Nancy Grossman - Page 11

New Repertory Theatre opens its season with IDEATION, the Boston-area premiere of Aaron Loeb's play that is equally thrilling and disturbing as we try to adapt to the rapidly changing normal in America. With an unpredictable neophyte at the helm of our ship of state, a legislative body in a perilous state of gridlock, and the 24-hour news cycle constantly bombarding us with information, our ability to separate fact from fallacy, as well as our resilience, is being tested. Loeb's characters find themselves in a high-stakes situation that may or may not be a test, and their capacity to work together is threatened by creeping doubt and mistrust.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston has hit the trifecta with their season opener GYPSY, directed and choreographed by Rachel Bertone, music directed by Dan Rodriguez, and raised to the rafters by Leigh Barrett's forceful Mama Rose. This is one for the ages.

Founding Artistic Director of Gloucester Stage Company returns to direct the New England premiere of his latest comedy, OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES. Paula Plum, Sarah Hickler, Obehi Janice, and Debra Wise play four diverse women who meet in a spacious Paris apartment to remember and memorialize the recently departed 100-year old man who had lived there and loved them all during the last half century.

FINDING NEVERLAND was born across the river in Cambridge at the American Repertory Theater three years ago, but has settled in for a fortnight in the downtown Boston Theater district. Under the direction of Diane Paulus, with choreography by Mia Michaels, the original design team remains intact, and an all-new cast brings the familiar characters to life. Broadway veterans Billy Harrigan Tighe, Lynnfield native Christine Dwyer, and John Davidson headline the multi-talented ensemble.

In a bizarre and unfortunate case of life imitating art, Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston found itself without its leading man only hours before the curtain going up on their season-ending production of 42nd STREET. Producing Artistic Director Robert J. Eagle announced that the understudy would step into the role and the show opened as scheduled. Rich Allegretto, headliner Rachel York, and the stellar company pulled it together to remind everyone what theater is all about.

Randy Rainbow kicked off his first New England tour in Boston last night with two shows at the Roberts Studio Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts. On his maiden trip to the Hub, Rainbow was greeted with a rousing ovation by a decidedly liberal audience primed to yuck it up at the expense of the 45th POTUS. The self-described internet sensation, famous for his viral satiric videos, lightly sang and quipped his way through a breezy hour-long first set, and graciously paused for a meet-and-greet with select guests between shows.

BULLETS OVER BROADWAY brings Woody Allen's New Yorker sensibility to the seaside community of Ogunquit, Maine, along with a coterie of thugs, hoofers, show people, and one adorable pug. Based on Allen's and co-writer Douglas McGrath's 1994 film of the same name, the musical incorporates old songs from the 1920s to ground the madcap action in the era of prohibition, when bathtub gin and gangsters with pistols and fedoras were equally prevalent. Jeff Whiting recreates Susan Stroman's original direction and outstanding choreography, and the amazing ensemble dancers tilt and whirl with foot-stomping abandon that resonates through the Ogunquit Playhouse.

It is a simple premise: Two candidates in a pharmaceutical drug trial fall in love, but is their chemistry real, or induced? This scientific debate is the subject of Lucy Prebble's THE EFFECT, now in its New England Premiere at Gloucester Stage Company. Under the direction of Sam Weisman, the play stars Lindsay Crouse as Dr. Lorna James and Brad Hall as Dr. Toby Sealey, a pair with a past, along with Susannah Hoffman and Mickey Solis as the volunteers who may have a future. Both relationships contribute talking points on either side of the discourse that fuels the drama, but the playwright leaves enough doubt to allow the viewer to wrestle with the conclusion.

Laughs in abundance are in free fall in the Huntington Theatre Company's production of Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire's RIPCORD, a bejeweled vehicle for a pair of women of a certain age that is polished to a shine by the brilliant performances of Nancy E. Carroll and Annie Golden. Under the brisk, breezy direction of Jessica Stone (VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE), these two pros turn life in an assisted living facility into Abby and Marilyn's excellent adventure. As roommates who are anything but soulmates, they engage in a protracted battle of wits to win a bet for supremacy over their little corner of a shrinking world, and the only rule is to take no prisoners.

The Nora Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Alan Brody's THE MIDVALE HIGH SCHOOL FIFTIETH REUNION, a light-hearted, evocative trip down Memory Lane with the Class of 1954. Directed by Lee Mikeska Gardner, Emmy-winning actor Gordon Clapp and Underground Railway Theater Artistic Director Debra Wise portray two classmates returning to their alma mater for the first time. Neither is sure of what they're looking for, but they hope they'll recognize it if they find it.

