Oct 23

Not your Momma’s Mozart: “The Magic Flute”

Created by the Isango Ensemble
Adapted and Directed by Mark Dornford-May
Music Arrangement by Pauline Malefane and Mandisi Dyantyis
Based on the opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder
Presented by Eric Abraham and ArtsEmerson

October 21 – 26th
Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont street, Boston
ArtsEmerson on Facebook
Isango Ensemble on Facebook

Review by Danielle Rosvally

(Boston, MA) Dispense with any ideas you might have about corseted Victorian Opera when you walk into the Culter Majestic to see The Magic Flute. This modern (perhaps even post-modern) adaptation of a classic piece of canon receives energetic, vivacious, and absolutely infectious treatment from its cast of boundless performers. This is absolutely not your momma’s Mozart. Continue reading

Jun 16

Dancing Wilde(ly) with Boston Actors Theater

Photo from BAT facebook page

Presented by Boston Actors Theater
Adapted by Elizabeth DuPré and Nicole Howard
Directed and Choreographed by Danielle Lucas

Playing June 13th – June 28th
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
Boston, MA
BAT on Facebook

Review by Gillian Daniels

One of the very best and worst things about Oscar Wilde is that his reputation proceeds him. His piercing one-liners and scathing insults are quoted extensively in speeches, jokes, and birthday cards. Wilde’s private life is largely viewed as decadent, however factual that is. Because of this, it’s surprising that the fairy tales he wrote during his career, in sharp contrast to his perceived debauchery, are syrupy and Victorian. Boston Actors Theater attempts to marry the brevity and wit of Wilde’s legacy with the softer side of his stories for children and the result, while enthusiastic, is uneasy. Continue reading

Sep 26

“Immaterial Girl” as an Old-Fashioned Haunted House (Episode 1 of Blood Rose Rising)

Photo Credit: Honest Ghost Productions LLC

Episode 1 of Blood Rose Rising
presented by Honest Ghost Productions
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, starting September 14 – November 18
NAGA Nightclub, Central Square
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Blood Rose Rising Facebook Page

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Cambridge) A real gothic story isn’t about tragic romance, torture, or death, but houses. Houses with long histories and dark secrets. In the contemporary setting of Cambridge, Immaterial Girl offers the beginning to an old-fashioned gothic serial centered on the haunted Blackwood Manor. Continue reading