Greater Boston Stage Company opened its 20th Anniversary season with the world premiere of “Last Night at Bowl-Mor Lanes,” by Weylin Symes. This play tells the story of Ruth and Maude, two women “of a certain age,” who break into their hometown bowling alley the night before it gets shut down and turned into a Walmart.
Read MoreFresh Ink Theatre Company, an organization known in Boston for producing new works by New England playwrights, recently closed their contemporary play “Girlish,” by Alexa Derman. This show, which ran from February 1st through the 16th at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Blackbox Theatre, tells the story of Windy (Atlee Jensen), a teenage girl who, despite her age, finds herself deep in the American Girl Doll fandom. The story follows Windy as she navigates how to balance her love of her dolls with the natural trials of growing up, including dating, makeup, and meeting the expectations of her trendy longtime best friend, Marti (Willa Eigo.) When Windy eventually strikes up a new and exciting relationship with a fellow American Girl Doll fanatic online, AGBOI97 (Dylan C. Wack), she begins to pull away from Marti and, in doing so, discovers a new array of truths about herself and her passion that cause her to step away from playing pretend and face her reality head on.
Read MoreGreater Boston Stage Company provides a theatrical take on a classic Christmas story with its production of “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Similar to the beloved film, the stage version, which has been adapted from Frank Capra’s original screenplay by Weylin Symes, features many of the same famous characters, themes, and morals, with a couple unique elements that turn this well-known tale into something fresh and new.
Read MoreKicking off Greater Boston Stage Company’s 19th season is new musical “Being Earnest.” Based on Oscar Wilde’s 1894 play “The Importance of Being Earnest,” this show successfully takes the themes, plot, and characters from the well-known farce and layers in a 1960s vibe and a plethora of upbeat musical numbers to fill out the story. And while “Being Earnest” is not the first musical re-telling of Wilde’s comedy—some will consider “Who’s Earnest” or “Earnest in Love” among the originals of this kind—it is certainly a much more creative and conceptual take on the piece, handled masterfully in this production by director/choreographer Ilyse Robbins.
Read MoreWith showstopping dance numbers and a true ensemble overflowing with talent, Reagle Music Theatre’s production of “The Music Man” provides a spirited and heartfelt end to the theater’s 50th anniversary summer season.
Read More“A Chorus Line” opened at Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston last weekend, providing a fantastic start to the theater’s 50th Anniversary Summer Season. With book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, Music by Marvin Hamlisch, and Lyrics by Edward Kleban, this musical tells the story of a group of seventeen inspiring performers auditioning for a place in a Broadway show’s chorus line. The roughly two-hour piece is conducted like a legitimate audition during which the audience gets to witness these individuals share their fears and motivations with the directing team and one another, all while dancing their hearts out for a chance at one of eight coveted roles.
Read More“Calendar Girls,” by Juliette Towhidi and Tim Firth, marks Greater Boston Stage Company’s last show of their eighteenth season, and is quite the uplifting note to go out on. Based on a true story, this show has been adapted to the stage from the Miramax motion picture of the same name, and tells the story of a group of ladies in a Women’s Institute organization in Yorkshire, England who decide to raise money for leukemia research through the selling of a nude calendar. The catch? The calendar features these women themselves, who are by no means the young model-types that one may come to expect in such calendars, as the art. Soon the project, which starts in memoriam to one of the women, Annie’s, late husband, turns into an opportunity for her best friend Chris, a failing florist, to finally find her place in the spotlight. Yet as the powerful impact this small act of charity has made becomes clear to these women, they are suddenly forced to evaluate their own actions and their place in one another’s lives, leaving them as exposed emotionally as they are on each calendar page.
Read MoreContemporary comedies are commonplace in theater, but very rarely does a production surface that manages to produce the sought-after balance of humor and heart needed to make an impact that lasts longer than a well earned laugh.
Greater Boston Stage Company’s “The Legend of Georgia McBride,” directed and choreographed by Russell Garrett, is one of these productions.
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