The Cast of ARCADIA. Photo: A.R. Sinclair Photography
Presented by Central Square Theater & and the Nora Theatre Company
Written by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Lee Mikeska Gardner
Current-May 15, 2016
Central Square Theater
Central Square, Cambridge, MA
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Noe and I attended this performance together. We were impacted differently so we both wrote reviews. One follows after the other below. Continue reading
Queen Tytania (Maya Kherani) and Bottom (Joseph Hubbard), Photo provided by BU School of Music
Presented Boston University College of Fine Arts
Benjamin Britten, composer & Peter Pears, librettist
Based on the play by William Shakespeare
William Lumpkin, conductor
Tara Faircloth, stage director
April 14–17th, 2016
Boston University Theatre
264 Huntington Avenue, Boston
BU Arts on Facebook
Review by Gillian Daniels
(Boston, MA) I enjoy myself most with adaptations of Shakespeare’s comedies when their sense of fun and lightness remain intact. The direction in Boston University Theatre’s production of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream didn’t fail me. This vision is every bit the dream of the title. Fairies wear blue wigs and polka dot suits, columns of giant, white flowers are moved across the stage, Puck (Elizabeth Valenti) brings Queen Tytania (Maya Kherani) her morning tea, and King Oberon (Wee-Kiat Chia) smugly points out his wife slept with an enchanted donkey-man (Joseph Hubbard) the night before. One scene flows into the next elegantly. For the most part, it’s a perfectly realized vision. Continue reading
Presented by World Music/CRASH arts
ANA MOURA
Saturday, April 30, 8:00 pm
Berklee Performance Center
136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston
Reserved Seating
$48, $42, $37, $30 (includes Berklee $2 restoration fee)
World Music/CRASH arts on Facebook
Ana Moura on Facebook
From the World Music/CRASH arts press release:
(Boston, MA) Portuguese vocalist Ana Moura possesses a sound unlike any other in fado. Her voice trolls freely though the Portuguese tradition, flirting elegantly with pop and broadening the soul-baring genre with stunning results.
…Fado (literally, “fate”) is a type of Portuguese singing, traditionally associated with pubs and cafés, and is renowned for its expressive and profoundly melancholic character. Although the origins are difficult to trace, today fado is regarded by many as simply a form of song which can be about anything but must follow a certain structure. The music is usually linked to the Portuguese word saudade which symbolizes the feeling of loss (a permanent, irreparable loss and its consequent lifelong damage). The singer of fado speaks to the often harsh realities of everyday life, sometimes with a sense of resignation, sometimes with the hope of resolution.
…Ana Moura’s newest studio album, Moura, was released in November 2015 in Portugal and immediately received gold status. Soon to be released in the rest of the world, the album was produced by Larry Klein, who has produced worked for legends like Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell. Just like Desfado, the album features a number of major guests, including Carlos Tê, Sara Tavares, and Edu Mundo, among others.
