RHODE ISLAND THEATER REVIEWS

My favorite writing professor loved to say that there are two stories the world: one, a person sets off on a journey; in the other, a stranger comes to town. The second story is precisely the idea behind the 10 Tony Award winning THE BAND'S VISIT. The Egyptian Police Band is on tour, and through a...

Singin' in the Rain is one of the best movie musicals of all time, so it is no doubt a daunting prospect to mount a stage production.  Aside from the technical issues of actually making it rain on stage, you need a cast talented and charismatic enough to rival Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds.  Thea...

DADA WOOF PAPA HOT, the 2015 play by Peter Parnell, attempts to grapple with the complications gay couples may face after gaining marriage equality, and whether it's possible to avoid some of the same traps that straight couples also face. Epic Theatre Company's production, directed by Theodore Clem...

Theatre by the Sea presents the world premiere of Love and Other Fables...

When the movie Waitress premiered in 2007, it was roundly praised, but didn't make too big of a splash, so it seems like an odd choice of source material to turn into a Broadway musical.  It turns out, that this story works incredibly well in this format, and delivers a musical with great songs, an...

The Wilbury Theatre Group is closing out their 2018-2019 main series season with FUN HOME, the musical based on the highly acclaimed 2006 graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. Fun Home, directed here by Josh Short, deals with both Bechdel's coming of age, as well as her coming out, but is as much her ent...

Trinity Rep closes out their 2018-2019 season with Jose' Rivera's MARISOL, the 1993 Obie winner for best new play. It's a hodgepodge of magical realism and absurdism set in a rapidly disintegrating New York City, and is grand in scope as we learn that people's guardian angels have to abandon them to...

Counter-Productions Theatre Company's GIDION'S KNOT may run at just about an hour in length, but their effective production of this one-act play, directed by Kira Hawkridge, leaves the audience with plenty to mull over....

Festival Ballet Providence's Swan Lake is filled with so many moments of take-your-breath-away beauty...

As an older Millennial, songs by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons have always been part of the landscape during my lifetime, on the radio, in stores, etc. But who were the men behind the music? Enter JERSEY BOYS, subtitled 'The Story of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons' which is exactly that, portr...

There are few musicals with as prominent a place in the American theatrical canon as 'Gypsy'*. It's a big musical, meant for a proscenium stage, and while the Contemporary has mounted a creditable production, their attempt to fit it into a smaller theatre has not been entirely successful....

THE BOOK OF MORMON, which is running for one week at the Providence Performing Arts Center until April 28th, follows two Mormon Missionaries as they attempt to preach the Mormon religion to the inhabitants of a remote Ugandan village. The earnest young men are challenged by the lack of interest of t...

Your intrepid reviewer headed off last Wednesday night to the Providence Performing arts Center (PPAC) for the Complexions Contemporary Ballet's performance of FROM BACH TO BOWIE, part of the FirstWorks Artistic Icons Series. The first half of the New York dance troupe's performance featured 'Bach 2...

In the forty years since its debut, Sam Shepard's 'True West' has been lauded for its stark portrayal of the duality of the American soul. The Gamm Theatre has mounted a visually compelling production with penetrating performances that slice to the heart of Shepard's darkly comedic vision....

First of all, STOMP at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC)is a complete hoot! I cannot remember anything I've ever seen that was more fun, more energetic, or more original. It's a totally non-verbal performance combining dance and percussion. The cast of eight performers make music out of e...

What a great show!...

Head Trick Theatre closes out their spectacular 2018-2019 season with the musical GOBLIN MARKET, directed by Rebecca Maxfield. Based on the 19th century poem by Christina Rossetti, the verses have been adapted for the stage by Polly Pen and Peggy Harmon....

Go see Quentin Oliver Lee in the Phantom of the Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber's beloved musical that is playing now at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC)....

Counter-Productions Theatre Company is presenting the world premiere of Kevin Broccoli's THE MARRIED NAME this weekend at AS 220's Black Box Theatre, 95 Empire St in Downtown Providence. Broccoli is a very talented actor, playwright, and artistic director of Epic Theatre in Cranston. In an uninterru...

Thornton Wilder's 'Our Town' is a poignant snapshot of a bygone America, a keenly observed drama which retains its relevance 70 years after it debuted - and more than 100 years after it's set. For those who've never seen the show, the Burbage Theatre Company offers an introduction to this classic wi...

Trinity Rep commissioned playwright Lauren Yee to write SONG OF SUMMER for their company of actors, and the result is such a satisfying and wonderful play that you just want to give everyone involved a big hug. Naturally the casting is flawless, but Yee's dialogue and shrewd observations about grow...

Among the delights of postmodern theater are carefree mashups of reality and fiction, blurred genres, and coaxing new meaning out of old material. The Epic Theatre Company's 'Lizzie Borden, Lizzie Borden' gleefully takes an axe to history, and in the process creates an intriguing, engaging evening t...

The Gamm is currently showing two short plays back-to-back, with all female casts. ESCAPED ALONE by Caryl Churchill (New England Premiere) is a tight one-act that raises far more questions than it answers. COME AND GO by Samuel Beckett is so brief it almost feels like it's over before it begins, b...

The story of SCHOOL OF ROCK is a fairly simple one-- a somewhat aimless manchild gets a job substitute teaching, and because he doesn't really know how to actually teach subjects like math and science, he instead focuses on teaching the students how to play rock instruments so they can compete in th...

Are you a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff?  Do you see yourself more closely aligned with Slytherin than Ravenclaw?  These are important questions to know the answer to before attending one of the Harry Potter film concerts, because probably 60% of attendees are wearing their house colors, and when the...