Nancy Grossman - Page 28

Music Worcester had a grand opening to its 157th season last night at beautiful Mechanics Hall, a treasure in downtown Worcester, presenting Patti LuPone in her latest solo concert program, DON'T MONKEY WITH BROADWAY. She shared the stage with her fantastic musical director/accompanist Joseph Thalken, and was joined by The Worcester Chorus for several songs in the second act. It was thrilling to hear so many signature songs performed live by one of the great Broadway divas.

Zeitgeist Stage Company presents a collection of short plays by Tennessee Williams. EIGHT BY TENN has the trademark lyrical writing style that makes Williams Williams, but not all characters are equally developed, posing a challenge for the actors. Artistic Director David J. Miller directs an ensemble of three newcomers and five returnees whose performances are uneven.

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE opens the Huntington Theatre Company's 2016-2017 season. Directed by Artistic Director Peter DuBois, with Music Direction by Eric Stern, it features a large and talented ensemble with a mix of Boston theater artists and those with Broadway credits. Jenni Barber is a delight as Dot/Marie, but Adam Chanler-Berat does not match her intensity as George. The production looks great, sounds good, but feels less filling than a Sondheim show should.

Stoneham Theatre has a lively hit on its hands with the Lynn Ahrens/Stephen Flaherty 1980s musical murder mystery farce, LUCKY STIFF. The rom-com romp stars young company alum Andrew Barbato, with direction by Caitlin Lowans, choreography by Ilyse Robbins, and music direction by Bethany Aiken. It's a madcap journey to Monte Carlo with a rich, dead uncle, mistaken identity, slamming doors, romance, and great songs.

Producing Artistic Director Spiro Veloudos opens the 2016-2017 Lyric Stage Company season with Stephen Sondheim's ground-breaking concept musical COMPANY. Winner of six Tony Awards in 1971, as well as the 2007 winner for Best Revival of a Musical, don't be surprised to find this modern makeover capturing some hardware when awards season rolls around in Boston next spring. The ensemble is filled with a roster of talent that doesn't quit.

New Repertory Theatre presents the Boston area premiere of the final component of Richard Nelson's four-play cycle. Weylin Symes, the producing artistic director of Stoneham Theatre, returns to the helm with the stellar six-member cast of Joel Colodner, Laura Latreille, Karen MacDonald, Paul Melendy, Bill Mootos, and Sarah Newhouse. The actors are the strength of the production, providing a master class on working as an ensemble. REGULAR SINGING is a feel good drama, but, at two hours, less would be more.

Gloucester Stage Company presents the New England premiere of Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's THE TOTALITARIANS, an over-the-top satire about an unqualified female political candidate wooing the electorate by promising 'Freedom from Fear.' GSC Managing Director Jeff Zinn makes his local directing debut and keeps everything moving at a good clip, and the four actors do what they can with a quartet of less than likable characters. If you like your humor broad, this may be the comic relief you seek during this chaotic election season.

There's good news and bad news in the Gloucester Stage production of Jason Robert Brown's SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD. The inspiring song cycle from 1995 shows the composer's promise that has been fulfilled, as evidenced by his three Tony Awards, and there is much to enjoy in both the music and lyrics (when you can hear them). The five-member cast features quality vocalists, but they often lose focus while they are busily moving around the stage in Director Robert Walsh's zeal to substitute action for the nonexistent connective libretto.

Bridge Rep dives into its fourth year with the U.S. premiere of Reto Finger's DOG PADDLE (Or, Struggling Inelegantly Against Drowning), translated by Lily Sykes and directed by Israeli Stage founder Guy Ben-Aharon. While maintaining their expected standard of excellence, Bridge Rep expands their tent to include new actors and a new (to them) venue. The cast of five gives intelligent character interpretations that leave room for each audience member to experience the play through their own lens.

Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston brings back the original sets, costumes, and choreography for its fourth production of the 1992 Tony Award-winner for Best Musical. CRAZY FOR YOU could be subtitled "Gershwin's Greatest Hits," with eighteen musical treats splendidly played by a 15-piece orchestra conducted by Music Director Dan Rodriguez. Broadway veterans and Reagle audience favorites Kirby Ward (Director) and Beverly Ward star and give a song-and-dance master class that will have you tapping your feet right along with them. CRAZY FOR YOU is a classic 1930s musical comedy, full of energy and optimism. It's just what the psychiatrist ordered!

