Tag Archive: review

‘Dirty Dancing’ works best as a dance spectacle

BOSTON — If you’re looking for great drama, an intricate plot line and superb acting in the national touring production of “Dirty Dancing” subtitled “The Classic Story on Stage,“ now at the Emerson… Continue reading →

This ‘Tide’ sends MRT’s Towers out on a high note

LOWELL –– Sometimes a production is a perfect combination of writing, directing and acting and when it happens, it’s a beautiful thing. The Merrimack Repertory Theatre production of Bruce Graham’s “The Outgoing Tide” is… Continue reading →

BCT crafts a professional, powerful ‘Anne Frank’

BOSTON — I once asked my high school drama teacher why he was spending so much money for professional make-up artists and authentic costumes that once were part of a Broadway production for… Continue reading →

Gandiello’s ‘Oceanside’ a promising, flawed debut

LOWELL — It’s exciting when a new playwright  gets his first fully-staged professional production.  It’s even more exciting when that world premiere boasts an excellent cast, a strong set of designers and an… Continue reading →

Fiddlehead’s ‘The Wiz’ is a warm, winning musical

DORCHESTER — It would be a shame if The Winter of Our Discontent caused many strong productions to go unnoticed or unappreciated. It’s hard enough to get people out to the theater in… Continue reading →

‘Second Girl’ chronicles Irish immigrants’ struggle

BOSTON — The young women came to these shores by the droves from Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, seeking a better life but in many cases finding only backbreaking… Continue reading →

ArtsEmerson’s ’Breath’ is passionate, powerful

BOSTON — Roland Hayes was not your typical concert singer. Even if it were only the fact that he was an African-American, the son of a slave, who grew up in the segregated… Continue reading →

Parks’ ‘Father’: Greek poetry meets the Civil War

CAMBRIDGE — I knew the time I spent translating Homer’s “The Odyssey” and “The Iliad” from the ancient Greek into English at B.C. High decades ago would come in handy someday. It has… Continue reading →

Michael, Marvin, and Diana return in ‘Motown’

  BOSTON — If you were moved by Michael, dazzled by Diana, and were smitten with Smokey, “Motown: The Musical” is your cup of tea. The national touring production of “Motown: The Musical”… Continue reading →

There’s not enough there there in ‘Middletown’

PROVIDENCE — Will Eno’s “Middletown” is a place with quirky and interesting characters, but in the production directed by Curt Columbus at the Trinity Repertory Theatre, it’s hard to find a there there. … Continue reading →