The New England Theatre Geek

Too Much is Never Enough: FROM DENMARK WITH LOVE

craigidlebrook — Sat, 25 May 2013 18:37:35 +0000

photo by Omar Robinson

(This post brought to you from Paris where the Queen Geek is currently on vacation. Don’t say I never got you anything.)

presented by Vaquero Playground
By John J King
Directed by Barlow Adamson

Boston Playwrights Theatre
Boston, MA
May 10th – June 1, 2013
Vaquero Playground Facebook Page

The Compilation Album (featuring Queen Geek, Kitty Drexel on All’s Well That Ends Another Day)

(Boston) Review by Craig Idlebrook

When I was in college, a friend of mine decided the best birthday gift for his jock roommate would be a striptease, and he would not be dissuaded. As the birthday party was winding down, my friend burst into the party wearing nothing but terrible lingerie and he proceeded to slowly strip. His roommate laughed as the joke began, but he grew increasingly alarmed, realizing that my friend might go the Full Monty. The jock began to plead with my friend not to go all the way (this was Indiana in the nineties, after all), but with a big build-up, my friend took it all off anyway. It has become the most memorable striptease in my (cough) semi-extensive memory.

From Denmark with Love, Vaquero Playground’s bawdy mashup of the James Bond franchise and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, will be memorable for much the same reason. It’s not that this play’s frantically crass humor crosses any final frontier of decency, although it definitely tap-dances on the bounds of taste. No, what makes this play memorable is the hacker mentality that it brings to comedy; it never plays it safe in its presentation. It feels as if scriptwriter John J. King and director Barlow Adamson concocted and constructed this play from an all-night giggle-fest, and now they are putting it on for friends. If you happen to get the humor, too, all the better, but they’re not going to stop and explain it to you.

This devil-may-care ethos is the play’s greatest strength, and its greatest weakness. It’s a mash-up in every true sense of the word, not just of plot, but of every comic device under the sun. It ensures that while the play is never boring, it sometimes strays into incomprehensible, especially when the accents get thick. (For some reason, the play needs every European accent imaginable, including not one, but two Scottish dialects.) Also, the writer and director refuse to hold their most shocking cards to last, instead blowing their wad early with some of the bawdiest jokes and then hitting those jokes again and again, gleefully.

And it’s this gleefulness, and the brevity of the script, that makes the play ultimately fun to watch. The cast never takes itself seriously and it is not above whoring itself to the audience for laughs (that’s a compliment). There’s such a renegade vibe to this production that the cast doesn’t even seem to revere its own script, let alone give a shit about honoring the ridiculous source material. (Hamlet, come on, just kill the guy, okay?) King and the production team show they have the chops to make a slick production, as evidenced by the spot-on multi-media opening credits, but they consciously decided this isn’t that kind of a party. It’s that kind of vibe that will make this play memorable for me, and could make future King scripts downright dangerous to the world of comedy.

(A closing note: On opening night of this show, King fulfills a bet, in honor of a near-sellout crowd, to do an aftershow speech in his all-togethers. This is not for the faint of heart.)

Stellar Science Fiction: SOLACE

craigidlebrook — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:06:24 +0000

Image courtesy of Science Fiction Theatre Company

Presented by Science Fiction Theatre Company
By A. Vincent Ularich
Directed by Anna Trachtman

The Factory Theatre
Boston, MA
May 10^th – May 25th, 2013

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston) Oh, science fiction looks so easy to do when you have a CGI budget and a sleek deck of a starship to command, but it can be deadly to stage, especially when you’re working with a new play. It’s then that we learn that space thrusters look ridiculous when constructed by duct tape, and phrases like “reverse the ion thrusters” just don’t roll off the tongue.

That’s what makes the sci-fi play Solace, written by Boston playwright A. Vincent Ularich, such a marvel. For my money, this production, staged imaginatively and thoughtfully by the Science Fiction Theatre Company, is the sweetest surprise of the theater season. Ularich, director Anna Trachtman and the strong overall cast have conjured up a love story about the future that retains all the heart of the present. This play’s flaws quickly fell by the wayside, as I was drawn into the funny, sad and evocative world created on stage.

