Tag Archives: Maurice Emmanuel Parent

Sep 23

Swagger and Thunder Over Coffee: “The Mountain Top”

Posted on by

Dominic Carter as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr; Photo by Benjamin Rose Photography.

Presented by The Front Porch Arts Collective in collaboration with The Suffolk University Modern Theatre
Written by Katori Hall
Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Assistant Directed by Kayla Sessoms

September 19 – October 12, 2025
 The Suffolk University Modern Theatre
525 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02111
Digital Program: Link

Runtime: 90 minutes with no intermission

Review by Helen Ganley

“Never meet your heroes, because they’re sure to disappoint you.”

BOSTON — This Proust quote drips with cynicism, suggesting that if we become too familiar with those we admire, they’ll inevitably fall short of our expectations. I disagree. Heroism isn’t about being untouchable; it’s precisely the fact that they are human, flaws and all, who nonetheless achieve something extraordinary that makes them heroic in my eyes.

The Front Porch Arts Collective’s production of “The Mountaintop” challenges this very notion. Written by Katori Hall, the two-character play reimagines Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final night at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3, 1968. There, he engages in a flirtatious yet profound conversation with a motel maid named Camae, one that blends the ordinary with the spiritual. The play premiered in London in 2009 before transferring to the West End, where it won the Olivier Award for Best New Play. Its Broadway debut came in 2011 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, starring Samuel L. Jackson as Dr. King and Angela Bassett as Camae. With its mix of realism and magical elements, The Mountaintop offers a moving meditation on mortality, legacy, and the unfinished work of justice. Continue reading →

May 22

Unapologetic Joy, Bursting at the Seams: “Hello, Dolly!”

Posted on by

The cast of “Hello, Dolly!” Photo by Mark S. Howard.

Presented by Lyric Stage of Boston
Music and lyrics by Jerry Herman
Book by Michael Stewart
Based on “The Matchmaker” by Thornton Wilder
Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Music direction by Dan Rodriguez
Choreography by Ilyse Robbins
Featuring Temma Beaudreau, Joshua Wolf Coleman, Max Connor, Aimee Doherty,
Kristian Espiritu, Mark Linehan, Michael Jennings Mahoney

May 16 – June 22
Lyric Stage Theatre
140 Clarendon Street, 2nd floor
Boston, MA 02116

Runtime: 2 hours and 30 minutes including intermission.

Review by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

BOSTON — Full disclosure: I am something of a Hello, Dolly! apologist. Sure, it’s Broadway at its hammiest, and I won’t pretend that it’s aged perfectly. But beneath its veneer of feathers and bows and heteronormativity, this is a musical about characters pushing against turn-of-the-century gender and class constraints, straining to express themselves as loudly and brassily as possible.

Jerry Herman, the composer-lyricist behind some of Broadway’s most fabulous characters (see Mame and La Cage aux Folles) knew what exactly he was doing here: Hello, Dolly! is queer joy incarnate, and you can’t convince me otherwise. Continue reading →

Apr 23

Might Sound Crazy but it Ain’t No Lie: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Posted on by

The cast of Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (2025). Photo by Nile Scott Studios.

Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project
By William Shakespeare 
Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Intimacy direction by Olivia Dumaine
Fight direction by Jesse Hinson
Scenic design by Ben Lieberson 
Costumes by Seth Bodie 
Lighting design by Brian Lilienthal
Sound design by Mackenzie Adamick 

April 11 through May 4, 2025
The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts 
321 Arsenal St
Watertown, MA 02472

Review by Kitty Drexel

WATERTOWN, Mass. — Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a delight. I say this as someone who appreciates the plays of Shakespeare well enough but doesn’t prefer them to other theatre. This production is light and frothy fun that took me back to a much simpler time of bucket hats and glow sticks. Such fun is desperately needed now as fascism suffocates democracy like a knee on George Floyd’s neck. Continue reading →

