Jan 02

Admiral Kittypants Announces 2014 Dates

Mascot, Admiral Dudley T. Kittypants

Updated – January 2, 2014
New England Theatre Geek presents Admiral Kittypants: A Creative Coterie
For more information, please contact: Kitty Drexel, Queen Geek at blognetheatregeek@gmail.com

Admiral Kittypants seeks performers for its 2014 events

Event dates:
January 19th, 1pm – 3pm
February 23rd, 11am – 1pm
March 23rd, 12pm – 2pm
April 20th, 3pm – 5pm
May 18th, 3pm- 5pm
June 22nd, 3pm-5pm
July 20th, 11am-1pm
August 24th, 2pm – 4pm
Democracy Center, Cambridge, MA
Suggested $5 donation to benefit The Democracy Center

Cambridge, MA – New England Theatre Geek announces the next events for Admiral Kittypants: A Creative Coterie. Performers are encouraged to submit their monologues, sets, songs, solo, performance piece, etc. to blognetheatregeek@gmail.com for consideration. Kittypants is a creative community experiment that promises performers of all stripes and polka dots the opportunity to play with their art in a relaxed, safe space before performing it on the stage.

Those interested in presenting are encouraged to contact New England Theatre Geek for more information. Dramaturges, Directors, Music Directors, Composers, Choreographers, Stage Managers and the ilk interested in more information or in hosting an event should do the same.

Kittypants events will be held monthly and announced on www.newenglandtheatregeek.com and on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/AdmiralKittypantsFFA

Admiral Kittypants: A Creative Coterie is a creative community experiment that gives performers the opportunity to play with their art in a safe space before performing it on the stage. If it’s in moderate taste* and you want feedback, we can provide a constructive audience.

New England Theatre Geek is a pro-theatre, intellectually-bent theatre blog that features reviews and articles to excite and educate theatre audiences. We respect theatre professionals and amateurs and review with the intent of getting people interested in going to the theatre. We do write objectively and point out large flaws in productions for the benefit of the audience and the theatres. In this economy, audience members are looking for quality and value, and we want them to feel comfortable with expensive ticket purchases. In addition, we do not want one production to prevent a theatre from developing repeat business.

*Moderate Taste: Some, but not full, nudity; light cursing; stage combat and references to violence are acceptable; sexism, racism, and other -isms without warrant are strongly discouraged.

keep-calm-and-admiral-your-kittypants-75

 

Dec 19

Sex, Lies & Antlers: “The Eight: Reindeer Monologues”

Presented by Happy Medium Theatre Company
By Jeff Goode
Directed by Mikey DiLoreto and Lizette M. Morris

December 17-22, 2013
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The Factory Theatre
791 Tremont St. Boston, MA
Happy Medium Theatre on Facebook

Review by Danielle Rosvally

(Boston) Difficult issues are difficult to tackle. It seems simplistic to put things this way, but of the theatre I’ve seen which attempts to handle “BIG PROBLEMS”, the vast majority is markedly ineffective.

This comes from a variety of factors: it’s easy to devolve into bad writing habits when you’ve got a hot-button issue on your hands. I wish I could tell you how many times I’ve been bludgeoned with the two-by-four of justice or honestly by a well-meaning playwright who was simply trying to engage with society’s greater schema. Unfortunately, those instances have been so traumatic that I’ve managed to wipe most of them from my memory and replaced them with visions of dancing sugarplums. Continue reading

Dec 19

Appalachian Comedy and Backwoods Humor in “Sand Mountain”

Presented by The Hub Theatre Company of Boston
By Romulus Linney
Directed by Daniel Bourque

December 13-21, 2013
First Church Boston
66 Marlborough St
Boston, MA
Hub Theatre Co on Facebook

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Boston) Romulus Linney’s Appalachian play is a strange, Frankenstein’d animal of a comedy.  It combines two stories about marriage and society on Sand Mountain, an Alabama sandstone plateau.  The first half, Sand Mountain Matchmaking, is about the unlucky love life of the widow Rebecca Tull (Lauren Elias) as she searches for an appropriate suitor.  Act II, Why The Lord Come to Sand Mountain, is a twistier story featuring Jesus (Robert Orzalli) and Saint Peter (Yoni Bronstein) as they spend a night with a backwoods family.  Both acts combine to create a folksy, down-home play, one a little too saccharine to feel credible but fun none-the-less. Continue reading

Dec 11

OMIGODUGUYS! : “Legally Blonde”

Photo Credit: AFD’s Facebook page; Cai Radleigh, Shannon Cheong and cast.