About World Music/CRASHarts
World Music/CRASHarts is a nonprofit organization that presents an eclectic mix of global, folk, jazz, and indie music along with contemporary and world dance in a series of concerts, events, and educational programs in greater Boston. It strives to offer audiences an opportunity to share in many different artistic performances and seeks to foster an atmosphere of cultural discovery. For 25 years, World Music/CRASHarts has answered a need for cultural programming in greater Boston that reflects today’s global community. For tickets and more information, call 617-876-4275 or visitwww.WorldMusic.org
Photo credit: Stratton McCrady
Presented by the Suffolk University Theatre Department
Book, Music & Lyrics by Jonathan Larson
Directed by Paul Melone
Musical Direction by Scott Nicholas
April 7-10, 2016
C. Walsh Theatre
55 Temple Street, Boston, MA
C. Walsh Theater on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
(Boston, MA) So here we are again. Same play, another day, and another production. This time, the cherished show made its way to the Suffolk University Theatre Department. Continue reading
Presented by Theatre on Fire
By Liz Duffy Adams
Directed by Diego Arciniegas
April 1 – 23, 2016
Charlestown Working Theater
ToF on Facebook
Review by Gillian Daniels
(Charlestown, MA) Stories about the end of the world are often concerned with the survival of the individual against structures that have filled the void since the fabled downfall of society. This includes reality television death match enthusiasts (Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games), patriarchal cults with private harems (Mad Max: Fury Road), fight dome fans lead by Tina Turner (Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome), and foul-mouthed, fur-wearing, belligerent tribes of wanderers. Dog Act looks not just at the individual, but the survival of art in a new North American wasteland. Continue reading
Created by the Manhattan Theatre Project
Based on the novel by Lewis Carroll
Presented by Imaginary Beasts
Directed by Matthew Woods
April 1 – 23, 2016
Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont Street, Boston
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Review by Danielle Rosvally
(Boston, MA) It is no small challenge to take on a piece with so much cultural baggage as Alice in Wonderland. Audiences have seen, heard, and read this story over and over again from our childhoods unto the present day. Alice is everywhere in so many forms that adding something new to the tale is a Herculean task. Unfortunately, I don’t think that artistic director Matthew Woods quite had a handle on it. Continue reading
Photo from the 2012 production at Oberon.
Presented by ImprovBoston
Music and Lyrics by Melissa Carubia
Directed by John Michael Manship
Musical Direction by Shannon Jacob
February 26-May 20, 2016
Cambridge, MA
ImprovBoston on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
(Cambridge, MA) When I found out that the MBTA was going to cut Friday and Saturday extended hours, I wept for at least 5.5 seconds. My displeasure quickly morphed into absolute fury with the board members for making such a rash decision that effects hundreds of workers, students, and other Bostonians. I was revved up to come see the performance of ImprovBoston’s T-shaming show, T: An MBTA Musical and it was the perfect slap-in-the-face comeback to Boston’s poor excuse for public transit that I could’ve received. Continue reading
Photo credit: Glenn Perry Photography
Presented by Speak Easy Stage Company
Written by Robert O’Hara
Directed by Summer L. William
March 12-April 9, 2016
Stanford Calderwood Pavilion
Boston Center for the Arts
Speak Easy on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
(Boston, MA) Growing up gay and black is a very specific experience, and not one with which I will ever be able to identify. But Robert O’Hara’s hilarious and honest show gives the closest to an authentic experience anybody could possibly get. Continue reading
Photo credit: Jake Scaltreto
Presented by Flat Earth Theatre
Written by Gina Young
Directed by Mariagrazia LaFauci
March 11-26, 2016
Arsenal Center for the Arts
Flat Earth Theatre on Facebook
Review by Travis Manni
(Watertown, MA) This play is super gay. I mean, yeah it’s really funny, and mega 90s, but it is super gay. And that is why it was pretty damn amazing. Continue reading
Photo by Richard Hall/Silverline Images, contestants and their cakes
Presented by Zeitgeist Stage Company
Written by Colleen Curran
Directed by David J. Miller
Feb. 26 – March 19, 2016
Plaza Back Box
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
Zeitgeist on Facebook
Review by Kitty Drexel
(Boston, MA) It is Independence Day 1984. The ladies of a small town in Vermont have won a place in the annual cakewalk competition and are patiently awaiting the critique of guest judge, Julia Child. First prize is a glamorous trip for two to Paris, France. Among the other prizes are a lifetime supply of flour and accolades from the citizenship for an entire year. Most of the gang looks forward to the friendly competition. Ruby Abel (Kelley Estes) is out for blood. Ready to slow down her paranoid manipulations are fellow contestants Martha (Aina Adler), Augusta (Maureen Adduci) and Leigh (Victoria George). Taylor (Matt Fagerberg) just wants to find the registration room. Each has their own secrets to keep and insecurities to air. A seemingly safe summer fair turns into a conundrum of colliding small town politics.
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