Photo credit: Teri Incampo
Presented by Exiled Theatre
By Sarah J. Mann
Directed by James Wilkinson
September 16-October 2, 2016
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
Boston, MA
Exiled Theatre on Facebook
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
(Boston, MA) Anybody can pull off a little black dress. Sarah J. Mann’s She Looks Good in Black proved that only a few can make it look connivingly sexy. Continue reading
The company in performance; Photo credit: Lee Bader
Written & Presented by Trinacria Theatre Company
Directed by Mariagrazia LaFauci
August 24-27, 2016
Sicily, NYC & Boston (various locations)
Trinacria Theatre Company on Facebook & Instagram
Review by Travis Manni
(Boston, MA) A Saturday afternoon in the North End’s Langone Park along the Charles River provided a beautiful, and apt, backdrop for Trinacria Theatre Company’s inaugural performance of La Storia di Colapesce. Continue reading
Photo credit: Eric Antoniou
Presented by Fiddlehead Theatre Company
Music by Jerome Kern
Book & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Co-Directed by Meg Fofonoff and Stacey Stephens
Musical Direction by Charles Peltz
Choreography by Wendy Hall
June 22-July 3, 2016
Shubert Theatre
Boston, MA
Fiddlehead on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
(Boston, MA) I grew up on classic musicals like The King and I and Call Me Madam. After seeing Fiddlehead Theatre Company’s production of Show Boat, I’m surprised that my grandmother never introduced the show to me at an early age. While knowing the show may have given me a higher appreciation for seeing the staged version, I can’t deny that I was caught off guard with how enjoyable Show Boat turned out to be. Continue reading
A.R. Sinclair Photography
Presented by The Nora Theatre Company & Bedlam
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Eric Tucker
Twelfth Night: June 9-July 10, 2016
What You Will: June10-July 9, 2016
Central Square Theatre
Cambridge, MA
Bedlam on Facebook
Central Square Theatre on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
(Cambridge, MA) During my senior year of high school, being the drama club geek that I was, I took a Shakespeare class. The professor was insane, but amazing, and the biggest takeaway I got from the class was that Shakespeare really wanted to give the players in a show the right to manipulate and interpret his text as much as possible. Therefore, it seems quite fitting that Bedlam decided to split Twelfth Night, or What You Will into two separate productions of the same exact show using the same five actors to tell the same story with different narratives and tones. Continue reading
Photo courtesy Reagle Music Theatre/©Herb Philpott
Presented by Reagle Music Theatre
Music by Richard Rodgers
Book & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Directed & Choreographed by Rachel Bertone
Musical Direction by Dan Rodriguez
June 9-19, 2016
Waltham, MA
Reagle Music Theatre on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
(Waltham, MA) It always feels a bit dissociative when I see a show that is technically a good production, but the show itself is rather terrible. While watching Reagle Music Theatre’s Carousel, I clapped, I scoffed, rolled my eyes, and was constantly asking myself, “Why?” Continue reading
Photo credit: Kyler Taustin
Presented by Brown Box Theatre Project
By Cindy Lou Johnson
Directed by Kyler Taustin
June 4-12, 2016
All performances are free to the public
Atlantic Wharf, 290 Congress Street
Boston, MA
Brown Box Theatre Project on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
(Boston, MA) A remote cabin in Alaska during a treacherous snowstorm is the perfect setup to isolate the characters in Cindy Lou Johnson’s Brilliant Traces. And while having one of these two people burst in wearing a wedding gown was quite shocking, what was even more captivating about this play was the emotional depths to which it was willing to plunge. Continue reading
Photo by Marc J. Franklin
Presented by Bridge Repertory Theater of Boston
By Marisa Wegrzyn
Directed by Bridget Kathleen O’Leary
May 15-June 5, 2016
Deane Hall, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
Bridge Repertory Theater on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
(Boston, MA) I tend to get bored easily when watching comedic plays. They need to be clever but relatable, funny but with strokes of brutal honesty. Most times, shows fail to live up to my expectations, but I continue to see them because when one does I have an amazingly good time. Thankfully, Marisa Wegrzyn’s Mud Blue Sky was a perfect example of the latter. Continue reading
Photo credit: Drew Linehan Jacobs
Presented by Boston Actors Theater
By Elizabeth DuPré
Directed by Drew Jacobs
May 6-21, 2016
Rehearsal Hall A at the Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
Boston Actors Theater on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
(Boston, MA) As a manager at a movie theatre, I see quite a lot of mediocre movies come and go rather quickly. I always feel a special type of sympathetic pity for the rom-coms that just don’t do the business studios had expected, and I have to say I felt a similar way after going to see the Boston Actors Theater premiere production of End of the World. Continue reading
Presented by Boston Public Works Theatre Company and Cotuit Cetner for the Arts
Plaza Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts
Written & Directed by Jim Dalglish
April 15-30, 2016
Plaza Theatre
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston Public Works on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
Trigger warning: sound sequences referencing the 9/11 attacks.
(Boston, MA) You ever have one of those moments when you spontaneously start crying and you’re not entirely sure why or where it came from? That’s how I felt after watching Unsafe, a self-proclaimed psychological thriller by playwright Jim Dalgish. Continue reading
Photo credit: Stratton McCrady
Presented by the Suffolk University Theatre Department
Book, Music & Lyrics by Jonathan Larson
Directed by Paul Melone
Musical Direction by Scott Nicholas
April 7-10, 2016
C. Walsh Theatre
55 Temple Street, Boston, MA
C. Walsh Theater on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
(Boston, MA) So here we are again. Same play, another day, and another production. This time, the cherished show made its way to the Suffolk University Theatre Department. Continue reading
