Jan Nargi - Page 5

Director and choreographer Nick Kenkel has swept through the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass. like a breath of fresh autumn air with his inventive, delightful, and often surprising production of CHICAGO: A Musical Vaudeville. With a less stylized concept than Bob Fosse's 1975 original or the current long-running Tony Award-winning Walter Bobbie-Ann Reinking revival, Kenkel has injected a relaxed playfulness into his staging that invites the audience to visit this familiar killer musical anew.

The Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) in Lowell, Mass. opens its 36th season with the potent new play YEAR ZERO, a taut and touching comedic drama about a first-generation Cambodian-American teenager coming of age as he comes to grips with the death of his mother, a survivor of the horrific genocide of the Khmer Rouge and a woman who held her family together when abandoned by her husband. Set in Long Beach, California in 2003, YEAR ZERO is the only play written thus far that explores the experiences of the children of Cambodian refugees beginning new lives in America.

Boston's Huntington Theatre Company stages Todd Kreidler's funny yet poignant adaptation of the ground-breaking 1967 film about the hidden prejudices that surface when two liberal families are confronted with their children's desire to commit to an interracial marriage.

Karen MacDonald fuels Stoneham Theatre's gripping production of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning DOUBT: A PARABLE through September 28.

Leigh Barrett, one of Boston's most formidable musical theater talents, makes an impressive professional directorial debut with New Repertory Theatre's CLOSER THAN EVER.

Revenge is anything but sweet in the Lyric Stage Company of Boston's compelling, often gut-wrenching take on Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's musical masterpiece about Victorian London's notorious demon barber of Fleet Street.

Ogunquit continues its 'high-flying' 82nd season with the American Northeast premiere of Cameron Mackintosh's THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, a musical adaptation based on John Updike's novel and the 1987 Warner Brothers hit motion picture.

Just as central character J. M. Barrie needs to find his true voice in order to break through the writer's block that is hampering his playwriting career, FINDING NEVERLAND, the new musical about the family that inspired the beleaguered author to create Peter Pan, needs to find its voice, too. Teetering abruptly between empty frivolousness and genuine pathos, FINDING NEVERLAND is an uneven adventure in its current pre-Broadway tryout at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass.

Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine is on a roll, following its thrilling, record-breaking production of BILLY ELLIOT with another beloved British musical import, Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's MARY POPPINS. Featuring a terrific cast, crisp, thoughtful direction by Shaun Kerrison, and energetic choreography by Lisa Stevens, this MARY POPPINS is - yes, let's just say it and get it over with - practically perfect in every way.

The Nora Theatre's HER ACHING HEART and Commonwealth Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT are the theatrical equivalents of light summer reading, and both deliver spirited romance for a mid-summer night.

Charming performances, strong music, and inventive staging create an undersea paradise for Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID at North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass.

Electricity courses through Ogunquit Playhouse's stunning production of BILLY ELLIOT, continuing through July 26 at 'America's foremost summer theatre.'

Cast and crew celebrate opening night of SOUTH PACIFIC at Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston.

Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston opens its 46th summer season with the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic South Pacific

Original choreography, clever comic bits, and a strong supporting cast add spark to North Shore Music Theatre's ANYTHING GOES, Cole Porter's fizzy screwball shipboard romance that finds itself somewhat at sea while trying to stay afloat in the round.

Tom Waits tunes and Teller magic create a haunting and ethereal mood for THE TEMPEST at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass., but despite its brilliant execution, this inventive and entertaining adaptation doesn't quite deliver the perfect storm.

Tony and Olivier Award-winning director Maria Aitken once again brings her deft touch to Boston's Huntington Theatre Company with a taut and tangy production of THE COCKTAIL HOUR, A.R. Gurney's quasi-autobiographical expose of the bitter truths lurking beneath one well-bred WASP family's carefully polished veneer.

Singing and dancing extravaganza based on the beloved stories of Jean Shepherd gets the eccentric tone just right in this funny and affectionate remembrance of the simple joys of Christmases past.

Be prepared to be enraged, enlightened and deeply moved by the Zeitgeist Stage Company's riveting production of Larry Kramer's autobiographical drama.

Exceptional cast and direction close North Shore Music Theatre's 2013 season with a stunning production of 'Miss Saigon.'