Author Archives: Kitty Drexel

Jan 14

A Dream Without a Plan Is Just A Wish: “The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar)”

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Yetunde Felix-Ukwu and Victoria Omoregie. Photo by Ken Yotsukura Photography.

Presented by Company One, a co-production with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
By Nia Akilah Robinson
Directed by Mina Morita
Dramaturgy by Sonia Fernandez

Jan 9 – Jan 31, 2026
The Modern Theatre at Suffolk University
525 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02111

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Approximate run time: 1 hour 30 minutes with no intermission.
Seating is general admission.
This play includes strong language and the use of flashing lights.

BOSTON — For theatre folks, nothing puts current events into perspective like a play. America feels like it’s on fire, but it always has been. The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar), now running at Suffolk University’s Modern Theatre through Jan. 31, shows us how to find joy with our loved ones during our darkest moments; times and practices may change, but people do not; and, we may not get the closure we want, we get the closure we get. If you need a short break from the news to redirect your intentions, check out Company One’s Pay-What-You-Want tickets.  Continue reading →

Jan 10

Love with A Bitter Core: The BLO & BSO’s “Vanessa”

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Photo credit: Winslow Townson, courtesy of the BSO

Presented by Boston Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with Boston Lyric Opera
Music by Samuel Barber 
Libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti
Conducted by Andris Nelsons
Staging coordination by Alexandra Dietrich
Tanglewood Festival Chorus: Betsy Burleigh, guest choral conductor
Boston Lyric Opera Chorus: Brett Hodgdon, chorus director

Boston Symphony Hall
Thursday, January 8, 2026 
Saturday, January 10, 2026
301 Massachusetts Avenue 
Boston, MA 02115
Online Playbill 

Sung in English with supertitles

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — This critique discusses the BLO & BSO concert production of Vanessa currently at Symphony Hall. As you read, please keep in mind several truths: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting Board, the private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress to steward the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting, voted to dissolve on January 5 after 58 years of American public service. 

The President and his Secretary of War (lol) illegally kidnapped the Venezuelan President and his wife for oil, and Instagram hits. 

A trained ICE mercenary murdered unarmed citizen Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota on January 7 when Good began driving her civilian vehicle away from an enforcement operation. 

These things are not normal. Life under these circumstances, whether you agree with the media’s portrayal of them or not, is not normal.

During these unprecedented times under fascism, the BLO and the BSO are commended for their elegant production of Barber and Menotti’s Vanessa, a 1958 Pulitzer Prize-winning opera by two gay men, one an Italian immigrant. It was composed at a time when it was unthinkable (and frequently illegal) to be out, and Italians weren’t entirely white. Vanessa was a necessary distraction from the impending fall of democracy. Continue reading →

Dec 24

An Opportunity to Tell the Truth or, Your Silence Will Not Protect You: “Is This A Room”

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The cast. Photo via Apollinaire Theatre Company.

Presented by Apollinaire Theatre Company
By Tina Satter
Based on the original FBI Verbatim transcript is HERE.  
Directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques
Scenic & Sound Design: Joseph Lark-Riley
Lighting Design: Danielle Fauteux Jacques
Stage Manager: Kaleb Perez-Albuerne
Assistant Stage Managers: Miguel Dominguez, Laura Hubbard
Featuring: Parker Jennings, Brooks Reeves, Cristhian Mancinas-Garcia, Bradley Belanger

Dec. 12, 2025-Jan. 11, 2026
Chelsea Theatre Works
189 Winnisimmet Street
Chelsea, MA 02150

Is This A Room on The Culture Show Podcast 

FBI Verbatim transcript is HERE.  

Approximately 75 minutes with no intermission. 

Content warning: Flashes of light, high tension, The Fed

Article by Kitty Drexel

“I sincerely apologize and take full responsibility for my actions. In particular, I want to apologize to my family.”  – Reality Winner to Chief U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall at her federal trial in Augusta, GA in 2017.

