Feb 09

LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO: Sunday, February 11, 3pm

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Boston, MA — World Music/CRASHarts presents Ladysmith Black Mambazo on Sunday, February 11, 3pm at Sanders Theater, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge. Tickets are $48, $37, $32, and $28, reserved seating. For tickets and information call World Music/CRASHarts at (617) 876-4275 or buy online at www.WorldMusic.org.
(Cambridge, MA) With the power of gospel and the precision of Broadway, Ladysmith Black Mambazo is the undisputed king of mbube, South African a cappella singing. The group came together in the early 1960s and continues to thrill audiences around the world with its strong, proud melodies harmonized in layers of call and response.

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Feb 08

Rooted and Roots-less: “KNYUM”

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Photo by Meghan Moore.

 

Presented by Merrimack Repertory Theatre
Written by Vichet Chum
Directed by KJ Sanchez

Venue: 50 East Merrimack Street
Lowell, MA
January 10 – February 4, 2018
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Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Lowell, MA) We owe our individual existences to thousands of coincidences in history, but our identities are forged through careful curation. Many find their identities come preformed for them, whether
they like it or not, but some, like second-generation immigrants, must sort early in life through
conflicting information and cultural influences to find who they are. Continue reading →

Feb 08

Flighty “Die Fledermaus” Wobbles But Lands

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FPresented by The Harvard College Opera
Composed by Johann Strauss II
Libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée
Music Directed by Sasha Yakub
Stage Directed by Mitch Polonsky

Agassiz Theater
Cambridge, MA
Jan 31 – Feb 4
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Review by Gillian Daniels

(Cambridge, MA) The Harvard College Opera succeeds in creating a production of Die Fledermaus with the boozy haze that one would associate with a show that sings a tribute to champagne, dubbed “the king of wines!” How else would a woman, Rosalinde (Veronica Richer, a marvelous soprano), successfully disguise herself from her husband, Eisenstein (Ethan Craigo), with a flimsy mask? Why else would an innocent man, Alfred (the charming Samuel Rosner), happily go to prison instead of the husband of his beloved? The logic of this operetta is certainly rooted in the logic of being pleasantly drunk. It’s only when the show becomes more interested in its sensibility than its story, like someone drinking under the impression he’s far funnier and balanced than he thinks he is, that it begins to wobble. Continue reading →

Jan 30

“In the Eruptive Mode”: A Woman Can’t Live on Poetry

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Presented by ArtsEmerson
Written and directed by Sulayman Al-Bassam
Sulayman Al-Bassam Theatre (SABAB Theatre)

Emerson Paramount Center
Boston, MA
Jan 24-28, 2018
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Review by Polly Goss

(Boston, MA) In the Eruptive Mode is a quasi-feminist collection of monologues that tells a disjointed tale of suffering, hopes and personal struggle, set against the backdrop of the Arab Spring. The six monologues span a range of characters from a pragmatic prostitute unwillingly caught in a revolution, to a surreal American business woman pitching the next heir to an Arab throne to foreign investors. Hala Omran and Catherine Gowl give energetic and passionate performances that add vitality to Al-Bassam’s often intangible writing. In the Eruptive Mode, as the title suggests, is not a fully formed play. The script spills out unconstrained and oftentimes unintelligible and whilst there are bursts of poetry throughout, the piece overall felt flimsy and confusing. Continue reading →

Jan 29

Justice for Jerrod and Regina: “Hype Man”

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Presented by Company One Theatre
By Idris Goodwin
Directed by Shawn LaCount
Music direction & beat making by Kadahj Bennett
Dramaturgy by Jessie Baxter, Tatiana Isabel Gil
Choreography by Misha Shields

Jan 26 – Feb 24, 2018
Boston Center for the Arts
Plaza Theatre
Boston, MA
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Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) The prep work done for Hype Man is intensely impressive. From the dramaturgy work by Baxter and Gil, beat making staging/choreography performed in chorus with the sound engineering by Debra Marcus, the combined efforts of the cast and crew of are not to be taken lightly. A lot of it looks deceptively simple. It isn’t. That it does speaks greatly of the craft hours that went into this production. Continue reading →

Jan 26

Caregiver Vents and Mourns in “Mala”

