Author Archives: Kitty Drexel

Jun 30

Revamped *Cough* Vampire Comedy for Modernity: DER VAMPYR

Posted on by

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

Posted on by
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

Posted on by
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”

Posted on by

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

Posted on by
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

Posted on by

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 →

Jun 16

Audience Interactive Hilarity: SHEAR MADNESS

Posted on by

Photo from Shear Madness website.

Presented by the Charles Playhouse
Written by Bruce Jordan and Marilyn Abrams
Based off a play Scherenschnitt. Written in 1963 by German writer and psychologist Paul Portner.

Ongoing performances, Tuesday – Sunday into perpetuity
Charles Playhouse Stage II
74 Warrenton Street
Boston, MA
Shear Madness on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) Shear Madness is Boston. It has townie jokes, tourist jokes, madcap physical comedy, classic one-liners and a whole lotta sass. It has a New England edge and universal appeal. It is the best show that most natives have never seen and it lives right next to the Blue Man Group. It’s hilarious and, even if you’ve seen it in the last few years, you should go again. Continue reading →

Jun 13

It’s Amazing What One Can Do with Some Time and Creativity

Posted on by

Article originally posted on Consumerist:

Guy Stuck Overnight In An Airport Makes Awesome “All By Myself” Music Video, All By Himself
By Mary Beth Quirk, June 11, 2014

What’s a solo traveler to do when you’re forced to spend the night in an empty airport, its waiting areas and carousels echoing with the resounding solitude that can only be found in such a place in the wee hours of the morning? Make a music video set to Celine Dion’s “All By Myself,” naturally.

A man waiting overnight in Las Vegas’ McCarran Airport found himself with a lot of time on his hands and Dion’s song in his heart.

So he used his smartphone, a wheelchair and a water bottle as his camera crew and spent the night making a music video, visiting various spots around the seemingly empty airport.

“I had a person behind a ticket counter give me a roll of luggage tape before she left,” he says on his Vimeo page. “I then used a wheelchair that had a tall pole on the back of it and taped my iPhone to that. Then I would put it on the moving walkway for a dolly shot.”

He made use of his computer bag’s extended handle, and would prop it up using different items to get the right angle for the shots. He also employed sweet moves of his own.

“For the escalator shot I had to sprint up the steps after I got my shot so the computer bag didn’t hit the top and fall back down.”

All by myself from Richard Dunn on Vimeo.

Awesome.

Jun 10

Securing the Myth-ing Link: GIDEON’S KNOT

Posted on by

Presented by Bridge Repertory Theater
By Johnna Adams
Directed by Karen MacDonald

June 5 – 22, 2014
the Boston Center for the Arts
Stanford Calderwood Pavilion
Boston, MA
Bridge Rep on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

Trigger Warnings: Graphic depiction of rape and violence, controversial and political arguments, full-body hugging

“Turn him to any cause of policy,
The Gordian Knot of it he will unloose,
Familiar as his garter”
(Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 1 Scene 1. 45–47)

(Boston) Alexander the Great is famous for marching through Asia and Africa in the name of Greece when he was 18 years old. He was a merciless conqueror and much of his work shaped the known BCE world. According to popular myth, in 333 BCE Alexander was shown a intricate knot in tying a chariot to a pole left by the sloppy founder of the city of Gordium. It was foretold that only the future ruler of Asia could untie the knot. Alexander, being the sensitive and thoughtful boy he wasn’t, instead hacked through the knot with his sword. Earlier versions of the myth imply Alexander first tries cunning to sort out the mess but eventually uses the pointy end of a sword to solve the riddle. These are the origins of the term “cutting the Gordian Knot.” It has come to mean using creative measures (cheating) in order to solve an convoluted problem. Continue reading →

Jun 09

Luminarium Dance Company’s 4th Anniversary Gala & Showcase

Posted on by

6adf36_bd73adbbb24f4cee9c87ab5cc31405b8.jpg_srz_p_255_382_75_22_0.50_1.20_0

Luminarium’s 4th ANNIVERSARY GALA & SHOWCASE
Come celebrate Luminarium’s 4th anniversary with drinks, hors d’oeuvres, desserts, and special performances!
Sunday . June 22 . 5–8pm
CENTER FOR ARTS AT THE ARMORY

Luminarium Dance Company is proud to announce its 4th Anniversary Gala & Showcase, celebrating four successful years in the Boston dance community. The evening will feature delicious foods from local establishments, speeches from collaborators and local art innovators, a silent auction, and exclusive 2014 Season announcements. Enjoy live performances of favorite Luminarium repertory, as well as footage and sneak peeks of the company’s latest works and projects. Don’t miss this chance to mingle with Luminarium’s Artistic Directors, dancers, and supporters, while taking in the beautiful Armory space (191 Highland Avenue, Somerville MA).

TICKETS
Tickets are now on sale!
This year there is a special “Young Professional” discounted ticket that’s only $20.
Advance purchase of tickets recommended. Available at door until capacity is reached.
Email tickets@luminariumdance.org or call 617.477.4494 with questions.

Please note: For this event, we are not taking reservations. In order to ensure your seat, please purchase your tickets in advance. Thank you!

Luminarium’s 2014 Season features the choreography of Merli V. Guerra and Kimberleigh A. Holman, with performers:
Rose Abramoff
Jess Chang
Melenie Diarbekirian
Elena Greenspan
Jessica Jacob
Amy Mastrangelo
Katie McGrail
Jennifer Roberts

1560676_781352011882227_1596665842_n