CHELSEA, Mass. — On June 3, 2017, Reality Winner, a linguist contractor for the National Security Agency, was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Augusta, Georgia, regarding her part in the leak of a classified document to The Intercept. Their conversation was recorded in accordance with FBI protocol. The leaked document was a classified report about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. 

On August 23 of that year, Winner was convicted and sentenced to five years and three months in a federal prison under the Espionage Act of 1917. At the time, it was the longest federal prison sentence ever imposed for classified leaks to the news media.  Continue reading →

Dec 16

He’s a Bollocks, but He’s Our Bollocks: “An Irish Christmas”

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Photos by Nile Scott Studios. This cast & crew photo would make an excellent holiday card.

A New England Premiere!
Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
By Matthew Keenan
Directed by Weylin Symes
Dialect coaching by Lee Nishri-Howitt 
Featuring Alex Deroo, Alex M. Jacobs, Chris Kandra, Julia Hertzberg, Alex Leondedis, Ross MacDonald, Paul Valley, Richard Snee, and Robert Walsh
With rotating walk-on appearances by Eleanor Colleran, Phoebe Jacobs, Gilda Fitzpatrick, and Anya Flores
Musicians: Lindsay Straw with rotating collaborators: fiddlers Cara Frankowicz and Clare Fraser, and accordionist Dan Accardi.

December 5-21, 2025
GBSC Main Stage
395 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180
Online playbill

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Advisory: Colorful language and discussions of death.

STONEHAM, Mass. — ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the pub/ Some regulars (Ross MacDonald and Paul Valley) were drinking despite the grievances of its Scroogey schlub (a stern Robert Walsh who gives the role of David hidden depths). The bar and toilets were stocked by tender Bartek (a stalwart Alex Deroo) with care/While rosy-cheeked Frank (Richard Snee) hoped that sobriety would ne’er be there. Simon (Alex Leondedis) and Anna (Julia Hertzberg) bundled up in their coats/Had sincere glad tidings stuck in their throats. While all dreamed of gifts from ole Saint Nick/David chased them off by being a dick. With the arrival of Michael (Alex M Jacobs), blood brother and friend/David looked up from his accounting book and brought the jolliness to an end.

 “Now, Simon, Now Michael! Now, Frank and Jim! Now, Julia! Now, Bartek! Get away with that din!” The owner chased them out the bar/He chased them all out. 

So David was left to suffer alone for eternity/We’ve no doubt.    Continue reading →

Dec 15

Champing at too many bits: “Horseplay (Played by Medusa the Horse)”

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Presented by Fork & Shoe Theatre Cooperative
Written and directed by Charlie Snow
Scenic and lighting design by Isaac Zerkle
Choreography by J Cramer
Musical direction by Elise Brown
Costume design by E. Rosser
Puppetry design by Nick Chieffo
Featuring: Caleb Palmer, Mabel White, Tiffany Santiago, Robert Thorpe II, Cara Clough, Sophie Pels, Michael J Blunt

December 11 – 14, 2025
BCA Plaza Theatres
539 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116

Review by Maegan Clearwood

BOSTON — In spite of all its weirdness, the world of Horseplay (Played by Medusa the Horse) isn’t very different from our own. Animals talk and pickles are an illicit substance, but in the offices of equine billionaire CEO Medusa Maria Groucho Martini the 10th, the capitalist machine churns along as unfeelingly as ever.

At the machine’s mercy is Julie Fern the Unpaid Intern (an appropriately frenetic Mable White). Practical, well-educated, and constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Julie has eight other jobs, but this time, she thinks, maybe this time, she will finally unlock the secrets of adulthood. Continue reading →

Dec 12

The bells are ringing out for Christmas day: “A Celtic Christmas” by A Taste of Ireland

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A Celtic Christmas cast photo by A Taste of Ireland.

