Nancy Grossman - Page 38

Bridge Repertory Theater of Boston continues its second season with shows two and three running in repertory. While seemingly very different, FUFU & OREOS and SIXTY MILES TO SILVER LAKE are linked by a common theme of struggling to navigate between two worlds. As the Boston theater community examines the issue of gender parity, they are also linked by strong direction by the tandem of Rebecca Bradshaw and Shana Gozansky.

In commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 70th Anniversary of World War II, Goethe-Institut Boston's German Stage, in association with the Austrian Cultural Forum New York and Israeli Stage, presents the American Premiere of A CASE NAMED FREUD in five locations this week. The opening night staged reading marked the tenth German Stage production since 2012 and provided a backdrop to the farewell for Goethe-Institut Director Detlef Gericke who has served in Boston for six years.

Matthew Woods and his Imaginary Beasts are back with their annual WINTER PANTO: KERPLOP! THE TALE OF THE FROG PRINCE, tickling the funny bones of the many children in the audience, while going over their heads to engage the adults who are along for the ride.

Ho, ho, ho and Hallelujah! The Gold Dust Orphans are back in Boston with an all-new holiday joyride, exclaiming JESUS CHRIST, IT'S CHRISTMAS! Based on the 1947 classic film THE BISHOP'S WIFE, Ryan Landry's sendup of the romantic comedy is overflowing with winking biblical references and musical numbers that make the season merry. Put tickets for this in your stocking, but do not bring the kids!

Moonbox Productions opens its fifth season with THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS (THE MUSICAL!), with seamless direction and choreography by Rachel Bertone and music direction by Dan Rodriguez. Paying homage to the stylings of five giants of musical theater, there's something for everyone in this satirical songfest. It's a totally enjoyable night at the theater that will make your spirits bright.

Andrea McArdle talks with BroadwayWorld about 4 GIRLS 4: A CHRISTMAS TOGETHER , a star vehicle with Maureen McGovern, Donna McKechnie, and Faith Prince driving into Boston next week for one night at The Wilbur Theatre. A modernization of the original show which starred Rosemary Clooney, this version presents four fabulous musical stars who each take a turn performing their signature material and some music of the season, with Music Direction by John McDaniel.

PigPen Theatre Company tells a good, old-fashioned story in a good, old-fashioned style with folk music and various forms of theatrical magic at the Paramount Center Main Stage. In THE OLD MAN AND THE OLD MOON, the PigPen guys will draw you into their imaginative world of shadow puppets, sailboats, and swordplay while acting like a bunch of energetic school boys.

It is a signal of good writing and significant dramatic impact that a play which premiered in 1935 can be relevant nearly eighty years later. Clifford Odets' classic AWAKE AND SING! is grounded in the dire economics of the depression era and the circumstances of a Jewish immigrant extended family struggling to survive in their overcrowded Bronx apartment. Informed by her own family history, Obie Award-winner Melia Bensussen directs the Huntington Theatre Company production with intensity and an inherent understanding of the challenges faced by the Bergers and their ilk.

Hub Theatre Company of Boston draws the curtain on its second season with the Boston premiere of 6 HOTELS by Israel Horovitz. Half a dozen slices of life share comedic and poignant DNA, with four actors playing twenty-two characters trying to connect in hotel rooms, bars, and restaurants. Club Cafe serves as an ideal venue and co-directors John Geoffrion and Daniel Bourque use the space well. Some vignettes land better (lightly) than others (with a thud), but the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Boston Playwright's Theatre alumna Monica Bauer turned her memoir into a memory play that tells her compelling personal story. CHOSEN CHILD travels between times and places, as well as across generations, but it is worth staying with it to get inside these characters and understand their motivations. A stellar cast under the direction of Megan Schy Gleeson gives nuanced performances, brimming with intensity and commitment.

Israeli Stage celebrates its fourth anniversary and looks ahead to its first full theatrical production, in partnership with ArtsEmerson: The World on Stage. Producing Artistic Director Guy Ben-Aharon continues to expand his roster of incredible Boston theater talent, featuring an all-star cast in MAKE MY HEART FLUTTER at the Goethe-Institut.

Regardless of your opinion about the Affordable Care Act, you might be interested to know how paying for healthcare started and the reluctant role played by surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital. Set primarily in Hartford and Boston, ETHER DOME has special significance for the local audience, offering both a history lesson and theatrical entertainment of the highest order.

Happy Medium Theatre starts its sixth season by ending the run of the Factory Theatre with LANGUAGE OF ANGELS, a testament to the ambience and creative possibilities of the soon-to-be-defunct space. Director Lizette M. Morris does a masterful job of building and prolonging the suspense, with a strong assist from her design team and ensemble cast.

Wheelock Family Theatre opens its 34th season with ALICE, a musical reimagining of Lewis Carroll's classics, ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS. WFT veteran Andrew Barbato wrote the adaptation and directs the production featuring a garden of flower buds played by children who may one day follow in his footsteps, as well as some perennials on local theater stages who deserve to have more than a few bouquets tossed their way. From seedlings to adolescents to full-grown, the vibrant members of this ensemble are all ready to embark on the journey with Alice, down the rabbit hole and wherever it may lead.

Berkshire Theatre Group presents the world premiere of POE by Eric Hill at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, imagining the last days of the writer before his untimely death in Baltimore in 1849. In the title role, David Adkins breathes life into the man, but the play needs life support. Kate Maguire mesmerizes with her recitation of 'The Tell-Tale Heart,' showing that Poe's own words can best provide the necessary drama.

Despite all of its violence and disturbing themes, Director Jim Petosa and company find the humor in ASSASSINS and are able to make the characters come alive as people with flaws, rather than monsters. In the controversial Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman musical, the cure for what ails them is to kill a President and the 1991 show strikes a chord in our gun-happy culture. A terrific lineup of voices handles the Sondheim score with aplomb.

IRNE Award-winning actress Celeste Oliva gives two riveting performances in Deirdre Girard's RECONSIDERING HANNA(H) to open the 2014-2015 season at Boston Playwrights' Theatre. With thoughtful direction by Bridget Kathleen O'Leary, RECONSIDERING HANNA(H) tells two good stories for the price of one, both of which will stay with you long after the curtain falls.

Les 7 doigts de la main makes a high-flying return to open the fifth season of ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage with TRACES, an energetic mix of acrobatics, skateboarding, basketball, and contemporary dance performed by seven amazingly talented young artists.

Following last season's award-winning production of THE NORMAL HEART, Zeitgeist Stage Company sets the bar high with the compelling drama BENT, featuring outstanding performances from Victor L. Shopov and Brooks Reeves. Directed with distinction by David J. Miller, the play challenges its audience to bear witness to atrocities, but illustrates the strength of the human spirit.

Three-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello wowed 'em in a one-night only performance presented by FUDGE Theatre Company Founding Artistic Director Joey DeMita, in association with Matt Phillipps. With her virtuoso piano accompanist/Music Director Phil Reno, the versatile artist stormed through a set list of eleven o'clock numbers from Broadway musicals. It was an unusual way for her to spend her night off from FINDING NEVERLAND at the A.R.T., but the appreciative audience at the Arsenal Center for the Arts didn't seem to mind.