Jul 23

Hops Along at a Hip Clip: “Welcome To Arroyo’s”

Photo from Circuit Theatre website. Look at all these POCs!

Presented by Circuit Theatre Company
By Kristoffer Diaz
Directed by Jen Diamond

July 9-July 27
Club Oberon
2 Arrow St
Cambridge, MA
Circuit Theatre on Facebook

Review by Noelani Kamelamela

(Cambridge) Performed in repertory with The Walk Across Mother Earth, Taylor Mac’s ode to the political march, Kristoffer Diaz’s coming of age tale features a brother and sister from Manhattan’s Lower East Side.  The Circuit Theatre Company hands in a breezy summer confection, heavy on fun and low on substance. Continue reading

Jul 15

Go Big or Go Home: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

The Cast. Photo found on It’s A Fiasco Facebook page.

It’s a Fiasco Theatre Company
by William Shakespeare
Sponsored by the City of Cambridge and the Cambridge Arts Council – presented under the auspices of the Actors’ Equity Association Member’s Project Code.

June 19 – 29, 2014
Longfellow Park, 175 Mt. Auburn Street
Cambridge, MA
It’s A Fiasco on Facebook

Review by Craig Idlebrook

Think for a moment of the conditions under which Shakespeare was performed in the Elizabethan era and you realize this play was never meant to be locked away in an ivory tower. At the time the words of these plays were fresh, so was the concept of public sanitation. Most of the population was illiterate, and probably a good amount of them shared their skin with some form of vermin. Even in the hallowed halls of royal theater, the patrons probably stank to high heaven and air conditioning was a couple of centuries from being invented. So if at first glance it seems incongruous to speak some of the English language’s best poetry next to a Cambridge water park, it might be best to remember this probably would have been considered a pretty gentile staging grounds back in the day. Continue reading

Jul 15

A Sinking Feeling: DISNEY’S A LITTLE MERMAID

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

Jul 14

Gubernatorial Forum on Arts, Culture, and Creativity

MASSCreative

Create the Vote, a coalition of artists and arts, cultural, and creative institutions based throughout Massachusetts, will host the Gubernatorial Forum on Arts, Culture, and Creativity.

Moderated by arts critic Joyce Kulhawik, the forum will foster discussion of the gubernatorial candidates’ vision for the arts and culture in Massachusetts. Please join us at 4:30 for the reception preceding the forum.

Plan your trip with our transportation page.

*We’re securing rental buses to bring folks to the event from Boston and Somerville. If you’re interested in taking a bus, let us know by filling out this form and reserving your seat!

WHEN
July 15, 2014 at 6pm – 7:30pm

WHERE
The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts
2 Southbridge St
Worcester, MA 01608
United States
Google map and directions

Jun 30

Revamped *Cough* Vampire Comedy for Modernity: DER VAMPYR

Photo © OperaHub

Presented by OperaHub
1828 music by Heinrich Marschner
1828 German libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück
1828 libretto based on the play Der Vampir oder die Totenbraut by Heinrich Ludwig Ritter
2014 arrangement by Moshe Shulman
2014 libretto by John J King
Music direction by Lina Marcel Gonzalez
Stage direction by Christie Lee Gibson

June 19 – 28, 2014
Boston Center for the Arts
Plaza Theatre
Boston, MA

Review by Kitty Drexel

Trigger warnings: Light smut, Feminism

(Boston) Der Vampyr is a decadently feminist adaptation of Marschner’s original. This new arrangement presented by OperaHub tackles the difficult truths of male entitlement, victim blaming and rape culture that all women face on a daily basis. If you, the reader, do not believe in gender equality, this opera is not for you. If you believe that rape culture is not a pervasive truth all women face, then this opera is not for you. It would be best if you pulled your fedora over your eyes and stopped reading this review now. Continue reading

Jun 23

He Who Watches the Watchers: PATTERN OF LIFE

Nael Nacer as Rahmat Lewis D. Wheeler as Carlo; Photo: Courtesy of New Repertory Theatre.

Handsome devils: Nael Nacer as Rahmat, Lewis D. Wheeler as Carlo; Photo courtesy of New Rep/BCAP Facebook page.

Presented by New Repertory Theatre and Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP)
By Walt McGough
Directed by Bridget Kathleen O’Leary

June 14 – 29, 2014
Boston University Theatre – Lane-Comley Studio 210
264 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA
New Rep on Facebook
BCAP on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) President Obama has received flak from all political sides for his decision to back govt.-sourced  drone proposals. It has been 5 years and 5 months since the CIA conducted the first strike during Obama’s term and he shortly thereafter ramped up the attacks in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. He went so far as to say that “he wrestle[s] with civilian casualties. But, he said, he has a solemn duty and responsibility to keep the American people safe. That’s my most important obligation as President and Commander-in-Chief. And there are individuals and groups out there that are intent on killing Americans — killing American civilians, killing American children, blowing up American planes.” (Huffington Post) While drone attacks have decreased once his numbers started suffering, attacks have not stopped entirely. Clearly, Obama “wrestles” with casualties enough to make a statement but not enough to discontinue drone use. Continue reading

Jun 23

2014/2015 Schedule of Admiral Kittypants Events

Mascot, Admiral Dudley T. Kittypants

Mascot, Admiral Dudley T. Kittypants

For Immediate Release – June 23, 2014

Cambridge, MA – New England Theatre Geek announces the next events for Admiral Kittypants: A Creative Coterie.

