‘Elf” has its moments, but not enough of them
BOSTON – “Elf: The Broadway Musical,” like Buddy The Elf himself, desperately wants to be liked. It dances and sings its heart out on the stage of the Citi Performing Arts Center’s Wang… Continue reading
Category Archive: Reviews
Come be transformed by Trinity’s ‘Christmas Carol’
PROVIDENCE – A decade is a nice run. After twenty years, you can certainly be called a tradition. After 38 years, you’ve probably earned the right to be called a holiday institution. Trinity… Continue reading
The Bard, Britten bend to will of Isango Ensemble
BOSTON – The Bard’s text will always bend to the wishes of those who perform it. And, I suppose, that goes double even for a 1960 opera. Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is perhaps… Continue reading
Nuns become disco divas in NSMT’s ‘Sister Act’
BEVERLY – You may have seen “Sister Act” but you haven’t seen this “Sister Act” before. The North Shore Music Theatre’s production of the musical is a high-octane, funny, fast-moving delight, with dazzling… Continue reading
King wrote the soundtrack for Baby Boomers’ lives
BOSTON – Attention, Baby Boomers: There’s another musical in town that’s right in your wheelhouse. The sound track of “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” includes many of the greatest hits of the… Continue reading
Holzman play makes many ‘Choices’ – not all good
BOSTON – Playwright Winnie Holzman has a lot of themes she’s exploring in “Choice,” now having its world premiere under the auspices of the Huntington Theatre Company in the Calderwood Pavilion of the… Continue reading
Hall’s Memphis comes alive in ‘Saturday Night’
BOSTON – It is the final days of World War II, and while the city of Memphis is still on war footing – with almost all of the able-bodied men involved in the… Continue reading
Life, love, laughter abound in ‘Casa Valentina’
BOSTON – It is 1962, and cross-dressing is against the law in most of the country. Those who ventured out into public were usually subject to the penalties of public decency laws and… Continue reading
Stoneham’s ‘Luna Gale’ will grip and shake you
STONEHAM – The headlines are frequent and depressing. “Missing foster child found dead.” “Young child’s body washed up on Deer Island identified. Mother and boyfriend charged.” They are children whose fates are intertwined… Continue reading
Fiddlehead’s ‘West Side Story’ leaps off the stage
DORCHESTER – Fifty-eight years after it first appeared on Broadway, the musical “West Side Story” is still a staple of the musical theater canon. And while the score by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen… Continue reading