A.R.T.

The A. R.T. season will begin in September with a production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus and choreographed by two-time Olivier Award winner Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (Jagged Little Pill; Beyoncé at the 2017 Grammy Awards and APESHIT; Madonna’s Celebration tour). This powerhouse duo reunites for the first time since their Tony Award-winning collaboration Jagged Little Pill, staging a bold new production of Shakespeare’s iconic love story.

Gatsby is directed by Tony Award-winning director Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; Moby-Dick) with choreography by Tony Award winner Sonya Tayeh (Moulin Rouge!). The production features an original score by international rock star Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine) and Oscar and Grammy Award nominee Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), and a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok (Cost of Living). Keenan Tyler Oliphant is associate director and Camden Gonzales is associate choreographer. Casting will be announced at a later date. 

HallSpace presents Cross-Pollination, a collection of new work by Deborah Kamy Hull. Many of the cut, sewn, and painted textile works completed from 2020 to 2023 are constructed from old, used drop cloths and other repurposed materials. Deborah Kamy Hull has developed a vocabulary of graphic symbols using botanical and geometric forms. The garden as metaphor is a theme that flows through the work. Like memories, coded histories and other stories lie below the surface.

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University announces the full cast and creative team of its upcoming revival of 1776 directed by Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus. Co-presented with Roundabout Theatre Company (RTC), the production begins performances at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, MA, on Tuesday, May 17; opens officially on Thursday, May 26; and plays through Sunday, July 24, 2022.

 “It has been a long time since we were all together in a theater, and we need this now more than ever—artists and audiences alike,” says Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus. “We have spent the last year in deep learning and reflection at the A.R.T., and we are excited to share our 2021/22 programming, which welcomes audiences back in person and reflects our core values, from centering anti-racism to embracing regenerative practice that promotes the health of our planet, our organization, and each other.”

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University announces today the ensemble of magicians to perform in the return engagement of The Conjurors’ Club created by Vinny DePonto and Geoff Kanick. Back by popular demand, the live interactive multi-magician experience runs online April 28 - May 16, 2021.  

Norm Lewis: Christmastime Is Here premieres Thursday, December 17 at 8PM and streams on demand through December 31. It is part of the 54 Below Premieres series. Previously he co stared with Audra McDonald in Porgy and Bess at American Repertory Theatre.  

Chesterwood, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation since 1969, was the former summer home, studio and gardens of Daniel Chester French (1850-1931), one of America’s foremost 20th century public sculptors. Although French is best known for his statues of the Minute Man in Concord, Massachusetts and the seated figure of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., he also had a passion and talent for garden and landscape design.

“Our 2016/17 season features work that will engage our audiences in current conversations around gender, class, and identity; pivotal moments in Irish and Argentinian history; and the crisis in our American education system.” stated A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus. “I am delighted to welcome back to the A.R.T. Anna Deavere Smith, Bill Rauch, and Jo Bonney, and to introduce many new artists.” She continued, “Incubating and developing new work is critical to our mission of expanding the boundaries of theater. Instead of helming a production next season, I am excited to be dedicating my time to the development of new work, which will result in productions for future seasons.”

On a frozen Minnesota lake, the ice is beginning to melt as is Salvador Dali's Melting Watch paintings. It’s the end of the fishing season, and two men are out on the ice angling for answers to life’s larger questions. TONY and Olivier Award-winning Mark Rylance, who co-wrote the play with the American poet Louis Jenkins is spectacular. Based on Jenkins' prose poems, it is a Waiting for Godot on ice. It deserves to be a contemporary classic.

During graduate school I ran the candy concession at the Loeb Drama Center. When Robert Brustein left Yale to form American Repertory Theatre we were season subscribers. Each year one play was brilliant, two or three just so so, and one an absolute stinker. After a few seasons it wasn't worth it. Arts Fuse editor, Bill Marx, harshly reviewed his new play.

From April 30 to June 12, 2016 at Theatre for a New Audience Arin Arbus will direct John Douglas Thompson in Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” and August Strindberg’s “The Father.” They will be presented in repertory. Previously he performed as Judge Brack in Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler at the New York Theatre Workshop directed by Ivo von Hove but this will be his first role in a Strindberg play.

