Boston Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 21

BWW Review: FINDING NEVERLAND National Tour Comes Home
by Nancy Grossman - August 11, 2017

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...

BWW Review: The “Hart” of Theater Beats for Peregrine's CHICAGO
by Kristen Morale - August 10, 2017

When the unconquerable Billy Flynn and the ensemble sing of that "old razzle dazzle," they sing of corruption and deceit - of wicked things turned into truth when presented in just the right light. Under the pretense of being decent in a world of easy exploitation and unremorseful women, Billy's smi...

BWW Review: Reagle Music Theatre's 42nd STREET: The Show Must Go On!
by Nancy Grossman - August 07, 2017

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 woul...

BWW Review: RANDY RAINBOW LIVE! IN BOSTON
by Nancy Grossman - August 07, 2017

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 th...

BWW Review: SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE at Cotuit Center For The Arts
by Heather Roberts - July 17, 2017

Sunday in the Park with George is a musical about the "art of making art" and two artists' journeys of filling in a blank canvas. It tells the story of George, a fictionalized version of the real George Seurat, and the creation of his famous painting, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande J...

BWW Review: BULLETS OVER BROADWAY: Woody Allen's Roaring Twenties
by Nancy Grossman - July 11, 2017

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 fr...

BWW Review: New England Premiere of THE EFFECT at Gloucester Stage Company
by Nancy Grossman - June 19, 2017

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 s...

BWW Review: RIPCORD: Nancy and Annie's Excellent Adventure
by Nancy Grossman - June 13, 2017

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 ...

BWW Review: Rah Rah for THE MIDVALE HIGH SCHOOL FIFTIETH REUNION
by Nancy Grossman - June 07, 2017

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 D...

BWW Review: DAYS OF ATONEMENT: The Strength of Sisterhood
by Nancy Grossman - June 06, 2017

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 Ar...

BWW Review: BANK JOB: For Want of an Exit Strategy
by Nancy Grossman - June 02, 2017

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 ...

BWW Review: 4000 MILES at Shakespeare & Company: Definitely Worth the Trip
by Nancy Grossman - May 30, 2017

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, untet...

BWW Review: CAMELOT: Feeling Nostalgic for JFK
by Nancy Grossman - May 23, 2017

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. Pro...

BWW Review: THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY: Love or Marriage?
by Nancy Grossman - May 13, 2017

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 ...

BWW Review: Boston Pops Open With John Williams Celebration and Special Guest, Queen Latifah
by Nancy Grossman - May 11, 2017

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....

BWW Review: Gold Dust Orphans Go Greek
by Nancy Grossman - May 09, 2017

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 ...

BWW Review: MY 80-YEAR-OLD BOYFRIEND World Premiere at Merrimack Rep
by Nancy Grossman - May 06, 2017

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 rive...

BWW Review: DESIRE: Tennessee Williams in Others' Words
by Nancy Grossman - May 04, 2017

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 ...

BWW Review: GABRIEL: Better Angels Take Flight at Stoneham Theatre
by Nancy Grossman - May 02, 2017

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...

BWW Review: THE GIFT HORSE: Obehi Janice Sparkles in Lydia Diamond's Early Play
by Nancy Grossman - April 28, 2017

New Repertory Theatre takes us for a ride in the wayback machine for the Boston-area premiere of one of Lydia Diamond's earliest plays. THE GIFT HORSE is a somewhat autobiographical, witty play that is heavy on character, rife with serious themes, and about fifteen to twenty minutes longer than what...

BWW Review: BARBECUE: A Dysfunctional Family Roast
by Nancy Grossman - April 26, 2017

BARBECUE is a play about which one cannot say too much without ruining its considerable effect. Here's the minimalist FYI, things you need to know but that won't give anything away. It is written by Robert O'Hara, directed by Summer L. Williams, and features an ensemble cast of ten actors who all gi...

BWW Review: EVERY PIECE OF ME: Irish Family Drama at Boston Playwrights' Theatre
by Nancy Grossman - April 25, 2017

Boston Playwrights' Theatre closes season with EVERY PIECE OF ME, a drama about a family in Ireland whose daughter is coming home after nearly five years living in America. Her departure was marked by high dudgeon, but she is returning with hopes of reconciliation. Will they let her in?...

BWW Review: THE WHO & THE WHAT: All in the Muslim Family
by Nancy Grossman - April 23, 2017

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar returns to the Huntington Theatre Company with THE WHO & THE WHAT, a provocative drama that looks at differences around faith and identity within a Muslim-American family. Giving credit to Norman Lear and William Shakespeare for inspiration, Akhtar's own...

BWW Review: Jewish Arts Collaborative Brings Broadway to Natick with Seth Rudetsky & Judy Kuhn
by Nancy Grossman - April 21, 2017

Broadway came to Natick last night as the Jewish Arts Collaborative presented SETH RUDETSKY & JUDY KUHN: A BROADWAY CABARET AND CONVERSATION at The Center for Arts in Natick (TCAN). As promised by JCA Artistic Director Joey Baron in his introduction, the evening was fun (with a capital "F") as these...

BWW Review: BARNUM: Run Away With This Circus
by Nancy Grossman - April 18, 2017

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus may be folding after 146 years in operation, but you can catch Moonbox Productions' loving tribute to its creator, P.T. Barnum at the Roberts Studio Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts. Director/choreographer Rachel Bertone has crafted a dazzling, ...