May 14

Theatre is where my heart is.

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VID00453

ONLY 6 DAYS & 8 HOURS LEFT.  WILL YOU HELP? (as of 7pm EST 5/14/2013)

by Becca Kidwell

The idea for Swiftly Tilting Theatre Project came out of my deep need and love of theatre, which I want to share with everyone.  I forgot when I started the kickstarter that this didn’t mean demanding more from those who have more or not giving to those who have less.

Everything good and right in my life has happened when I have been honest and true.  That doesn’t change because it is “business,” IF WE’RE GOING TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN, WE’RE DOING THIS TOGETHER! Continue reading →

May 14

“Mad Men” Set to Song and Dance: ON THE TOWN

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Photo by Mark S. Howard

Presented by Lyric Stage Company of Boston

Book and lyrics by Betty Comden & Adolph Green
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Based on an idea by Jerome Robbins
Directed by Spiro Veloudos
Music direction by Jonathan Goldberg
(kick-ass) Choreography & musical staging by Ilyse Robbins

May 10 – June 8, 2013
The Lyric Stage
Boston, MA
Lyric Stage Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) On the Town is a sweet little musical about what happens when three horny US Navy men seeking adventure visit NYC for 24 hours. As the plot thickens, they meet their equally horny female counterparts, do some healthy snogging, see some sights and return to duty. It’s mostly romantic. The  Lyric Stage delicately wraps these adult themes in saccharine sweet nostalgia, excellent choreography and Bernstein’s music. Although this could be for mature audiences only, it is presented as tasteful family-friendly material. Continue reading →

May 13

A Movement in Technicolor: IN THE HEIGHTS

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Photo: Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo

Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company
Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Book by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Directed by Paul Daigneault
Music directed by Nicholas James Connell
Choreography by Larry Sousa

Boston Center for the Arts
South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
Boston, MA
Speakeasy Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) In the Heights tackles heavy subjects such as endemic poverty, Immigration Reform, affordable education and racial stereotype with canny artistic expression. This community in Washington Heights might be needy but they are not poor. They are proud, hardworking and passionate people who strive for a better life. Just like you and me.

This music incorporates traditional Latin dance with Rap, Hiphop, and Flow poetry, among many others. The dancing looks like it is straight from America’s Best Dance Crew. The ensemble dance scenes are electric and justifiably make the show the stand-out production that it is. The cast adapts to the different styles and each other with such ease it’s as if they studied at the same school. Continue reading →

May 13

Normal Adolescent Madness: PUNK ROCK

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Photo by Jeff Adelberg

Presented by Zeitgeist Stage Company
by Simon Stephens
Directed by David J. Miller

At Plaza Black Box
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
May 3rd – May 25th, 2013
Zeitgeist Facebook Page

Review by Craig Idlebrook

There is nowhere for the audience to escape from the horrors of adolescence in Zeitgeist Stage Company’s production of Punk Rock, playing at the Black Box Theatre.  We can only recognize our own cruelties, failures and flailings as a group of high schoolers try to make some sense of their universe.  This kind of play would drive me to drink if it weren’t drawn so brightly and crisply, thanks to a fearless cast which doesn’t shy away from the awkward intimacy. Continue reading →

May 12

We’re All Seagulls Here: THE NINA VARIATIONS

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We're all seagulls here. All the best people are.

We’re all seagulls here. All the best people are. Photo courtesy of Brown Bos Theatre Project Facebook Page.

Presented by Brown Box Theatre Project
by Stephen Dietz
Directed by Kyler Taustin

Davis Square Theatre
Somerville, MA
May 9-12 & 16-19, 2013

Ocean City Center for the Arts
502 94th St
Ocean City, MD
Maryland: June 8-11
Brown Box Theatre Project Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

The Nina Variations is a strange little nugget of show presented for the approval of Anton Chekhov devotees. The plot re-imagines the last scene of The Seagull 42 different ways. It manifests on stage all possible and impossible permutations of the final scene. Three different actresses playing Nina and one actor as Boris Trigorin examine all aspects of the couple’s “love story” (Is this how people in love treat each other? Really? Ok, fine.). The result is a live fanfiction demonstration wrapped in a buttery layer of honed acting technique. Continue reading →

May 10

“Little” Bianca

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A special thanks to our Queen Geek for allowing me to use a photo of her

A special thanks to our Queen Geek for allowing me to use a photo of her

TO HELP THESE IDEAS GET PLAYED OUT, PLEASE SUPPORT SWIFTLY TILTING THEATRE PROJECT’S KICKSTARTER–ONLY 10 DAYS LEFT!!! 5/10/2013.