The title of the Michael Yates Crowley cabaret play directed and co starring Michael Rau "Song of a Convalescent Ayn Rand Giving Thanks to the Godhead (In the Lydian Mode)" is long winded and overly ambitious. But brace yourself for a gender bending evening of gonzo cabaret at Oberon in Camridge

If bad luck comes in threes what's next for the Boston theatre community. Today we have reported on the break up of a 33-year-old relationship between the Huntington Theatre Company and Boston University. Now we report news the Emerson College, the owner of the 115-year-old Colonial Theatre has plans to convert it into a student center. These developments were predicted several years ago by then NEA chair Rocco Landesman. As he suggests, here in the Berkshires, there are too many arts organizations pursuing the same limited potential donors.

Literally Apocalypse Wow, it’s the end of the world as we know it. A flood of biblical proportions leaves the earth with only two people. An always happy one and a mostly despairing one discover their common language is song and dance. Together they chronicle the rise and fall and hopeful rise again of humankind through music. Song and dance run the gamut from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Sondheim, and R.E.M. to Queen.

Tony Simotes was summarily ousted from Shakespeare & Company when he got on the wrong side with a micro managing now former board president Sarah Hancock. Significantly, she is a close friend of founding artistic director, Tina Packer, whose vision of the company was very different from Simotes who replaced her. Rick Dildine who was brought in with a mandate for change soon realized the chain of command and hastily departed. In a matter of months the company went from plan B to plan C. When we met with Simotes for a long lunch he was not inclined to sort out those loose ends. He is upbeat about new possibilities as second in command to Kate Maguire and the richly enhanced Berkshire Theatre Group.

OBERON, the American Repertory Theater’s (A.R.T.) second stage and club theater venue on the fringe of Harvard Square, announces all the offerings to be presented at OBERON during the months of April and May, in addition to the previously announced productions, including Visiting Artists, Artists in Residence, and Usual Suspects.

On a miserable January day the media gathered for lunch on stage at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. Artistic director Julianne Boyd announced programming for the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage. There are still slots to fill on the Mark St. Germain second stage. Once that is complete Boyd will move on to schedule the cabaret largely based on who is available for the 99 seat basement venue. The company will again collaborate with the Berkshire Museum to present a youth oriented production.

Based upon the story of the creation of the 1904 now classic play Peter Pan, Finding Neverland at the American Repertory Theatre is a wonderful theatrical multigenerational event. With spectacular performances, magnificent stagecraft and beautiful music, this is a sight and sound treat. Already set for Broadway in 2015, getting a ticket might be difficult, but well worth the effort. Bravo Diane Paulus and A.R. T.!

Prospero is a brilliant sorcerer in this like no other production of The Tempest. Magic and dreams intertwine. The magic was created by Teller (the silent one of illusionists Penn & Teller). When a gaggle of shipwrecked aristocrats wash up on the shores of Prospero’s mysterious island, they find themselves immersed in a world of revenge, trickery and amazement. Accompanied by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan's Dust Bowl balladry, beautifully staged, Teller’s magic, and Pilobolus's movement, this Shakespearean homage wonderfully animates spirits, monsters and myths. This is theatre as spectacle and spectacular theatre.

Diane Paulus, the American Repertory Theatre Artistic Director, received another major accolade as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Since joining the ART, she has added vibrancy and excitement to theatre both in Boston, nationally and worldwide.

Brilliantly conceived and performed by an ensemble of ten, this production is a fusion of movement and words in the world premiere of this theatrical hybrid. It explores the emotional and continual impact of childhood experiences on our adult lives. Here Quincy, a precocious 11-year old, seeks to understand what she’s inherited from her absent father and neglectful mother. It is a poignant dance of affecting drama. Superbly, it is like nothing else you have seen.

When Griffin, a young New York City actor, volunteers for a project in Uganda, he finds himself on a journey that will change his life forever. Inspired by a true story, this rousing new musical is energetically staged by Tony Award-winning director and A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus. The show exposes the challenges confronted by idealistic American aid workers and the complex realities of trying to change the world while changing themselves more. A great entertainment perhaps destined for a long run on Broadway.

Shows used to be developed in Boston, New Haven and other out of town venues prior to opening on Broadway. That's become too expensive and obsolete. Some shows open directly on Broadway following ever longer previews. That's risky. An alternative is to transfer regional hits like A.R.T''s superb Glass Menagerie to Broadway. It's also been a game changer for regional companies as a source for revenue and national recognition.

In this visually spectacular and action-packed interpretation of the English legend, Robin Hood and his band of merry men steal from the rich, but do not share with the indigent. As the wicked Prince John threatens England, it is Lady Marion who protects the poor and eventually converts the outlaw Robin Hood to hero. First seen at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2011, this smashing production is filled with adventure, romance, athletic fight choreography and humor. With an original score inspired by contemporary folk music, it is entertainment to savor.