Tag Archives: Stoneham

Jun 11

Nothing we can do, A total eclipse of the sun*: “Little Shop of Horrors”

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Photo by Nile Scott Studios

Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
Book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman
Music by Alan Menken
Directed by Ilana Ransom Toeplitz
Music Directed by Bethany Aiken
Choreographed by Chris Shin
Stage Managed by Shauwna Dias Grillo

June 6 – 29, 2025
GBSC
395 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Run Time: Little Shop of Horrors runs approximately 2 hours including the intermission.

STONEHAM, Mass. — My apologies to the cast, crew and staff of Greater Boston Stage Company’s Little Shop of Horrors for the delay in getting this critique out. I’ve been selfishly disturbed by the chaos ripping through Los Angeles manufactured by the Fascists-in-Chief to distract us from the beastly, bulbous tax and spending legislation sitting in the U.S. Senate. Actual, factual L.A. takes precedence over fantastical L.A. no matter how awesome your show is.

GBSC’s Little Shop of Horrors has commonality with Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show. It has pervy aliens, stiff romantic tension, a soupçon of domestic violence, and solid bangers to get your booty in motion. The biggest difference between the two shows remains costuming: Little Shop’s cast wears its weather- and situation-appropriate clothing by Chelsea Kerl (who could easily have costumed both shows from the same closet) for the duration of the production. While Audrey II starts and stays naked, her tandem actors keep their trousers on. So, negligee notwithstanding, if you like one show, you’ll like the other.  Continue reading →

May 05

Focusing on the Footnotes: FOUNDING F%#ERS, A World Premiere

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Photo by Maggie Hall Photography.

Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
A Don Fulton New Works Project
Written by Conor Casey
Director – Weylin Symes
Assistant Director/Choreographer – Tyler Rosati
Scenic Designer – Katy Monthei
Lighting Design – Corey Whittemore
Costume Design – Deidre Gerrard
Sound Design – Caroline Eng
Properties Master – Adelaide Majeski
Production Stage Manager – Marsha Smith
Fight Captain – Marge Dunn
Production Manager – Meghan Ward
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Consultant – Kira Troilo, Art & Soul Consulting LLC

May 2 – May 18, 2025
Greater Boston Stage Company
395 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180

Critique by Craig Idlebrook

2 hours with a brief intermission

STONEHAM, Mass. —

Too often, history is presented as a straight line, especially when it comes to successful revolutionary moments in history. Think of the common perception of the Civil Rights movement; so often it is portrayed as a lone figure marching in a straight line to victory when, in reality, it was a coalition of competing voices and branches, with victories, defeats, missteps, and contradictions. This impulse to purge doubt and impose order on chaotic change sanctifies our view of these historical figures and movements, and obscures the messy work needed to make change. Continue reading →

Mar 31

When the Wheels Come Off: “The Play That Goes Wrong”

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The cast. Photo via Greater Boston Stage Company.

Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
Written by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer
Director – Tyler Rosati
Original Scenic Design – Peter Colao
Scenic Design – Danielle Ibrahim
Lighting Design – Katie Whittemore
Costume Design – E. Rosser
Sound Design – James Cannon
Properties Master – David Allen Prescott
Intimacy/Violence Design – Samantha Richert
Production Stage – Manager Meghan Ward
Fight Captain – Sarah Morin

March 28 – April 19, 2025
Greater Boston Stage Company
395 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180

Critique by Craig Idlebrook

2 hours with a brief intermission

Some comic violence. May be too intense for young viewers.

STONEHAM, Mass. — Regular theatergoers quickly understand that live performance is a tightrope act, and the mind can wander to what can go wrong during lulls on stage. That may be why theatrical disasters are such fertile ground for stage comedy. To pull off such a play requires mastering the (sometimes nominal) source material and then acting at acting badly. Things can quickly get complicated, making the farce on stage sometimes something of a miracle to pull off.

The cast of the Greater Boston Stage Company’s The Play That Goes Wrong largely succeeds in this difficult task, creating chaos on stage that set the audience howling with laughter. The script provides a target-rich environment for comedy, and the energetic and committed cast capitalize on most of the opportunities provided. Continue reading →

Nov 04

Same Procedure as Every Year: “Dinner For One”

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Photo by Nile Scott Studios

Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
By Christina Baldwin, Sun Mee Chomet, and Jim Lichtscheidl 
Directed by Weylin Symes
Music direction by Tim Goss
Featuring Paul Melendy and Debra Wise
Violin: Tommaso Lorenson

November 1 – 17, 2024
395 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180

Online playbill

Critique by Kitty Drexel

STONEHAM, Mass. — Greater Boston Stage Company’s Dinner For One is a short but charming play about a grieving grand dame and her affectionate butler. It has expanded moments of prop work, physical comedy, unsettling puns and a broad range of accents. It’s a silly treat to dislodge the election panic curdling your stomach this presidential cycle. It runs in Stoneham through November 17.  Continue reading →

Jun 17

Take A Soul, Leave A Soul: “Guys & Dolls”

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Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
Book by Abe Burrows & Jo Swerling
Music & Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Choreographed and directed by Ceit Zweil
Music direction by Dan Rodriguez
Dramaturgy by Sydney Grant
Fight and Intimacy Direction by Angie Jepson
EDI Consultant: Kira Troilo, Art & Soul Consulting LLC

Online Playbill

June 7 – 30, 2024
Greater Boston Stage Company
395 Main Street
​Stoneham, MA 02180

Critique by Kitty Drexel

STONEHAM, Mass. — It’s a tale as old as time: A bookie attempts to set up a roving craps game to avoid the cops and, in doing so, arranges a love match between a perma-bachelor and a devote missionary. Guys and Dolls plays at Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham through June 30. 

