Boston Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 12

BWW Review: THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR at Shakespeare & Company Leaves Berkshire Audiences Laughing Out Loud.
by Marc Savitt - August 15, 2019

The cast includes Martin Jason Asprey (Mr. Frank Ford), Steven Barkhimer (George Page), Gregory Boover (Master Fenton), MaConnia Chesser (Meg Page), Jordan Cobb (Anne Page), Tobias Goodman (Pistol/Simple), Nigel Gore (Sir John Falstaff), Cloteal L. Horne (Mistress Quickly), Jennie M. Jadow (Alice Fo...

BWW Review: WHAT WE MAY BE at Berkshire Theatre Group
by Marc Savitt - August 12, 2019

Directed by Gregg Edelman, this production features Carla Duren (Colleen Haran), Carson Elrod (Glen Geer), Penny Fuller (Lucinda Royal Scott), Samantha Hill (Summer Oliver), Dee Hoty (Joan Stern), and Count Stoval (Hal Polick). As they present the one-act plays, we can clearly see that, as their re...

BWW Review: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES: The Best of Times at Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston
by Nancy Grossman - August 12, 2019

In the summer of 1983, Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein put on a show that was light years ahead of the zeitgeist, vis-a-vis the awareness and acceptance of LGBTQ people in America, and about twenty years before the legalization of same-sex marriage. Yet, after a successful tryout at the Colonial T...

BWW Review: BEFORE THE MEETING at Williamstown Theatre Festival Shares Some Laughs, Some Tears, and Some Important Messages.
by Marc Savitt - August 12, 2019

Yes, the setting and backdrop for the events that play out is recovery. And, yes, along the way we learn about the steps, but Bock's heartfelt and often humorous material is about people. Not, those people or a?oeYOU peoplea?? a?' all people. More specifically, how people are more alike than differe...

BWW Review: GHOSTS at Williamstown Theatre Festival Proves to be Fresh and Remarkably Relevant.
by Marc Savitt - August 11, 2019

This production with the new translation is notably fresh and remarkably relevant. To WTF's Artistic Director, Mandy Greenfield's credit it is another excellent inclusion in a rich and diverse season. The language is contemporary and easy to follow, understand, and relate to. The subject matter, w...

BWW Review: CURVE OF DEPARTURE at Chester Theatre Company Touches Heart and Head with Simple Elegance
by Dan Dwyer - August 10, 2019

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BWW Review: JERSEY BOYS at North Shore Music Theatre
by David Tompkins - August 09, 2019

Jersey Boys opened this week to one of the most enthusiastic welcomes I have ever witnessed at NSMT. The show stopping ovations were so heartfelt & sustained that the actors literally had to stop, numerous times, to wait for the applause to finish before continuing, and the show deserved the adorati...

BWW Review: BEN BUTLER: Gloucester General's Pivotal Role in the Civil War
by Nancy Grossman - August 07, 2019

Gloucester Stage Company presents the Boston area premiere of Richard Strand's BEN BUTLER, a Union army general who was a settler of Gloucester's Bayview neighborhood, a presidential candidate, and the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts. Those achievements came after he retired from the military, where ...

BWW Review: IF I FORGET at Barrington Stage Company A Rare and Powerful Mix of Reality and Raw Emotion.
by Marc Savitt - August 07, 2019

There are a few slower moving moments in Tony Award winning (Book of Dear Evan Hansen) playwright Steven Levonson's work but there is plenty of pathos as well as lots of levity and laughter in IF I FORGET. The ensemble cast is very strong and extremely well balanced. So much so that at some poin...

BWW Review: CABARET at Ogunquit Playhouse
by Jan Nargi - August 02, 2019

There's no doubt that dark times are ahead for the people of Berlin in this faithful recreation of the tawdry 1998 Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of CABARET. Using the original Broadway sets by Robert Brill and costumes by William Ivey Long, this Ogunquit Playhouse version, running now through ...

BWW Review: TELL ME I'M NOT CRAZY at Williamstown Theatre Festival Is Packed With Laughs, But Oh So Much More.
by Marc Savitt - July 30, 2019

There is quite a lot to like about this exemplary Williamstown Theatre Festival Commission and recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. I've discussed the play with several people who've seen it.  They all enjoyed and spoke highly of the experience, but each focused on a different aspect ...

BWW Review: PARAGON PARK: THE MUSICAL: One Last Ride on the Carousel
by Nancy Grossman - July 30, 2019

With book by Zoe Bradford and Michael Hammond, and music and lyrics by Adam Brooks, PARAGON PARK: THE MUSICAL is a lovingly-crafted reflection of a moment in time that spans eight decades. There's more than enough small town politics, quirky characters, and human interest in the overstuffed book, bu...

