Huntington Theatre Company Presents The Hit Broadway Comedy
A Doll’s House, Part 2
The 2017 Tony Award nominee for Best Play and the most-produced play of the 2018-2019 season, A Doll’s House, Part 2 makes its Boston debut at the Huntington Theatre Company at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue, Boston) in a co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Written by Tony Award nominee Lucas Hnath and directed by Obie Award winner Les Waters, performances will run January 4 through February 3.
Nora famously slammed the door on her marriage, leaving her husband and children behind in Ibsen’s groundbreaking classic, but what happened to the iconic heroine next? Named one of TIME Magazine’s Top 10 of 2017, A Doll’s House, Part 2 imagines her 15 years later as a successful writer and independent woman. Nora is urgently seeking to finalize her divorce, but first her estranged family has grievances to air.
This smart and sophisticated new comedy raises fascinating questions about marriage and the ways the roles of women have – and haven’t – changed. Audiences will enjoy this “smart, funny, and utterly engrossing play” (The New York Times) regardless of their familiarity with Ibsen’s play and the undeniable legacy Nora’s exit left behind.
Thanks to his “audacious Broadway debut” (The Hollywood Reporter) with A Doll’s House, Part 2,Lucas Hnath has become the most produced playwright in the country this season. Next for Hnath is his highly anticipated return to Broadway with Hillary and Clinton which opens this spring.
“We are thrilled to bring this hilariously eloquent play to Boston – a playful debate on marriage, gender roles, and what makes up the modern mating dance,” says Peter DuBois, Huntington Artistic Director. “Somehow Lucas Hnath has made it possible to take one of the most familiar pieces of dramatic literature in history and breathe new and exciting life into its iconic characters. Under the skillful direction of Les Waters, this company brilliantly highlights the relevance of this play in our society today with a stealth balance of humor and empathy.”
Hailed as a “classic for our time and for the ages” by The San Francisco Chronicle, this production of A Doll’s House, Part 2 features frequent Huntington favorite Nancy E. Carroll (Ripcord, Present Laughter at the Huntington) as Anne Marie, Mary Beth Fisher as Nora (How Shakespeare Won the West and The Birthday Party at the Huntington), John Judd as Torvald (Shining City at the Huntington), and Nikki Massoud (Huntington debut) as Emmy.
From January 4 through February 2, 2019, SpeakEasy Stage will proudly present the Boston Premiere of the hit Off-Broadway comedy SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS by Bess Wohl.
Heralded as one of the Top Ten Plays of 2015 by The New York Times, SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS followssix strangers on a spiritual retreat for what they hope will be a life-changing week.In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, they struggle to abandon technology and embrace silence under the tutelage of an unseen guru, who is having her own challenges with inner peace.Though it employs very little dialogue, there is definitely nothing quiet about SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS, a luminous and compassionate new play that asks how we address life’s biggest questions when words fail us.
SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS is the work of playwright Bess Wohl, a graduate of Harvard and the Yale School Drama whose roster of plays includes American Hero; Barcelona; Touched; In; Cats Talk Back; and the original musical Pretty Filthy (in collaboration with Michael Friedman and The Civilians). Her work has been produced or developed at Second Stage, Ars Nova, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Geffen Playhouse, and others. Bess also writes for film and television and has developed projects for HBO, ABC, USA, Disney, Paramount, and others.
M. Bevin O’Gara will return to Boston to direct the Boston Premiere of SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS. A former Associate Producer for the Huntington Theatre, Ms. O’Gara is currently the Producing Artistic Director of the Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY. Her many directing credits include: The Bridges of Madison County, appropriate, A Future Perfect, Tribes (Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards for Best Production), and Clybourne Park (SpeakEasy Stage); Girlfriend, Ironbound, the world premiere of Brawler, and Brahman/i (Kitchen Theatre); The Who and The What, Milk Like Sugar (Elliot Norton Award nomination for Best Production), and Becoming Cuba (Huntington Theatre); You for Me for You, Love Person, and The Pain and the Itch (Company One).
