With the holiday season in full swing, area dance companies are doing their best to help spread some Christmas cheer, from dancing mice to dancing dolls to dancing snowflakes and, yes, even dancing reindeer! While many whose holiday festivities include a trip to the ballet are familiar with most of the aforementioned dancing oddities, the […]
Festival Ballet Providence’s popular “Up Close On Hope” returns for yet another season. Set in the company’s intimate Black Box Theatre, audience members are treated to a unique viewing experience sitting just a few scant feet from the performers. The current offering takes this experience one step further by incorporating live music courtesy of Community […]
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, area dance companies are putting the finishing touches on their annual holiday productions. Looking to get an early start, the State Ballet of Rhode Island kicks things off on November 20 with their annual presentation of Coppelia. Set to Leo Delibes’ festive score, this charming and witty ballet tells […]
Every week millions of viewers tune into the reality TV show “The Amazing Race,” a competition where participants race to be the first to reach a variety of foreign checkpoints. Today travel agencies offer all-inclusive packages allowing vacationers to circumvent the globe. But there was once a time when such glob trekking travel was thought […]
There is a saying in sales, “Don’t lead with your chin.” In other words, don’t lead with your best offer. At first glance, it appears that Festival Ballet Providence is doing just that by opening their 38th season with Ballet Russes Reinvented. This ambitious triple-bill pays homage to one of the 20th century’s most revolutionary […]
Outside the theater walls the rain fell and the wind howled, perfectly setting the mood for Ocean State Theatre Company’s season opening production of the macabre musical comedy The Addams Family. Directed by producing artistic director Amiee Turner, it is smart, funny, clever, racy, irreverent and just plain fun. Based on cartoons by Charles Addams […]
With the haze of summer TV reruns and reality shows like “American Idol,” “America’s Got Talent” and “So You Think You Can Dance?” all becoming one in the same, it’s high time for some live entertainment. Luckily, even as the calendar warns of the impending change in seasons, area dance companies are ready for a […]
Ocean State Theatre Company continues their summer season with the classic Tony Award-winning musical Gypsy. Though this trip through the vaudeville days of yesteryear feels a bit dated, everything comes up mostly roses thanks in large part to strong performances from the show’s lead actors. Based loosely on the memoirs of burlesque performer Gypsy Rose […]
Ocean State Theatre Company kicked off their summer season with Richard Dresser’s Rounding Third. And, while it has many funny moments, it falls a bit short of being a home run. Perhaps a solid triple. This baseball version of The Odd Couple pits the loud, gruff, “winning is everything” little league coach Don, played by veteran […]
Festival Ballet Providence closes its 37th season with their popular Up Close On Hope dance series and the best way to describe this program, which leans a bit more toward contemporary dance than past programs, is “open for interpretation.” With classical ballet, even when presented in excerpts, which is generally the case for UCOH, audiences […]