Theatre
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Light Up the Sky Beacons Us to Theatrical Laughs
Comedic View of Putting On A Show
By: - May 19th, 2015Set in the Ritz-Carlton Boston in the late 1940s, Light Up the Sky is a backstage comedy about the eccentric, colorful artists and producers involved in breathing life into a Broadway-bound play. Here we witness that frightening moment of anticipation and terror just before an audience sees the opening performance. We view the grand, charismatic leading lady, the hopeful young playwright, the high-strung director, the boorish producer and his comical wife along with a monster mother in this affectionate, hilarious and even a bit corny look at what used to be referred to as the "legitimate" theatre. With a wonderful cast, it is an entertaining way to spend some time smiling in the dark.
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Mandy Greenfield of Williamstown Theatre Festival
Discusses First Season as Artistic Director
By: - May 18th, 2015Meeting for Happy Hour we discussed the strong, star studded first season for Mandy Greenfield the artistic director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival. We explored an overview of the elements that must mesh under the pressure of a tight festival format to result in richly compelling theatre.
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Thyphoid Mary by Tom Horan
Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis
By: - May 17th, 2015The play’s strength lies in Tom Horan’s ability to balance humor, historical fact, and moral dilemmas with aplomb. He threads together Mary’s religious beliefs, scientific understanding of that time, and a larger picture of the way disease in viewed in our culture. His whip-smart dialogue keeps the audience laughing despite the serious subject. The show also includes a description of the actual breakdown and effects of the disease. That inclusion was important and brought home the seriousness of the pain and fear that people were experiencing during the epidemic.
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The Provincetown Theater
Announces the 2015 Season
By: - May 15th, 2015The Provincetown Theater announces its 2015 season. An eclectic blend of the old and new, this year's lineup reflects key moments in the history of theater on the Outer Cape and beyond. Eugene O'Neill to Ryan Landry, Lonely Planet to Oleanna will join Broadway veterans on the stage in Provincetown to help celebrate 100 years of exhilarating performances, inspired new American plays and powerful theatrical experiences in Provincetown..
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The Little Foxes in Chicago
Hellman's Play at Goodman Theatre
By: - May 15th, 2015Goodman's excellent new production of The Little Foxes, directed with style by Henry Wishcamper, stars a galaxy of Chicago's finest actors and surely resonates with some of the current discussions about racism, sexism, domestic abuse and income inequality. If you have a drink with friends after the show, those topics probably will be part of your post-play discussion.
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Capital Rep's Hamlet in Albany
Bare-bones Take on a Shakespeare Classic
By: - May 14th, 2015A troupe of solid actors takes the Albany stag at Capital Rep to provide a nail-biting and juicy performance. From the ghost's first walk to the final bloodbath, this fast paced modern and crisply spoken rendition illustrates the timelessness of all the plagues of humanity: murder, revenge, madness and love.
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The Drowning Girls at Signal Ensemble Theatre
By Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson and Daniela Vlaskalic,
By: - May 13th, 2015Signal's production is the Chicago premiere of a script by playwrights Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson and Daniela Vlaskalic, Canadian theater artists, whose play was first performed in 2008 in Alberta. Their script is poetic prose and requires the actors to speak in lists, finish each others' sentences and read their own obituaries from the wet newspapers they bring out of their tubs.
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The Project(s) by American Theatre Company
Dramatizes Chicago's Public Housing
By: - May 11th, 2015Paparelli and his co-writer, Joshua Jaeger, conducted about 100 interviews over five years with current and former residents of public housing, plus scholars and city officials. His docudrama isn't a dreary recitation of blame and political failure. The problems are not ignored, but the resulting production is a lively and thoroughly engrossing story in words, rhythm and music.
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Tony Winning Play Side Man
Chicago's American Blues Theater's Warren Leight Jazz Riff
By: - May 11th, 2015Warren Leight's Tony-award winning play, Side Man, tells the story of a few horn players who thrived in their own way in the 1940s and '50s jazz era. They worked their 20 weeks per year, then met at the unemployment office every Friday to collect their checks. Their motto was "keep your nut small" -- live as frugally as possible -- so you can live on a sideman's salary.
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Mothers & Sons Bond at SpeakEasy
Brilliant Acting Underscores Touching Narrative
By: - May 11th, 2015A touching play exploring our evolving understanding of what it means to be a family. At times funny, provocative, and poignant, this drama follows Dallas matriarch Katharine Gerard on an unexpected visit to New York City to meet with her late son’s former partner, who is now married to another man and raising a young son. Forced to consider the life that her son might have led, Katharine must now come to terms with her own life choices. And certainly, society has changed around her. Wonderful acting underscores this quality production.
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Two Gentlemen of Verona at Theatre for a New Audience
Fiasco Production in the Polosky Shakespeare Center
By: - May 05th, 2015What may well be Shakespeare's first play is produced as a wild and charming mashup of The Book of the Courtier, Match.com and luscious language. Fiasco Theater out of the Folger in Washington, DC has collaborated with Theatre for a New Audience in the past. Now they arrive in full blossom at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn with Two Gentlemen of Verona.
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Tony Simotes Part Three
Act Two with Berkshire Theatre Group
By: - May 02nd, 2015In the third and final installment of an interview with Tony Simotes he describes the epiphany and divine intervention that resulted with leaving Shakespeare & Company and beginning what he calls act two with Berkshire Theatre Group. Having overcome personal and family adversity he views each day as a gift and the opportunity to have a positive impact in theatre and the cultural community of the Berkshires.
