Author Archives: Kitty Drexel

Jul 29

Of Two Minds: PSYCHO BEACH PARTY

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1077436_10151973249680101_1438822466_oPresented by Happy Medium Theatre Co. with Heart & Dagger Productions
by Charles Busch
Directed by Barbara DiGirolamo

July 25 – August 3, 2013
The Factory Theatre
Boston, MA
Happy Medium Theatre Co Facebook Page
Heart and Dagger Productions Facebook Page
Charles Busch Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

“Psycho Beach Party is an affectionate homage to the beach party movies of the ’60s and Gidget as well as a spoof of psychological suspense films.  By that I mean movies such as Hitchcock’s Marnie and Spellbound, or The Three Faces of Eve and The Snake Pit: films where someone has a deep-rooted neurosis and after five minutes of hypnosis a childhood trauma is revealed and the patient is well enough to buy a house in the suburbs and live happily after.  Oh, I love them all.”    – Charles Busch

(Boston) Adults of a certain age may recall Psycho Beach Party (2000) as a movie staring Buffy the Vampire Slayer heartthrob Nicholas Brendon as Star Cat. The movie also featured Lauren Ambrose as Chicklet and playwright Charles Busch as the sexy Captain Monica Stark (the movie was rewritten to give Mr. Busch a role as he had aged out of his original role as Chicklet). It is an homage to the swinging beach party movies of the 60’s and incorporates the quick and dirty psychology of an Hollywood-type gimmick to redeem the unladylike antics of a female lead. Alas, things have not changed too much for women in 50 years. Ladies still aren’t of conventional value to the public unless they can fill out a top and outwit a room full of boys. In that order. Continue reading →

Jul 21

Beyond The Curtain of Fear: B.U.M.P. at Improv Boston

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Art courtesy of B.U.M.P. FB Page

Presented by Improv Boston
Managed by Ministry of Theater
Directed by Bryan Dunn
Produced by Pablo Rojas

June 28th – August 2nd, Fridays at 10pm
Improv Boston Mainstage Cambridge, MA
B.U.M.P. Facebook Page

Ensemble: Brian Agosta, Autumn Gillete, Corey O’Rourke, Sophie Shrand, Tim Stonelake, Christina Toohey, Marissa Wakuna, Misch Whitaker

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Cambridge) Boston’s Unscripted Musical Project at Improv Boston (formerly at Improv Asylum) is a good time. There’s cold beer and other beverages in the lobby. The seats are comfortable in the intimate mainstage theater. The cast will have you figuratively laughing your ass off in the first 10 minutes of the show. For these reasons and many more, B.U.M.P. is great – but it’s not for everyone. Continue reading →

Jul 19

Strung Together with Friends and Family: THE SHAKESPEAREAN JAZZ SHOW

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Photo Credit: Tripp Clemens

Presented by ArtsEmerson
“Conceiver”, Director – Alex Ates
Composer, Musical Director: Patrick Greeley
Puppeteers – Christina Kuchan, Orrin Whalen
Created by Alex Ates & Patrick Greeley

The Shakespearean Jazz Show is a Boston-born project created by young artists from Emerson College and Berklee College of Music.

July 18 & 19, 2013 at 8pm
Paramount Center Mainstage
Boston, MA
ArtsEmerson Facebook Page
Berklee College of Music Facebook Page
The Nine Worthies band Tumblr

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) There is so much potential for greatness in The Shakespearean Jazz Show that it’s truly tragic that it falls so far from its mark. Patrick Greeley writes some damn fine music; the Nine Worthies are a great band (I’m looking at you Jamila Dunham); the vocalists are quite sincere, the shadow puppets are very clever… But these separate elements do not make art on their own. They must be strung together. The talented members of Jazz Show did not make this happen. Continue reading →

Jul 16

Compassion, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

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Photo by Na Eun Park, nabbed from https://www.facebook.com/HedwigOnStage

Produced by Rose Tinted Productions
Presented by Oberon, A.R.T.
By John Cameron Mitchell
Score by Stephen Trask
Directed by Ben Skinner

July 14, 2013
Club Oberon
Cambridge, MA

July 16, 8:30 PM > 10:00
Outside The Box Festival
Boston Common: Spiegeltent at Tremont Street
Boston, MA
Hedwig on Facebook

“Honey, if you can’t love yourself, how the hell you gonna love someone else?…..Can I get an amen?”
– RuPaul
RuPaul’s Drag Race, seasons 1 – Eternity

(Cambridge) It is difficult to come up with something new to say about Hedwig and her angry inch. It’s an amazing show with brilliant music. It’s easy to do well as long as the leading lady gives herself freely to her audience and the art. Even bad performances can be good so long as the performers remain sincere. Rose Tinted Productions’ version of Hedwige and the Angry Inch sits somewhere in the middle – it’s not mediocre but it isn’t revolutionary either. The cast, band and crew are dedicated to Hedwig’s story. That’s more than enough reason to attend. Continue reading →

Jul 15

The Theory of Everything Explained: “Supergravity and the Eleventh Dimension”

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Photo Credit: Paul Cantillon, LIDEC Photo

Presented by Vagabond Theatre Group
By Heather Houston
Directed by James Peter Sotis