Israeli Stage presents the North American premiere production of Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari's DAYS OF ATONEMENT, a dramatic exploration of the Moroccan-Israeli immigrant experience through the eyes of four estranged sisters who reunite when their mother goes missing on the eve of Yom Kippur. Producing Artistic Director Guy Ben-Aharon directs the stripped-down staging featuring a quartet of strong, complex performances from Jackie Davis, Adrianne Krstansky, Ramona Lisa Alexander, and Dana Stern.

Gloucester Stage Company opens it 38th season with the New England premiere of John Kolvenbach's play about a pair of brothers who decide to try robbing a bank in an unwise career move. Taking the money turns out to be much easier than finding a way out of the executive washroom. A sympathetic bank teller, a cooperative cop, and a hostage who harbors some secrets all play a part in determining a convoluted outcome.

Amy Herzog's 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist and 2012 Obie Award-winner for Best New Play opens the 40th Anniversary Season in Lenox under new Artistic Director Allyn Burrows. Annette Miller gives an incredible performance as the widowed nonagenarian Vera Joseph who is visited by her 21-year-old, untethered grandson Leo in her West Village apartment. These two outsiders engage in a series of battles, only to discover how much they have in common. Under the direction of Nicole Ricciardi, 4000 MILES is a delight from coast to coast.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston closes out the season with David Lee's adaptation of Lerner and Loewe's CAMELOT, a revision that hones in on the relationships among the three principals and retains the glorious score, while jettisoning considerable weight from the historically burdensome book. Producing Artistic Director Spiro Veloudos shapes the production with his vision for the 21st century, assisted by the virtuosic Music Director Catherine Stornetta and Rachel Bertone, whose choreography blends medieval style with modern dance steps.

SpeakEasy Stage Company's Boston premiere of Marsha Norman's (Book) and Jason Robert Brown's (Music and Lyrics) adaptation of Robert James Waller's novel is elevated by the luminescent Jennifer Ellis and hunky Christiaan Smith. The libretto wobbles, but the leads and ensemble warble Brown's soaring score beautifully. Bring tissues.

The 2017 Boston Pops Spring season is a tribute to Boston Pops Conductor Laureate John Williams who celebrates his 85th birthday this year. Opening night featured film and recording star Queen Latifah in her Pops debut and they'll do it all over again tonight.

GREECE is the word and the place where Ryan Landry and his Gold Dust Orphans take you for their latest musical extravaganza. It's 1950 B.C., the gods are gathered on Mt. Olympus, and the mean girls and toga-clad boys are returning to Olympia High School with a new student in their midst. Will Sandy steal the heart of heartthrob Danny, or can Pandora Spox lure him away, or will he remain loyal to his Titan buddies? Zeus, Venus, and Aphrodite may be pulling the strings and tossing thunderbolts, but true love is a formidable foe. Larry Coen directs a talented ensemble, blending GDO regulars and fresh faces, but, alas, no Rhoda the dog.

World premiere of MY 80-YEAR-OLD BOYFRIEND at Merrimack Repertory Theatre is based on the true story of Broadway singer/actress Charissa Bertels and her unlikely friendship with a decidedly older gentleman. The narrative is uplifting, the score floats along with the story like a raft on a lazy river, and the performer is delightful company.

Zeitgeist Stage Company introduces new faces that meld into an impressive ensemble to convey the unusual and flawed characters from the mind of Williams and the pens of half a dozen eclectic playwrights in DESIRE: AN EVENING OF PLAYS BASED ON SIX SHORT STORIES BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS. A self-admitted aficionado of Williams, Director David J. Miller mixes and matches his cast to meet the challenge of portraying diverse personalities.

Stoneham Theatre seriously ups its game with Moira Buffini's 1997 play GABRIEL, a World War II tale of survival and intrigue, where the fate of a family may rest upon the identity of a mysterious stranger. Producing Artistic Director Weylin Symes directs a cast that includes some of Boston theater's most stellar actors, as well as a nine-year old member of 'the young company' making her Mainstage debut in a pivotal role. Scenic designer Matthew Lazure's evocative set takes us to the island of Guernsey, to a rustic farmhouse lacking the creature comforts formerly enjoyed by the family before the Nazi occupation.