Tag Archives: Christopher Chew

May 05

Sweeping Visuals Despite a Flawed Text: “Swept Away”

Posted on by

Peter DiMaggio & ensemble. Photo: Nile Scott Studios

Presented by Speakeasy Stage
Music and lyrics by The Avett Brothers
Book by John Logan
Directed by Jeremy Johnson
Choreographed by Ilyse Robbins
Music directed by Paul S. Katz
Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland
Lighting by Karen Perlow
Featuring: Christopher Chew, Max Connor, Peter DiMaggio, Bishop Levesque

April 24 – May 23, 2026
Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at Boston Center for the Arts
527 Tremont Street, Boston, 02116

Review by Maegan Clearwood

BOSTON — Swept Away is ambitious in theme and scope: it calls for sweeping, spectacular design choices, attempting to explore existential ideas about guilt, grief, death, and despair. Speakeasy Stage, like the Broadway premiere two years ago, takes a fittingly larger-than-life approach to the visuals and performances. Unfortunately (again, like the Broadway premiere), Speakeasy can’t overcome the musical’s dramaturgical flaws.

Swept Away is a jukebox musical, featuring indie-folk-Americana-pop-rock songs by The Avett Brothers. It features many hallmark jukebox musical flaws: musical numbers that feel shoehorned in rather than plot-driven; a thematically uneven throughline; inconsistent character arcs. John Logan’s book crams songs into a story inspired by a real 1884 shipwreck of The Mignonette. It’s a grisly tale, an exploration of the spirit’s ability (or lack thereof) to survive in the face of abject horror, but the script is too bogged down by cliches to uncover any novel truths about the human condition. Continue reading →

May 16

Blessed Be the Patron Saint of Iowa Housewives: “The Bridges of Madison County”

Posted on by

Glenn Perry Photography; Jennifer Ellis & Christiaan Smith.

Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company
Book by Marsha Norman
Music, lyrics and orchestrations by Jason Robert Brown
Based on the novel by Robert James Waller
Directed by M. Bevin O’Gara
Music directed by Matthew Stern
Choreography by Misha Shields

May 6 – June 3, 2017
Calderwood Pavilion
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
SpeakEasy on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) The Bridges of Madison County is a musical about sacrifice and neglect. Ladies and gents, if you’re feeling underappreciated, please bring tissues. You’ll need them. Continue reading →

Mar 17

We Have Mental Illness: NEXT TO NORMAL

Posted on by

A woman (Kerry A. Dowling) fantasizes about her psychopharmacologist (Chris Caron) in a scene from the SpeakEasy Stage Company production of Next to Normal, running now thru April 15th at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600/www.SpeakEasyStage.com. Photo: Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo.

Next to Normal; Music by Tom Kitt, Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Boston Center for the Arts Roberts Studio Theatre, 3/9/12-   4/15/12,   EXTENDED THROUGH 4/22/12 (Second and Final Extension)!!! http://www.speakeasystage.com/doc.php?section=showpage&page=normal.

Read Rebecca’s interview with Kerry Dowling here.

Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston, MA) Break a toe and you might end up with a sore back.  Twist an ankle and your knee might have trouble compensating.  A family is like that.  It is a group of humans that moves in concert and is much more adaptable than a body, for better or worse.  When a part of the social organism is injured, the other parts imperfectly try to take up the load.  What else can you do, amputate?

Speakeasy’s production of Next to Normal provides a clear window into the holistic impact the mental illness of one member of the family has on the family-body.  It realistically and powerfully illustrates how we all soldier on when there are pieces of us missing.  But this isn’t an “Eat-Your-Vegetables-and-Learn-About-Mental-Illness” production.  Next to Normal provides pitch-perfect comedic timing, layered action, great music and a stunning set.  Life flows through this play; though it is heartbreaking, it is not a requiem.  Tissues are a must, however. Continue reading →

Mar 13

“Just Another Day” for Kerry Dowling

Posted on by

Foreground: Chris Caron and Kerry A. Dowling. Rear from Left: Michael Tacconi, Christopher Chew, Sarah Drake, and Michael Levesque in a scene from the SpeakEasy Stage Company production of Next to Normal, running now thru April 15th at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600/www.SpeakEasyStage.com. Photo: Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo.

Interview by Becca Kidwell

Continuing its electrifying season, SpeakEasy Stage Company is presenting now thru April 15th the 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal.  The overwhelming demand for tickets prompted SpeakEasy to extend the run one additional week before the show even opened – an unprecedented move in the company’s 20-year history.    http://www.speakeasystage.com/doc.php?section=showpage&page=normal Continue reading →