Gambler, Nathan Detroit (Arthur Gomez), tries to find the cash to set up the biggest craps game in town while the authorities breathe down his neck; meanwhile, his girlfriend and nightclub performer, Adelaide (Sara Coombs), laments that they’ve been engaged for fourteen years. Nathan turns to fellow gambler, Sky Masterson (Jared Troilo), for the dough, and Sky ends up chasing the strait-laced missionary, Sarah Brown (Lisa Kate Joyce).  Continue reading →

Oct 30

We Had A Girl (And a Whole Gothic Genre) Before You

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Annie Barbour as Weenie; photo by Nile Scott Studios.

Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
Written by Trevor Schmidt
Directed by Weylin Symes
Production Stage Management by E.D. Fitzgerald
Scene Design by Katy Monthei
Starring Annie Barbour

OCT 20 – NOV 5, 2023
395 Main Street
​Stoneham, MA 02180
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Critique by Gillian Daniels

STONEHAM, Mass. – We Had A Girl Before You takes all the ingredients of Gothic literature, mashes them into a paste, and uses the resulting substance as mortar to lay the bricks of a whole new rambling, haunted house. That rambling house is brought to life wonderfully by Production Stage Manager E.D. Fitzgerald and Scenic Designer Kathy Monthei. The manor evoked here becomes increasingly eerie through the talents of Sound Designer David Remedios. All the elements paired with the story culminate in a symphony of dread and, as a Gothic fan, I adored it.

Edwina “Weenie” Trout (Annie Barbour) is a spinster who’s just acquired a new job at an isolated manor. Barbour’s talent carries the show, but how could it not? She’s the only actress on stage. This can be hard to remember as she seamlessly embodies the other characters our heroine encounters, from a saucy barmaid to her rich, mysterious employer. The latter’s introduction is where the story really begins to build a sense of dread. Her new master, emotionally distant and alluring, gives us a Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre on steroids. Of course, Weenie is scared and enamored of him. Continue reading →

Jun 13

Who? Where? With What? Hilarity is Afoot: “Clue”

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The cast. Photo by Nile Scott Studios.

Presented by the Greater Boston Stage Company
Written by Sandy Rustin
Adapted from the Paramount Pictures film written by Jonathan Lynn and the board game from Hasbro, Inc
Additional materials by Hunter Foster and Eric Price
Directed by Weylin Symes
Fight choreography by Alexander Platt
Movement Consultant: Ceit Zweil 
EDI consultant: Kira Troilo

June 2 – 25, 2023
395 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180

Critique by Kitty Drexel

STONEHAM, Mass. — Clue is a game, a film, a musical, a play, and soon a movie remake by Ryan Reynolds. The stage play is performing now at the Greater Boston Stage Company. If you enjoy a farcical whodunit and a murder mystery spoof with gags aplenty, get your butts to Stoneham! 

Now a disclaimer: GBSC’s Clue may not be for you if you can’t imagine a stage performance being better than the movie. It’s not for you if you’re ready to pick apart what is and isn’t the same as the classic. 

Clue is for you if you can make room for new interpretations of old favorites. Clue is meant to be fun; it’s a funny show, movie, and musical. This production is for anyone willing to appreciate slapstick humor, silly puns, and great physical comedy despite and because of its renowned story.  Continue reading →

Dec 06

Losing the Heartbeat: “Little Women: The Broadway Musical”

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Photo by Nile Scott Studios

Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott
Book by Allan Knee
Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein
Music by Jason Howland
Directed & Choreographed by Ilyse Robbins
Music Direction by Matthew Stern

November 25 – December 23, 2022
Greater Boston Stage Company
Stoneham, MA

Review by Kate Lew Idlebrook

Stoneham, Mass — As producers mine history for intellectual property that can be spun into gold, especially those that are in the public domain, they can sometimes lose sight of what makes a classic a classic.

Unfortunately, this was the case with Little Women: The Broadway Musical. In the original story, Luisa May Alcott created a world full of wonderfully full, relatable characters. She allowed her characters to speak for themselves and trusted her readers to hear the message. I only wish the Greater Boston Stage Company’s production of this play had the space to do the same. Continue reading →

Jun 14

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

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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 →

Feb 27

“Swan Lake in Blue: A Jazz Ballet”

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Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
Music Director and Composer Steve Bass
Director and Choreographer Ilyse Robbins
Featuring Sara Coombs as Odette/Odile and Andy McLeavy as Florenz Siegfried

February 9 – March 1, 2020
395 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180
GBSC on Facebook

Review by Shiyanbade Animashaun

Stoneham, MA — Swan Lake in Blue: A Jazz Ballet is a retelling of the classic ballet Swan Lake with heavy jazz influences. It is set in the 1940s, and takes place in an audition space and night club. Continue reading →