Boston Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 23

BWW Review: WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Will Blow Your House Down
by Nancy Grossman - January 17, 2017

Edward Albee's 1962 barn-burner at the Lyric Stage Company is an emotional conflagration that rages and consumes everyone in its path. Director Scott Edmiston adheres to the playwright's strict blueprint, but takes full advantage of the singular qualities of his quartet of actors - Steven Barkhimer,...

BWW Review: Andrea Syglowski Holds the Keys to A DOLL'S HOUSE
by Nancy Grossman - January 13, 2017

Huntington Theatre Company's staging of a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's classic drama, directed by Melia Bensussen, belongs to Andrea Syglowski and her formidable interpretation of Nora. James Noone's scenic design deserves kudos....

BWW Review: Johnny Lee Davenport Measures Up in THURGOOD
by Nancy Grossman - January 12, 2017

Johnny Lee Davenport and Director Benny Sato Ambush collaborate for a powerful production of George Stevens, Jr.'s THURGOOD in its area premiere at New Repertory Theatre in Watertown. Together, they create a humanized portrait of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, t...

BWW Review: FAITHLESS: A Family in Crisis
by Nancy Grossman - December 17, 2016

FAITHLESS is an intimate study of a Boston Irish-Catholic family facing a crisis. Mom is dying, but the adult children have different beliefs, resulting in a debate about her fate and a rehashing of family history before any resolution is possible. Sitting in a hospital waiting room with these four ...

BWW Review: FINGERSMITH: A Twice-Told Tale
by Nancy Grossman - December 15, 2016

The American Repertory Theater reunites with Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Bill Rauch to present FINGERSMITH, Alexa Junge's adaptation of Sarah Waters' 2002 novel of the same name. The playwright's Herculean effort capsulizes the 582-page opus into a taut two-hour drama enhanced by e...

BWW Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at New Rep: In the Heights
by Nancy Grossman - December 10, 2016

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is not just a revival; it has the hallmarks of a revival meeting. It inspires the audience with its themes of tradition, community, and family, and, under the direction of Austin Pendleton, is a shofar call to stir the hearts and minds of all who would recall the Holocaust motto,...

BWW Review: GOING TO SEE THE KID in World Premiere at MRT
by Nancy Grossman - December 06, 2016

Merrimack Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of Steven Drukman's GOING TO SEE THE KID, an homage to an icon of "Red Sox Nation." Two Boston Globe reporters journey to Florida to interview an aging and ailing Ted Williams, but learn more about working as a team from each other. It's a feel...

BWW Review: Book Passage for MURDER ON THE POLAR EXPRESS
by Nancy Grossman - December 05, 2016

The Gold Dust Orphans' 2016 Christmas show features "The World's Foremost Drag Detective" Shirley Holmes and her sidekick Dr. Jody Watley attempting to solve a series of mysterious deaths in Ryan Landry's MURDER ON THE POLAR EXPRESS. Directed by Larry Coen, it has an impressive roster of veterans an...

BWW Review: MURDER FOR TWO Asks Musical Questions
by Nancy Grossman - December 02, 2016

MURDER FOR TWO is a musical whodunit in its Boston premiere at Lyric Stage Company. A pair of versatile actors provide their own piano accompaniment and play a total of thirteen characters between them. Jared Troilo and Kirsten Salpini are a charming and energetic twosome who entertain with song, da...

BWW Review: Stoneham Theatre's Spirited MAME Just in Time for Christmas
by Nancy Grossman - December 01, 2016

Kathy St. George may be diminutive in stature, but she is a feisty force of nature as the title character in MAME at Stoneham Theatre. Mary Callanan returns from Broadway and national tours to play her sidekick Vera, and ten-year-old triple threat Cameron Levesque plays her precocious nephew Patrick...

BWW Review: Mozart's Music Lifts Moonbox Productions' AMADEUS
by Nancy Grossman - November 28, 2016

Moonbox Productions, Director Allison Olivia Choat, and Music Director Dan Rodriguez pay precise attention to the musical framework of Peter Shaffer's AMADEUS, with music performed by the Baroque ensemble Grand Harmonie Orchestra. Matthew Zahnzinger owns the spotlight as Antonio Salieri and newcomer...

BWW Review: Celebrity Series of Boston Presents Author and Humorist David Sedaris
by Nancy Grossman - November 21, 2016

Author and humorist David Sedaris made his 12th appearance with the Celebrity Series of Boston as the final stop on his Fall 2016 tour. He read some of his essays and diary entries to a packed Symphony Hall Sunday night and proved that there is no such thing as a bad show when he is at the podium....

