★★★★★ The Front Porch Arts Collective raised a few eyebrows this past spring when its name was found in the season announcements of three prominent Boston theater companies: Central Square Theater, Greater Boston Stage Company, and the Lyric Stage, Boston’s oldest professional theater. What was this Front Porch Arts Collective and why did […]
A FRENETIC BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES AT A.R.T.
★★★☆☆ Nigerian playwright Inua Ellams’ Barber Shop Chronicles—a smash in the UK—has been on an American tour since October and has just settled into a month-long run at Cambridge’s American Repertory Theater, where it will run through Jan 5. Directed by Bijan Sheibani, Barber Shop Chronicles is set in six different barber […]
SMOOTH OPERATORS: SKINCARE SPLURGES AND SELF-CARE DELIGHTS FOR KINGS AND QUEENS
Blemishes or other dermatological issues can make it easy to please them, in some cases with just a stocking stuffer.
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME, QUEENS: THE CHER SHOW OPENS ON BROADWAY
★★★★☆ By now, we should all know to never underestimate Cher. The same can easily be said for The Cher Show, the relentlessly entertaining and blindingly infectious new musical that opened Monday evening at The Neil Simon Theatre. But while The Cher Show charts the ups and downs…and ups and downs…and […]
REVIEW ROUNDUP: HAIRSPRAY, THE ROOMMATE, & PETER AND THE STARCATCHER
HAIRSPRAY AT NORTH SHORE MUSIC THEATRE ★★★★☆ Few modern musicals match the wit, heart, and craft of Hairspray, and Jeff Whiting’s production for North Shore Music Theatre is a mostly excellent reminder of just how lovable it is. Brooke Shapiro is terrific as Tracy Turnblad, the big-hearted, big-waisted, and big-haired girl who single-handedly […]
A FEARLESS, AND THEREFORE POWERFUL, FRANKENSTEIN AT CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER
★★★★☆ It’s likely that when you hear the name Frankenstein a very specific image comes to mind, one that probably involves green skin, stitches, and a pair of bolts. The first thing to know about this production of Frankenstein, which is the 2011 version written by Nick Dear, is that it definitely […]
GIRLHOOD, INTERRUPTED: THE TRAGIC ECSTASY OF GIRLHOOD AT BOSTON PLAYWRIGHTS’ THEATRE
★★★☆☆ Four young girls who have all come to live in a state-run home under different circumstances grapple with the death of Amber, their friend and housemate whose suicide rocks their already unstable lives. Written by Kira Rockwell, The Tragic Ecstasy of Girlhood is a mixed bag of acutely drawn characters full […]
MAROULIS AND DEGARMO KEEP JEKYLL & HYDE AFLOAT
★★★☆☆ The musical theater elite turned their noses up at Jekyll & Hyde when it premiered on Broadway in 1997 and, well, we’re still doing it now two decades later, even if Frank Wildhorn’s poperatic score has become something of a guilty pleasure. Wildhorn, whose personal motto might be “If at first […]
A MODERN VERSE MACBETH THIS WAY COMES
★★★☆☆ This new season at Actors’ Shakespeare Project—the first under artistic director Christopher V. Edwards, who took over from Allyn Burrows last year—is a welcome change of pace for the troupe that has of late been presenting, well, mostly Shakespeare. Edwards seems intent on looking forward, though, and his breath of […]
LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA’S REVOLUTION IS A REVELATION: HAMILTON FINALLY ARRIVES IN BOSTON
★★★★★ It’s unlikely that you’re reading this in order to find out if Hamilton is any good or not, but rather how good. So let’s get this out of the way: Yes, it’s every bit as good as its hype and impossible-to-get tickets suggest. Lin-Manuel Miranda set out to achieve the […]
