Nancy Grossman - Page 14

Timeless tale re-imagined with contemporary spin by Jason O'Connell and Brenda Withers. Jeremiah Kissel makes GSC debut in title role opposite Andrea Goldman, under the direction of Artistic Director Robert Walsh.

An energetic cast of nearly 40 performers and a 16-piece orchestra give the incomparable Cole Porter score of ANYTHING GOES its due. Leigh Barrett headlines as Reno Sweeney, and multiple IRNE Award-winners Elaine Grace and Dan Rodriguez direct/choreograph and music direct/conduct, respectively. The fabulous singing and dancing keep this ship afloat for its transatlantic journey.

Premiere of documentary play about the former First Lady takes us back to those saner days of yesteryear, when a Republican forced from office in ignominy was replaced by a decent man who tried to heal the nation. Betty Ford may have been her husband's greatest asset in the two short years they resided in the White House, but her impact rippled through the country for much longer.

ArtsEmerson presents the New England premiere of BORN FOR THIS - A NEW MUSICAL, based on the life story of Bebe Winans and his sister Cece Winans, offspring of a spiritual, musical Detroit family, who made a huge splash as teenagers on the Praise the Lord network of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker in the 1980s. With a book by Charles Randolph-Wright, Bebe Winans, and Lisa D'Amour, and original music and lyrics by Winans, the majority of which were written for the show, BORN FOR THIS offers a longitudinal view of the Winans journey from music biz hopeful, to fledgling performer, to breakout R&B star, and award-winning (six Grammys) artist. Under the slick direction of Randolph-Wright and music director Steven Jamail, the cast is extraordinary from top to bottom, with Donald Webber Jr. and Loren Lott giving star turns as Bebe and Cece.

The 133rd spring season of The Boston Pops Orchestra at Symphony Hall is winding down, but the final week is a whirlwind of activity, culminating in three performances of WEST SIDE STORY: In Concert, and an appearance by two of the stars of the groundbreaking HAMILTON: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL. Tony Award-winning actress Renee Elise Goldsberry and her special guest, Tony-nominated Phillipa Soo, stepped in to replace Leslie Odom, Jr. (another HAMILTON alum) when a scheduling conflict made him unavailable.

Greater Boston Stage Company has lined up a dream ensemble for their season finale, CALENDAR GIRLS, based on the 2003 Miramax motion picture. Under the direction of Nancy E. Carroll, a formidable actor in her own right, Maureen Brennan, Sarah deLima, Mary Potts Dennis, Kerry A. Dowling, Karen MacDonald, and Bobbie Steinbach tastefully disrobe for a photo shoot to produce a calendar for charity. Cheryl McMahon, Kathy St. George, Jade Guerra, Michael Kaye, Sean McGuirk, and Nael Nacer keep their clothes on, but add to the fun.

Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston, celebrating its 50th Anniversary Summer Season, was still in its first decade when A CHORUS LINE opened on Broadway in 1975, kicking off its run of 6,137 performances. The groundbreaking musical was nominated for twelve Tony Awards, winning nine, and took home the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Forty-three years later, it remains a classic for elevating the nameless boys and girls who toil on the line to marquee status. Without the singers and dancers in the chorus, there could be no musical theater; and without musicals, the theater world would be a quieter, more subdued place.

Artistic Director Lee Mikeska Gardner embraces the mission of The Nora Theatre Company to "promote the feminine voice" with an all-male production of LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, Christopher Hampton's 1985 adaptation from the novel by Choderlos de Laclos. Perhaps best known from the 1988 film DANGEROUS LIAISONS, which starred Glenn Close, John Malkovich, and Michelle Pfeiffer, the pre-French revolution era story is decadent, delicious, overflowing with sexual intrigue, and populated with characters who mostly get what they deserve. In Gardner's retelling, the audience gets what it deserves, a thoroughly entertaining, albeit mildly risque, evening at the theater.

Boston's newest small theater company christened its inaugural season with a one-night only, pop-up musical benefit performance of SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET IN CONCERT on Saturday, June 2nd, at First Church Cambridge. The brain-child and labor of love of Producing Artistic Director Shana Dirik, Theater UnCorked may be new and may be small, but its arrival is worthy of a champagne toast.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller was renowned and celebrated for his masterpiece DEATH OF A SALESMAN, as well as ALL MY SONS and THE CRUCIBLE, plays in which issues of morality took center stage. He refused to name names when called before the House Un-American Activities Committee, spoke out agains the Vietnam War, and was an activist in many social causes, allowing him to be seen as the moral conscience of the nation. However, Bernard Weinraub reveals Miller's feet of clay in the world premiere of his play FALL, directed by Peter DuBois at Huntington Theatre Company's Calderwood Pavilion.

