THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER

by R. Scott Reedy - May 01, 2026

The musical “Swept Away” tells the story of four whalers shipwrecked off New Bedford in 1888, making it especially resonant for local audiences, who can experience the musical drama in a well crafted New England premiere at SpeakEasy Stage Company in the Virginia Wimberly Theatre at the Calderwo...

by Christopher Verleger - April 13, 2026

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you say the name Eartha Kitt? Those of us who are even remotely familiar with the late singer-dancer-actress will most likely say Catwoman, the iconic feline femme fatale she portrayed in the 1967 season of the ‘Batman’ television series, or her o...

by R. Scott Reedy - April 14, 2026

Seven years ago, an already hot summer in Boston heated up even more during a pre-Broadway tryout of a truncated version of playwright Matthew Lombardo’s “Tea at Five” at the Huntington Theatre when its star, Academy Award winner Faye Dunaway, was fired after allegations that she physically an...

by R. Scott Reedy - April 11, 2026

What did our critic think of BREAKING THE CODE at Central Square Theater?...

by R. Scott Reedy - April 05, 2026

What did our critic think of ANGRY, RAUCOUS, AND SHAMELESSLY GORGEOUS at The Lyric Stage Company Of Boston?...

by R. Scott Reedy - April 02, 2026

As Dionne Warwick took the stage at Groton Hill Music Center in Groton recently, before she had sung a single word, she was met by a rousing standing ovation. It was clear from the get-go that the capacity audience knew they were in the presence of a legend....

by R. Scott Reedy - March 22, 2026

What did our critic think of SUFFS at Emerson Colonial Theatre?...

by R. Scott Reedy - March 18, 2026

Playwright Jordan Harrison’s 2025 drama “The Antiquities” – being given a fine New England premiere at SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts through March 28 – uses history to explore where things went wrong....

by R. Scott Reedy - March 13, 2026

What did our critic think of WAIT UNTIL DARK at Greater Boston Stage Company?...

by R. Scott Reedy - March 10, 2026

Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1960 novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” about the fictional small town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the Depression-era South grappling with violence and racial inequality, along with issues of class, courage, and compassion, is a classic of modern American literature...