For more information, please contact: Kitty Drexel, Queen Geek at blognetheatregeek at gmail.com

 

Performers are encouraged to submit their monologues, sets, songs, solo, performance piece, etc. to blognetheatregeek@gmail.com for consideration. Kittypants is a creative community experiment that promises performers of all stripes and polka dots the opportunity to play with their art in a relaxed, safe space before performing it on the stage. Dramaturges, Directors, Music Directors, Composers, Choreographers, Stage Managers and the ilk interested in more information or in hosting an event should do the same.

Event dates:
July 20th, 2014, 11am-1pm – Including a reading of Trifles by Susan Glaspell (1916)
August 24th, 2014, 2pm – 4pm
Sept 21th, 2014, 1pm – 3pm
Oct. 19th, 2014 1pm – 3pm
Nov 23rd, 2014, 1pm – 3pm
Dec. 21nd, 2014, 1pm – 3pm
Jan. 25th, 2015, 1pm – 3pm
Feb. 22nd, 2015, 1pm – 3pm
March 22nd, 2015, 1pm – 3pm
April 26th, 2015, 1pm – 3pm
May 24th, 2015, 1pm – 3pm

All events held at the Democracy Center, Cambridge, MA
Suggested $5 donation to benefit The Democracy Center

Kittypants events will be held monthly and announced on www.newenglandtheatregeek.com and on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/AdmiralKittypantsFFA

Admiral Kittypants: A Creative Coterie is a creative community experiment that gives performers the opportunity to play with their art in a safe space before performing it on the stage. If it’s in moderate taste* and you want feedback, we can provide a constructive audience.

*Moderate Taste: Some, but not full, nudity; light cursing; stage combat and references to violence are acceptable; sexism, racism, and other -isms without warrant are strongly discouraged.

Jun 23

Light Operator Needed: June 25 – 29, “Melting in Madras” and “Monocular Man”

Monocular+ManMADRAS_200x200

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Overcoat Theater and MassMouth seek Light Op for Melting in Madras, and Monocular Man.

Lights person needed for a solo show double feature at the Factory Theatre in Boston this week. Lights are pretty basic: up/down, plus an optional set of simple cues. Performances Thurs-Sat June 26-28 at 7pm, Sun June 29 at 3pm, plus tech rehearsal probably Wed 6/25. $30 rehearsal/performance. Show is 1 hr 50 mins.

See http://www.theatermania.com/boston-theater/shows/melting-in-madras-monocular-man-double-feature_304092/

Condensed Details:
Light Op Needed, June 25 – 29, 2014
Factory Theatre, Boston MA
$30 per rehearsal/performance
For more information contact: christinewenc@gmail dot com

Jun 17

The Future is the Present and It’s Dystopian: READER

Photo found on the Flat Earth Facebook page.

Photo found on the Flat Earth Facebook page.

Presented by Flat Earth Theatre
By Ariel Dorfman
Directed by Jake Scaltreto

June 13 – 21, 2014
Arsenal Center for the Arts
Watertown, MA
Flat Earth on Facebook

Trigger Warning: Some light cursing, conservative politics, implied torture

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Watertown) If dystopian science fiction is any indication, our future is bleak. In the future, rich people are very rich and the poor are very poor. The politicians are corrupted,  we have no global resources, and the ecosystem has gone to pot. The good news is that there is always an hero to save us… eventually. The future sounds a lot like the present.

Not unlike Terry Gilliam’s 1985 film Brazil, Dorfman’s Reader is a story within a story set in a future where all potentially unpleasant emotional elements of life have been stripped away. Violence and sexiness are routinely scrubbed from all media sources. The government occupies all spaces. There is no true freedom of expression. Daniel (the handsome Robin Gabrielli) is a suave yet dirty government censor who discovers that the most recent novel to cross his desk parallels his own life. In this novel, Daniel is Don Alfonso an unscrupulous censor working on film scripts. He is rightly paranoid and begins a short-lived journey towards redemption. Continue reading

Jun 17

OperaHub Announces: DER VAMPYR

vampyrwebgraphic

OperaHub Announces June 2014 Show:

Heinrich Marschner’s

DER VAMPYR

in a new English-language adaptation
Boston’s “opera punks” say, “Bite me!”

Librettist: John J King
Stage Director: Christie Lee Gibson
Music Director: Lina Gonzalez

June 19 – June 26, 2014

FREE ADMISSION!
In the spirit of accessible opera for all, tickets are absolutely free, and may be reserved in advance online here!

 

BOSTON, MA – OperaHub broadens their ambitions with their June 2014 production: a new adaptation of Heinrich Marschner’s 1828 gothic opera DER VAMPYR. Though the work had its American premiere at the Boston Conservatory in 1980, it has not been seen in Boston since. Several companies around the world have produced it in recent years, including the American Symphony in Spring 2013 and the New Orleans Opera last fall. Hailed by the New York Times as a “gem of an opera,” it falls stylistically between Weber’s DER FREISCHUTZ and Wagner’s FLYING DUTCHMAN, with a thematic debt owed to Mozart’s DON GIOVANNI.

In the original version of DER VAMPYR, Lord Ruthven, the blood-sucker in question, has not been sucking his fair share of blood. The other vampires in his coven gather at the witches’ dance to charge him with taking three virgins by the end of the third day, or he will perish as a mortal. Tragedy ensues in the local village until the vampire is vanquished. Continue reading