NSMT’s ‘Chicago’: Murder was never this much fun
BEVERLY — Who says you can’t teach an old show new tricks? The musical “Chicago” has been around since 1975, but was just a modest success in its initial run on Broadway. It… Continue reading
Author Archive
Shopov sets the tone for Zeitgeist’s searing ‘Bent’
BOSTON — There’s a TV commercial for a purveyor of deli products that likes to tout its products as rising above the others, and that consumers shouldn’t just consider the price. The punch… Continue reading
‘Far from Heaven’: Cast overcomes so-so score
BOSTON — The Speakeasy Stage Company production of the new musical “Far From Heaven” succeeds on so many levels that it almost sounds ludicrous to say the one area it falls short in… Continue reading
No ‘Doubt’ about it: Stoneham production shines
STONEHAM — There are those who see things in black and white, even when gray would be appropriate. And certainty — in the face of obvious gray areas — has its costs. Playwright… Continue reading
MRT focuses on Cambodian experience in ‘Year Zero’
LOWELL — Charles Towers, the artistic director of the Merrimack Repertory Theartre who will be retiring at the end of the 2014-15 season, made it his mission to find a play that would… Continue reading
Sit back and let ‘The Lion King’ wash over you
BOSTON — The route of animated film to live stage production has worked out pretty well for Disney Theatricals. Animated movies such as “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Tarzan”… Continue reading
Former ‘Cosby’ star makes fine ‘Dinner’ companion
BOSTON — Alas, there was a time when love did not conquer all, even in 1967 San Francisco, the American capital of liberalism and tolerance, where young people dissented and protested to their… Continue reading
Singers prop up New Rep’s ‘Closer Than Ever’
WATERTOWN — Lyricist Richard Maltby Jr. is a storyteller, and he marries his stories to the music of David Shire in the musical revue “Closer Than Ever,” the opening production of the New… Continue reading
‘Sweeney Todd’: Murder, mayhem and theater magic
BOSTON — In 1980, I was sitting on the porch of the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge after a performance of “Anyone Can Whistle” at the Berkshire Theatre Festival when an actor named… Continue reading
Second star to the right, and on to Broadway
CAMBRIDGE — Move over, Cathy Rigby, Peter Pan is again flying on a Boston-area stage, even if “Finding Neverland” is really about the author of “Peter Pan,” J.M. Barrie, and his relationship… Continue reading