Presented by Arlington Friends of the Drama
Music and Lyrics by Laurcen O’Keefe and Neil Benjamin
Book by Heather Hach
Directed by James Tallach
Music Direction by Stephen Peters
Choreography by Theresa Melito

Dec. 6 – Dec. 22, 2013
Charles Mosesian Theater
22 Academy St. Arlington MA
AFD on Facebook

Disclaimer: Queen of the Geeks, Kitty Drexel is involved in this production. The following review takes this into consideration and was written and edited accordingly.

Review by Danielle Rosvally

(Arlington) Adaptation is an odd and fickle creature. In the rash of non-musical-movie to Broadway adaptations that have hit the theatre scene over the course of the last five or ten years, we’ve seen everything from Julie Taymore’s travesty (Spiderman: Turn off the Dark), to the possibly better-than-its-source Spamalot.

Legally Blonde is one that has a soft spot in my heart simply because Reese Witherspoon in her dayglow-pink skirted suits has always been something of an inspiration to me. Here’s a woman who’s hot, smart, and makes both work for her in her own way without conforming to society’s boxes. Legally Blonde was also the first film in my conscious memory that showed me a “popular girl” with a heart of gold. Elle Woods has never stood for changing people (unlike her predecessor Cher Horowitz), but rather helping the women around her see value in what they are. Really; who couldn’t use a little bend and snap now and again? Continue reading

Dec 10

Song, Cheer, and Social Misfits: “A Christmas Carol”

 

 

Presented by Anthem Theatre Company
Based on the novel by Charles Dickens
Adapted by Steve Wargo
Musical Arrangements by Dianne Adams-McDowell
Directed by Michael Poignand

12/5/2013 — 12/21/2013
Boston Center for the Arts
Plaza Black Box Theater
Boston, MA
Anthem Theatre Co on Facebook

2 hours, 15 minutes with one intermission.

 

 

 

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Boston) Though remembered largely as a cheerful, life-affirming tale about learning to embrace kindness, A Christmas Carol is, really, a ghost story. Ebenezer Scrooge (Kevin B. McGlynn) contemplates loneliness and the end of his life as he’s visited by spirits that embody his past, present, and future. Anthem Theatre Company gives us a stripped down Victorian play, a musical with literal Christmas carols to color a melancholy London and the workhouse realities of its Industrial Revolution. Continue reading

Dec 09

Life (Instructions Not Included): BECKY’S NEW CAR

http://www.lyricstage.com/uploads/presskit/MSH_1548%20cropped.jpg

Photo by Mark S. Howard.

presented by The Lyric Stage Company
by Steven Dietz
Directed by Larry Coen
Production sponsored by Tim & Linda Holiner

November 29th – December 22nd
140 Clarendon Street
Boston, MA
Lyric Stage on Facebook

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston) Film, literature and theater are filled with midlife crises.  The plotlines for men offer them the chance to break away from office meetings and drudgery to lead a life of adventure and get the girl (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty).  For women, the midlife crisis plotline offers a chance to break free from the ties that bind, to take a vacation from a family, and to have some great sex (The Bridges of Madison County).  Too often, things either resolve too well or too tragically, but always too neatly.  The explosion.  The choice.  The last goodbye.  Fade out. Continue reading

Dec 02

Charm Conquers All: CAMELOT

Photo credit: Andrew Brilliant/Brilliant Pictures

Photo credit: Andrew Brilliant/Brilliant Pictures

Presented by New Repertory Theatre
Books and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Frederick Lowe
Original production directed and staged by Moss Heart
Based on “The Once and Future King” by TH White
Directed and choreographed by Russell Garrett
Musical direction by David McGrory
Dance Captain – Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Fight Captain – Michael J Borges

Nov. 23 – Dec. 22, 2013
Charles Mosesian Theater
Arsenal Center for the Arts
Watertown, MA
New Rep on Facebook

(Watertown) The Director’s Notes by Russell Garrett are excellent. An audience member desiring nostalgic information correlating Camelot to the anniversary of JFK’s assassination will be well pleased. For this purpose, I will not dwell on the JFK’s Camelot as Mr. Garrett has already done an excellent job of doing so in the programme. If you’d like to know more, see the show.