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Three Sisters at The Hypocrites
Chekhov in Chicago
By: - Apr 29th, 2015Director Geoff Button adapted Chekhov's script to use more modern language without trivializing it or breaking the mood of the story. Both his adaptation and direction are very strong. The eponymous Prosorov sisters lead the excellent 14-person cast in a story that progresses over several years in a provincial Russian town at the turn of the 20th century.
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Helen Mirren in Queen Elizabeth II
Tony Nomination for The Audience
By: - Apr 29th, 2015Helen Merrin is as close as it gets to British theatrical royalty. She easily elides into the role of Queen Elizabeth II in a Tony nominated performance for "The Audience." While she is regal as always the play presents generic watered down history.
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Berkshires Represented in Tony Awards
WTF and Barrington Stage Among Nominees
By: - Apr 28th, 2015Three productions developed in the Berkshires are among the nominees for the 2015 Tony Awards. Williamstown Theatre Festival is represented by two production Elephant Man and The Visit which were presented on the watch of former artistic director Jenny Gersten. Barrington Stage Company is recognized for its musical On the Town,
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Bragan Thomas Provincetown's Theatrical Polymath
From Odets to Caligula
By: - Apr 27th, 2015The legendary Provincetown Players was founded in 1915 and after a couple of seasons transferred to New York. We asked Bragan Thomas, the Co Chair of Programming, what is being planned for the centennial celebrations at Provincetown Theater. We also discussed a world premiere reading of his play "Caligula and the Three Daggers."
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Uncanny Valley at San Diego Repertory Theatre
New Play by Thomas Gibbons
By: - Apr 27th, 2015San Diego Repertory Theatre has mounted a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of “Uncanny Valley,†written by award-wining playwright Thomas Gibbons; performed in their Lyceum Space theatre. The intellectual think-piece, seamlessly directed by Jessica Bird, stars Rosina Reynolds and Nick Cagle in a riveting pas de deux involving avatars and their human creators.
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Hold These Truths at CV Rep
Last of Series Focused on Immigration
By: - Apr 27th, 2015“Hold These Truthsâ€, is the last production in CV REP’s series of plays centered around the theme “America’s Melting Pot†– the plays and the stories of the American immigrant experience.This is one of CV REP’s most technically ambitious productions to date.
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Man of La Mancha Is Bulletproof
At The Palm Canyon Theatre
By: - Apr 27th, 2015“Man of La Mancha†written by Dale Wasserman, with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion had ‘Blockbuster†written all over it when it debuted on Broadway in 1965 (running for over 2300 performances). The show nabbed five Tony Awards winning The Tony for Best Musical, and Best Actor, making a star out of Richard Kiley for his Don Quixote portrayal.
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Waiting for Lefty by Clifford Odets
The Provincetown Theater Launches Season
By: - Apr 25th, 2015Inspired by the New York City Taxi Strike of 1934 the agit-prop play “Waiting for Lefty†by Clifford Odets was set for its Town Hall premiere that summer in Provincetown. The event was cancelled by the Board of Selectmen stating that “the play is about strikes and things, and gives people the wrong kind of ideas.†Recently the iconic play received its long overdue premiere at the Provincetown Theater.
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2015 Drama Desk Award Nominations
John Douglas Thompson's Special Award
By: - Apr 25th, 2015During the 2015 Drama Desk Awards a special award will be given to John Douglas Thompson: For invigorating theater in New York through his commanding presence, classical expertise, and vocal prowess. This season he demonstrated exceptional versatility in Tamburlaine the Great and The Iceman Cometh. He is familiar to Berkshire audience for outstanding performances for Shakespeare & Company. The renowned actor will return to Lenox this summer.
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Raul Castillo's Chicago World Premiere
Between You, Me and the Lampshade at Teatro Vista
By: - Apr 20th, 2015Family secrets and dreams are explored in Raul Castillo's Between You, Me and the Lampshade in a world premiere being staged by Teatro Vista. Set in a barren area of Rio Grande County in south Texas, the play addresses immigration issues as well as family tensions.
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An Unfortunate King and I at Lincoln Center
Ken Watanabe, Kingly, Sexy and Touching
By: - Apr 19th, 2015Some moving performances sung beautifully graced the Lincoln Center stage. Standouts were Ruthie Ann Miles as Lady Thiang, Conrad Ricamora as Lun Tha and Jon Viktor Corpuz as Prince Chulalongkorn. Attempting to make the story more ordinary does not help. It is after all about a King and a son who will be King and a woman of aristocratic bearing who teaches both of them. A stylish idea that requires style.
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Laura Eason at the Rattlestick Playwrights
Right Now Has an Undeniable Sound
By: - Apr 18th, 2015Rattlesnake Plawrights and Womens Project Theater collaborate to present the world premier of Laura Eason's new play. Twenty years ago Eason was a singer, song writer and bass player in a pop band in Chicago. Her band Tart played in venues like Hank's Bar, the setting of this play. Eason has a deep feeling for the pwoer of music to exist in the right now.
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Come Back, Little Sheba At Huntington's Calderwood
A Poignant Story of the American Dream Unmet
By: - Apr 16th, 2015A play about dreams and desires unmet, it is the story of Doc and Lola Delaney's rather somber middle class life. To make ends meet, they rent a room in their cluttered Midwestern home to Marie, an unapologetic young college student. Her youthful vitality stirs up forgotten dreams and missed opportunities. Directed by David Cromer, this is an intimate and heartrending portrait of a marriage and painful life partnership fading from youthful exuberance to middle age stasis. The acting is superb and the stagecraft is appealing.
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