Presented by Pace Live: A Taste of Ireland
Dancers on Dec. 11, 2025, 7 PM:
Principal Dancers – Brittany Pymm, Gavin Shevlin
Soloists – Cian Walsh
Understudies – Meagan Urbanek, Isaac Loxley
Ensemble members – Fiona Shanley, Natalie Wagner, Jess Miller, Catilin Ward, Colleen McCarthy, Hannah Cunniffe, Dillon D’Amore, Michael Roberson, Enda Keane, Ciaran Bagley
Band:
Megan McGinley – Fiddle
Joel Libed – Vocalist
Aaron O’Grady – Guitarist
Simon Lace – Guitarist/Banjo

Dec. 2-14, 2025
Boston Center for the Arts
Calderwood Pavilion
527 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Kitty Drexel

2 hours with one intermission

BOSTON — A Taste of Ireland presents a pepperminty-fresh holiday Irish dance concert, A Celtic Christmas, now at the Boston Center for the Arts. It’s a perfect treat for the avid dancer enthusiast and hobbyist alike. Tickets are available for this touring production’s Boston stop through Dec. 14.

Direct from its Off-Broadway season, A Taste of Ireland brings A Celtic Christmas to Boston for the first time. It features Irish dance competition champions and stars from Lord of the Dance and Riverdance. Frankly, the stamina, flexibility and athleticism of these dancers is remarkable. These performers dance for two hours with only the briefest of pauses for costume changes with a live band that meets them halfway. While the show’s loose plot relies heavily on hetero-normative gender roles to push its narrative, the dancers’ impressive skill is a heartbeat keeping the audience focused on the stage. Even if Irish dance isn’t your idea of fun, one can’t deny how impressive their artistic labor is.   Continue reading →

Dec 02

Have Yourself A Horny ‘Lil Christmas: “Sweeney Claus: The Demon Father of Sleet Street”

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Photo by Michael von Redlich. Ryan Landry as Mrs. Leaveit and Thain Bertin as Sweeney

Presented by the Gold Dust Orphans
Written by Ryan Landry
Directed by Kiki Samko
Choreography by Hallie Nowicki
Music Direction and Arrangement by Tad McKitterick
Sets & Costumes by Scott Martino
Lights by Matthew Brian Cost
Props by Ryan Landry and Gina Carmela
Sound by Ryan Landry & Tad McKitterick
Spotlight Operation by Keith DeSutter
Wigs by Shaun O’Connor
Production Assistance by Clare Strickland and Clare Newman
Featuring: Ryan Landry, Thain Bertin, T Perry, Mary Mahoney, Tim Lawton, Kiki Samko, Scott Martino, Gina Carmela, Sarah Jones, Tad McKitterick, Lizette Morris, Dominika Zawada, Joey Pelletier, Hallie Nowicki, Marilyn Wilson, Simon Huynh, James Brooks Jr., Phaedra Ferrini, Lara Williams.

November 29 – December 21, 2025
The Iron Wolf Theatre
South Boston Lithuanian Citizens Association
368 West Broadway, 3rd Floor
South Boston, MA 02127

Critique by Kitty Drexel

UPDATE 12/02/2025:  Ensemble member Lara Williams was improperly credited in a previous draft. Her name is now correct. 

SOUTH BOSTON — December has arrived and so has this year’s Gold Dust Orphans Christmas panto parody, Sweeney Claus: The Demon Father of Sleet Street by Ryan Landry. It’s a rollicking good time! Get your tickets before they sell out. 

Sweeney Claus marries the Sondheim and Wheeler musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street to Christmas capitalism via the Gold Dust Orphan panto tradition. It follows the essential plotlines of the Sondheim classic with some deviations. Dasher (Thain Bertin) is a disillusioned sea captain who lands in Scituate, Massachusetts, to set up his barber shop and search for his lost wife and daughter. Dasher finds himself in the spare room at Mrs. Leaveit’s (Landry, giving the people what they want by occasionally showing some leg) bakery. They concoct a plot with an aptly named sailor, Semen (T Perry), to rescue Dasher’s daughter, Johanna (Mary Mahoney). Continue reading →

Nov 26

The Horrors Persist and So Do They: 8th Annual Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show

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Photo credit Santiago Felipe.