Julia (Erin Eva Butcher), a rock star theoretical engineer, finds herself adrift on Earth as her husband, Thomas (Joseph Kidawski), is set adrift in the galaxy, the victim of an industrial space accident. Julia is asked to play the widow by those around her, since Thomas’s company believes there’s no real way to find him before he dies, but she refuses to give up hope because the loss is too much to contemplate. Aided by the hologram of a global-positioning device, Prius (Gabriel Graetz), Julia takes a leap of faith and sets off to find the missing part of her.

Ularich’s script and Trachtman’s pacing help this play stay focused by delving into the small things that continue around us during life’s dramatic moments. Julia, a natural introvert, is never allowed to sink into naval-gazing despair because the outside world (a pushy mother, a mean boss) keeps crowding in on her cloud, spurring her to take action. This play also works because of its ability to wear many hats. We never are allowed to dwell in one facet, be it the horror of being marooned in space or the sitcom-like frustration of working for a boss dumber than you, yet each aspect of Julia’s journey is fully developed and explored.

Butcher pulls off the rare feat of creating an introvert that is both inscrutable and accessible enough for us to love. Julia selfishly guards her pain throughout much of the play, but Butcher lets us in just enough that we don’t want to leave her to her own devices. Julia is not a natural fit in human company, which is why perhaps she is best drawn out by an almost-human device of her own creation. Graetz nails playing a robot to Data-like perfection, minus the schmaltz. Prius may not completely get humans, but he’s seen enough to know they need to get called on the carpet for their illogical attitudes. And he processes everything verbally, making him the perfect foil to Julia, who tries steadfastly not to share what she’s thinking.

What’s fascinating about a really good piece of theater is that its flaws are often so exposed, and that’s okay. The first act unfolds for too long, and while the play is going for a molecular “What the Bleep Do We Know?” kind of ending, it really only achieves “WTF?” It doesn’t matter, because during the journey, this sci-fi script illuminates so much, giving the audience a visceral feeling of what it’s like to be in limbo and what it takes to break free.

Troubled Flight for “Icarus”

gilliandaniels — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:55:38 +0000

With Austin Auh and Corianna Moffatt. Photo courtesy of Liars & Believers Facebook Page.

Presented by Liars & Believers
Directed by Faye Dupras

May 17 & 18, 2013 (Grab tickets while you can!)
Cambridge YMCA Theater in Central Square
Cambridge, MA
Liars & Believers Facebook Group

Gillian Daniels

Liars and Believers’ Icarus is a wobbly production, a Depression Era circus fable that limps when it pushes hard to soar. Like a small bird, the show is both endearing but weak. Its flourishes are strong: puppets, bluegrass, and robots. The result gives the audience a series of intriguing set pieces but nothing that really coalesces into a grand story.

Jason Slavick packs a lot into the show, the separate parts fluid and vibrant. The lead-up to the play itself includes burlesque and music, giving the centerpiece, Minnie Minoseczeck’s Menagerie of Marvels, a vaudevillean glamour. The trimmings for the circus are convincing, complete with posters promising a minotaur and a flying woman, Penny (Corianna Moffatt).

Penny flies through the use of a contraption by the mechanic Daedalus (Steven Emanuelson), a welcome distraction to the downtrodden from the 1930’s Dust Bowl. They lavish her with gifts and Penny, for the most part, is happy. She also attracts the attention of Daedalus’s precocious son, Icarus (Austin Auh), who immediately sets his sights on winning Penny’s heart. Icarus wants to move away from the corrupt circus and its ringmaster, marry, and get a house. She’s not so sure.

The story may borrow its names from Greek myth, including the hilarious Minnie Minosezeck (Aimee Rose Ranger) as stand-in for Classical villain King Minos, but this production is more Romeo and Juliet. Icarus and Penny’s story feels incomplete, a set-up that never quite evolves into something recognizably human. Its love story is difficult to fall in love with.

Nathan Leigh throws in some lovely music, invoking classic Americana and the dusty back roads of another time. Leigh’s lyrics don’t always hit home but he does succeed in planting the story in a recognizable setting. Faye Dupras’ puppetry and design, as utilized by Veronica Barron, is also engaging. The artistry on display is visually arresting.

