Teresa Castracane News

Today’s subject Ivania Stack is currently living her theatre life as the costume designer for There’s Always the Hudson at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. The production runs through June fifth.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Our Town is a triumphant production of vitality, and consequence. Thornton Wilder’s classic—a work that captures the universal experience of being alive—takes on new resonance and depth in the capable hands of an extraordinary ensemble. This play is immediate—one to see and share and talk about.

'The Joy that Carries You' is a touching and touchingly thoughtful journey, one which many might recognize in their own. But Secka and Stoller also make this a celebration of the relationships which until (only) very recently were taboo. Thank goodness we're no longer at the stage where seeing two women choosing each other as life-partners is a shock; we can now see them as human beings. But we also know that relationships like this are still fraught with a unique form of anxiety, between the women themselves but especially with their families.

The premiere of THERE’S ALWAYS THE HUDSON, on stage now at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, has been a long time coming. Don’t miss this hilarious and heart-wrenching story of trauma, revenge, and friendship.

While ostensibly about grief and how we see the world, 'The Upstairs Department' is really more about the central sibling relationship, about how two people can drift apart and find their way back to each other along their journeys to better understand themselves.

Earnest, funny, and full of life, Lisa B. Thompson's The Mamalogues is an intimate piece about navigating the world and looking for a fulfilling way of life (and in particular America) as a single Black mother. 

One may never know what to expect on April Fool's Day, but a one-night-only performance by a Venezuelan-American artist at the GALA Hispanic theatre was certainly one of them.

Hi, Are You Single? is a one-man show that explores intimacy, hypocrisy, sex, and slow dancing with strangers. Written and performed by Ryan J. Haddad, the show exists at the intersection between queerness and living with a disability.

'The Phlebotomist' is a fascinating look into how the world could be in the not-too-distant future, and it raises all the questions good science fiction can. 1st Stage’s production does the complex tale justice, and ensures that people will continue to ruminate on these topics for a long time – as we all should.

A.D. 16 is an exuberant, ambitious world premiere with its eyes on Broadway; music and lyrics by Cinco Paul (Despicable Me, Schmigadoon!), book by Bekah Brunstetter (This Is Us) and direction by Stephen Brackett (Be More Chill). A.D. 16 starts with the missing teen years of Jesus, layers in an effervescent R&B-influenced score, and sprinkles in some irreverence and anachronistic humor.

BroadwayWorld has a first look at Olney Theatre Center's world premiere of A.D. 16, now on stage through March 6, 2022. The new musical is by writers Cinco Paul (co-creator of Despicable Me and Schmigadoon!) and Bekah Brunstetter (producer and writer on This Is Us).

Anyone that has read my reviews or columns over the years knows that I always pay attention to the orchestrations and orchestrator of any given musical. Let’s face it, without the orchestrator, the score is only a piano. Today’s subject Doug Besterman has been living his theatre life for many years as an orchestrator for Broadway, regional, and West End theatre as well as doing scoring for films and TV.

Pasadena Playhouse will present Teenage Dick, a brilliantly hilarious take on Richard III by Mike Lew and directed by Tony Award nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel, streaming online.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is now presenting A STRANGE LOOP, Michael R. Jackson's Pulitzer-Prize winning musical. Directed by Stephen Brackett, choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly, music directed by Rona Siddiqui, and produced in association with Playwrights Horizons and Page 73 Productions, A STRANGE LOOP will run through January 9, 2022.

William T. Newman Jr. is currently living his theatre life portraying the esteemed African-American playwright August Wilson in How I Learned What I Learned at WSC Avant Bard. The production marks the company’s return to LIVE performances and runs through December 19th at Gunston Arts Center in Theatre Two.

Write what you know, the adage goes. Thus, John Grisham writes courtroom dramas. Bill and Hillary Clinton write political thrillers. Robin Cook writes stories about medicine.

When we first enter the Mulitz-Gedelsky Theater Lab at Olney, we see a thrust stage decked out with a wide variety of Victorian-style bric-a-brac, strategically tossed about by Scenic Designer Jacob A. Climer. Forget the tree and the lights, forget the boxes with tacky wrapping, I’ll take the pile of stuff here any time--it's Christmas all over again! 

SECRET THINGS by Elaine Romero examines faith and human connection – today and through generations. A very sure and charismatic cast and an intriguing history of the hidden Jewish roots in communities of the U.S. Southwest can’t quite make up for a problematic script.

There are certain musical theatre pieces that audiences see on Broadway and believe the version they saw is the only way the material can be interpreted.  Beauty and the Beast definitely falls into that category for the sole reason of that once you’ve seen how Disney produced it originally, it’s impossible to see it done in a less spectacular way.

Theater J’s 'Tuesdays with Morrie' is a touching, emotional exploration of human connection. It’s an intimate portrait of a beautiful relationship between a man and his mentor in the face of tragic circumstances, but it’s also a greater insight into how we all relate to each other and ourselves.