Lyric Stage, SpeakEasy Stage Company, and Huntington Theatre
Light Up In September
An exciting new theatre season is about to get underway in Boston. Three of our best local companies will soon be raising their curtains in what promises to be an exciting season of both new and classic works. We are lucky to have so many great companies in Boston and this should be another great year of theatre.
Huntington Theatre Company Presents
Merrily We Roll Along
Over at the Huntington Theatre Stephen Sondheim’s legendary musical Merrily We Roll Along will open on September 8th and run through October 15th. Director Maria Friedman will recreate her critically acclaimed West End production for the Boston stage, a production that received the most five star reviews in West End history.
It also received praise from Stephen Sondheim who said “This production of Merrily We Roll Along is not only the best I’ve seen, but one of those rare instances where casting, direction, and show come together in perfect combination, resulting in the classic ideal of the sum being greater than the parts.”
The cast includes Mark Embers and Damian Humbly who will reprise their roles from the London production, Aimee Doherty who was in last year’s Huntington production of Sunday In The Park With George, and Jennifer Ellis who was just spectacular in last year’s SpeakEasy production of The Bridges Of Madison County.
huntngtontheatre.org 617.266.0800
Men On Boats
At The SpeakEasy Stage Company
From September 8 to October 7, 2017, SpeakEasy Stage Company will proudly present the Boston-area premiere of MEN ON BOATS, a comic adventure tale about an actual 1869 expedition to chart the Colorado River, brought thrillingly to life by a diverse non-male cast.
The play is the work of Brooklyn resident Jaclyn Backhaus, who stipulates that, while the characters in the play were historically cisgender white males, the cast should be made up entirely of people who are not. “I am talking about racially diverse actors who are female-identifying, trans-identifying, genderfluid, and/or non-gender-conforming,” notes the playwright in the script.
The result is a hilarious historical pageant that offers both a provocative and contemporary lens through which to view our shared past.
Somerville resident Dawn M. Simmons will direct SpeakEasy’s Boston Premiere production of MEN ON BOATS. In addition to her many directing credits, Ms. Simmons is co-Artistic Director of New Exhibition Room, Artistic Lead with The Front Porch Theatre Collective, a member of the StageSource Board, and Director of Performing Arts for Boston Center for the Arts.
To go on this journey with her, Ms. Simmons has assembled a talented crew of Boston-based actors: Lyndsay Allyn Cox, Ally Dawson, Veronika Duerr, Bridgette Hayes, Alice Kabia, Mal Malme, Cody Sloan, Robin Javonne Smith, Hayley Spivey, and Ellie van Amerongen.
The all-female design team is Jenna McFarland (scenic); Rachel Padula-Shufelt (costumes); Daisy Long (lighting); and Elizabeth Cahill (sound).
MEN ON BOATS will run for five weeks, from September 8 through October 7, in the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End.
www.SpeakEasyStage.com 617.933.8600.
Gypsy
A Musical Fable
At The Lyric Stage
Once again, this year the Lyric Stage will take a lavish Broadway production and set it in the intimate confines of the theatre on Clarendon Street in Boston. My Fair Lady and Camelot both received rave reviews in the last two seasons and the Lyric has shown the magic that can be made by producing intimate versions of these classic musicals.
Featuring Leigh Barrett as Rose, Kirsten Salpini as Louise, Kira Troilo as June, and Steven Barkhimer as Herbie plus direction and choreography by Rachel Bertone audiences will have high exceptions for this production. I doubt the Lyric will let them down.
With music by Jute Style and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Gypsy is one of the iconic musicals in theatre history.
Tickets tend to sell fast for these Lyric Stage musicals, so I would urge you not to wait long. Gypsy runs from September 1st through October 8th.
lyricstage.com 617.585.5678