Norton Award-winners Barlow Adamson, Marianna Bassham, and Nael Nacer headline an all-star Boston cast that also includes Kerry A. Dowling, Celeste Oliva, Sam Simahk, and Gigi Watson.
SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS will run for five weeks, from January 4th through February 2, 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.
For tickets or more information, the public is invited to call the box office at 617.933.8600 or visit www.SpeakEasyStage.com .
Asher Denburg and Devron S. Monroe Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard
While Roland Hayes is well known and highly admired in the world of classical music, it is surprising and regretful that he is not better known by the general public. His story of determination, talent, and belief in himself is inspiring to say the least. In a time when we are sorely lacking in role models, you won’t go wrong looking back to Roland Hayes as an example of how to live one’s life. Breath & Imagination now playing at the Lyric Stage in Boston brings us his story and music. I hope it also makes more people aware of this very important man who spent much of his life living in Brookline, MA while also teaching and performing in Boston.
Davron S. Monroe plays Mr. Hayes in this 90 minute production that is filled with music both spiritual and classical. The cast is small and the play is intimate with Mr. Monroe being accompanied by Asher Denburg on the piano. Mr. Denburg is also the Music Director. Doug Gerber plays Mr. Calhoun, Roland Hayes’s first voice teacher. Nile Scott Hawver takes on a number of other parts that include Miss Robinson, a voice teacher, as well as the King of England.
Davron S. Monroe and Yewande Odetoyinbo Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard
The play revolves around the relationship between Hayes and his mother Angel Mo played by Yewande Odetoyinbo. Roland’s father died when he was young, but we learn from his off stage voice (Nile Scott Hawver) how he influenced his son by talking him for walks in the woods while teaching him how to listen for the sounds of nature and to try to mimic them. This is where the young Hayes first became enthralled with what he could do with his voice.
Angel Mo encouraged him to develop his voice hoping he would use this “gift from God” to become a preacher. Roland had other ideas. After hearing a recording of Enrico Caruso, the young man wanted to became a classical singer. This put him at odds with his mother. Watching the story unfold, while both Mr. Monroe and Ms Odetoyinbo fill the theatre with their beautiful voices,touched my heart. Both actors play their characters over the course of many years, and the transition from youth to old age is flawless.
Davron S. Monroe and Yewande Odetoyinbo Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard
Roland Hayes was the grandson of slaves. He was stepping into a world that was not exactly welcoming to African Americans. At times he became discouraged. At one point he wanted to quit. In a moving scene he sings “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord”. It is here, when Hayes wants to pack it all in that Angle Mo says to him “Things being hard don’t give you the right to give up”. It’s tempting to call this “tough love’, but it’s not tough, rather it isa strong and loving mother who believes in her son and knows he can succeed. He may not be fulfilling her wish of becoming a preacher, but he is using his God given gift to do much good. It is scenes like this that make this play so inspiring.
Breath & Imagination is not a detailed account of the life of Roland Hayes. What it does is give us good overview of his struggles, his doubts, his steadfastness, and his belief in himself. There were many times when that belief was shaken, but this was Angel Mo’s son, and he was not going to give up.
Davron S. Monroe and Yewande Odetoyinbo Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard
The music that fills the Lyric Stage Theater is very special. Ms Odetoyinbo and Mr. Monroe are both excellent actors, and they are actors who can sing, and sing magnificently. I was deeply moved by both of them, as I was by this production. Listening to Angel Mo, as her days are winding down, singing “When I’m Gone” is both sad and joyful.Ms Odetoyinbo was very impressive. She is young but you would swear she has been at this for decades. She plays a very strong woman in Angel Mo while giving her character the deeply loving heart that makes us wish we all had an Angel Mo in our lives. The lucky ones do.