Considering the weight that the Kennedy Family carries in the US, one might expect Camelot to be a more serious show. Lerner and Lowe’s fluffy hit does examine some heavy issues but the majority of the script and lyrics are intended to entertain rather than educate. The sugary sweet production by New Rep does not fail in its mission to cheer Baby Boomers and to indoctrinate younger generations in classic musical theatre. Continue reading

Dec 02

Getting a Rise out of their Audience: THE SLUTCRACKER

This production is intended for a mature audience only (18+). It depicts (albeit with great humor and entertainment value) graphic sexual acts and adult material. The following review is written for the same audience; please proceed accordingly and stop reading if you believe you may be offended by nudity, sexual content, and/or anything that calls itself “The Slutcracker”.

Photo care of the Slutcracker facebook page.

Directed and adapted by Vanessa White
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

November 30th – December 31st, 2013
Somerville Theatre
55 Davis Square
Somerville, MA
The Slutcracker on Facebook

(Somerville) Every year for the holiday season, the Babes in Boinkland take the good denizens of the Boston burlesque scene on a journey of fantastical fornication, sensational shtuping, and beautiful buggering.  This year, of course, is no exception.  If you appreciate the human form, are a fan of high ballet, and/or have a sense of humor about sexuality, why are you even questioning if you should see this show?  Go buy a ticket, and come, come, come to Somerville for a Christmas treat with more dick than Dickens. Continue reading

Nov 26

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here: LIZZIE BORDEN

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Photo Credit: Eric Antoniou for Boston Lyric Opera © 2013. It’s all downhill from here.

Presented by Boston Lyric Opera
Music by Jack Beeson
Libretto by Kenward Elmslie
Based on a scenario by Richard Plant
Realized by Todd Bashore (orchestration) and John Conklin (dramaturgy)
Conducted by David Angus
Stage directed by Christopher Alden

November 20 – 24, 2013
Opera Annex: The Castle at Park Plaza
Boston, MA
BLO on Facebook

Sung in English with projected text (because the diction of the vocalists is excellent but the space eats sound like Cookie Monster eats a baker’s dozen).

(Boston) This is not an opera hoping to experience the heavenly glories of the human voice through song. Lizzie Borden is an impressive piece of theatre that will shock the pants off of audience members expecting traditional operatic fare. Beeson’s opera is beast heavy with repressed sexuality, anger and desperation. Although it was not an enjoyable production per se, the artists involved created a brilliant evening of artful music. Continue reading

Nov 25

Riverside Theatre Works is Looking for a Few Good Men… And ONE Lady: CABARET

ATTENTION BOSTON PERFORMERS::
Riverside Theatre Works is currently seeking actors/singers/dancers for their Spring production of “Cabaret.” RTW on Facebook.

“Cabaret” will be directed by Kevin Mark Kline, choreographed by Matt Romero and will include musical direction by Danielle Clougher. This fully immersive and engaging new “take” on the classic musical begins rehearsals in mid-February 2014 and performs May 9-18, 2014 at Riverside Theatre Works in Hyde Park, MA.

Auditions will be held on Saturday November 30 at 7:30pm and Thursday December 5 at 8:30pm.
Those interested in auditioning should email Director Kevin Mark Kline at kevin.mark.kline@gmail.com to set up their audition appointment.

Singers should prepare two 16-32 bar selections from the musical theatre repertoire.
There will be a dance call for Emcee and Kit Kat Klub Boy-types. Please bring appropriate clothing. An accompanist will be provided. You may be asked to read sides from the musical.

Seeking the following roles :: Continue reading