Oct 25

Boston Debut of Kyle Abraham / Abraham.in.Motion

WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts PRESENTS THE BOSTON DEBUT OF
Kyle Abraham / Abraham.in.Motion
Performing the Boston premiere of The Radio Show
Friday, November 16, 7:30 pm | Saturday, November 17, 8pm
The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
100 Northern Ave
Boston, 02210
Facebook
Page

Bessie Award–winner Kyle Abraham and his seven-member company, Abraham.In.Motion, dance with
a highly engaging, larger-than-life style that combines influences ranging from hip-hop to ballet. The
Radio Show revolves around the closure of the urban Pittsburgh radio station that Abraham grew up
listening to and sets the stage for an exploration of cultural identity, personal history and the heartbeat of
a neighborhood.

Photo credits: Steven Schreiber and Renee Rosensteel

Oct 23

Accidentally Sexy: “Bloody, Bloody, Andrew Jackson”

Photo by Craig Bailey / Perspective Photo. The show is accidentally sexy; the cast is sexy on purpose.

Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company

Written by Alex Timbers
Music & Lyrics by Michael Friedman
Directed by Paul Melone
Music directed by Nick Connell

SpeakEasy Stage Company
539 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116
October 19 – November 17, 2012

SpeakEasy Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) President Andrew Jackson (Gus Curry) invented the Democratic Party but was infamous for hating the English, the Spanish, American Aristocracy and Native American Indians. The book by Alex Timbers presents President Jackson as an angsty young man bristling with frenetic energy. He loves Populism, his wife Rachel and representing “The Voice of the People.” His hobbies include building the Trail of Tears, guns and erratic behavior. Even though there’s 100 years difference between his era and ours, not much has changed in politics: some political leaders just love a tantrum. Continue reading

Oct 21

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo: Hungry for Human Foibles

 

Photo credit: Company One

by Rajiv Joseph
Directed by Shawn LaCount

presented by Company One
BCA Plaza Theatre
Boston, MA
October 19 – November 17, 2012
Company One Facebook Page
Adult content. Language.

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Boston) Rajiv Joseph’s play about the Iraq War is not so much a dark comedy as a sour one. Its humor is drawn from bitterness, the absurdity of invading a country in 2003 and dethroning its dictator without any real exit strategy. It’s bold not because it says anything not said before, but because the play picks fearlessly at a new, festering wound before it’s had time to heal. Continue reading

Oct 20

Jesus Christ Superstar: God and Everyone Else is Listening

Photos: Copyright The Boston Conservatory. Max Wagenblass, photographer.

presented by The Boston Conservatory

Music by Andrew Lloyd Weber.
Lyrics by Tim Rice.

Directed by Neil Donohoe
Music Direction by Bill Casey.
Conducted by Reuben M. Reynolds, III.
Choreographed by Michelle Chasse.

The Boston Conservatory Theater
Boston, MA

October 18 – 21, 2012

(Boston) It started out as a lovely evening. Boston Conservatory’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar is excellent – not only as a student production but as a piece of art comparable to professional area theater. The students in Friday’s performance were electric on the stage, filling every crevice in the theater with palpable, thrumming energy. Their acting was fine, their dance was great and their vocals blew the roof off. The modern dance choreographed by Michelle Chasse lends itself well to this updated production. The subtle yet evocative lighting design by Franklin Meissner Jr. was the cherry on the performance sundae. It is a good show. Continue reading

Oct 18

“Alice in Wonderland” but on More Meth: “The Lily’s Revenge”

Photo credit: www.GretjenHelene.com; Lily and the Mary’s shaking what their mother, Time, gave them.

Written and Conceived by Taylor Mac
Composed by Rachelle Garniez

presented by American Repertory Theatre
OBERON
2 Arrow Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
October 12, 2012 to October 28, 2012

A.R.T. Facebook Page

The Lily’s Revenge is the epic nursery rhyme turned homo-rific, drag-tastic fairy tale of Lily, an ordinary houseplant, who undertakes to be more than what others make him to be. His is a delicious allegory/metaphor/cautionary tale/simile/hyperbole/paradox that spans 4+ hours of dance, drama and breakage of the 4th wall that warns never to settle for less than what you want. Even if that means shedding the skin of who you think you are to become who you are truly meant to be. Continue reading

Oct 18

GoreFest X: 28 Days Latte

Photo Credit: ImprovBoston; This ain’t your Daddy’s zombie-fest.

