From the stage, to the gallery, to the concerto, they’re back
Theater
Our Daughters, Like Pillars, The Huntington
Two years ago, Our Daughters, Like Pillars was well into rehearsals when the entire run was scrapped due to COVID. Now, Kirsten Greenidge’s epic and funny play about a contemporary black family pushed to their limits while on vacation is finally getting its world premiere. 4.8-5.22. huntingtontheatre.org
Don’t Eat the Mangos, Apollinaire Theatre Company and Teatro Chelsea
There’s a lot to unpack—and enjoy—in Don’t Eat the Mangos, Ricardo Pérez González’s funny family drama that centers on three Puerto Rican sisters who struggle to maintain their identity while caring for their ailing parents. Aside from the play itself, a visit to Apollinaire is always well worth it. 4.15-5.15. apollinairetheatre.com
Black Super Hero Magic Mama, Company One Theatre
In collaboration with American Repertory Theater, Boston Public Library, and Boston Comics in Color Festival, Inda Craig-Galván’s comic book-like adventure examines the enormous expectations placed on Black mothers and their sons. With C1 and ART at the helm, you already know there’s not going to be anything else in town like it. And with all performances pay what you will, there’s no reason to miss it. 4.22-5.21. companyone.org
The Inheritance, SpeakEasy Stage
The winner of the 2020 Tony Award for Best Play, this two-part, six-and-a-half-hour play will undoubtedly be the highlight of the spring theater season. A modern take on E.M. Forster’s Howard’s End, The Inheritance examines the life, love, and legacy of a group of young gay men, one generation after the peak of the AIDS epidemic. 4.22-6.11. speakeasystage.com
The Bomb-itty of Errors, Actors’ Shakespeare Project
Long delayed because of the pandemic, Actors’ Shakespeare Project will finally mount its much-anticipated hip-hop retelling of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. Part play and part rap concert, Bomb-itty is something of a departure for ASP, one that will hopefully continue to expose younger and more diverse audiences to magic of the bard. 5.25-6.26. actorsshakespeareproject.org
Art
Turner’s Modern World
Leave it to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts to gift the city with another massive landmark exhibition by one of the greats. This spring, the MFA will bring together more than 100 works by J.M.W. Turner, a radical artist who sought to capture rapidly changing times during the industrial revolution, all the while developing an innovative painting style that he used to portray the ever-changing world around him. 3.27-7.10. mfa.org
A Place for Me: Figurative Painting Now
Showcasing works by eight contemporary artists, this vibrant and surprising exhibition at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art seeks to showcase exactly why the eight artists on display are at the forefront of figurative painting’s recent revival. Through the figurative works on display, A Place for Me promises to be a testament to the vitality of contemporary figurative art. 3.31-9.5. icaboston.org
Music
Anna Rakitina conducts Tchaikovsky, Ellen Reid, and Sibelius
Assistant conductor Anna Rakitina makes her live Symphony Hall debut with a pair of exquisite classics, plus a contemporary piece by Ellen Reid. Making his BSO debut is French pianist Alexandre Kantorow, who will be blowing the dust off of Tchaikovsky’s rarely heard Piano Concerto No. 2. But the cherry on the cake is Sibelius’ Symphony No. 7, one of the most gorgeous, ethereal, and cinematic pieces ever written. 4.7-4.9. bso.org
Alan Gilbert conducts Bernard Rands, Debussy, and Beethoven
Debussy’s La Mer is one of music’s most cherished pieces, and many don’t know that the piece actually enjoyed its American premiere in 1907 right here with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Now, 115 years later, former New York Philharmonic maestro Alan Gilbert will conduct the piece in an evening that includes one of classical music’s best loved celebrities, Joshua Bell. Bell will play Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, a piece that became one of his trademarks. 4.14-4.16. bso.org
Sound Check: A Musical Celebration of Black & Queer Boston
In conjunction with its current exhibition, Being Muholi: Portraits as Resistance, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is presenting a companion concert of sorts featuring local hip-hop legend Brandie Blaze, along with Billy Dean Thomas (“The Queer B.I.G.”), who, with special guests, will present a “curated sonic testimony” that seeks to change the way we see the world. 4.21. gardnermuseum.org
Harry Christopher’s Final Bow
After 13 years at the helm of the Handel + Haydn Society, the prolific maestro will give his final performance this spring with Haydn’s masterwork The Creation. And in true H+H form, The Creation will be performed on the period instruments for which it was written, making the iconic oratorio sound as vibrant as the day it was written. 4.29-5.1. handelandhaydn.org
Theater critic for TheaterMania & WBUR’s TheArtery | Theater Editor for DigBoston | film and music critic for EDGE Media | Boston Theater Critics Association.
