★★★☆☆ 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 […]
AMOC BRINGING FRESH NOTES TO OPERA AT AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
When most people think of opera, they imagine a red-faced, sweating man or woman on stage, belting out unintelligible lyrics. Think Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in “What’s Opera, Doc?” or maybe even Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep in the eponymous biopic). While much of opera isn’t this, it does carry the burden […]
A.R.T. CHEERS ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ DECADE
★★★★☆ It seems the folks over at the American Repertory Theater have racked up a lot to be thankful for in the decade since Diane Paulus became the company’s artistic director. ExtraOrdinary, a collection of songs and talents from the 30-some musicals produced during her tenure, revels in a contagious self-satisfaction that’s hard […]
NO, BITCH. BEWARE: COMPANY ONE WIGS OUT AT OBERON
★★☆☆☆ “Stonewall has come crumbling down and Paris is still burning,” say the swaggerific Greek-inspired fates at the top of Wig Out! “Here, where one night can leave you legendary. Here, where a daughter that once was a son can find family. So as delicately as we can, we bring you a story […]
A VASTLY IMPROVED WAITRESS RETURNS TO BOSTON
★★★★☆ In my review of the 2015 world premiere of Waitress at the American Repertory Theater, I wrote that the show lacked depth and emotional texture and that there was nothing beyond the show’s light and airy meringue. While I do promise to avoid bad pie puns this time around, I am […]
BEST OF BOSTON THEATER: 2017 EDITION
A year to remember, from ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ to ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ to ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’
NEVER SAY GOODBYE: NEVERLAND RETURNS
Peter Pan and actress Karen Murphy come home to Boston
EDEN LANE RETURNS TO THE STAGE
Award-winning journalist & transgender superstar preps for Trans Scripts at A.R.T.
A BELATED BOSTON’S BEST PRODUCTIONS OF 2016 (AND ONE IS STILL RUNNING)
Though style occasionally prevailed over substance in this exhilarating revival of Sean O’Casey’s 1926 play, this Sean Holmes-directed revival is one of the most well-conceived productions of this decade.
BOSTON’S BEST PERFORMANCES OF 2016
Organic, frank, funny, and devastating, Lopez laid bare all of the reasons why she is a priceless asset to the Boston theater community.
