Larry Murray - Page 2

In MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN, Olympia Dukakis delivers a searing performance in its title role. Dukakis is more than just a masterful actor, she delivers a Mother Courage who is strong, sassy and simply astonishing in her complexity. The entire ensemble of sixteen actors raises the reputation of Shakespeare & Company - already renowned for its lush, intelligible renditions of the Bard's greatest works - to new heights.

One of America's most popular plays for summer theatres, SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR offers a light alternative in this summer in the Berkshires which is better known for serious classics, new musicals and cutting edge new plays.

In one of the most unusual musical stories since Sweeney Todd, we enter into the world of transgendered people living in the rural south and the lives they lead in a hostile environment. With country and bluegrass music the difficulties and challenges of becoming who you are is explored with both brutal honesty and tender understanding.

The book was a hit when published years ago, and THE CHOSEN on stage is no less wonderful in this adaptation written and directed by Aaron Posner. With a first rate cast at Barrington Stage, this tale of two fathers and their sons is both gripping theatre and food for thought.

At Shakespeare & Company the fusion of a classical concert with a dramatic story explores the relationship between Tchaikovsky and Mrs. von Meck. Much -though not all- is revealed in this story about the composer vis his letters, his music and the intertwining of theatre, music and dance.

Those who love theatre that is fresh and new are finding their surprises at the nine year old Berkshrie Fringe.

Heather Lind as Eliza and Robert Sean Leonard as Professor Higgins shine in this five act play that is George Bernard Shaw's most popular.

With Kate Burton as 'mother' the Williamstown Theatre Festival stages a fluid though viscous Hapgood, Tom Stoppard's complicated send up of James Bond, spy stories and particle physics.

The timeless musical OKLAHOMA! is on stage again in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.

Christmas is never easy, even if you are King. With three sons and continually plotting wife, there is no rest for the mighty.

It may be an economy sized production, but it fills the bill as one of the funniest musical comedies ever conceived. Williamstown Theatre Festival goes all out to deliver a full course of music, theatre and dance for this venerable joyride.

The Theresa Rebeck fable about the woman in black who turns lives upside down is on stage again, with some tweaks from the playwright.

When the discussion moves beyond making money to the price that is paid for dismantling a company for profit, the full horror and shallowness of the practice is exposed. Never has a 25 year old play been so relevant.

Torn from the headlines, MUCKRAKERS is based on (but not about) Julian Assange and Bradley Manning and revealing government secrets, public privacy.

The full Bernstein score honors ON THE TOWN, not the truncated movie version, on stage with a great cast, stunning choreography and a fresh new approach under the artful hand of John Rando, director.

When three veteran actors from Shakespeare & Company set out to play 'Heroes,' there's no lack of excitement on stage, and even a little warfare.

Maria Callas was one of the great prima donnas of Opera, and in Terrence McNally's Master Class she is played by the formidable actor, Annette Miller at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA.

Summer Stages: BWW's Top Summer Theatre Picks in Massachusetts

The premise of the play is that a teacher has committed suicide in her own classroom, a horror the children discover returning from recess. A substitute teacher is hired to take her place, and is expected to help them cope with their loss by pretending everything is normal.

Ten new dramas and comedies, absorbing and entertaining, are featured in the second year of the Barrington Stage 10X10 NEW PLAY FESTIVAL. Ten minutes each and playing for just ten days, the offers provide a tasty sample of what is new in the regional theatre community today.