Davron S. Monroe was last seen at the Lyric in The Wiz. After seeing him in Breath & Imagination, I can’t sing his praises high enough. From the spirituals to the magnificent classical pieces, his voice comes to us from deep within his heart. In the time of Roland Hayes people were denied the opportunity to develop their talents all because of the color of their skin. Roland Hayes played a big part in changing that when it came to music. Mr. Monroe honors his great legacy by lending his talent to tell us that story. He also gives us the joy of music along with the lessons to be learned from this great man’s life.
Breath & Imagination is a must see. It will move you and I certainly hope it will bring the life of Roland Hayes to more people. The Lyric Stage is filled with music and love, take part in it.
Kyle Vincent Terry and John Douglas Thompson (Photo: T. Charles Erikson)
I was apprehensive when going to see Man In The Ring. The play by Michael Cristofer recounts the life of six time world boxing champion Emile Griffith. Mr. Cristofer had not even heard of Griffith until being asked to write the libretto for an opera about the former champ. That experience led to him writing the play. Given that, I thought this could turn out to be a real mess.
I felt there was so much he would get wrong.Boxing is a complicated, dark, and emotional sport. Emile Griffith’s life story is a complex one that is filled with many contradictions along with much success and terrible tragedy. There are a number of different parts of his life that could have dominated this work, but Mr. Cristofer has done a masterful job of giving us a complete and honest portrait of Griffith’s life.
The fact that Mr. Cristofer did not have previous knowledge of Emile Griffith has proven to be an asset when it comes to telling the story. He comes to it with a blank slate and gets all of it right. Along with writing theatre reviews, I have also been a boxing writer for a number of years, as well as having spent a lifetime around the sport. If anyone would be sitting in a theatre looking for flaws in the story it would be me. It turns out I would have to dig pretty deep to point out any mistakes here. I was very impressed, and I am not easily impressed by boxing dramatizations.
Emile Griffith is played by two actors. Kyle Vincent Terry is the young Emile while John Douglas Thompson is Griffith in his later years, when the effects of the punches he took have begun to appear in what was known as Dementia Pugilistica, today as CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). Both actors appear on the stage together throughout most of the play, with the older Emile looking back on his youthful self while reflecting on the choices he made. It is fascinating watching the story unfold in this manner. There are times when the two have exchanges.
John Douglas Thompson Photo: (T. Charles Erickson)
John Douglas Thompson is among the finest stage actors performing today, and it is uncanny how he captures Griffith in the years when his mind is beginning to fade. In scenes that are both funny and tragic the effects of the dementia as it progresses are brought to the audience. One such moment occurs when Luis (Victor Almanzar), Emile’s lover and now caretaker brings him his shoe which ended up in the refrigerator. The exchange between the two is quite funny but also very sad.
Kyle Vincent Terry’s young Emile is filled with the positivity and optimism that was Griffith (“Always hang your hat higher than you can reach”). The magnificently built immigrant from St.Thomas arrived in New York City to join his mother. He decided to come to the States to make it as a baseball player and/or singer. He also had quite a knack for making lady’s hats. This led him to a job with a fellow named Howie Albert (Gordon Clapp), a once aspiring boxer who now runs a millenary business. He was immediately taken by Griffith’s physique and talked him into taking up boxing. Mr. Terry really impressed me as Emile. As they would say in boxing “You got what it takes kid’, and he sure does.
Gordon Clapp and Kyle Vincent Terry (Photo: T. Charles Erickson)
Boxing fans will notice the absence of Emile’s trainer Gil Clancy in the play. This is not an oversight, the author has rolled Clancy and Albert into one character. It works very well. Mr. Cristofer also, and I am not sure if this is intentional, shows how poorly Griffith was managed at the beginning of his career. Emile is what is known as a “survivor” in boxing. His was repeatedly thrown in with opponents who were far ahead of him in experience yet still managed to win. Albert didn’t develop a great fighter, he got lucky. Emile had incredible natural talent and a head for boxing. He was mostly self taught.
