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. . . these plays in their various modes approach the theater as a means of knowing and not merely as a means of expression. — Richard Gilman, “The Drama is Coming Now.” Disfarmer conceived, directed, and designed by Dan Hurlin. Original music by Dan Moses Scheier. Text by Sally Oswald. Part of the Emerging…
Read MoreTheatre by David Mamet. Faber and Faber, 157 pages, $22 Reviewed By Joann Green Breuer David Mamet’s concise and consistently frustrating book, Theatre, informs even while it infuriates, arguing for throwing out babes with the bath water as if theatre could, or should, make a splash without them. Get your towels out. But as you…
Read MoreThe Great American Trailer Park Musical. Music and Lyrics by David Nehls. Book by Betsy Kelso. Directed by Paul Daigneault. Nicholas Connell, Music Director. David Connolly, Choreographer. Jenna McFarland, Scenic Design. Seth Bodie, Costume Design. Karen Perlow, Lighting Design. Aaron Mack, Sound Design. Staged by the SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Boston Center for the…
Read MoreOne admires not just the quality of Brian Stokes Mitchell’s voice, but his artistry in getting to the emotional heart of whatever he is singing. He has long been a national treasure. Reviewed By Caldwell Titcomb The Celebrity Series concluded its 2009-10 season with one of its finest offerings: a solo concert by Brian Stokes…
Read MoreWhat makes a comedy a sure-fire hit? Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward. Directed by Spiro Veloudos. Staged by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Boston, MA, through June 5. Reviewed By Helen Epstein That was one of the few questions I was taking the trouble to ask myself while giving in to the sheer enjoyment…
Read MoreAugust: Osage County by Tracy Letts. Directed by Anna D. Shapiro. The Steppenwolf Theatre Company production presented by Broadway Across America at the Colonial Theatre, Boston, MA, though May 9. Reviewed by Bill Marx “All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” opined Leo Tolstoy sagely in Anna…
Read MoreReviewed By Caldwell Titcomb Much attention has rightly been paid to Stephen Sondheim, who has reached the age of 80 and is the greatest composer/lyricist our country has produced. Boston University got into the act by mounting a production of Merrily We Roll Along in the large B.U. Theatre for a five-day run (April 28–May…
Read MoreReviewed By Caldwell Titcomb Opera Boston is winding up its season with a delightful production of Jacques Offenbach’s La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867). This operetta, one of more than 100 of Offenbach’s works for the music stage, followed closely after three of his most accomplished contributions: La Belle Hélène (1864), Barbe-Bleue (1866), and La Vie…
Read MoreReaders should not be put off by the title, for this is a splendid novel, interesting in the risks it takes, in its ambition and scope—a book that deserves to be savored and discussed. Rat by Fernanda Eberstadt, Knopf, 304 pages, $25.95 Reviewed by Roberta Silman They have always been with us, those “casual offspring,”…
Read MoreMozart wrote some wonderful music in Idomeneo for his wind players, who were up to the task under the capable baton of David Angus. Reviewed By Caldwell Titcomb Turning out an enormous amount of music in a host of genres during his short life (1756–91), Mozart felt that opera was his most important task. It…
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