Presented by BenDeLaCreme
Created by BenDeLaCreme & Jinkx Monsoon
Written and directed by BenDeLaCreme 
With additional writing by Jinkx Monsoon
Choreographed by Chloe Albin
Original compositions by Major Scales
Lyrics by BenDeLaCreme, Jinkx Monsoon & Major Scales
Featuring: Chloe Albin, Isaiah Brooks, Jace Gonzalez, Jim Kent, Ruby Mimosa, Derrick Paris, and Gus Lanza as “Hunky the Elf”

November 22, 2025
Wang Theater
270 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02116

Review by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — It’s nearly Thanksgiving, and the Winter Solstice is a little over a month away. You know what that means. It’s time to gird your chestnuts and deck your lover’s halls because Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme are touring their 8th annual Holiday Show across the U.S.! This year, they brought their strange, jolly, and unusual stage shenanigans to Boston’s Wang Theater stage in the most titillating way possible: through the horror anthology, The Gingerbread House of Horrors!  Continue reading →

Nov 19

No Ghosts Need Apply: “A Sherlock Carol”

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The cast; Photo by Nile Hawer.

Presented by the Lyric Stage Boston
By Mark Shanahan
Directed by Ilyse Robbins

Nov. 14 – Dec. 21, 2025
140 Clarendon St
2nd floor
Boston, MA 02116
Online Playbill

Running Time: Two hours plus one 15-minute intermission.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — A Sherlock Carol at Lyric Stage Boston is a Doyle and Dickens delight that mashes the beloved characters from both Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series in one gleeful package. This mashup is a needed departure from an overdone but beloved holiday tradition that will amuse Dickens fans, please Doyle fans, and introduce the children of both to classic literature in a new format. It runs through Dec. 21. Continue reading →

Nov 18

Tickets, Please: “the beautiful land i seek (la linda tierra que busco yo)”

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Photo scavenged from online.

Presented by Teatro Chelsea
by Matthew Barbot
Directed by Armando Rivera
Associate Director – Luz Lopez
Fight direction – Naomi Kim

October 31- November 22, 2025
Chelsea Theatre Works Blackbox
181 Winnisimmet Street
Chelsea, MA

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Estimated Runtime: 95min w/ no intermission

“Cuando a sus playas llegó Colón;
Exclamó lleno de admiración;
‘Oh!, oh!, oh!, esta es la linda
tierra que busco yo.’”
“When at her beaches Columbus arrived,
he exclaimed full of admiration:
‘Oh! Oh! Oh!
This is the beautiful land, that I seek.’”

– Taken from “La Borinqueña.” Lyrics by Manuel Fernández Juncos (1846-1928). Translation by Samuel Quiros. 

CHELSEA, Mass. —  The title of Matthew Barbot’s play, the beautiful land i seek (la linda tierra que busco yo), is derived from the lyrics of Puerto Rico’s national anthem, “La Borinqueña.” Parts Waiting for Godot and Snowpiercer (2013), the production asks what failed Puerto Rican nationalist assassins Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola would think of the United States’ appropriation of Puerto Rican culture through the decades. Was their sacrifice worth it? Who has taken up the mantle of independence since the event of their activism? Teatro Chelsea’s production is now running at Chelsea Theatre Works through November 22.

It’s 1950. Members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, Oscar Collazo (Carlos Zalduondo) and Griselio Torresola (Nathaniel Justiniano), travel by train from New York to Washington, D.C. Their mission: to assassinate President Harry S. Truman (Alexander Crespo Rosaro II) in the name of Puerto Rican independence. They have two pistols and a conspiratorial Can-Do attitude. They intend to use their train trip to solidify their plans, but their fellow travelers (Ashley L. Aldarondo) keep interrupting Oscar and Griselio’s trip. Teatro Chelsea’s website says this play is “Loosely based on historical events and definitely based on recent ones, the beautiful land i seek (la linda tierra que busco yo) is a funny, gripping rollercoaster ride through Puerto Rico’s relationship to the United States.” Director Rivera plays a poet with one foot in the future and the other in the present.  Continue reading →