Kyle Vincent Terry and Cast (Photo: T. Charles Erickson)
Griffith’s bisexuality was always an open secret in boxing and could have dominated this play. It certainly and rightly is a major part of the story, and Emile’s ambiguity about it is shown. His lifestyle was rarely if ever publicly discussed, that is until the weigh-in for his third fight with Welterweight Champion Benny “Kid” Paret (Sean Boyce Johnson). The scene is staged with an emotional intensity that reaches out to the back rows of the theater. Paret’s shouting “Maricon” (a Spanish slur for a gay man) at Emile caused the lighthearted challenger to lose his temper.
What occurs next is seared into the memories of older boxing fans. In the fight which was broadcast live on nationwide television, Griffith unleashed a vicious beating on Paret while knocking him senseless. Paret would die ten days later. I have read that an earlier production of this play had trouble staging this scene. Director Michael Grief along with fight directors Rick Sordelet and Christian Kelly-Sordelet pull it off brilliantly. Using a revolving boxing ring, a tall projection screen showing footage from the actual fight, as well as using stop action effects with flash bulbs going off brings that terrible event vividly to life. Paret’s wife Lucia (Carla Martina), standing above and to the side of the action tells us what was going on with Benny before the fight. Lucia is joined by Emile’s mother Emelda (Krystal Joy Brown) and Paret’s manager Manuel Alfaro (Eliseo Gatta) in giving all the background that led up to this tragic outcome. They make it clear Paret never should have been in the ring that night. It is very, very powerful. Whether or not you are a boxing fan, you do not want to miss this.
There is music throughout the play. Caribbean children’s songs are sung by the actors accompanied by two musicians. It is not a musical, but the music is an integral part of the play, and just wonderful.
CastOf Man In The Ring )Photo: T. Charles Erickson)
Man In The Ring is a complex work about a paradoxical man. Emile was a fun loving gentle man in the most violent of professions. A man who spent much time at gay bars while participating in the manliest of sports (this was at a time when being gay was equated with being a “sissie”). He was deeply effected by the death of Paret yet kept fighting for years after, though it was apparent he no longer fought with the same intensity.
As the play nears its conclusion we see Emile, now deeply suffering the effects of CTE, being brought to meet with Benny Paret’s son in a park. Emile is confused but the moment is touching. Young Paret, Luis, and Griffith are all involved in trying to make sense out of what happened.
As a boxing historian I found so much in this play. The accuracy is just stunning. Mr. Cristofer not only did incredible research, but he also understands the subject.This is very impressive for a boxing “civilian”.
As a play reviewer, I saw an amazing work of theatre. This can be called a boxing play, and boxing fans should definitely see it. It is an important piece of work that should be added to the great literature on boxing.
Beyond being a great boxing play, Man In The Ring is amazing theatre. It is impressive how much is covered in just 110 minutes. The entire cast and production team are nothing short of outstanding. It would be foolish to miss any work with John Douglas Thompson in it, but this work is solid from top to bottom.
You might think I am giving this high praise because of my boxing background. If anything, my knowledge of the subject would have been more likely to have caused me to go negative. The fact that Mr. Cristofer was able to impress me speaks very well to this play. I brought an extra critical eye to the Huntington on the evening I saw Man In The Ring. I can assure you, you will not be disappointed in this play. It is a great boxing story, it is a great human story, it is great theatre. I highly recommend Man In The Ring.
Seaglass Performing Arts 25th Anniversary Season Winter Concerts
Saturday, December 1, 2018
South Congregational Church, Kennebunkport, Maine 7:00 pm
Sunday, December 2, 2108 Holy Parish Church, Sanford, Maine 3:00 pm
Seaglass Chorale’s 25th anniversary concert season will begin with its first of two performances of “A Wassail Festival” on Saturday, December 1, 2018 at South Congregational Church in Kennebunkport at 7:00 pm. The concert is a musical feast celebrating twenty-five years of Seaglass. A second performance will take place on Sunday, December 3rd, at Holy Parish Church in Sanford at 3:00 pm.
