OPEN NIGHTS: LAYING OUT THE PERFORMANCE AND VISUAL ART OPENINGS AHEAD FOR FALL
9.20-10.4
Ernest Shackleton Loves Me
Kat is at the end of her rope and can’t sleep. She decides to give online dating a shot and, naturally, is contacted by legendary arctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. He invites her to join him on his famous 1914 expedition, and a bold new love affair begins. Billed as a “geeky, high-tech musical adventure” with a book by Tony winner Joe DiPietro (Memphis), this should be interesting.
ArtsEmerson @ The Paramount Theatre
Ernest Shackleton Loves Me
9.22-10.18
Mr. Joy
A much-loved Chinese shop owner is the victim of an attack in the Harlem community that he has come to call home. A wide range of characters come to tell how much Mr. Joy has meant to them. The catch? They’re all played by one actor: Tangela Large.
ArtsEmerson @ Emerson College
9.23-10.25
Othello
There’s rarely a shortage of Shakespeare in Boston, and this fall is no exception. Actors’ Shakespeare Project generally does a bang-up job, so if you’re a Bard-aholoc, come get your fix.
Actors’ Shakespeare Project @ The Modern Theatre at Suffolk University
RISE
Starting 9.24
RISE: New concert series starting this fall
A brand new, hip concert series premieres Sept 24 with KING and Dave Mackay. Tickets include museum admission, and the Gardner will have a cash bar set up in its stunning courtyard.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
$12-$27
9.24-11.14
Einstein’s Dreams
Before Einstein was that Einstein, he could barely pay his rent. In honor of the 100th anniversary of his Theory of General Relativity, the original 2007 world premiere cast reunites for this very special production.
Central Square Theater
$15-$59
9.29-10.11
Billy Elliot the Musical
Winner of an astounding 10 Tony Awards, Billy Elliot is a pristine example of modern musical theater. With a score by Elton John, the results are electric.
North Shore Music Theatre
$54-$79
10.1-11.15
Copenhagen
Winner of three Tony Awards, including Best Play, Copenhagen is a masterful psychological mystery about Heisenberg and Bohr’s reunion in the afterlife, in which they attempt to unravel the events of the fateful night when they famously confronted each other during WWII.
Central Square Theater
$15-$59
10.2-10.30
Dry Land
Making its Boston premiere after a toasty NY reception, Ruby Rae Spiegel’s bold depiction of the contemporary American teenager is a must-see for anyone interested in the future of American theatre.
Company One Theatre @ The Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
10.8-10.24
An Audience With Meow Meow
Post-postmodern international sensation Meow Meow comes to Boston (so close to Broadway, she says) in a brand new musical. Whatever may happen, she cautions, she always promises her audience a big finish.
ArtsEmerson @ The Cutler Majestic Theatre
10.1-10.10
Kansas City Choir Boy
Courtney Love and Todd Almond star in Almond’s rock opera about an electric love affair between two musicians. When she leaves Kansas City for New York with bigger things in mind, she breaks his heart. Watching the news one night, he finds out that she has died. What results is a unique, unforgettable meditation on love and pain.
The American Repertory Theater @ OBERON
Courtney Love in Kansas City Choir Boy
10.10-11.1
A Number
Caryl Churchill’s thrilling play is about a son who confronts his emotionally distant father and learns a horrific truth about his past, exposing a disturbing incident involving a number of “others.”
New Repertory Theatre @ The Arsenal Center for the Arts
10.16-11.15
Choice
A brand new world premiere play by Winnie Holzman—best known for creating “My So-Called Life” and for her script for Wicked—about a successful journalist who takes on an assignment that challenges her past, present, and future.
The Huntington Theatre Company @ The Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
$25
10.16-10.25
West Side Story
Not only one of the most beloved musicals of all time, but also one of the most difficult and ambitious shows to stage. If you’ve never seen it live, you must.
