Boston Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 21

BWW REVIEW: JAGGED LITTLE PILL Is a Lot to Swallow at A.R.T.
by Jan Nargi - May 26, 2018

There's a lot to digest in the American Repertory Theater (ART) premiere of the new musical JAGGED LITTLE PILL, billed as a story of 'pain, healing, and empowerment' based on Alanis Morissette's landmark rock album of the same name. Directed and choreographed - sometimes too aggressively - by Diane ...

BWW REVIEW: SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE Is Hot, Hot, Hot in Ogunquit's Off-Broadway Preview
by Jan Nargi - May 25, 2018

An unequivocal hit is currently heating up the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine in preparation for its transfer Off-Broadway to Stage 42 in NYC July 6. Featuring a veritable goldmine of 40, count 'em, rock 'n' roll, blues, and R&B classics, SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE: The Songs of Lieber and Stoller is ...

BWW REVIEW: ALLEGIANCE Is an Earnest Celebration of Resilience and Redemption
by Jan Nargi - May 25, 2018

FDR called the attack on Pearl Harbor "a day that will live in infamy." Equally ignominious, though, was his knee-jerk response: the decision to authorize the incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps - without cause, trials, or hearings - for close to the duration of WWII. The...

BWW Review: Everybody Rejoice! The Lyric Stage Company's THE WIZ Is a Whirlwind
by Nancy Grossman - May 24, 2018

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. Help...

BWW Review: The 36th Annual Elliot Norton Awards
by Nancy Grossman - May 22, 2018

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...

BWW Review: THE LAST ACT: World Premiere at Israeli Stage
by Nancy Grossman - May 21, 2018

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, re...

BWW Review: STILL, NOW: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
by Nancy Grossman - May 11, 2018

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 ex...

BWW Review: THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE: Drag Queens in Suburbia
by Nancy Grossman - May 08, 2018

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 ...

BWW Review: LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! Captures the Zeitgeist
by Nancy Grossman - May 04, 2018

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...

BWW Review: BROKELAHOMO! Gold Dust Orphans Go Western
by Nancy Grossman - May 01, 2018

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, an...

BWW Review: Liesl Tommy Returns to Huntington Theatre With Churchill's TOP GIRLS
by Nancy Grossman - April 27, 2018

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 Thatch...

BWW Review: THE ROSENBERGS (AN OPERA) at Brandeis University Next Weekend
by Nancy Grossman - April 23, 2018

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 Ho...

BWW Review: Moonbox Productions' CABARET Sizzles and Dazzles
by Nancy Grossman - April 19, 2018

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...

BWW REVIEW: BRIGHT STAR Flickers at Hanover Theatre in Worcester
by Jan Nargi - April 16, 2018

In a brief engagement at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, Mass. (which ended this Sunday), the national tour of Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's southern musical BRIGHT STAR flickers between down-home country charm and maudlin storytelling. Strong performances and a kickin' on-stage bluegrass band,...

BWW Review: Celebrity Series of Boston Presents Audra McDonald
by Nancy Grossman - April 15, 2018

Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award-winning singer and actress Audra McDonald returned for her 7th appearance with the Celebrity Series on Friday night at Symphony Hall. Accompanied by a virtuoso trio of Brian Hertz on piano, Mark Vanderpoel on bass, and Gene Lewin on drums, she held the audience in her sw...

BWW Review: Intense ANNA CHRISTIE at Lyric Stage Company
by Nancy Grossman - April 14, 2018

Director Scott Edmiston has to thank the guy who wrote a taut adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning play ANNA CHRISTIE, thus positioning him to lead a seamless production which combines inventive stagecraft, stunning design elements, and a group of actors who seem born to their roles...

BWW Review: Sherlock With a Twist: MISS HOLMES
by Nancy Grossman - April 10, 2018

The Greater Boston Stage Company production of Christopher M. Walsh's MISS HOLMES is chock full of delightful elements. Producing Artistic Director Weylin Symes integrates minimalist and inventive stagecraft with a cast combining the usual suspects and a few first offenders for a spellbinding theatr...

BWW Review: THE BAKELITE MASTERPIECE: Truth or Consequences
by Nancy Grossman - March 21, 2018

THE BAKELITE MASTERPIECE is the Boston area premiere of Kate Cayley's two-hander, directed by Jim Petosa, with stellar performances by Benjamin Evett and Laura Latreille. It is based on the true story of Dutch artist Han van Meegeren, a noted forger accused of treason for selling a long-lost Vermeer...

BWW Review: Boston Lyric Opera's THE THREEPENNY OPERA Is On The Money
by Nancy Grossman - March 20, 2018

THE THREEPENNY OPERA is a 20th century classic that is rarely performed by a professional opera company. Boston Lyric Opera and Director James Darrah have brought together an ensemble of artists whose acting skills and stellar vocal talents distinctively portray the cast of memorable characters and ...

BWW Review: THE HUMANS: 2016 Best Play Tour at Boch Shubert Center
by Nancy Grossman - March 19, 2018

The National Tour of the 2016 Tony Award-winning play THE HUMANS makes its Boston debut at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre. Playwright Stephen Karam, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, is well-known to local theater audiences from his dark comedy SONS OF THE PROPHET, and SPEECH AND DEBATE. With hum...

BWW Review: EVERY BRILLIANT THING: #1 Adrianne Krstansky
by Nancy Grossman - March 15, 2018

SpeakEasy Stage Company presents Boston premiere of British playwright Duncan Macmillan's one-person show that explores depression with humor. Marianna Bassham directs Adrianne Krstansky in a brilliant performance as the daughter of a suicidal mother, who copes by creating a list of things worth liv...

BWW Review: SKELETON CREW: 'Survivor: Detroit'
by Nancy Grossman - March 13, 2018

According to AMERICAN THEATRE magazine, Dominique Morisseau's SKELETON CREW is the third most-widely produced play of the 2017-2018 season at regional theaters nationwide. Huntington Theatre Company stages the timely final chapter of the playwright's Detroit trilogy, a powerful drama about the hards...

BWW Review: STEVE at Zeitgeist Stage Company
by Nancy Grossman - March 06, 2018

STEVE is a character-driven play in which not much happens, but it is a humorous treatise on the lives of a couple of middle-aged gay couples who are exploring ways to enliven their 'post-passion' relationships. Right about now, we can all use a shot of humor, and whether one is gay or straight, the...

BWW Review: BRAWLER: A PLAY IN ALL CAPS
by Nancy Grossman - March 05, 2018

In the world premiere of BRAWLER at Boston Playwrights' Theatre, Walt McGough places the action in a hockey arena to explore what happens to an 'enforcer' who is demoted from the Boston Bruins to the minor league team in Providence. Can the former hero of the ice rink find an outlet for his violent ...

BWW Review: World Premiere of THE WHITE CARD: An Invitation to Talk
by Nancy Grossman - March 02, 2018

ArtsEmerson and the American Repertory Theater present the world premiere of THE WHITE CARD by playwright and poet Claudia Rankine. The groundbreaking piece of theater begins a conversation and challenges us to stay in the room to talk about race in America. It suggests that society cannot progress ...