Tickets may be purchased on line at seaglassperformingarts.org (go to “Concerts and Events” and use your credit card), at Morse Hardware on Post Road in Wells (see Sally Morse), or from any Seaglass Chorale member.
The Ogunquit Playhouse Announces the Cast and Creative Team for the Holiday Production of Elf The Musical at The Music Hall
The Music Hall and the Ogunquit Playhouse are thrilled to announce the cast and creative team of Elf The Musical, on stage November 28 – December 16 at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Based on the beloved film, Elf The Musical is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole and raised as one of Santa’s elves. Eventually Buddy’s enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to embark on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, discover his true identity, and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas.
The Ogunquit Playhouse production is helmed by Broadway director/choreographer Connor Gallagher and features an all-new set designed exclusively for the Ogunquit production at The Music Hall by acclaimed scenic designer Jason Sherwood. Leading the professional cast are New York and Broadway veterans Steven Booth as Buddy the Elf, Diana Hueyas Jovie, Jen Cody as Deb, Lothair Eaton as the Macy’s Manager,Annie Edgerton as Emily Hobbs, Blake Hammond as Santa, Philip PaulKelly as Mr. Greenway, and Christopher Russo as Walter Hobbs. The role of Michael will be played by Calvin Middleton.
Steven Booth (Buddy)
Steven Booth stars as Buddy. Mr. Booth recently starred as Charlie in the first National Tour of Kinky Boots, and as Richie in the first National Tour of Happy Days. On Broadway he has performed in School of Rock, Glory Days, and Avenue Q, and for regional theatres has performed in the Signature Theatre’s production of Glory Days, Avenue Q at the Wynn Las Vegas Theatre, Capitol Repertory’s Edges, North Shore Music Theatre’s Three Musketeers, and Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre’s Pippin.
Diana Huey co-stars as Jovie. Ms. Huey most recently starred in the first National Tour of The Little Mermaid as Ariel. She has performed in numerous New York and
Diana Huey (Jovie)
Regional productions including Girlstar, Jasper in Deadland, James and the Giant Peach, Spring Awakening, Avenue Q, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog, Rent, Mame, and Signature Theatre’s Miss Saigon for which she won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress.
Portraying Deb is Jen Cody. Ms. Cody has starred in numerous Broadway productions including A Christmas Story, Shrek, Pajama Game, Taboo, Urinetown the Musical, Seussical the Musical, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Grease, and CATS. Off-Broadway her credits include Cleopatra, The Wild Party, Judith of Bethulia, and Henry and Mudge. In film her voice can be heard in many animated films, including her Annie Award-winning role as Charlotte La Bouff in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog.On television she has performed in CBS’s Instinct, Bull, Unforgettable, and Blue Bloods, and provided voiceover work for Shrek Live, American Dad, Phineas and Ferb, and Mickey and the Roadster Racers among many others. Ms. Cody was last seen on the Ogunquit Playhouse stage in 2012’s Damn Yankees, 2009’s All Shook Up, 2006’s Cinderella, and was the Choreographer for the 2016 and 2015 smash-hit Million Dollar Quartet.
Lothair Eaton joins the cast as the Macy’s Manager. Off-Broadway Mr. Eaton starred in the original company of Nunsense A-Men, and in the UK Tour of 5 Guys Named Moe. In Regional theatres he has starred in Trav’lin 1930’s Harlem Musical, When Pigs Fly, Sunday In The Park With George, and Show Boat. Additionally, he starred as Papa the Old Steam Train in the Germany, Las Vegas, New Zealand and UK Tour of Starlight Express.
Portraying Emily Hobbs is Annie Edgerton. Ms. Edgerton has starred as Rosie in Mamma Mia! on Broadway as well as in the first two National Tours. She has also performed on Broadway in Kinky Boots, and in numerous Regional and Off-Broadway productions including Fly Me to the Moon, Comedy of Errors, King Lear, Les Miserables, Legally Blonde, Babes in Toyland, Showboat, and Betrayal, among others.
