Nancy Grossman - Page 32

In a departure from its more substantial recent fare, Zeitgeist Stage Company offers up a sugary confection about a cake baking competition in a small Vermont town. Although widely-produced in Canada and the United States, including a run Off-Off Broadway, CAKEWALK is a slight story that is slow to pick up steam. Its humor is driven by its quirky characters and Director David J. Miller fields an endearing ensemble, but the recipe lacks nutritional value.

Stoneham Theatre stages the third installment in Richard Nelson's four-play series with the director, design team, and cast intact from the earlier entries. They are a cohesive, well-oiled team, but while SORRY gets deeper into the personalities of the characters, it fails to deliver the political goods that we would expect from its setting on Election Day, 2012. Of course, no fiction could match the histrionics of the real life 2016 election-year campaign.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre hosts the regional premiere of Mat Smart's TINKER TO EVERS TO CHANCE, a play for die-hard baseball fans. Focused on a mother and daughter who bond over their shared love of the Chicago Cubs, it resonates with members of Red Sox Nation who understand the roller coaster emotions of hope and disappointment associated with loving a star-crossed team, but may be less engaging for non-aficionados of the sport.

Boston Playwrights' Theatre mounts BACK THE NIGHT, Melinda Lopez's new play that explores violence against women on a college campus. When a feminist blogger is attacked, there are plenty of aspersions to go around as her enemies list is a long one. Her best friend, fraternity brothers, college officials, and even a U.S. Senator are caught up in the maelstrom when doubts surface as the investigation seeks truth.

New Repertory Theatre continues its third annual Next Rep Black Box Festival with Colm Toibin's THE TESTAMENT OF MARY, a controversial one-woman play that reimagines the life and attitudes of Mary some twenty years after the crucifixion of her son. Artistic Director Jim Petosa directs Paula Langton in an impressive solo performance, with texture added by lighting designer Matthew Guminski and composer/sound designer Dewey Dellay.

MRT stages the first of three world premieres with Artistic Director Sean Daniels' play THE WHITE CHIP, a dark comedy about his own alcoholism and recovery. By sharing his personal story, he hopes to help someone else going through the same thing; by lightening the mood, he makes the story entertaining and accessible.

There's Sondheim music galore playing at the Lyric Stage Company as Producing Artistic Director and recognized Sondheim expert Spiro Veloudos directs an octet of Boston musical theatre performers in SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM. In effect, the composer/lyricist is the ninth member of the ensemble as he appears onscreen, larger than life, providing intimate commentary on his life, his process, and his words and music. The video affords the opportunity to sit through a master class with the master, and the living, breathing actors demonstrate his brilliance with their starry interpretations.

Fresh Ink Theatre Company presents the inaugural production of Ginger Lazarus' THE HOUSEKEEPER at Boston Playwrights' Theatre. The four-character drama includes a ghost, but she's less scary than the teenage girl struggling with her grief and growing pains. An inept father relies on the new housekeeper to return order to their chaotic existence, but she has to straighten out her own closet if she is to succeed.

Chase the post-holiday blues and January blahs away with a trip to Oz, courtesy of the imaginary beasts' annual WINTER PANTO 2016: THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ. Artistic Director Matthew Woods presents his 13th panto in collaboration with a talented ensemble of actors and an amazing team of designers. They sing, they dance, and they tell a great story, but they can't do it without you. Audience participation is a must and guarantees a good time for all ages.

New Repertory Theatre's 3rd Annual Next Rep Black Box Festival presents British playwright David Hare's VIA DOLOROSA as the first of its three shows. Minimal design elements sharpen the focus on David Bryan Jackson's virtuoso performance as the author. Serving as an animated and amiable tour guide, Jackson is fully committed to connecting with the audience, ensuring that the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are understood and keenly felt.

RETURN OF THE WINEMAKER: AN IRISH CHRISTMAS COMEDY is a gift of the season from Tir Na Productions. An absurd little dark comedy about the second coming of Jesus, it's not your traditional Christmas show, but it boasts terrific performances by Derry Woodhouse, Colin Hamell, Stephen Russell, and Nancy E. Carroll, under the direction of Carmel O'Reilly. Singing, dancing, and freely flowing libations are crucial to playwright Bernard McMullan's story and you will definitely leave the Davis Square Theatre feeling merry.

Ryan Landry taps into political and cultural hot topics for the Gold Dust Orphans' new holiday extravaganza. Everyone's favorite villainess Mrs. Grinchley returns, but she has competition from Whitey Bulger and Donald Trump for the most evil character in A LITTLE ORPHAN TRANNY CHRISTMAS. The mash-up of ANNIE and GREY GARDENS is ripe for hysterical situations, great singing and dancing, and the usual caution about leaving the children at home.

ONE CHILD BORN: THE MUSIC OF LAURA NYRO is a one-woman cabaret style show that can only be called a labor of love. Co-written by Louis Greenstein and its star Kate Ferber, it grew out of Ferber's own adoration of Nyro since childhood and blossomed into a genuine tribute by including testimonials from a variety of fictional "Nyrotics" whose lives were impacted by the late singer-songwriter.

In a departure from traditional seasonal fare, two local theater companies are bringing us back to the simpler days of yesteryear, staging live radio productions of Christmas shows set in the 1940s. Stoneham Theatre offers the frothy, musical bagatelle CHRISTMAS ON THE AIR while Merrimack Repertory Theatre presents an adaptation of the holiday film classic, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY. Replete with evocative sound effects and on-air commercial messages, both plays invite audience participation for applause and a range of emotional reactions, to replicate a live studio broadcast.

Bad Habit Productions continues Season 9: To Face Ourselves with John Guare's 1990 play about the interconnectedness of everyone in the world by a chain of no more than six people. In 2015, the parlor game featuring links with Kevin Bacon feels more relevant.

The U.S. National Tour of BEAUTIFUL - THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL plays a two-week engagement at the Boston Opera House. Focusing on King's early life and career, the good-time time machine rolls out the incredible string of hits written by the composing teams of Carole King/Gerry Goffin and Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil. Abby Mueller is a standout in the role of the music industry icon and BEAUTIFUL excels as a musical journey.

Playwright Katori Hall's lively play about seven African-American women awaiting the end of World War II in a Memphis beauty parlor/boarding house shows a slice of life with authenticity, empathy, and humor. Dawn M. Simmons directs an ensemble of wonderful actors, and the design team brings out the flavor of 1945 Memphis.

SpeakEasy Stage Company presents the New England premiere of Harvey Fierstein's 2014 Tony Award nominee for Best Play. CASA VALENTINA invites and initiates the audience into a world where normal is in the eye of the beholder when a group of heterosexual men meet secretly to release the girl within. Scott Edmiston directs a strong ensemble cast, with breakout performances by Eddie Shields and Greg Maraio.

David Sedaris makes his 11th appearance with the Celebrity Series of Boston, performing before a packed audience at Symphony Hall. His program adheres to a routine format, but there is nothing routine about the subject matter and content of Sedaris' writing, except for the irony, sarcasm and guaranteed mirth it promises.

ArtsEmerson: The World on Stage opens its sixth season with ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME, a time-traveling musical adventure that takes a modern-day woman out of her Brooklyn apartment and way out of her comfort zone to join the polar explorer on his harrowing expedition a century ago. Director Lisa Peterson and the engaging duo of Valerie Vigoda and Wade McCollum bring out the humanity of the characters through the magic of music and design.