ImprovBoston
40 Prospect St.
Cambridge, MA 02139
October 24 – 31, 8pm and 10pm shows.

ImprovBoston Facebook Page

(Cambridge) GoreFest X: 28 Days Latte ImprovBoston’s 10th Annual Halloween Horrorshow — is a brand new musical comedy from writer/lyricist Don Schuerman and composer Steve Gilbane. The Zombie Apocalypse is upon us, and a bunch of hipsters and two senior citizens are trapped inside a coffee place as they fight back the rampaging hordes. The show is dripping with tasteless dialog, juvenile humor, memorable music. Like every GoreFest, this year’s show features copious amounts of fake blood, gore and other bodily fluids, not all of which ends up on the actors.

BEWARE: AUDIENCES IN THE “SPLATTER ZONE” MAY BE COVERED IN FAKE EVERYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE; WITH A COUPLE EXTRA SHOTS OF BLOODY ESPRESSO (Dress For The Season).

FOLLOW THE BLOODY TWEETS @IBGorefest


Oct 17

The Thing’s the Plays: Public Theater’s New “Shakespeare Machine”

Next time you’re in the NYC area, why not take a look at some kick-ass art in the refurbished lobby of The Public Theater?
Link to Article from ArtNews
The Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street
NY, NY 10003

Artist Ben Rubin remixes 37 works in a site-specific, L.E.D-lit, linguistic-supercollider sculpture (that’s also a chandelier)

“The Shakespeare Machine is the creation of Ben Rubin, a local media artist with the spirit of a mad inventor and a passion for data. Commissioned by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs as part of the Percent for Art program, which funds site-specific pieces in city-funded construction projects, Rubin’s device is at once artwork, chandelier, brain-teaser, and literary tourist attraction.”

ARTnews article excerpts written by Robin Cembalest, posted 10/16/12.

Oct 16

Unending Nostalgia: REMEMBERING THE 40’s

Photo credit: Reagle Music Theatre

presented by Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston
Robinson Theatre
617 Lexington Street
Waltham, MA 02452
October 13th – October 14th
Reagle Music Theatre Facebook Page

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Waltham) Try as we might, we are losing our connection to the World War II generation. As our veterans of the war and the home front blink out, so goes the tangible feel of an era when much of a country was united for one cause. In anticipation of this angst, we see the children of WWII veterans attempting to interpret that experience through movies and literature (i.e. Saving Private Ryan), but it is rare to get a fresh glimpse of how that generation might view itself. Continue reading

Oct 15

Some Freedoms are More Free than Others: “Parade”

Photo credit: F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company, the cast with director Joey DeMita kickin’ it.

book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown

Directed by Joey DeMita
Music Directed by Steven Bergman

The F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company
Oct 12- Oct 20, 2012
The Arsenal Center for the Arts Black Box
321 Arsenal Street
Watertown, Massachusetts

F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Watertown) A True Story: Mr. Leo Frank was infamously the prime suspect in the murder trial of a young National Pencil Company factory worker, Mary Phagan in 1913. Jim Conley, the factory janitor, was also held as a suspect. Frank was sentenced to death; Conley was sentenced to work on a chain gang. Later, Frank’s sentence was commuted in 1915 to life in prison. Local public outrage inspired a lynch mob to kidnap Frank, drive him back to Marietta, Georgia, where the murder took place, and hang him. Parade spans the trial and 2 year imprisonment of Frank. Continue reading

Oct 10

“The Company We Keep” by Jaclyn Villano

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre

Presented by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
October 4 – 21, 2012
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
949 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

(Boston) Boston Playwrights’ Theatre presents its 31st season of new plays in Boston starting with recent BPT alumna Jaclyn Villano’s The Company We Keep. We can joke about attorneys and sharks, but here the metaphor is apt. New to Georgetown with a law professorship and a freshly renovated home, attorneys Harry and wife Ellie are having difficulty settling their 12-year-old son into the new school. When their best friends Katherine and Greg come to the housewarming with surprises of their own, what ensues tests the bonds of friendship, marriage, and parenthood in this vicious, biting comedy of manners. This one is not to miss.

Continue reading