Plum’s skill closes the holes in ‘33 Variations’
BOSTON — Genius is not easily explained or explored. Even if you make it your life’s work. Just why did a musical genius such as Ludwig van Beethoven devote several precious years of… Continue reading
Category Archive: Reviews
‘Invisible Man’ is a worthy-retelling of a classic
BOSTON — When I scanned my high school summer reading list one summer, a title caught my eye. “Invisible Man.” Ah. Finally, some science fiction. But it wasn’t the H.G. Wells novella, but… Continue reading
New Rep’s ‘Marry Me’ is a short, sweet treat
WATERTOWN — In composer Stephen Sondheim’s “trash,” there are many treasures.The so-called “trash” isn’t trash at all, of course, but “trunk songs,” songs that Sondheim composed for specific shows but were cut from… Continue reading
‘Pippin’: Catch the magic while it’s in Cambridge
CAMBRIDGE — What is magic but theater that ups the ante when it comes to creating an illusion? So the decision by American Reperoty Theatre artistic director Diane Paulus to combine jaw-dropping Cirque… Continue reading
Huntington’s ‘Our Town’ is your town, too
BOSTON — When Thornton Wilder was conjuring up the town of Grover’s Corners, N.H., for his Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece “Our Town,“ he took great pains to describe just how unremarkable a place it… Continue reading
Hilarious holiday madness in ‘Fully Committed’
WATERTOWN — There are many kinds of madness during the holiday season. One kind is manning the reservations desk at a beyond-upscale Manhattan restaurant close to Christmas, as an actor named Sam does… Continue reading
New Rep brings Capote’s wistful ‘Memories’ to life
WATERTOWN — As we get older, our memories of holidays tend to get more bittersweet, tempered, perhaps, by the death of a loved one at holiday time. The New Repertory Theatre’s production of… Continue reading
Desperate men, desperate times in ‘Of Mice and Men’
BOSTON — John Steinbeck proved that he had a real feel for the plight of the working man in his masterworks “The Grapes of Wrath” and “Of Mice and Men.” He wrote of… Continue reading
NSMT’s ‘Carol’ deserves to be a tradition
BEVERLY — If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Maybe just tweak it a little. There’s many good reasons that, since it debuted in 1989, the North Shore Music Theatre’s adaptation of Dickens’… Continue reading
Laughter translates well in Lyric’s ‘Chinglish’
BOSTON — When it comes to translating English into Chinese and Chinese into English, there are many moments of “you can’t get there from here.” Barlow Adamson, playing businessman Daniel Cavanaugh in the… Continue reading