Liars and Believers’ Icarus greatest strength is its surreal elements. When it commits to being weird, like when Icarus showcases his father’s automatons to Penny, it’s enjoyable, even gorgeous. When the show falls back on more conventional tropes, like a pair of lovers kept apart by parents who just don’t understand, the magic lessens. Like their play earlier this year, Lunar Labyrinth, it hints Liars and Believers has a promising future. Another day, the theater group will really take flight.

“Pirates of Penzance” Pillages Hearts

gilliandaniels — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:28:16 +0000

Emily Casey, Sean Pfautsch, Matt Kahler, Ryan Bourque, Dana Omar. Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva

presented by American Repertory Theater
produced by The Hypocrites
by Gilbert & Sullivan
adapted by Sean Graney, Kevin O’Donnell
directed by Sean Graney

Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
The Hypocrites’ Facebook Page

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Cambridge) The Hypocrites’ production of Pirates of Penzance is an absolute confection. Adapting the beloved Gilbert and Sullivan operetta to a quirkier, more contemporary stage, Sean Graney and Kevin O’Donnell infuse the original libretto and its score with banjos, bathing suits, beach balls, and a warmth that charms but never cloys. It’s energetic and just plain fun.

Premiering in New York in 1879, the original show has a long history of making audiences titter at lyrics like, “I am the very model of a modern major general.” The comic opera lampoons Victorian concepts of honor, piracy, politeness, the literary inconveniences of being a foundling, and, most importantly, duty.

Zeke Sulkes is Frederic, a reluctant apprentice to the Pirate King (Robert McLean). Now twenty-one, Frederic is released from the apprenticeship accidentally foisted on him by his old nurse, Ruth (Christine Stulik). Never having seen a young woman in his life, he devises to discover what one looks like and marry her. His first encounter is with the daughters of bafoonish Major-General Stanley (Matt Kahler), specifically the youngest, Mabel (again, Christine Stulik). Frederic sets forward to woo her, all while juggling his zealous belief in duty.

Attendees for this particular production are encouraged to roam around the beach-like stage, get drinks during the show, and even interact with the performers. The only warning is that the play is constantly on the move. Those who sit in the promenade section get a fair warning: if the performers have to be where you are, you’ll have to find a new place to sit. Those seeking a workout should buy a ticket for this area. All others should probably stick to more traditional seating arrangements.

This adaptation winks slyly and often at the audience. Existing dialogue is embroidered with more modern jokes, such as an allusion to milkshakes that bring all the boys to the yard. When the contemporary world bleeds into the Victorian, never do these moments overwhelm or undermine the story. Nothing feels forced here. The ensemble (Ryan Bourque, Emily Casey, Dana Omar, and others) keep their jokes as breezy as the plotline.

Pirates of Penzance stays true to the light and cheerful spirit of its source material. Gilbert and Sullivan, in past decades, have accrued a reputation as cultivated, formal, and, worst of all, educational theater. This is good in some ways, as W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan certainly deserve respect and study, but bad because performers who go forward with the breadth of their importance in mind give a stiff veneer to what should be fun, comic farce. The Hypocrites’ more organic production does the operetta form proud. To see professionals at work, I recommend purchasing a ticket right away.

How May I Connect You?

kittymdrexel — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:13:35 +0000

Since their debut with What Are You Doing Here? Project:Project has been asking questions. What is our relationship to technology? How do we use it? Why do we cling to things that are obsolete? How May I Connect You (Or, Scenes in the Key of D:\) takes our play making to another level.

HMICY? explores our current hyper-connectivity, as well as how our relationships and communication styes have changed over the past years due to technology. We’ve been interviewing people from ages 17-70, and HMICY? is a direct result with songs, dances, and stories devised directly from those inspirational conversations.

Your contribution will fund the following components of our show:
1) Space Rental at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts (because it’s the most conducive space to the story we’re telling).

2) Provide Stipends for our design team (because paying people for their work is the right thing to do).

Your contribution ensures that we can tell this story in the best possible way with the best possible people. Doing what’s right is important to us, and we hope you feel the same way.

Leading up to our performance in September we’re continuing to create an ensemble based, collaborative piece of theatre that will evolve until opening night.

MISSION STATEMENT
Project: Project is a troupe producing ensemble-created, original stories that combine scripted material with improvisation. Preferring creating to interpreting, we explore and experiment with form, storytelling, and the role of the audience.

