Elise Arsenault News

Actress Elise Arsenault explores gender and conventional love in the roles of 'Sasha', Musical Director and cellist in the new critically acclaimed production of Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of VIRGINA WOOLF'S ORLANDO, from the Lyric Stage Company of Boston and directed by A. Nora Long.

The Lyric Stage of Boston presents Virginia Woolf's ORLANDO, which opened on February 23rd and will run through March 25th. A literary love letter to Woolf's lover and friend Vita Sackville-West, ORLANDO follows the titular character as they go to bed one night as a man, and wake up the next morning as a woman. This enables Orlando to see the world through new eyes.

The Lyric Stage of Boston presents Virginia Woolf's ORLANDO, opening February 23rd and running through March 25th. A literary love letter to Woolf's lover and friend Vita Sackville-West, ORLANDO follows the titular character as he goes to bed one night as a man, and wakes up the next morning as a woman. This enables Orlando to see the world through new eyes.

In this joyful romance of gender roles and expectations, Orlando the man wakes up, after a particularly wild night in 17th-century Constantinople, to find himself a woman! She abandons herself to three centuries of navigating love, desire, and the world from an entirely different perspective.  Oft described as the most charming love letter in literature - written by Woolf to Vita Sackville-West - Sarah Ruhl brings the novel to life on stage in a grand, epic adventure that transcends time, place, and gender.   

2016 was a year for imagination and innovation on Rhode Island stages. Here's a look back on some of the productions that stole the spotlight in the Ocean State this season.

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.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston announces the cast & creative team for COMPANY, with Music and Lyrics by STEPHEN SONDHEIM and Book by GEORGE FURTH. Directed by Spiro Veloudos with music director Catherine Stornetta and choreography & musical staging by Rachel Bertone, COMPANY will run September 2 - October 9, 2016.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston announces the cast & creative team for COMPANY, with Music and Lyrics by STEPHEN SONDHEIM and Book by GEORGE FURTH. Directed by Spiro Veloudos with music director Catherine Stornetta and choreography & musical staging by Rachel Bertone, COMPANY will run September 2 - October 9, 2016.

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Boston, St. Louis, Sacramento and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include CABARET in Boston, AIDA at The Muny, and NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT in Sacramento, just to name a few.

There are certainly many strange and unusual musicals appearing regularly on stages in New York City and across the country. Avenue Q does not shy away from being something different and unique. Rather, it proudly owns every bit of its wonderful uniqueness and accompanying hilarity. From songs about internet porn to full-frontal puppet nudity, this is a musical that constantly surprises, bringing undeniable laughs along the way. And it's hard to imagine that any theater could create as perfect a production of Avenue Q as the one currently running at Ocean State Theatre Company.

Ocean State Theatre Company (OSTC) is thrilled to be concluding their summer season with the hysterical and touching Tony® Award-winning musical,Avenue Q, which opens on August 3.

MY FAIR LADY is one of the grande dames of musical theater and the Lyric Stage Company is giving her the royal treatment she deserves under the erudite direction of Scott Edmiston, with musical direction by Catherine Stornetta. In a production packed with quality portrayals across the board, Jennifer Ellis takes her considerable skills to a new level with a performance that is at once humorous, heartbreaking, and triumphant. And then she sings.

As the Lyric Stage has shown with Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Big River, and more, our forte is turning a grand musical into a completely thrilling event in our uniquely intimate space. Now, director Scott Edmiston will re-fashion My Fair Lady, the delightful story of a down-on-her- luck London flower girl taken on as an 'experiment' by a chauvinistic speech therapist, into another Lyric Stage winner. Based on George Bernard Shaw's beloved play Pygmalion, My Fair Lady introduced the world to a treasure trove of classic tunes including 'I Could Have Danced All Night,' 'On the Street Where You Live,' 'The Rain in Spain,' and 'I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face.'

CITY OF ANGELS, Larry Gelbart, Cy Coleman, and David Zippel's musical romp through the seedy underworld of Hollywood via film noir, would be nothing without its dazzling dames. The same holds true for the production soon ending its run at Boston's Lyric Stage. Without the humor and heat brought by the wonderful Leigh Barrett and Jennifer Ellis, director Spiro Veloudos' CITY OF ANGELS would be all steak and no sizzle.

Due to unanimous critical and audience acclaim, INTO THE WOODS has been extended through June 29, with performances Wednesdays & Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3pm & 8pm, Sundays at 3pm. This is the FINAL possible extension due to the start of our summer teen program, Lyric First Stage.

When Anne Frank wrote in her diary, she was not just expressing her honest and true feelings about her daily observations and experiences. She was recording for posterity a harrowing tale of how a group of people tried against all odds to survive one of the most terrible times in history. Anne's family and friends hid in an attic for just over two years while the Nazis occupied the Netherlands. While living in constant fear of being discovered and captured, Anne and the others did all they could to attempt a normal existence and hold on to some semblance of optimism and hope. Ocean State Theatre Company's production perfectly creates those moments of hope while at the same time truthfully revealing how these people's resilience and courage were tested every day.

Ocean State Theatre Company (OSTC), currently celebrating its first full season in its new state-of-the-art theatre in Warwick will present the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, The Diary of Anne Frank from tonight, March 26 - April 13.

Ocean State Theatre Company (OSTC), currently celebrating its first full season in its new state-of-the-art theatre in Warwick will present the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, The Diary of Anne Frank from March 26 - April 13.

The miracle in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET is the ability of Kris Kringle to infuse the holiday with the true spirit of Christmas in the face of raging commercialism, harried shoppers, and cynical doubters. Adapted from the beloved 1947 film, the play at Stoneham Theatre does not fare as well in its stage bound version, despite the best efforts of all involved.

A predictable plot and disjointed musical elements might have brought FOOTLOOSE down, but deeper messages, good character development and -- at least in the production running over at Ivoryton Playhouse -- a strong vocal ensemble, turn the show around into an enjoyable romp through rebellious youth and overprotective parents.