Blake Hammond joins the cast of Elf The Musical as Santa. On Broadway he has performed in numerous productions including Sister Act, Elf The Musical, Billy Elliot, Disney’s The Lion King, Hairspray, The Music Man, Kiss Me Kate, and On the Town, and Off-Broadway in When Pigs Fly, Carnival, and Do Re Mi. Mr. Hammond has also starred in the National Tours of Something Rotten, Cinderella, The Addams Family, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Mr. Hammond was most recently seen on the Ogunquit Playhouse stage as Harry in 2018’s Grumpy Old Men the Musical. Additionally he has performed at the Playhouse in 2015’s Sister Act and 2009’s Guys and Dolls.
About The Music Hall
The Music Hall is a performing arts center featuring curated entertainment from around the world in two theaters in its downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire campus—one, a landmark 1878 Victorian theater, designated an American Treasure for the Arts by the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures Program, the other the intimate Music Hall Loft around the corner, recently named “best performing arts venue” by Yankee Magazine and the recipient of the NH AIA award for design excellence.
Bill Hanney’s North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) will once again present the area’s most beloved production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL sponsored by MarketStreet Lynnfield. This award-winning, original musical adaptation was created solely for North Shore Music Theatre and cannot be seen anywhere else. Two cast members, David Coffee (Ebenezer Scrooge) and Cheryl McMahon (Mrs. Dilber), will be both be celebrating their 25th appearance in the holiday show. A CHRISTMAS CAROL will play 14 performances from Friday, December 7 thru Sunday, December 23, 2018.
“This year’s production of A Christmas Carol will be even more festive than ever before. This year we will celebrate two beloved cast members, David Coffee and Cheryl McMahon, who are both marking their twenty-fifth appearance in the show,” said NSMT’s owner and producer Bill Hanney. “With each passing year, we look forward to watching them perform together on stage. We are never disappointed with the new ways they find to make us laugh, and cry, and fill us with the spirit of the holidays!”
Based on the Charles Dickens classic, A CHRISTMAS CAROL is an original adaptation by former NSMT Artistic Director Jon Kimbell and members of the NSMT staff, following Ebenezer Scrooge through a series of strange and magical ghostly encounters, where he ultimately discovers the true spirit of the holiday season. With dazzling special effects that have grown even more exciting over time, traditional and original songs, and colorful costumes, A CHRISTMAS CAROL has become a holiday favorite throughout New England having been seen by more than one million people since 1989.
Cheryl McMahon as Mrs. Dilber Photo Credit: Paul Lyden
NSMT audience favorite,David Coffee, returns for his twenty-fifth year playing Ebenezer Scrooge. A CHRISTMAS CAROL also features Leigh Barrett(TheGhost of Christmas Past, Mrs. Cratchit), Peter S. Adams (TheGhost of Christmas Present, Gentleman 1), Ryan Mardesich(The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, Young Scrooge), Freddie Kimmel (Jacob Marley), Tommy Labanaris (Narrator), Russell Garrett (Bob Cratchit), Cameron Hobbs(Pearlie), Parker Krug (Pearlie), Joy Clark (Belle), Andy Tighe (Fred), Cheryl McMahon (Mrs. Dilber/ Mrs. Fezziwig), J.T. Turner (Mr. Fezziwig/Gentleman 2), Bobby Conte (Old Joe, Ensemble), Lianne Gennaco(Meg,Ensemble), Allsun O’Malley (Ensemble),Ian Shain (Dick Wilkins, Ensemble),and Janelle Yull (Ensemble).
The cast of 27 actors will also feature many local young performers including Isabella Carroll(Belinda Cratchit), Jake Ryan Flynn(London Boy), Jospeh Flynn (London Boy), Asher Navisky (Peter Cratchit), Grace Olah(Fan), Cam Perrin (Ensemble), AJ Scott (Tiny Tim), and Nicole Talbot(Martha Cratchit), and Wade Gleeson Turner (Boy Scrooge).