CORE MEMBERS:
Louise Hamill
Harry McEnerny
Max Mondi
Jeffrey Mosser
Vicki Schairer
Sophia Shrand

If you can’t give at this point, we hope you’ll join us in spreading the word.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ProjectProjectBoston
Twitter: @PP_Boston

We can’t thank you enough!

Kicking Ass and Taking Names: Meeting “The Opera Guy”

kittymdrexel — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:31:36 +0000

The Opera Guy, Wesley Ray Thomas’ MySpace Page

This morning I had the pleasure to hear and meet Mr. Wesley Ray Thomas, The Opera Guy, at Alewife station. He was singing some lovely arias and it appeared he had been doing so since early in the morning. His commitment is exemplary.

He is a perfect example of seeking performance at every opportunity. He was at Alewife at 8:30AM on a FRIDAY singing the crap out of a Verdi aria. The aria was semi-staged, beautifully sung and, equally as important, this busker was making dough rise out of his pockets. Ladies and gentlemen, put this man in your shows.

Opera isn’t everybody’s thing. It doesn’t have to be to appreciate the fine art of performance and a dedication to craft.

Keep on rocking on, Mr. Thomas.

Wesley Thomas singing Jago’s Creed: “I believe in a Cruel God” from Verdi’s Opera “Otello” from Lowell House Opera’s 2009 production. Channing Wu conducts.

The Opera Guy busking on the Prado in Boston’s Historic North End. Sung in the original Baritone key.

Liars & Believers to Put on “Icarus”

kittymdrexel — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:21:19 +0000

Presented by Liars & Believers
Directed by Faye Dupras

May 17 & 18, 2013 (Grab tickets while you can!)
Cambridge YMCA Theater in Central Square
Cambridge, MA
Liars & Believers Facebook Group

by Gillian Daniels

(Cambridge) This weekend, local Boston-area theater group Liars & Believers will be putting on its new show, Icarus. It will be at the Cambridge YMCA Theater in Central Square this weekend only on May 17th and 18th.

Described as a show about poverty and transcendence, this American-bred tale uses the Great Depression as a backdrop as we follow Minnie Minoseczeck’s Menagerie of Marvels. The play is written and directed by Jason Slavick with original music and lyrics by Nathan Leigh. Included in the production is puppetry, designed and directed by Faye Dupras.

The myth of Icarus is well known in the Western literary canon, a fable to illustrate the crippling nature of success. A boy, given wings made from feathers and wax, is given the ability to fly. Once airborne, Icarus flies so close to the sun, the wax that holds his wings together melts. He plummets into the sea, a metaphor for the deadly foolishness of egotism and youth.

Liars & Believers is a mainly experimental troupe, one that prides itself on integrating different artistic pursuits into unique, chimera-like productions. Their shows often include dance, song, aerial gymnastics, spoken text, and numerous interdisciplinary forms. Previous efforts this year include Lunar Labyrinth, a show loosely based on a short story by Neil Gaiman. Lunar Labyrinth combined and rejoiced in different storytelling methods, knotting its plot and themes into dreamy contortions. Icarus promises to be a show in a similar mold.

Theatre is where my heart is.

beccackidwell — Tue, 14 May 2013 22:59:41 +0000

ONLY 6 DAYS & 8 HOURS LEFT. WILL YOU HELP? (as of 7pm EST 5/14/2013)

by Becca Kidwell

The idea for Swiftly Tilting Theatre Project came out of my deep need and love of theatre, which I want to share with everyone. I forgot when I started the kickstarter that this didn’t mean demanding more from those who have more or not giving to those who have less.

Everything good and right in my life has happened when I have been honest and true. That doesn’t change because it is “business,” IF WE’RE GOING TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN, WE’RE DOING THIS TOGETHER!

This is one of the first things we learn on Sesame Street and it should be one of the greatest lessons that we can learn:

One of the cornerstones of our mission is to provide theatre for everyone who wants it, regardless of income or status by having pay-what-you-can ticketing for every performance. To stay true to this goal, starting at a $1 donation every person who donates will receive 1 ticket for 1 performance.