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Presented by Huntington Theatre Company and ArtsEmerson
Written and performed by Melinda Lopez
Directed by David Dower

Jan. 6 – Feb. 4, 2018
Calderwood Pavilion
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Boston, MA) “Dying doesn’t make you wise,” says Melinda Lopez, describing the death of her tough, stubborn mother. “Dying doesn’t make you generous.” The words could serve as the thesis of Mala, a story of a loyal daughter processing guilt and bitterness over the death of her elderly parents. Baked into the subject matter is a grim but gentle humor, one that picks at the coat of polish usually applied to recollections of the grieving process. Lopez’s pain, here, is visceral and true, not some softly lit movie set. Continue reading →

Jan 23

Carla Bruni in Concert on Thursday, February 15, 7:30pm

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(c) Mathieu Zazzo

WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts presents

the Boston debut of
CARLA BRUNI

Thursday, February 15, 7:30pm
Berklee Performance Center, Boston
(Boston, MA) World Music/CRASHarts presents the Boston debut of Carla Bruni on Thursday, February 15, 7:30pm at Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston. Tickets are $79, $58, $48, and $37, reserved seating. For tickets and information call World Music/CRASHarts at (617) 876-4275 or buy online at www.WorldMusic.org.
With a beautiful and alluring voice, Italian-born French supermodel Carla Bruni has seduced the world with her intimate love songs. She is touring in support of her new album, French Touch, a collection of adaptations of well-known songs by Depeche Mode, AC/DC, Willie Nelson, The Clash, and more.

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Jan 23

A Pleasant Romcom: “Shakespeare in Love”

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Shakespeare at Viola’s feet. Photo by Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Shots

Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Co.
Based on the screenplay by Mac Norman & Tom Stoppard
Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall
Directed by Scott Edmiston
Original music/music direction/sound design by David Reiffel
Choreography/period movement by Judith Chaffee
Fight direction by Ted Hewlett

Jan. 12 – Feb. 10, 2018
Calderwood Pavilion
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
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Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) SpeakEasy’s production of Shakespeare in Love is okay. People who loved the movie will get a lot out of attending. Anyone expecting a revelatory experience from their theatre will be disappointed. Aside from the lighting design by Karen Perlow (which made Jennifer Ellis look like a gilded angel floating down from Heaven, and the set look like a theatre in a night forest) and the compositions by David Reiffel, this production is good but unremarkable.    Continue reading →

Jan 19

More Drama than a Bender in Manch-Vegas: “Lost Girls”

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Presented by Take Your Pick Productions (and the Bob Jolly Charitable Trust)
By John Pollono
Directed by Melanie Garber-Letitia

Jan. 12 – 21, 2018
Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts (Deane Hall)
Boston, MA
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Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) Lost Girls brought back memories I’d nearly forgotten about growing up in northern New Hampshire. I went to school with kids whose parents worked the register at the one Dunkin’s as their main source of income. My uncle is a Tea Party politician (we don’t talk to him). New Hampshire is deeply conservative place whose inhabitants honor their motto, “live free or die.” Alas, “living free” is usually expressed by making rash, uninformed choices in the name of freedom. Watching this play was a painful albeit nostalgic reminder of home. Continue reading →

Jan 16

“The Liar”: Sassy and Solid

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Photo by David Brooks Andrews

Presented by Wellesley Repertory Theatre 
Directed by Marta Rainer
Written by David Ives

Jan 11 through Feb 4, 2018
Wellesley Repertory Theatre
106 Central St, Wellesley, MA
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Reviewed by Bishop C. Knight

An earlier posting of this review included typos. We sincerely apologize for such mistakes to the cast, crew, and audience of The Liar.

(Wellesley, Massachusetts)  On a rainy night I drove to Wellesley, my Kia Soul surrounded by rolling mists of grey fog, and my patriotic heart weighed down by the repeated disappointment that is Donald, embarrassed and saddened by the virulent racism he displayed again —this time publicly referring to other nations as “shithole” countries.  At the theatre, I settled into my seat with a sigh and a slight frown. And I probably crossed my arms at some point, which I’m prone to do when silently seething.  I was sad and huffy and not in a state to kindly review anything.   Continue reading →