SWIFTLY TILTING THEATRE PROJECT’S Website
SWIFTLY TILTING THEATRE PROJECT’S Facebook Page

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW by William Shakespeare, JANUARY 9-19
The Chain Theatre, 21-28 45th Road, Long Island City, NY

IPHIGENIA AT AULIS by Euripides, April 2014
Poco Theatre at The Secret Theatre, 4402 23rd St, Long Island City, NY

In the clamor of Katerina’s shouts, Bianca is often looked at as a passive, secondary character.  Often dismissed as quiet and innocent, we neglect to see her cleverness and cunning.

Continue reading →

May 10

Sexy: Shaken, Not Stirred

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Velkommen to Denmark!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have landed in Denmark.  To your left you will see Elsinore Castle. To your right is the MI6 Headquarters.  Enjoy your stay!

From Denmark With Love opens tonight!
We hope to see you this weekend or sometime soon.
In the meantime:
Check out a preview article about us in the Boston Metro!
Check out the same on WBUR!
Get your copy of THE ALBUM: 11 original James Bond theme songs by local Boston Bands! (SHAMELESS PLUG: featuring Queen Geek Kitty Drexel)

TICKETS ON SALE http://www.vaqueroplayground.com/

by John J King
Directed by Barlow Adamson
Starring: Daniel Jones, Bridgette Hayes, Janelle Mills, Chelsea Schmidt, Bob Mussett, Terrence Patrick Haddad, and Brett Milanowski

May 07

Bleak Travels Through “Hamlet Asylum”

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Presented by The Calliope Project

May 3, 4, 10, and 11th at 8PM
Green Street Studios Theatre
185 Green St
Cambridge MA
The Calliope Project Facebook Page

Review by the lovely Gillian Daniels

**EXPLICIT CONTENT INCLUDING RAPE AND VIOLENCE**

Some contemporary productions of Hamlet play with the ambiguity of the Prince of Denmark’s sanity.  Is he seeking justice or satisfying a personal vendetta with the logic of a “ghost” to back him up, “mad north-north-west” or just vengeful?  In Hamlet Asylum, this ambiguity is dismissed.  Most of the play clearly takes place in the head of Bryan Bernfield’s Hamlet.  A masked Greek chorus (Meghan Kelly, Amiel Bowers, and Samuel Guerin) speak in the voice of his father, his confidant Horatio, the gravediggers, and others, all in the guise of Hamlet’s repressed desires.   It’s a clever idea.  The result, though,
is a production both rich with symbols and dark with melodrama. Continue reading →

May 06

Struggling with Genius: AMADEUS

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Photo: Andrew Brilliant / Brilliant Pictures

Presented by New Repertory Theatre
A play with music by Peter Shaffer
Directed by Jim Petosa

Arsenal Center for the Arts
Watertown, MA
April 28th – May 19th, 2013
New Rep Facebook Page

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Watertown) The story goes that an earnest young monk once asked a Zen master to describe the immaculate nature of the Buddha.  The Zen Master, most likely with an insufferable grin on his face, pointed to a pile of dung.

This sums up the life of Antonio Salieri (Benjamin Evett) in the spirited production of Amadeus being staged at the Arsenal Center for the Arts.  Salieri, an accomplished composer who writes operas for Hapsburg monarchs, dedicates his life to capture the music of God.  Instead, he discovers his own private dung heap in the form of a foul-mouthed former child prodigy named Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tim Spears).  Salieri is crushed to learn that Mozart, a drunk, womanizing jerk, has a much clearer channel to God’s radio station and can compose the most beautiful music the world has ever known, even while playing billiards.  It drives the devout Italian composer to lose both his faith and his scruples. Continue reading →

May 06

Dancing with Sergent Garcia and the Devil

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Presented by World Music/CRASHarts

Thursday, May 2, 7:30 PM
Johnny D’s
17 Holland St Davis Square
Somerville, 02144
World Music/CRASHarts Facebook Page

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Somerville) “Let’s dance the dance of the Devil! One step forward and two step backward!” said Bruno “Sergent” Garcia through his thick French accent. It was right in middle of his performance at Johnny D’s this past Thursday and the audience, including the couples who had gotten up to dance, responded with a cheer. Then the Sergent and the Cumbiamuffin All Stars launched into their next, Caribbean, Afro-Columbian tinged
song. Continue reading →