July 11 – 20, 2013
The Factory Theatre
Boston, MA
Vagabond Theatre Group Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) Einstein’s Law of Thermodynamics states that “energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.” This quote from a beloved theoretical physicist describes the natural state of constant flux in the world around us. This quote is often bastardized by Religion* to explain the existence of God, a Super-creator from whence all the energy of life flows. God must exist, they paraphrase, because the energy to create the universe must have come from somewhere… It must have come from God! Ladies and Gentlemen, God and Science can sit at the same table but this isn’t the room they sit in. Continue reading →

Jul 11

Theatre@First Presents “Picasso at the Lapin Agile”

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Bare Bones 11: Picasso at the Lupin Agile

Presented by Theatre@First

ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Thursday, July 25th at 8pm
Picasso at the Lapin Agile will be presented at Unity Somerville, 6 William Street, Somerville, MA 02144
Suggested Donation $5 – General Admission – No reservations required

About the Play:
Written by Steve Martin and directed by Santiago Rivas

What if the greatest scientific mind of the 20th century met the greatest artist at a bar in Paris before they became famous? Picasso at the Lapin Agile is a comic drama about a meeting of the minds as this hypothetical question is answered. In a Parisian bar in 1904, Albert Einstein is introduced to Pablo Picasso. They, along with the local patrons, discuss the creativity process in their respective roles in science and art. With brushstrokes and equations, a bond between the icons is forged as they approached the new century.

Cast

Michael DeFillippi playing Freddy
Jason Merrill playing Gaston/Sagot/Charles Dabernow Schmendiman/Visitor
Kitty Drexel playing Germaine
Daniel Gonzalez playing Albert Einstein
Andrea Aptecker playing Suzanne/Countess/Admirer
Carlos Nogueras playing Pablo Picasso

Bare Bones: Staged Readings at Theatre@First offers directors, casts and audiences the chance to explore a wide variety of plays in a spare, intense setting.

Jul 09

You Only Live Twice!

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Photo care of Vaquero Playground

You Only Live Twice!

Summer heat too much for you?  Cool your heels with us in #DENMARK – back for ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Wednesday, July 17th 9pm
Boston Common Spiegeltent
FREE

Vaquero Playground is pleased to bring you a One-Nite-Only reprise of DENMARK as part of the Outside The Box Festival, a fab arts fest happening on and around the Boston Common.

And you know what?  It’s all FREE.

Check out the kick ass trailer, re-vamped for summer.

And don’t forget to check out the full schedule of events at the festival such as:
Danny Bryck’s No Room for Wishing
Puppet Showplace Theatre
Liars & Believers’ ICARUS
Awesome poets and performers of ARTiculation
Mary Bichner (who’s Much Ado About Skyfall featured on our compilation CD for DENMARK!)

The fest runs July 13 – 21 and there’s a whole lot of great stuff, all of it FREE.  Be sure to check it out!

You can still purchase the FDWL ALBUM or DenmART on the V.P. website – all created by local artists and all proceeds go right back to them!

Jul 08

Free Shakespeare in the Park: “Two Gentlemen of Verona”

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http://www.commshakes.org/system/storage/222/65/a/640/2_gents_website.jpg

Music Director, Colin Thurmond
Set Designer, Beowulf Boritt
Sound Designer, J. Hagenbuckle
Lighting Designer, Eric Southern
Costume Designer, Nancy Leary

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Main Page, Facebook Page
Boston Common venue
Comm Shakes FAQ page

“Two Gents” tells the tale of two friends who leave their hometown of Verona to find their happy fortunes in Milan. Instead, they find temptation, trickery, and trouble as they vie for favor with the high-society Duke… and his debutante daughter. All are drawn into a web of disguise and secrecy where the last thing anyone wants is for the truth to surface — least of all the dog.

Inspired by Rat Pack-era Vegas — the glamor, the hedonism, and the morning after agonies — the production brings new meaning to the line “what happens in Milan, stays in Milan…”

SPECIAL PERFORMANCES AND EVENTS:
JULY 18TH: AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE
JULY 21ST: ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE
JULY 26TH: “FAMILY DAY” AND “FREE FUN FRIDAY”
JULY 27TH @ 2PM: ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE

Jul 03

New England Theatre Geek Wants to Play with You! (You Heard Me)

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keep-calm-and-admiral-your-kittypants-75In an effort to serve the community Queen Geek, Kitty Drexel, is starting a creative coterie for Cambridge-area artists. Starting in September 2013, a monthly meeting will be held in order that artists may play with their respective art in a safe environment for the purpose of practice, performance and constructive critique. Artists of all stripes can email Kitty at blognetheatregeek at gmail dot com for more information.

Mission Statement:
Admiral Kittypants: Full, Frontal Artistry 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.

Mark your calendars for September 2013.
The meeting will occur on a Sunday between 2:30PM and 5:30PM. Those interested in attending should email the Queen for an RSVP.

Piano/Accompanist Needed:
Admiral Kittypants is looking for an electric piano and/or an experienced accompanist to join Admiral Kittypants: Full, Frontal Artistry as an artist and critique cohort. We are looking for one, the other or (preferably) both. Interested parties should contact  blognetheatregeek at gmail dot com with summer/fall Sunday availability, and hourly rate.

Please put “Full, Frontal Piano” in the subject line. Leads are welcome and encouraged.

More information about “Admiral Kittypants” can be found on Facebook.

Logo/Mascot by the marvelous Kezi

Logo/Mascot by the marvelous Kezi

*Moderate Taste: Some, but not full, nudity; light cursing; no actual violence but stage combat and references to violence are ok; sexism, racism, and other -isms without warrant are strongly discouraged – potentially with a baseball bat.