percenters. It is sexy; it is rock n roll hot Jazz; it is a cautionary tale about the depravity of feral capitalism wrapped with a white bow.  

F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was first published in 1926. This critique discusses important plot points of the ART’s musical inspired by the novel. Anyone wishing to avoid spoilers is 98 years too late. 

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Jun 03

Nothing Human is Pure: “Yellow Face”

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Presented by Lyric Stage Boston
By David Henry Hwang 
Directed by Ted Hewlett
Intimacy direction by Angie Jepson
Dramaturgy by Hailey Madison Sebastian
Featuring: JB Barricklo, Michael Hisamoto, Alexander Holden, Jupiter Le, Jenny S Lee, Mei MacQuarrie

May 31 – June 23, 2024
Asian Joy Night on June 7 @ 8PM
140 Clarendon St, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face was first published in 2008. It is 16 years later, and the play remains relevant enough not to be a period piece. Yellow Face plays at the Lyric Stage through June 23.

History will remember Jonathan Pryce for being on the wrong side of the 1990s Broadway Miss Saigon scandal. Pryce blamed everyone except himself for playing the Engineer in Cameron Mackintosh’s West End production of Schonberg and Boublil’s musical. Pryce could have said no to the role. He didn’t. The Lyric’s dramaturg Hailey Madison Sebastian has an article about the scandal HERE.  Continue reading →

May 25

The Art of Making a Practical Thing Pretty: “Toni Stone”

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Jennifer Mogbock as Toni Stone; Photograph © T Charles Erickson

Presented by The Huntington
Written and Directed by Lydia R. Diamond
Inspired by Curveball: The Remarkable True Story of Toni Stone by Martha Ackmann
Choreography by Ebony Williams
Dramaturgy by Charles Haugland
Fight direction and intimacy choreography by Ted Hewlett
Vocal coaching by Kim James Bey

May 17 – June 16, 2024
Blackout Performance: June 11, 7 pm
Open Caption Performance: 6/4 at 7:30 pm
ASL Performance: 6/7 at 8 pm
Audio Described Performance: 6/15 at 2:30 pm
Huntington Theatre 
264 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115

2 hours and 20 minutes including intermission

Content Advisories: Toni Stone contains flashing lights, the use of herbal cigarettes, strong themes of racism and misogyny, and discussions of sexual violence. 

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — Lydia R Diamond’s Toni Stone had a triumphant opening on Wednesday, May 22. The Huntington took America’s pastime, the culture of and for the masses, into art for those who can afford a ticket. Toni Stone plays at The Huntington through June 16. It is available for pay-what-you-wish digital streaming HERE.

I’m a bespectacled geek made for comfort, not speed with an avid distaste for projectiles in all forms. I loathed gym class in school. Every New England summer, it felt like the world opened its heart and screen doors for Spring Training. I couldn’t wait for it to be over.  Continue reading →

May 13

Hades is the Drama: “Orpheus in the Overworld”

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Eurydice and Orpheus. Photo by Erin Solomon.

Presented by Fresh Ink Theatre 
By Dante Gonzalez
Directed by Shira Helena Gitlin
Composer/Music Director – Abacus Dean-Polacheckan
Dramaturgy by AJ Helm
Fight and Intimacy Coordinator – Kayleigh Kane
Lighting Designer – Z Weber 
Costume Design by  Mikayla Reid 
Production Stage Management by Micaela Slotin 
Assistant Stage Manager – Katelyn Paddock
Featuring: Elijah Brown, Isabel Ginsberg, Lucy Bertolet, Kulfi Jaan, Matthew Suchecki, Rebekah Brunson

April 27 – May 11, 2024 
Boston Center for the Arts 
539 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — Fresh Ink’s Orpheus in the Overworld asks what if the Greek gods’ wills were as free as humanity’s? Dante Gonzalez reimagines the “Orpheus and Euridice” myth as a queer as the day is long burlesque with music and dance. It is for the queer community yet can be enjoyed by anyone. Continue reading →

Apr 15

Uncle Barney Wasn’t Particular: “The Birthday Party”

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The cast. Photo credit: Nile Scott Studios.

Presented by Praxis Stage
By Harold Pinter
Directed by James Wilkinson

April 11- 28, 2024
Chelsea Theatre Works
189 Winnisimmet Street
Chelsea, MA 02150

Article by Kitty Drexel

CHELSEA, Mass. — Praxis Stage did everything right. It collected a great cast; it hired James Wilkinson to direct. Pinter’s The Birthday Party is an absurd play, but it’s tight. Sometimes, even when all the elements of success are there, you still fall short. 

Meg (Sharon Mason) and Petey (Paul Valley) run a boarding house in a sleepy seaside town. Despite being on a prestigious list of boarding houses, they have only one tenant, Stanley (Zair Silva). Lulu (Darya Denisova) arrives to taunt Stanley and deliver a package for Meg. All is well until Meg & Petey receive two new guests, Goldberg (Daniel Boudreau) and McCann (Kevin Paquette).  Continue reading →

Apr 10

Make It Personal, Tell the Truth: “Burn This”

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Photo by Tim Gurczak.

Presented by Hub Theatre Company of Boston 
By Lanford Wilson
Directed by Daniel Bourque
Intimacy direction by Lauren Cook
Fight choreography by Matt Dray

Saturday, April 6 -Sunday, April 21, 2024
Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 

All performances are Pay-What-You-Can

Two hours with one intermission

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — Hub Theatre Company of Boston’s production of Lanford Wilson’s Burn This runs at the BCA through April 21. Get your tickets to support local fringe theatre HERE. 

Anna (Kiki Samko), an impotent choreographer and retired dancer, is grappling with the artistic and personal void left by the untimely death of her roommate and creative partner Robbie. Her best friend and housemate Larry (Steve Auger) acts as nurse, bodyguard, and gatekeeper. Anna’s on-again, off-again boyfriend Burton (Tim Hoover) wants to be her everything. Anna won’t decide what she wants to be or who she wants to do. 

Enter Pale (Victor L Shopov), Robbie’s incendiary older brother. She lights a flame in her heart, under her feet, and in her pants. With Robbie gone, Anna will either discover a new muse or burn the apartment down trying.  Continue reading →

Mar 29

May We All Find Our People: “Driving in Circles”

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Jordan Palmer (left), Jay Eddy (center), Zach Fontanez (right); Photo by Scornavacca Photography.

Presented by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
Written, composed, and performed by Jay Eddy
Directed by Sam Plattus
Featuring the talents of Zach Fontanez and Jordan Palmer

March 21 – April 6, 2024
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
949 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

Digital Playbill

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Content Transparency: This performance explores healing after trauma and contains themes of sexual violence, childhood sexual abuse, suicide, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Production features live electronic music (earplugs are available). For further details on topics mentioned, click here.

BOSTON, Mass. — Driving in Circles is a “solo-ish” musical with a killer backup band (Zach Fontanez and Jordan Palmer). Jill (Jay Eddy) is a young person bearing the psychological burden of shameful secrets. We watch Jill grow up into a whip-smart young adult with an agile, curious mind and severe mental health problems. We watch Jill navigate high school, college, and adulthood without executive functioning skills to an electro-rock beat.  Continue reading →