Let's hope that THE LAST SCHWARTZ is not the last we'll see of the combined works of Deborah Zoe Laufer and Paula Plum. Following the success of the pairing of playwright and director in last summer's hilarious hit OUT OF STERNO, Gloucester Stage Company reunites the talented tandem for a pleasure ride to the dilapidated country home of the dysfunctional Schwartz family in Lake Huntington, New York. The witty, insightful New England premiere is given its due by a crackerjack cast who look like they've been performing together for months, not days.

SHOW BOAT inaugurates a partnership between Fiddlehead Theatre and Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre. The lavish, spectacular production is co-directed by Meg Fofonoff and Stacey Stephens, features a 27-piece live orchestra, and a cast of 50 triple-threat performers. The costumes by Stephens are to die for and the musical numbers are triumphant. If only it had a little more heart.

Benjamin Evett recreates his 2015 Elliot Norton Award-winning solo performance of The Mariner in ALBATROSS, co-written by Evett and Matthew Spangler. Rick Lombardo is back at the helm as director, and plans have been announced to take the play to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August and Off-Broadway in January.

The Boston Pops has been winning the affection of audiences in Boston and beyond for 131 seasons with programs like The Golden Age of Broadway and featured performers Marin Mazzie, Jason Danieley, Laura Osnes, and Justin Hopkins. Keith Lockhart was on the podium and Lidiya Yankovskaya was Guest Chorus Conductor with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston opens its 48th season with its first-rate production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic CAROUSEL. A triumvirate of women - Jennifer Ellis, Jessica Kundla, and Leigh Barrett - give sparkling performances, augmented by Broadway veteran Ciaran Sheehan, but Rachel Bertone's choreography makes this one of the best rides for the summer season.

Written and directed by Producing Artistic Director Weylin Symes, with original music and lyrics by local actor/director/writer/composer Steven Barkhimer, LOBSTER GIRL is set in Cape Ann, Massachusetts. The homegrown production features about a dozen songs of eclectic genres that serve as the tug boat to the laden book. The water hasn't reached a boil yet for this crustacean.

Bridge Repertory Theater of Boston concludes its third season with Marisa Wegrzyn's MUD BLUE SKY. Tickets are available for three remaining shows this weekend. Director Bridget Kathleen O'Leary draws colorful performances from Leigh Barrett, Deb Martin, and Veronica Anastasio Wiseman as three world-weary flight attendants, and Kaya Simmons as their adolescent pot-dealer.

Gloucester Stage Company opens its 37th season with LETTICE AND LOVAGE as a star vehicle for Academy Award-nominated Gloucester resident Lindsay Crouse. Written by Peter Shaffer (EQUUS, AMADEUS) for beloved British actress Dame Maggie Smith, Crouse takes on the title role of tour guide Lettice Douffet and makes it her own with panache and good humor. Marya Lowry is her incredulous employer Lotte Schoen and together they raise the bar for the art of verbal sparring. The esteemed scene partners feast on Shaffer's rich language and throw themselves into the theatrical shenanigans of the play, with supporting silliness well-represented by Janelle Mills and Mark Cohen.

BLOOD ON THE SNOW imagines the details of the morning after the Boston Massacre. On March 6, 1770, the acting Royal Governor met with his advisors in the Council Chamber in the Old State House to determine how to restore calm and prevent further bloodshed. The event was a watershed moment for the citizens of Boston on the road to the American Revolution. Patrick Gabridge, the Bostonian Society, and the National Park Service stage the production in the very room where history was made, and the audience becomes the virtual 'fly on the wall.'

Producing Artistic Director and Founder of Israeli Stage, Guy Ben-Aharon helmed a staged reading of Swedish-Tunisian playwright/author Jonas Hassen Khemiri's I CALL MY BROTHERS last night in Nordic Hall at the Scandinavian Cultural Center in West Newton. The first-ever theatrical performance at SCC was in partnership with the Center for Arabic Culture and featured a quartet of Boston actors: Ramona Lisa Alexander, Greg Maraio, Nael Nacer, and Gigi Watson.