★★★★☆ Miss Saigon had the helicopter. Phantom has the chandelier. And Endlings—a daring and audacious new play by Celine Song—has a water tank. Partly set on a small, remote South Korean island, three elderly women are the last of their kind: the final three haenyeos, free divers that harvest seafood 65 feet […]
SEEDS OF MISTRUST IN A.R.T.’S OTHELLO
★★★★☆ Othello, William Shakespeare’s quintessential tale of race-baiting political treachery, has more connections to contemporary society than one might care to admit (or write down). As observed in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s production, now in performance at the American Repertory Theater, the story of a virtuous black leader brought down by the vindictive […]
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 […]
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.