Throughout the run of A CHRISTMAS CAROL NSMT will be collecting toys in the lobby for Tiny Tim’s Toy Drive. NSMT will be accepting unopened, unwrapped toys for boys and girls ages 2 – 12. All toys will be donated to Toys for Tots.
Performances are December 7 – December 23, 2018 (Evening shows December 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, and 22 at 7:30pm; Matinees December 8, 9, 15, 16, and 22 at 2pm). Tickets can be purchased by calling the North Shore Music Theatre Box Office at (978) 232-7200, via the website at www.nsmt.org or in person at 62 Dunham Road (Route 128, exit 19), Beverly, MA.
Featuring Davron S. Monroe, Yewande Odetoyinbo, Doug Gerber,
Nile Hawver
Breath & Imagination: The Story Of Roland Hayes opens at the Lyric Stage on November 30 and runs through December 23.
Breath & Imagination chronicles Roland Hayes’s inspirational journey from a Georgia plantation to a singing career that included command performances for kings and queens. Despite his international acclaim, Roland never left behind his complex and loving relationship with his mother, his Angel Mo’. With spirituals and classical music, Breath & Imagination is a compelling musical about one man’s determination to become an artist despite seemingly insurmountable odds.
THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE, home to Roland Hayes, will host a FREE welcoming event for Breath & Imagination, with the actors presenting scenes from the play, plus a talk by the play’s director. Sponsored by Brookline’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion & Community Relations, local grants will provide a diverse audience of attendees with a range of discounted tickets to the play. Sunday, Nov. 18, 6pm @ United Parish, 210 Harvard St.
The Lyric Stage, 100 Clarendon Street, Copley Square, Boston
The Peanuts Gang Comes to the Boch Center Shubert Theatre for A Charlie Brown Christmas Live On Stage
New Production is a Fresh Take on the Timeless Classic
Just in time for the holiday season, the Peanuts gang will be coming to the Boch Center Shubert Theatre from November 29 – December 2, 2018 for A Charlie Brown Christmas Live On Stage. A Charlie Brown Christmas Live On Stage is a fresh take on the timeless classic that gives the audience a completely new way of experiencing the storyline as portrayed by real actors who maintain the integrity and spirit of each Peanuts character.
This Emmy and Peabody award-winning story by Charles M. Schulz has been a longstanding tradition, warming the hearts of millions of fans since it first aired on television over 50 years ago. Now, the live on stage adaptation of the classic animated television special brings all your favorite characters to life – all set to the unforgettable sounds of the Vince Guaraldi musical score.
A Charlie Brown Christmas Live On Stage encompasses each of your favorite scenes from the original animated television show.It even expands the storyline into greater detail with more fun, more music, more finding the true Christmas spirit.This Peanuts Experience also includes an intermission and, after the final bow, the show crescendos into a celebration of song as the audience is invited to join the Peanuts gang in singing Christmas favorites.
So, join Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the Peanuts gang in their journey to uncover the true meaning of Christmas.
Tickets are on sale and can purchased at the Boch Center Box Office, online at www.bochcenter.org, or by phone: 866.348.9738.
Three Alisons (Marissa Simeqi, Ellie van Amerongen, and Amy Jo Jackson) Photo: Nile Scott Studios
The musical Fun Home now playing at the SpeakEasy Stage Company is deeply moving and complex. Based on the graphic memoir of the same title by Alison Bechdel, it tells the story of of Ms Bechdel’s childhood and her coming out as a lesbian while in college. However, this is not a story simply about a young woman coming to terms with her sexuality. It is much more complicated than that. In reality, her coming out is not the center of the story.
