Boston Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 42

BWW Review: Lyric Stage Company: It's a Helluva ON THE TOWN
by Nancy Grossman - May 14, 2013

From stem to stern, the crew of Lyric Stage Company's ON THE TOWN serves up a boatload of thrills. Leonard Bernstein's glorious score, book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and Jerome Robbins' idea fuse into a terrific voyage to end the season. Director Spiro Veloudos, Choreographer Ilys...

BWW Review: Bond Meets the Bard at Vaquero Playground
by Nancy Grossman - May 12, 2013

FROM DENMARK WITH LOVE: A 007/HAMLET MASH-UP may be your poison if you know your James Bond movies and the crux of the Shakespeare tragedy. At times difficult to follow, the two vehicles blend better than you might think, thanks to clear direction and an energetic, fun-loving ensemble. Daniel Jones ...

BWW REVIEW: 'AMADEUS' BORDERS ON DIVINE AT NEW REP
by Jan Nargi - May 11, 2013

Virtuosic performances, perfectly orchestrated direction and exquisite period detail render the decadence and divinity beautifully in Peter Shaffer's Tony Award-winning 'Amadeus' at New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, Mass....

BWW Review: PUNK ROCK Packs a Punch
by Nancy Grossman - May 10, 2013

Zeitgeist Stage Company's production of Simon Stephens' play, inspired by the Columbine shooting, hits very close to home on the heels of the Newtown and Boston Marathon tragedies. Director David J. Miller and an outstanding cast of teens and young adults handle the material responsibly and realisti...

BWW Reviews: One for the Kids with Wheelock Family Theatre's PIPPI LONGSTOCKING
by Alexandra Lonati - May 09, 2013

Pippi Longstocking, a story that has been around since the 1940s, tells of a little girl who is left by her pirate father alone with her horse and pet monkey, Mr. Nilsson, to fend for herself and teach the meaning of fun to the rule-following children of the town. Along the way, Pippi fights burglar...

BWW Reviews: Into the World of D&D with Company One's SHE KILLS MONSTERS
by Alexandra Lonati - May 06, 2013

She Kills Monsters has the feel of a comic book, while telling the story of Agnes, an average woman who gets to know her late sister by acting out her created game of Dungeons and Dragons....

BWW Review: ALMOST BLUE Almost Works
by Nancy Grossman - May 05, 2013

Theatre on Fire creates the noir ambiance in the intimate confines of the Charlestown Working Theater, but lethargic pacing and lack of chemistry hamper fine individual acting efforts....

BWW Review: LOOPED Tour Banks on Stefanie Powers
by Nancy Grossman - May 02, 2013

Stefanie Powers is a trouper who stepped into the role of Tallulah Bankhead, which was originated by Valerie Harper, when Harper's untimely diagnosis of brain cancer forced her to withdraw from the national tour of LOOPED. Although the circumstances are bittersweet, Powers' performance is informed b...

BWW Review: Merrimack Rep's GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS Closes the Deal
by Nancy Grossman - May 01, 2013

David Mamet's 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning play resonates nearly thirty years later in Merrimack Repertory Theatre's crisp, dark, funny, riveting production. In the capable hands of Director Charles Towers and an accomplished group of actors, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS is a total entertainment package and a...

BWW Review: I Cannot Tell a Lie - PORNOCCHIO is a Hoot
by Nancy Grossman - April 28, 2013

Ryan Landry and the Gold Dust Orphans do what they do best…and then some. The troupe's musical theater skills are evolving with every production. Grace Carney is a real boy as the title character. Don't bring your kids, but prepare yourself for a visit with your inner child....

BWW Reviews: Actor Shakespeare Project's PERICLES, An Opinion Changer
by Alexandra Lonati - April 28, 2013

It takes a pretty special production to fully capture my interest for the entirety of a Shakespearean work, particularly given the length of most of his plays.The Actor Shakespeare Project's production of Pericles, performed at the Modern Theatre, is one of these special productions. One of Shakespe...

BWW Review: Last Chance to See a Legendary Peter Pan
by Nancy Grossman - April 25, 2013

CATHY RIGBY IS PETER PAN National Tour completes its journey in Boston where it all began for the star in 1989, with the final performance Sunday evening, April 28, at the Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre. Rigby gives a magical performance in an imaginative and inspiring production, supporte...