If someone pledges $50 or more, the donors will receive “perks” along with their tickets (this is not a detail of other rewards that come with the tickets).

DETAILS OF $50+ Tickets

$50-2 TICKETS FOR ONE PERFORMANCE

$100-2 RESERVED seats for ONE PERFORMANCE

$125-2 RESERVED seats for both productions

$175- 2 RESERVED seats for both productions, a MULTI-ACCESS PASS tickets for all performances (may see a show as many times as you want, two tix per show with general admission reservations)

$325-2 RESERVED seats for both productions, an UNLIMITED ACCESS PASS (may see both show as many times as you want, two tix per show with RESERVED seats),

“Mad Men” Set to Song and Dance: ON THE TOWN

kittymdrexel — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:58:09 +0000

Photo by Mark S. Howard

Presented by Lyric Stage Company of Boston

Book and lyrics by Betty Comden & Adolph Green
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Based on an idea by Jerome Robbins
Directed by Spiro Veloudos
Music direction by Jonathan Goldberg
(kick-ass) Choreography & musical staging by Ilyse Robbins

May 10 – June 8, 2013
The Lyric Stage
Boston, MA
Lyric Stage Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) On the Town is a sweet little musical about what happens when three horny US Navy men seeking adventure visit NYC for 24 hours. As the plot thickens, they meet their equally horny female counterparts, do some healthy snogging, see some sights and return to duty. It’s mostly romantic. The Lyric Stage delicately wraps these adult themes in saccharine sweet nostalgia, excellent choreography and Bernstein’s music. Although this could be for mature audiences only, it is presented as tasteful family-friendly material.

This is a solid show; it’s classic musical theater with plenty of silly hilarity to brighten the false Spring frowny faces of almost everyone. Ilyse Robbins’ choreography is snappy and smart. The cast is almost uniformly talented and charismatic. They look like Mad Men the musical (can you imagine Don Draper in tap shoes? Brilliant!). On The Town is a pleasant distraction, a good time that doesn’t require any deep thinking – unless one is attempting to analyze Bernstein’s score.

Bernstein is the real draw. His music is both entertaining and involved. This is his first musical and it’s just lovely. Although not as memorable as Wonderful Town, West Side Story, or even Peter Pan, the vocals and instrumentals are catchy and sophisticated.

I suggest attempting to get a seat down front on any side of the stage. The Lyric is a strange space and the energy of the delightful cast can get sucked into the floors and ceiling (through no fault of the cast or the crew). You’ll be glad you did especially since there is bit of friendly audience/cast interaction. If an unbroken 4th wall is a must for your production viewing, then sit in the back.

A Movement in Technicolor: IN THE HEIGHTS

kittymdrexel — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:33:50 +0000

Photo: Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo

Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company
Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Book by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Directed by Paul Daigneault
Music directed by Nicholas James Connell
Choreography by Larry Sousa

Boston Center for the Arts
South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
Boston, MA
Speakeasy Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) In the Heights tackles heavy subjects such as endemic poverty, Immigration Reform, affordable education and racial stereotype with canny artistic expression. This community in Washington Heights might be needy but they are not poor. They are proud, hardworking and passionate people who strive for a better life. Just like you and me.

This music incorporates traditional Latin dance with Rap, Hiphop, and Flow poetry, among many others. The dancing looks like it is straight from America’s Best Dance Crew. The ensemble dance scenes are electric and justifiably make the show the stand-out production that it is. The cast adapts to the different styles and each other with such ease it’s as if they studied at the same school.

The singing is passionate even in it’s quieter* moments. The whole cast is brilliant. The solos are as dramatic as opera arias and just as moving. In particular, Diego Klock-Perez shines brightly as the hero Usnavi. His performance looks and sounds as natural as breathing.

The audience in inundated with color. From Jenna McFarland Lord’s scenic designs to Elisabetta Polito’s costumes, the stage is awash in a symphony of polychromatic design. Colors of blue, reds and greens bleed from the actors onto the stage as they sing and dance. Their emotional content is no less dramatic. The costuming reflects the action on stage as much as it feeds it.

In the Heights has a tightly written script that reads like a production of Hair if it were fused into West Side Story. Speakeasy’s is a good production. Go.

*A shoutout to Jared Dixon’s abs.