The play opens in, what seems to be, the happy home of the Bechdels (Welcome To Our House on Maple Avenue). Alison’s father, Bruce (Todd Yard), is an English teacher as well as a director of a funeral home. The title of the play is taken from the shortened and more enjoyable name the Bechdel children use for the family business. Alison has two brothers, Christian (Cameron Levesque) and John (Luke Gold).
Alison is played by three actors depicting her at different ages. There is Small Alison (Marissa Simeqi), Medium Alison (Ellie van Amerongen), and present day Alison (Amy Jo Jackson). The play does not follow a chronological order, but rather follows the present day Alison as she looks back on events in her life while drawing cartoons as she relives the various times. Much of the time she is sitting at a writing desk or standing off to the side looking on and drawing as her memories are played out by the others. She makes comments as she observes. I found this very effective as it is common for people to look back on their lives as if they are witnessing a play or a movie. Trying to figure it all out can get complicated, and this story is no different when it comes to complications.
Marissa Simeqi (Small Alison)and Todd Yard (Bruce)Photo: Nile Scott Studios
Those complications are not so much in Alison’s coming to grips with her own sexual identity, she does quite well with that, but more with her father’s having to deal with his. It turns out Bruce is gay and has never come out. He has gotten into trouble for “procuring alcohol for underage boys”. Tyler Simahk, last seen at SpeakEasy in Allegiance plays multiple roles as the young men Bruce procures beer for. He is also somewhat controlling, not abusive, of his children, and it is easy to gather that controlling behavior is reflective of his attempts to control his own behavior. It is painful to watch him struggle.
In the song Maps Alison talks about drawing maps of the neighborhood as a child. At one point she says about her father “I can draw a circle, his whole life fits inside”. That line had me thinking of how trapped Bruce must have felt.
Bruce eventually killed himself by stepping in front of a truck. This was not long after Alison came out, and she says “My beginning would be your end”. These words are powerful as they so strongly convey the torment in not being able to live who you are openly. Alison was fortunate, though it still wasn’t easy, to have come of age in a time when she could find support and acceptance. Bruce had to live his life in the shadows and with guilt and anger that was turned within.
One of the most powerful moments in the play is when Alison’s mother Helen (Laura Marie Duncan) sings Days and Days:
”Welcome to our house on Maple Avenue
See how we polish and we shine
We rearrange and realign
Everything is balanced and serene
Like chaos never happens if it’s never seen.”
In which she laments her life, feeling she wasted it in attempting to be the good wife.”
She advises Alison:
“Don’t you come back here
I didn’t raise you
To give away your days
Like me.”
The song is strong and delivers the message of how living lies is painful to all involved. Fortunately, Alison has learned that difficult lesson.
Helen (Laura Marie Duncan)Photo: Nile Scott Studios
While this story is one that involves much struggle and pain, it also has its happy moments. Although Bruce was in much pain and controlling, he was also a loving father. The children loved him and Helen, as well as each other. The song Come To Fun Home is a rousing number sung by the three siblings as they pretend to make a commercial for the funeral home. It is somewhat of a crossbetween the Osmands and the Jackson Five, and all much fun. Marissa Simeqi, Cameron Levesque, and Luke Gold bring the house down while dancing around a casket, and taking turns singing into a can of Pledgeused as a microphone.
Desire Graham plays Joan, the understanding, though edgy, friend Alison makes on campus and who eventually becomes her lover. Joan may be a bit tough but she is kind, and just the supporting figure Alison needed
Amy Jo Jackson in her role as present day Alison comes across as thoughtful and wise. It is interesting watch her expressions as she observes and begins to understand her life as it evolvedOften, when looking back we see ourselves with a more sympathetic eye. It is good when we can cast that view onto our present day selves. We can learn that from Alison Bechdel.
The 2017 Tony Award nominee for Best Play and the most-produced play of the 2018-2019 season, A Doll’s House, Part 2 makes its Boston debut at the Huntington Theatre Company at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue, Boston) in a co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Written by Tony Award nominee Lucas Hnath and directed by Obie Award winner Les Waters, performances will run January 4 through February 3.