BWW Reviews: A Heavy Week for SITI Company's TROJAN WOMEN
by Alexandra Lonati - April 23, 2013

The Siti Company, an ensemble based theatre company created by Anne Bogart and Tadashi Suzuki, is famous for its combination of Viewpoints and Suzuki, two very different acting trainings that focus on movement and gesture, and concentration and strength, respectively. This weekend, their production ...

BWW Review: No 'splainin' needed: I Love Lucie
by Nancy Grossman - April 22, 2013

In the case of Lucie Arnaz, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as the daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz is a consummate entertainer. Her acting and comedic skills come from her mother, but she owes her music and Latin heritage to her father. AN AFTERNOON WITH LUCIE ARNAZ pays tribute to...

BWW Review: 'M' Is For Misfire
by Nancy Grossman - April 18, 2013

The Huntington Theatre Company world premiere of RYAN LANDRY'S 'M' is a design triumph, but the plot misfires. Karen MacDonald is an anxious menace skulking around the periphery, casting giant shadows, and Larry Coen milks every drop of humor from his multiple roles, but playwright Ryan Landry's sto...

BWW Review: For the Love of VENUS
by BWW News Desk - April 18, 2013

'The Venus Hottentot is dead. There won't be any show tonight.' This is one of the first lines you hear in the opening scene of Venus. You don't know who or what the Venus Hottentot is, or how they died, but you already want to know what happened. You want to know what kind of impact she had on thes...

BWW Reviews: Imaginary Beasts Imagine Thornton Wilder
by Nancy Grossman - April 17, 2013

Imaginary Beasts presents a selection of ten playlets written by Thornton Wilder before his 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning OUR TOWN. An egalitarian ensemble of ten actors and actresses creates a circus-like environment with mime, acrobatics, and clown collars, augmented by atmospheric lighting and orig...

BWW Reviews: Too Much to Think About in Boston Actors Theater's THINKING OF YOU
by Alexandra Lonati - April 14, 2013

Boston Playwright's Theatre is dedicated to giving life to new works, specifically those written by Boston playwrights, and it provides excellent opportunities for playwrights to workshop their pieces and get them seen. Their current endeavor is Elizabeth Dupre's Thinking of You, a story about a you...

BWW REVIEW: BOOK OF MORMON IS GOD AWFUL
by Jan Nargi - April 11, 2013

'The Book of Mormon' may be outrageous, irreverent, and puerile in the extreme, but the most offensive thing about this insipid show is its insulting lack of wit....

BWW REVIEW: 'Raisin,' 'Clybourne Park' End Runs in Boston
by Jan Nargi - April 06, 2013

Boston audiences have one last chance to see both the Huntington Theatre Company's knockout production of Lorraine Hansberry's landmark 1959 drama 'A Raisin in the Sun' and its modern-day follow-up, 'Clybourne Park,' running coincidentally in tandem at SpeakEasy Stage in the Boston Center for the Ar...

BWW Review: BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK at Lyric Stage Company
by Nancy Grossman - April 02, 2013

A play about a wannabe movie star features a magical blending of live performance with cinematic images in the New England premiere of 2011 Off-Broadway hit BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK. Summer L. Williams makes her Lyric Stage directing debut with Kami Rushell Smith shining at the forefront of a str...

BWW Review: All Systems Go in OPERATION EPSILON
by Nancy Grossman - March 25, 2013

The Nora Theatre Company and Catalyst Collaborative @ MIT present the world premiere of MIT Professor Alan Brody's dramatic treatment of actual events at the close of World War II. On the brink of the United States dropping the atom bomb on Japan, the Allies held ten German scientists captive to det...

BWW Review: A NEW BRAIN Has Heart and Music
by Nancy Grossman - March 21, 2013

Moonbox Productions and Director Allison Olivia Choat have reverted to the familiar terrain of musical theater with this intimate, sung-through look into the heart and mind (er, brain) of Tony Award-winning composer William Finn (FALSETTOS, THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE) who grew up in ...

BWW Review: PEANUTS Gang Reaches Puberty
by Nancy Grossman - March 17, 2013

Happy Medium Theatre's production of Bert V. Royal's DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD makes good use of the intimate Factory Theatre with some strong individual performances and minimal design elements. If only the playwright had subscribed to the philosophy of less is more…...

BWW Review: UMass Amherst Theatre's SUITORS is Epitome of Originality
by BWW Special Coverage - March 15, 2013

What I love best about the UMass Amherst Theatre department shows is the originality each brings to the productions. Everything is so different, like nothing you have ever seen before. The production of 'Suitors' was the epitome of originality....