RHODE ISLAND THEATER REVIEWS

The Gamm Theatre closes its fifteen year run in Pawtucket with Shakespeare's AS YOU LIKE IT, so it was with mixed emotions that I turned right onto Exchange St. last Saturday, for the last time to be squeezed into the lyric, little bandbox of a theater. Fear not, theatergoers, they're not going away...

The phrase 'living legend' gets bandied about all too freely nowadays, but the superlative never was so fittingly employed than when describing Tony Bennett. Mr. Bennett's impeccable musicality made him the voice of his generation - and all generations to follow. Today, nearly seven decades into h...

What do you do when you finally buy your dream house and then immediately run into issues with the next-door neighbors? On the surface, that's essentially what Native Gardens is about, but as the plot starts to develop, issues of age, race, gender, immigration, privilege, environmentalism, class, h...

Westerly's Granite Theatre knows how to stage a good mystery. Whether weaving through plot twists penned by Agatha Christie or deftly melding horror and comedy ala Joseph Kesselring, the Granite reliably delivers a solid 'whodunit' season after season. This spring, the company lives up to its ster...

While GOD OF VENGEANCE may currently be better known as the subject of the 2017 Tony Award nominated Paula Vogel play, Indecent, as anyone who attended Head Trick Theatre's production of the show at AS220's Black Box Theatre could attest, it is a fascinating piece of theatre in its own right....

Staging PRIDE AND PREJUDICE for live theater is an ambitious undertaking. The cast members at Woonsocket's Rhode Island Stage Ensemble (RISE) certainly give the performance their best efforts, but the choppy adaptation now on stage at the RISE Playhouse disservices both the company and Jane Austen'...

The current touring production of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS is an absolutely resplendent musical from start to finish.  Heavy on the dance and with stunning sets, this show is a feast for the senses that will have your toes tapping and fill your heart with joy....

Central Asian ensemble finds a modern way to bring an ancient tale to life with music, film and spoken word....

The Gamm's current production A HUMAN BEING DIED THAT NIGHT, is a play written by Nicholas Wright in 2013 based on the book of the same name by Dr. Pumala Gobodo-Madikizela about her time on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which began in 1995 after the fall of apartheid.  It's a...

Ever wonder what movie theatre employees do after the projector is shut down for the night?  Well, there's a lot of sweeping, but there's also the perfect atmosphere for those types of relationships that develop when you're in your 20s working a job that is neither intellectually stimulating, nor l...

Festival Ballet's Spring offering of their Up Close on Hope series offers a charming mix of old favorites and exciting new works.  There are two world premiere pieces in this selection, as well as a new interpretation of a world premiere from two years ago....

Festival Ballet Providence (FBP) opens its Black Box Theatre to imagination and adventure with an utterly captivating staging of THE LITTLE PRINCE. Boyko Dossev's gorgeous choreography for this production shows off the finest, most sophisticated skills of FBP's dancers, and the company dazzles with...

BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL playing right now at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) is the most jukebox of juke box musicals. With a book by Douglas McGrath, it tells the story of King's life and career using songs that she wrote, often together wither sometimes partner and spouse G...

In addition to seeing some wonderful performance, the great things about wring reviews are that you to get to think, learn, and write. So it was with last Thursday's Firstworks production of AMERICAN RHAPSODY: THE GERSHWIN SONGBOOK with Michael Andrew, Michelle Amato and seventeen piece Gershwin Big...

The Burbage Theatre continues its inaugural season in its new home at 249 Roosevelt Ave. in Pawtucket with a raucous production of Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIIGHT, OR WHAT YOU WILL. Harold Bloom has called TWELFTH NIGHT 'the funniest of all Shakespeare's plays.' While I'm not sure Bloom is a reliable g...

Trinity Rep's Othello is macho, engaging and spirited...

A new adaptation of Igor Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale made its world debut at the VETS, Providence last night in a Festival Ballet Providence's production where it was, as per the ballet's direction, "read, played and danced....

Playwright George Brant seems to have a strange hold on the state of Rhode Island.  INTO THE BREECHES is the third play of his to be produced locally in four years, and this one was commissioned by Trinity Rep, and takes place in Providence.  While it's always fun to hear places you know like Woon...

If you notice more smiling faces "downcity" this week, chances are you've spotted audience members fresh from a showing of ON YOUR FEET! at the Providence Performing Arts Center. This fun, thoroughly enjoyable production stylishly recounts the behind-the-music story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan as ...

Occasionally the name Anton Chekhov invokes the same kind of anxiety one may get from Shakespeare or other heavy literary writers who we feel like we should go see to appear educated/ arty, but who no one really enjoys. Unfortunately, that makes people forget one of the reasons Chekhov and Shakes...

The musical THE BODYGUARD is based on the 1992 film of the same name, which is best known for Whitney Houston's cover of the song I Will Always Love You . It's rather telling that that movie is best known for a song, and that seems to have been the impetus behind relaunching as a musical. This st...

On paper, LOVE NEVER DIES should have everything going for it. With PHANTOM'S bedrock story and unforgettable music as its foundation, this tour adds to its credit a truly phenomenal cast, top-notch stagecraft and costuming, and Lloyd Webber's fine new score. Yet even these strengths fail to keep ...

Beautifully choreographed by Mihailo Djuric, The Festival Ballet welcomes the audience with a first act full of charm and humor, inviting the viewer to enjoy the excellent dancing to follow, making this production ideal for both the first-time ballet goer as well as the seasoned ballet lover....

THE SANTALAND DIARIES, based on the essay of the same name by David Sedaris, tells the story of his working as an elf at Macy's Santaland in the early 1990's. Those who are familiar with Sedaris's writing can imagine the witty and wry observations he took away from such an experience, but like all ...

There is nothing quite like a powerfully delivered sermon. Even non-believers may find themselves getting chills in the presence of impassioned oratory, regardless of the subject matter. That seems to be a central point of young Jean Lee's CHURCH, currently playing at The Wilbury Theatre Group. Si...