Apr 17

Where Boston’s Theatre Community Intersects with SpeakEasy Stage Company: An Interview with Dawn M Simmons 

Posted on by

BOSTON — On March 27, SpeakEasy Stage Company’s Board of Directors appointed award-winning, multi-hyphenate theatre artist Dawn M Simmons as its new artistic director, a press release said. Simmons succeeds founding Artistic Director Paul Daigneault, who led the company for over three decades. Daigneault steps down on June 30; Simmons begins a day later, on July 1.  Continue reading →

Jun 14

Jam, Jive and Everything: “Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show”

Posted on by

The company; Photo by Nile Scott Photography

Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
Co-produced with The Nora at Central Square Theater and The Front Porch Arts Collective
Conceived by Richard Maltby, Jr. & Murray Horwitz
Musical Adaptions, Orchestrations, and Arrangements by ​Luther Henderson
Directed and Choreographed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Co-Choreographed by Ilyse Robbins
Co-Music Direction by Dan Rodriguez and David Freeman Coleman

June 9-26, 2022
Greater Boston Stage Company
395 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180
Runtime: 2 hours including intermission

Review by Kitty Drexel

STONEHAM, Mass. —  Ain’t Misbehavin’ is a show that builds and builds until the energy and the intensity seem unsustainable. Then it builds some more. The musical opens with the titular song and spans the great career of Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller. There is little dialogue but a lot of impressive dancing. 

The red Art Deco set by Jon Savage, Aria Pegg, and Tori Oakes transports the audience to a speakeasy deep in the bowels of New York. The audience is flanked by large-scale landscape murals depicting Black jazz musicians and dancers a la Josephine Baker. The stage extends close to the first row to give the cast plenty of room to stomp, prowl, and wiggle. Café tables are placed on the edges of stage left and right.  Continue reading →

Jan 18

Softness, Compliance, Forgiveness, Grace: The Lyric presents “Mr. Parent”

Posted on by

Maurice Emmanuel Parent in “Mr. Parent.” Photo by Mark S Howard.

Presented by Lyric Stage Company of Boston
Written by Melinda Lopez
Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian
Public education consultant – Neema Avashia
Original music and sound design by Arshan Gailus 
Featuring Maurice Emmanuel Parent

January 13 – February 6, 2022
14 Claredon St, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 
The Lyric on Facebook
Homework for Audiences

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — Theatreworks Hartford streamed a version of Mr. Parent in March 2021. The Lyric’s live, in-person production is a different beast from TheatreWorks Hartford. While both versions tell the same story, the current production of Mr. Parent at The Lyric evolved for the stage. 

Maurice Emmanuel Parent is compassionate, generous, kind, and funny as Hell in Mr. Parent. The play’s story begins in New York City. Parent is a wide-eyed theatre professional seeking his fortune on Broadway and beyond when his agent sends him to Boston to audition for Angels in America. He gets the gig.

A miserable union salary and 2006 Boston rent prices force Parent to find a second job. He becomes a cluster substitute teacher in a Boston public school. His cluster-job was a clusterfuck of joys and frustrations.  Continue reading →

Mar 12

This Just In: “Home Office: Season 2” & “Mr. Parent”

Posted on by

Home Office
Created & Written by John J King & Ramona Rose King
A J-RexPlays Production
Quick, Fun & Dirty, for the People
www.J-RexPlays.com
Venmo: @JRexPlays

Review by Kitty Drexel

ASTORIA , NY — Creators and Boston community members John J. King and Ramona Rose King moved to New York City! During a pandemic! Home Office: Season Two follows their adventures in their new city. They find work, new friends, and opportunities all within a two-block radius. 

A summary from YouTube: Home Office returns for a second season, following Mona and Jonathan as the couple moves to New York City mid-pandemic and struggles to get jobs, forge friendships, and take on their most collaborative project yet.