BWW Review: Beth Leavel Boffo @ Birth of The Black Box Broadway Series
by Nancy Grossman - November 21, 2016

Tony Award-winner Beth Leavel launched the Broadway Series at The Black Box at the Franklin Performing Arts Company in a boffo one-night-only concert, accompanied on piano by Musical Director Phil Reno. The star was joined onstage by five young FPAC vocalists who portend a bright future for musical ...

BWW Review: ALL MY SONS: An Entreaty To Be Better
by Nancy Grossman - November 17, 2016

Arthur Miller's 1947 Tony Award-winning play ALL MY SONS is strikingly relevant nearly seventy years later. There is still much to be learned from this compelling play and the Elements Theatre Company production doesn't shy away from the ugly truths or raw emotions embedded in Miller's story. Sr. Da...

BWW Review: World Premiere of Kirsten Greenidge's HOW SOFT THE LINING
by Nancy Grossman - November 10, 2016

Bad Habit Productions inaugurates their 10th anniversary season with the world premiere of Kirsten Greenidge's HOW SOFT THE LINING, a historically-based play about the unusual relationship between Mary Todd Lincoln and her seamstress Elizabeth Keckley, a freed slave. Director M. Bevin O'Gara draws s...

BWW Review: Laughter Amidst the Tears and Fears in MALA
by Nancy Grossman - November 08, 2016

ArtsEmerson presents the world premiere of Melinda Lopez's one-woman play MALA. Ostensibly autobiographical, it is an honest representation of the ups and downs of one woman's journey as she bears witness to the most ordinary, shared human experience, the act of dying. As playwright, she incorporate...

by Rishka Mehra - November 07, 2016

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BWW REVIEW: National Tour of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Launches in Boston
by Jan Nargi - October 31, 2016

Joie de vivre is in short supply in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, the acclaimed Broadway musical now launching its first national tour in Boston through November 6. Inspired by the beloved 1951 MGM movie musical starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, this Broadway iteration looks and feels monochromatic comp...

BWW Review: Huntington Theatre Company Extends New Comedy TIGER STYLE!
by Nancy Grossman - October 31, 2016

Success in academia is not always transferable to personal or professional success upon leaving the halls of ivy. Playwright Mike Lew explores this phenomenon in his new comedy TIGER STYLE! The laughs come fast and furiously as siblings Albert and Jennifer Chen struggle to figure out who to blame fo...

BWW Review: WARRIOR CLASS: Early Voting Projects a Win
by Nancy Grossman - October 25, 2016

Boston premiere of Kenneth Lin's ('House of Cards') "political thriller" at Lyric Stage Company ultimately works because of a trio of fine performances by Steven Barkhimer, Michael Tow, and Jessica Webb, under the taut direction of Dawn M. Simmons. You may have had more than your fill of politics fo...

BWW Review: New England Premiere of ABIGAIL/1702 Fits the Season
by Nancy Grossman - October 22, 2016

ABIGAIL/1702 is playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's exploration of the aftermath of the 1692 Salem witch trials. Merrimack Repertory Theatre and Director Tlaloc Rivas push all the right buttons to give the audience a scary ride. The outstanding design elements create an atmosphere that is spooky on ...

BWW REVIEW: Boston Gets Schooled in A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER
by Jan Nargi - October 22, 2016

Tight harmonies and an even tighter cast make the first national tour of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER delicious fun. Now at Boston's Citi Center Shubert Theatre through October 23, this totally original musical comedy by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lut...

BWW Review: The Stake is Raised High in Provincetown Theater's DRACULA FOR DUMMYS
by Kristen Morale - October 18, 2016

Did you ever wonder what would happen if the traditional Dracula story was made into something so perfectly absurd that it actually turns itself funny? If what is meant to be a frightening tale of the undead becomes a wacky, Barbie doll- infested, cross-dressing adventure that brings the quest to de...

BWW Review: N.E. Premiere of Morally Ambiguous UNCANNY VALLEY
by Nancy Grossman - October 11, 2016

Stoneham Theatre presents the New England premiere of playwright Thomas Gibbons' UNCANNY VALLEY, a view into the not too distant future when researchers have found a way to extend the human lifespan through artificial intelligence. While it raises more questions than it answers, its rich subtext and...

BWW Review: MAN IN SNOW: World Premiere of Chilling Tale
by Nancy Grossman - October 07, 2016

MAN IN SNOW, Israel Horovitz's newest play, receives its world premiere at Gloucester Stage in a riveting production directed by the playwright. A full-length stage adaptation of an earlier radio play, the seed of the fictional story was sown from a real-life event in Alaska nearly twenty years ago....