BWW Review: THE CHILDREN at Shakespeare & Company Invites Audiences to Grapple with an Age-old Question, 'What About the Children?'
by Marc Savitt - July 27, 2019

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BWW Review: GERTRUDE AND CLAUDIUS Impresses at Barrington Stage Company
by Marc Savitt - July 25, 2019

BSC Artistic Director, Julieanne Boyd, Directed the ambitious endeavor. This play represents quite an undertaking on many levels and on most them, this production succeeds....

BWW Review: WORKING A MUSICAL at Berkshire Theatre Group
by Marc Savitt - July 23, 2019

In this musical exploration of 26 people from various walks of life and how people's relationships to their work ultimately reveal key aspects of their humanity you will meet and learn about your friends, neighbors, service providers, and maybe even yourself....

BWW Review: THE LIGHTNING THIEF MISFIRES DESPITE ITS PROMISE at Huntington Theatre Company
by Jan Nargi - July 20, 2019

How much one enjoys THE LIGHTNING THIEF, The Percy Jackson Musical, currently at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston through July 28, may correlate directly with one's familiarity with the source material. On opening night, the large number of teens and tweens in the audience - who were clearly...

BWW Review: DEAR EVAN HANSEN Taps Into Teen Loneliness And Despair But Delivers Hope At Boston Opera House
by Jan Nargi - July 18, 2019

DEAR EVAN HANSEN, the 2017 Tony Award-winning musical currently at the Boston Opera House through August 4, is that rare teen angst story that neither trivializes nor over dramatizes the challenges of coming of age in modern America. Rather, this at times funny, at times penetrating, and always tend...

BWW Review: THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH at Berkshire Theatre Group
by Marc Savitt - July 17, 2019

The sometimes confusing, amusing, and thought-provoking play premiered in 1942. This production has been freshened up a bit and includes modern references some of which are particularly relevant to the Berkshires. The main characters are George and Maggie Antrobus, their two children, Henry and Gla...

BWW Review: SELLING KABUL at Williamstown Theatre Festival Resonates Deeply
by Marc Savitt - July 16, 2019

SELLING KABUL is a powerful, raw, riveting and highly relevant new drama that connects on a level seldom seen and rarely felt. The world premiere run continues on the Nikos Stage at Williamstown Theatre Festival through July 20....

BWW Review: THE 39 STEPS: Playing Hitchcock For Laughs
by Nancy Grossman - July 15, 2019

If there's one thing that summer theater should be, it's fun, and Gloucester Stage Company's production of THE 39 STEPS happily fulfills the requirement. Actually, it is more than fun - it is laugh out loud funny, thanks to the witty script, the crisp direction by Artistic Director Robert Walsh, and...

BWW Review: TIME FLIES AND OTHER COMEDIES at Barrington Stage Company Demonstrates That When You're Having Fun, Time Does Indeed Fly.
by Marc Savitt - July 12, 2019

BSC veterans Carson Elrod, Jeff McCarthy, and Debra Jo Rupp, all of whom are well known to area theatre goers are joined by Cary Donaldson and Ruth Pferdehirt. The ensemble is well balanced and show themselves to be exceptional character actors. Not every line lands solidly, but the skilled cast u...

BWW Review: FREAKY FRIDAY at North Shore Music Theatre
by David Tompkins - July 11, 2019

Disney's Freaky Friday just opened at North Shore Music Theatre. Based on the 1972 novel by Mary Rodgers. It was then made into a movie by Disney in 1976 staring Jody Foster and Barbara Harris, with a less memorable movie remake in 2018. It is now a newly created, fun family musical with all the bel...

BWW Review: TWELFTH NIGHT at Shakespeare & Company Takes A Refreshingly Unique Approach To A Centuries Old Classic
by Marc Savitt - July 10, 2019

The entire cast proves themselves to be exemplary delivering long complicated dialogue that remains true to the old English, not with trite overdone accents but with polished voices and presentation that helps to make each unique, authentic, and engaging. Although the language can be challenging at...

BWW Review: The Seth Rudetsky Series: Jessie Mueller Stars as Herself
by Nancy Grossman - July 09, 2019

On Monday night, the Emerson Colonial Theatre presented THE SETH RUDESTSKY SERIES STARRING JESSIE MUELLER, the first of three concerts with Cheyenne Jackson (October 4) and Kelli O'Hara (January 9) to follow. The host of Sirius SM's On Broadway channel, Rudetsky is a pianist, a music director, and p...

BWW Review: ROCK AND ROLL MAN: THE ALAN FREED STORY at Berkshire Theatre Group Puts A Spell On The Berkshires.
by Marc Savitt - July 09, 2019

There is a lot to like packed into this production directed by Randal Myler. The action is well paced and well-staged. The use of turntables, tiering, and scrims are particularly effective elements of the scenic design by Tim Mackabee. The choreography by Brian Reeder, and costumes designed by ...