Tag Archives: Stephen Schwartz

Aug 03

Because They Can: “The Queen of Versailles”

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The Cast of The Queen of Versailles – Credit Matthew Murphy

Presented by the Emerson Colonial Theatre
Based on The Queen of Versailles documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Lauren Greenfield
Book by Lindsey Ferrentino
Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Directed by Michael Arden
Choreographed by Lauren Yalango-Grant & Christopher Cree Grant
Music supervision by Mary-Mitchell Campbell
Orchestrations by John Clancy

July 16 – August 25, 2024
Emerson Colonial Theatre
106 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — The audience was packed into the Emerson Colonial Theatre on Thursday night to see Kristin Chenoweth and F Murray Abraham in Ferrentino and Schwartz’s The Queen of Versailles musical. The musical officially opened on August 1 after much ado: Mayor Michelle Wu proclaimed July 24 as Kristin Chenoweth Day for Chenoweth’s “contributions to the betterment of the City of Boston.” It was also Chenoweth’s birthday. Happy belated birthday, Kristin Chenoweth!

FYI the links that should allow audience members to order drinks and food delivered to your seat don’t work. (We tried multiple QR codes in our row and the row in front of us). Despite the page on the website. Despite the foyer monitors’ messaging. You will have to choose either the bathroom line (wash your damn hands) or the concessions line. 20 minutes is not long enough to do both when the show is sold out. 

Audience members and some enterprising theatre staff were dressed in their finest pink and gold pieces. Attendee fashion ranged from blazers with designer sneakers to ballgowns. Satin tops to flowy dresses. All sorts braved the bawls-hot weather to flaunt their finest ‘fits. Thankfully, the Emerson Colonial had the AC cranked to accommodate the heat and the bold statements. 

Pink and gold are the signature colors of Jackie Seigel, proto-influencer and billionairess famous for the Lauren Greenfield 2012 documentary The Queen of Versailles and 2022 reality TV show Queen of Versailles Reigns Again. The musical is named after the 2012 documentary and tells the rags-to-riches-down-to-rags-back-to-riches stories (and villain origins) of Jackie and her husband David Seigel, the Timeshare King of Westgate Resorts.  Continue reading →

Jan 07

As in Life, “Working” is a Mixed Bag

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Photo by Mark S. Howard for Lyric Stage Co of Boston; The Cast.

Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston
Based on the book, Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, by Studs Terkel.
Adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso.
Additional contributions by Gordon Greenberg. Songs by Craig Carnella, Micki Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Rodgers and Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz, James Taylor.
Directed & Choreographed by Ilyse Robbins
Music Direction by Jonathan Goldberg

January 3 to February 1, 2014
140 Clarendon St.
Boston, MA
The Lyric on Facebook

Running time: Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes with no intermission.

Review by Kitty Drexel

Boston) Studs Terkel’s book Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do is a collection of essays/interviews with Americans in the workforce. It spans a variety of jobs and careers while exploring the motivations behind the work the subjects do. The employed and unemployed look for recognition, justification and greater purpose looking for recognition in the work that we do. The musical, Working adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, uses samples from Terkel’s book to bring the dialogue to the stage. Continue reading →

Mar 24

Singing in Authenticity: Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, “Seize the Day!”

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Photo Credit: Borrowed from the BGMC Facebook Page

Photo Credit: Borrowed from the BGMC Facebook Page

Presented by the fabulous Boston Gay Men’s Chorus

With support from Mass Cultural Council & Boston Cultural Council

Reuban Reynolds III, Music Director
Chad Weirick, Principal Accompanist & Assistant Music Director
ASL Interpretation by Lewana Clark (This woman deserves her own concert)
Michelle Chasse, Choreographer

 March 23 & 24, 2014 (Get in there!)
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory
Boston, MA
BGMC Facebook Page

The title of the programme comes from Alan Menken and Jack Feldman’s Newsies.

If you’ve been involved in either the Boston area theatre or LGBTQ scenes long enough, you have heard of the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus (BGMC). If you haven’t heard of their exquisitely executed, heart rending concerts, you’ve been living under a metaphorical rock. Shame on you! They’ve been making sweet music since 1982 and deserve all the accolades they get for their musicianship and their outreach. Continue reading →

Jan 06

Breathtaking Chutzpah: PIPPIN

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Photo: Michael Lutch; a tender balancing act.

Photo: Michael Lutch; a tender balancing act.

book Roger O. Hirson
music and lyrics Stephen Schwartz
directed by Diane Paulus
circus creation Gypsy Snider of Les 7 Doigts de la Main
choreography by Chet Walker in the style of Bob Fosse

presented by American Repertory Theatre
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
December 5, 2012 to January 20, 2013
ART Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Cambridge) This Cirque du Soleil meets Fosse production of “Pippin” tells the tale of the Everyman, a youthful personification of any adult tentatively beginning the journey toward self-knowledge. Our young hero seeks the meaning of life in all the wrong places: violence, sex, politics, and other follies of inexperience. What the audience soon realizes is that Pippin, son of Charlemagne (the Emperor who not only made Christianity famous but mandatory), for all his proclamations, isn’t special. He is on the same journey that all young adults travel in their search for self – plus or minus some fantastical hardships and an orgy or two. What our hero discovers on this epic ego-trip is that, after he finds and secures a lasting relationship with meaning, he doesn’t know what to do with it. Continue reading →