Greater 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 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.
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