The second season is brief. It’s five episodes. The first season was was twelve. The stakes are higher but the circumstances are just as twee. Watch them navigate their relationship in a minuscule Astoria apartment without killing each other. As John says in episode three, “It’s nice!”

Also available to stream:

Mr. Parent presented by Theaterworks Hartford 
Based on stories from Maurice Parent
Playwright: Melinda Lopez
Conceived with and directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian
Video Multimedia Production Jared Mezzocchi
Associate Video Editor Katerina Vitaly
ASL Video Editor Cassandra Saulski
Audio Mix/Mastering Matt Berky, Massive Productions

Streaming On Demand
March 7— 26, 2021
Hartford, CT 
Theaterworks of Facebook

Feb 07

Pride & Shame Are Brothers: “Sweat”

Posted on by

Presented by Huntington Theatre Company
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by Kimberleigh Senior
Original music & sound design by Pornchanok Kanchanabanca
Fight direction by Ted Hewlett

Jan. 31 – March 1, 2020
Huntington Avenue Theatre
Boston, MA
Huntington Theatre Co on Facebook

Content warnings: This production includes the smoking of cocoa shell cigarettes (100% nicotine-free). It contains themes of drug use, drug addiction, alcoholism, and homelessness.

Trigger warnings: racial and gender microaggressions, intentional bigotry, sexism, racism, graphic violence, implied drug use, exploitation of a disabled person, and Republican politics

The Huntington Theatre Company website says that those who are interested in more information should please reach out to Ticketing Services at 617 266 0800.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Boston, MA — Lynn Nottage’s Sweat won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. After reading in in 2017 and seeing it live last night, it is not difficult to understand why. Sweat balances gender, race, and class discrimination issues like a well-crafted dagger. This art represents the struggling people of Reading, PA that Nottage interviewed to write her play. It gives insight into the dangers of unchecked greed while commenting on the political events that provoked into a capitalist fury. Sweat has you in the palm of its metaphorical hand… And then it drops you on your ass. Continue reading →

Sep 25

Rhythms of Humanity: “Choir Boy”

Posted on by

The cast in “Choir Boy.” Photo by Nile Scott Studios.

Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company
By Tarell Alvin McCraney
Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Musical Direction by David Freeman Coleman
Choreography by Yewande Odetoyinbo and Ruka White

Sept. 13 – Oct. 12, 2019
Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
SpeakEasy on Facebook

Review by Shiyanbade Animashaun

(Boston, MA) Choir Boy opens on a sole figure, David (Dwayne P. Mitchell), a student at the elite Charles R. Drew Prep School. He looks into the audience with intent as he begins to step dance. It is deliberate, slow and unaccompanied. The routine then increases in intensity and volume as more students appear. They flank the audience, on their way to the stage, with percussive dancing and chanting. Among the students, I noticed Bobby Marrow (Malik Mitchell) right away. He often seemed moments away from breaking into a joyous smile, mirroring my own.  Continue reading →

Dec 06

There’s No Remedy for Fascism: “Man of La Mancha”

Posted on by

The cast; photo by Andrew Brilliant / Brilliant Pictures.

Presented by New Rep Theatre
Based on the novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Book by Dale Wasserman
Music by Mitch Leigh
Lyrics by Joe Darion
Original production staged by Albert Marre
Directed by Antonio Ocampo-Guzman
Music direction by David Reiffel
Movement direction by Judith Chaffee

Dec. 1 – 24, 2017
Mosesian Center for the Arts
321 Arsenal Street
Watertown, MA 02472
New Rep on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Watertown, MA) There were children in attendance the night I saw this production. Please note that while no one is ever undressed and strong language is avoided, MoLM does approach adult themes. Parents unwilling to discuss why a cowardly group of adult men with rage issues would rape a woman because their feelings were hurt should not bring their kids to this musical. Kids the answer is: they do it because they can.

New Rep’s production of Man of La Mancha is excellent. Get your tickets right now. Continue reading →