Colorful and imaginative costumes, other-worldly lighting and sound effects, and a scenic design that combines magic with urban details, serve as the playground for the Lyric Stage Company's production of the 1975 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, THE WIZ, under the direction of Dawn M. Simmons. Helping her translate her vision of Oz, by way of New Orleans, are Music Director Allyssa Jones, fronting a vibrant eight-piece orchestra, and Jean Appolon, whose inventive choreography anthropomorphizes a tornado, a poppy field, and the eponymous Yellow Brick Road.

The Boston Theater Critics Association (BTCA) celebrated more than two dozen outstanding actors, directors, designers, and ensembles at The 36th Annual Elliot Norton Awards ceremony at the Huntington Avenue Theatre last night. The coveted Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence was presented to Leigh Barrett, Robert J. Eagle received a Special Citation in honor of his 50 years at Reagle Music Theatre, and the Guest of Honor Award went to internet sensation Randy Rainbow.

Israeli playwright Joshua Sobol, unable to find a theater in his home country, stages the world premiere production of THE LAST ACT at Boston's Israeli Stage Company. Producing Artistic Director Guy Ben-Aharon asserts the importance of engaging with the audience to spark thought and conversation, regardless of which side of the issue one might align with. A quartet of accomplished actors gives compelling performances that draw us into the personal drama, played out against a backdrop of the political divide between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Heart & Dagger Productions concludes its 8th season with Katie Bender's STILL, NOW, a mind-bending, non-linear play directed by Amy Meyer and providing a showcase for the talents of Kiki Samko. A young woman navigating the trials and tribulations of a stage four cancer diagnosis falls back on her experience with Butoh, a Japanese dance form meant to free the body from any confines.

Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham presents the Boston premiere of THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE, a play with music about a not-so-great Elvis impersonator who finds success with a new calling involving lipstick, sequins, high heels, and specially-padded undergarments. If you subscribe to the philosophy that life is what happens when you're busy making other plans, then playwright Matthew Lopez makes a strong case for it.

LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! by Terrence McNally won the 1995 Tony Award for Best Play and, although much has changed in the ensuing twenty-four years since it opened at the Manhattan Theatre Club, as a slice of gay life, it withstands the test of time. On each of the three major summer weekends, eight gay male friends gather at one's sprawling lakeside country house in Dutchess County to dish, dine, and dance. President Bill Clinton was in his first term, the AIDS epidemic infiltrated every aspect of the gay community, and the fragility of life weighed on the hearts and minds of these close friends.

Ryan Landry mines the Old West and Old Hollywood for his new Gold Dust Orphans springtime musical. It's a fast ride on a runaway train with more kicks than a buckin' bronco. Old Orphans and new rally around Director Robin JaVonne Smith, stepping into the big boots of the late, beloved Larry Coen, and she hits the bullseye. Don't let a team of wild horses keep you from BROKELAHOMO!

Tony Award-nominated director Liesl Tommy (A RAISIN IN THE SUN, MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM, RUINED) returns to the Huntington Theatre Company to lead a stellar, diverse cast in prolific British playwright Caryl Churchill's TOP GIRLS. Written in 1982 as a diatribe against Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's anti-union administration in England, the themes of Churchill's outspoken feminist play remain relevant and all too familiar more than three decades later. In addition to choosing actors outside the box of white, British women, Liesl also fields a creative team of designers which is almost exclusively female.

Boston Playwrights' Theatre hosted the North American premiere of THE ROSENBERGS (AN OPERA) the past two weekends. It moves to Spingold Theater Center at Brandeis University for three performances next weekend. A co-production of Boston University and Brandeis, the opera features music by Joachim Holbek, libretto by Rhea Leman, and is directed by Dmitry Troyanovsky. Moving performances by Brian Church and Christie Lee Gibson breathe life into Julius and Ethel Rosenberg as real people who lived a tragic love story.

CABARET has stood the test of time and Moonbox Productions puts a time stamp on the 1966 musical that brings it into the here and now. Director/choreographer Rachel Bertone and Music Director Dan Rodriguez whip a kick-ass kick line of high steppers into a precision machine to evoke the seedy Kit Kat Klub, and triple threat performers Aimee Doherty, Phil Tayler, and Jared Troilo lead an outstanding cast.