Fiddlehead Theatre Company @ The Strand Theatre
$25-$45
10.23-11.21
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning
Having received strong reviews elsewhere, the Lyric brings Katori Hall’s work to Boston. Seven African-American women in Memphis during the final days of WWII wrestle with the uncertainty of what their futures hold.
The Lyric Stage Company of Boston @ 140 Clarendon St.
$31-$65
10.24-11.28
Casa Valentina
Harvey Fierstein’s Tony-nominated play with a cast full of Boston favorites. A group of heterosexual men secretly gathers to dress and behave like women at a Catskills resort in the ’60s. The play is about self-acceptance and, more importantly, the struggle to find the right heels.
Speakeasy Stage Company @ The Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
11.3-11.15
Sister Act
Not much depth here, but it’s a damn good time. With a new score by Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid), dazzling dancing, and singing nuns, this one is pure fun.
North Shore Music Theatre
$54-$79
11.7-11.22
Six Degrees of Separation
A contemporary classic, inspired by a true story, about a man who shows up at the door of an affluent NY couple and turns their lives upside down in just one evening.
Bad Habit Productions @ The Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
11.11-12.13
A Confederacy of Dunces
The long-awaited world premiere of the play based on John Kennedy Toole’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, starring Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation). It will be the hottest ticket in town, so get them while you can.
The Huntington Theatre Company @ The Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
$25-$125
Look Before You Leap
10.10-1.24.16
Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College 1933-1957
The first comprehensive museum exhibition on Black Mountain College in the US. With works by more than 90 artists, the exhibition celebrates the potent effect that BMC has had on the art world despite its short existence.
Institute of Contemporary Art
10.22-1.25.16
Ornament and Illusion: Carlo Crivelli of Venice
The first monographic exhibition dedicated to Renaissance painter Carlo Crivelli in the US, featuring the Gardner’s newly conserved Saint George Slaying the Dragon.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
10.11-1.18.16
Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer
Come on guys, this is a no-brainer! Rembrandt, Vermeer, Jan Steen, Pieter de Hooch, and more, including masterpieces never before seen in the United States.
Museum of Fine Arts
10.22-11.1
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
An epic masterpiece, choreographed by John Neumeier, set to Mahler’s longest symphony.
Boston Ballet @ The Boston Opera House
October 1-October 3
Nelsons conducts Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff
The BSO opens its 135th season with a gorgeous all-Russian program. Even non-classical music buffs will love this, especially Evgeny Kissin’s take on Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous Piano Concerto No. 1.
Boston Symphony Hall
10.29-10.31
Pinchas Zukerman conducts and plays Tchaikovsky, Elgar, and Schubert
Zukerman is one of best and most sought-after violinists; here, he conducts and plays the violin. The program concludes with Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, the perfect compliment to a crisp fall night.
Boston Symphony Hall
Pinchas Zukerman
10.2 & 10.4
Mozart Requiem
In its 201st season, the Handel and Haydn Society is a treasure that should be on every “must-see” list. Conductor Harry Christophers, with a thrilling period instrument orchestra and chorus, brings us the power of Mozart’s final, haunting work.
Symphony Hall
10.2-10.11
Puccini’s La Boheme
Some of the most beautiful music ever composed is from La Boheme. If you know nothing about opera, this is as great a starting point as one could ask.
Boston Lyric Opera @ Citi Performing Arts Center
November 11-15
Philip Glass’ In the Penal Colony
This won’t be for everyone, but for Philip Glass fanatics, this is an exciting, dark, and funny adaptation of Kafka’s dystopian short story about the breakdown of civil society.
Boston Lyric Opera @ Location TBA
CHRISTOPHER EHLERS
Chris is a theater critic for TheaterMania, WBUR's TheArtery, and is the Theater Editor for DigBoston. He is the treasurer of the Boston Theater Critics Association and reviews film and music for EDGE Media Network.
@_ChrisEhlers
Theater critic for TheaterMania & WBUR’s TheArtery | Theater Editor for DigBoston | film and music critic for EDGE Media | Boston Theater Critics Association.
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