Valerie Westgate News

CATHOLIC SCHOOL GIRLS by Casey Kurtti, the current offering at 2nd Story Theatre in Warren, follows MASS APPEAL and continues the theater's exploration of the Catholic Church in the second half of the late, lamented Twentieth Century. While MASS APPEAL concentrated on the masculine side of the Church (priests and would-be priests), CATHOLIC SCHOOL GIRLS focuses on the distaff side by following the school lives of four grammar school girls and the nuns who teach them at St. George's School in Yonkers. Four actresses play the girls and each takes a turn playing a different nun. Unlike a show like NUNSENSE, which is played for laughs, Kurtti's play explores both the lighter and darker sides of the girls experience; sometimes it's funny, and sometimes it hurts. You don't have to be Catholic, but it helps.

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature the top 10 stories in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and more. Check out featured list, which includes 1984 at American Repertory Theater, MARY POPPINS in Chicago, and 3-D Theatricals' BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, just to name a few.

You are almost out of time to go see LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE by Delia and Nora Ephron, currently running Downstage at 2nd Story Theatre in Warren. Part of this is 2nd Story's fault, as the show had a limited run to begin with; and partly this is my fault because my computer monitor quit and delayed you faithful correspondent in the swift completion of his appointed rounds. Sigh. Still, you have another weekend.

LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE, a collection of monologues and memories written by sisters Nora and Delia Ephron, based on a book by Ilene Beckerman, will be presented DownStage at 2nd Story for a limited 12-performance run from tonight, February 18 through March 6, 2016.

LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE, a collection of monologues and memories written by sisters Nora and Delia Ephron, based on a book by Ilene Beckerman, will be presented DownStage at 2nd Story for a limited 12-performance run from February 18 through March 6, 2016.

According to Artistic Director Ed Shea, the two most frequently produced playwrights at 2nd Story Theatre are Moliere and Charles Busch: apparently these people like to laugh. The current offering from Busch is the outrageous DIE, MOMMIE, DIE, which is running in rep with I HATE HAMLET thru August 28. Charles Busch is shameless enough to write plays in which he can play the leading lady. He does not hold back-this is campy, frankly sexual, insightful, absurd and hilarious.

For a writer, whether writing theatrical reviews or anything else, words are everything. Words are the lifeblood of the writer, that which provides a means for expression, revelation or catharsis. In Lee Blessing's Eleemosynary, presented by 2nd Story Theatre, words are also how one character lifts her soul and strives for excellence. The play as whole demonstrates Blessing's own skill with words, as he crafts a poetic yet accessible play that deals with a number of very relatable human experiences.

Eleemosynary, meaning charitable or benevolent, relates to a young girl's determination to win a national spelling bee. But it also applies to the ever-changing, always challenging, ultimately rewarding relationship between a girl, her mother, and her grandmother.

Eleemosynary, meaning charitable or benevolent, relates to a young girl's determination to win a national spelling bee. But it also applies to the ever-changing, always challenging, ultimately rewarding relationship between a girl, her mother, and her grandmother.

Burbage Theatre Company is proving to be a gem of a small company. Last season's "The Liar" was one of the funnier, tighter, and most professional shows I saw all of last year, and this Spring's production of "Orson's Shadow" by Austin Pendleton is every bit as good. The show is the 2nd in a shortened, 3-play season BTC is staging at the Artists' Exchange in Cranston, bookended by the recently closed "Doctor Cerberus" and the about to open "The Bald Soprano," by Eugene Ionesco.

Best of 2013 BWW Rhode Island - Critics' Picks: As Selected by Your Local Reviewers

There are those plays that, one way or another, rest primarily on the shoulders of a single actor. It's true that no play, unless it's a one-man or woman show, is completely about just one person, one character. On the other hand, there are plays where everything is so tightly connected to a single character that they are the show's life, breath and blood. A play like Hamlet, for example, Streetcar Named Desire or A Doll's House. You simply must have the right actor playing Hamlet, Nora and Stanley to make those plays become what they might be. Unfortunately, 2nd Story Theatre's current production of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan just doesn't have what it needs at its center, in the all-important title role.

As a theater company grows in success and reputation, expansion is to be expected. Whether it's growth into new and different types of productions, educational programs or physical spaces, change is only natural. For 2nd Story Theater in Warren, growth and expansion have arrived this season, in the form of a new, smaller, more intimate space downstairs in their Market Street home. For the first show in the new downstairs space, they have chosen Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero, which turns out to be a pleasing and safe way to begin the life of a new theatrical stage.

Among other things, playwright Tennessee Williams is known for plays which fit into the category of "southern gothic." His works are often set in the south and tell steamy, sordid tales of love, sex, power and death. One such play, The Rose Tattoo, is set in a small town on the gulf coast, where everybody knows everybody else's business and where secrets and passions run as deep as the humidity is high. Less often produced than Williams' other plays, Rose Tattoo is currently on the stage at 2nd Story Theatre in Warren.

2nd Story Theatre presents Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, now running through February 17, 2013, directed by Pat Hegnauer. BroadwayWorld has a first look below.

2nd Story's summer season wraps up with Samuel Taylor's sort-of Cinderella story, Sabrina Fair. In "Sabrina Fair", Samuel Taylor's sort-of-Cinderella story, a playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur. But would his more serious brother be a better match? Performances run August 15 through September 2, 2012. Get a first look at the production in the photos below!

The 2nd Story Theatre company brings Louisa May Alcott's beloved classic, Little Women, to life on stage for the 2011 holiday season.

Speech & Debate is a clever little comedy, which was first staged at Brown University in 2006. The play had an Off-Broadway run in 2007 and feels like it could be ripped from today's headlines.