Category: Theater

Shrek the Musical is a hilarious and heartwarming adventure celebrating friendship, love, and the beauty of being uniquely yourself. Featuring a lively score by Jeanine Tesori, with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, this spectacle full of heart, humor, and show-stopping musical numbers is presented by The Community Players, adeptly directed by Marianne Lonati, who also directed the choreography. In a faraway kingdom turned upside down, the unlikely hero Shrek sets off on a life-changing journey, alongside a wisecracking Donkey, to rescue a feisty princess and reclaim his swamp. Along the way, they encounter a host of familiar fairy tale characters, a vertically challenged villain, and discover that real friendship and true love can be found in the most unexpected places. Like faraway kingdoms.

Says Lonati, “What I love most about Shrek the Musical is the happy, upbeat fairytale world. I only direct light and fluffy shows because to be immersed for months in anything darker is not good for mental health. And with the chaos we are living in these days, it is especially necessary to find a way to escape the daily bombardment of bad news. It has been wonderful playing with colorful characters who have been banned from their homes by a narcissistic wannabe king who wants everyone to look the same and forces them to praise him… Wait… Hmmmmm. The good news is, there is a happy ending, and the bad guy gets incinerated by a dragon! It is a hopeful show with a beautiful message of inclusion and love.”

The production stars Cody O’Toole as Shrek. This green monster is utterly entertaining throughout. Likewise for Katy Lazar, who makes the perfect companion in this fun, swamp-loving couple. Christopher Margadonna, who serves as president of The Community Players, takes the stage as Donkey. Shrek’s talkative sidekick is known for his comic relief, and Margadonna gets to flex his talented singing muscles to boot.

Chris Lovegood is hysterical as Lord Farquaad. Just wait until you see this antagonistic scene-stealer dominate the stage! Lovegood’s animated presence means words aren’t even necessary in order to elicit belly laughs! Lizzie Rider belts out Dragon’s tunes while Emily Fisher adroitly serves as puppeteer.

Neil G. Santoro has done an amazing job as set designer/master carpenter. There’s a lot going on in this large production, and no time for too many moving parts or set distractions, so kudos given where it’s much deserved! One smartly-planned staging serves as swamp, countryside, church, and a castle or two.

Orchestra conductor Renee Nelligan keeps the music and comical zings right on cue throughout the performance. A spirited intergenerational ensemble brings to life a colorful cast of fairy tale favorites: Kristen Allen, Misha Bennett, Mia Berube, Mitch Bertolino, Kaelyn Boss, Kylie Chartier, Paige Costigan, MK Darden, Molly Kate Donnelly, Karlie Fitzgerald, Amanda Grimaldi, Kendra Haggerty, Harper Hennings, Mac Jacob, Elaine Johnson, Jaime Kilday, Patrick Koshewa Sandra Louis, Matthew O’Brien, Alexandra Rickoff, Haley Robertson, Claudia Rufo, Harrie Salk, Neil Santoro, Dahlia Sussman, Valerie Sussman, and Daniel Thompson.

This larger-than-life musical offers colorful costumes, strong vocals, energetic choreography plus many sweet surprises! It’s a magical theatrical experience for all ages. Come see the “freaks with teeth” take the stage, and don’t forget to grab your pitchforks!

The Community Players present Shrek the Musical through April 26. There will be one 15-minute intermission; refreshments served in the Cafeteria. All donations will benefit TCP’s Special Project Fund. For more information, visit thecommunityplayers.org.

So, how well will the musical Kimberly Akimbo play in Peoria? 

And by “play,” I reference the vaudeville-era idiom questioning whether a product or political candidate will be accepted or popular with the general, mainstream public in an average American place like Peoria. And by “Peoria,” I mean Providence.  

Not well, it would seem, considering that the product in question is a musical about a 15-year-old girl (Ann Morrison) with an incurable genetic disease that will likely cause her to die by the time she is 16 or 17.

Kimberly has the thoughts and feelings of a teenage girl, but the features and body of a 60-year-old woman. The trials and tribulations of being a teenager can feel like matters of life and death to said teens, but for the title character in this musical, they literally are. She also has to deal with a Greek chorus of schoolmates trying to reconcile their adolescent angst with the problems she has to deal with. Add to the equation Kimberly’s dysfunctional family – a self-absorbed and clueless mom (Laura Woyasz), an alcoholic and underachieving dad (Jim Hogan), and a chronically criminal aunt (Emily Koch).  

In short, terminal illness is a tough sell. Look no further than the musical You Will Get Sick, which lasted two months off-Broadway in 2022 after a world premiere ironically delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.  

The thing is, Kimberly Akimbo was developed at the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, one of American theater’s premiere new-work incubation centers. It helped create the highly successful and award-winning Angels in America, Fun Home, Spring Awakening, The Laramie Project, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and The Light in the Piazza, among others. 

And it is based on a play by David Lindsay-Abaire, who won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This musical also boasts a score composed by Jeanine Tesori, who won a Tony Award for Fun Home and has been nominated for four more. 

Kimberly Akimbo transferred to Broadway in 2022 after an acclaimed run at the Atlantic Theater Company. It beguiled New York critics as well, where it was named Best Musical by the Tony Awards, New York Drama Critics Circle, The Drama Desk Awards, The Lucille Lortel Awards, and The Outer Critics Circle Awards.  The show was also the winner of four additional Tony Awards: Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, Best Score, and Best Book. 

So, chances are good it will play well in Peoria, though it never actually has.

The national tour of this show launched in September 2024, where it initially covered  60 cities across North America. The closest the tour came to actual Peoria was Chicago at the CIBC Theatre, where Tribune theater critic Chris Jones wrote: “I greatly enjoyed Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway and this first national tour is in excellent shape.” Jones, who is a self-admitted Tesori fan, found the music in this musical to be exceptional and noted that the score “makes no easy choices,” reflective of the show’s complex emotional landscape.

This is particularly true regarding the lesson the sensitive and upbeat Kimberly wishes to share with others, as expressed in the final musical number “Great Adventure.” There, she sings that we’re all “sailing to a distant shore,” so “just enjoy the view, because no one gets a second time around.” 

The musical has also not yet made it to Providence, but it did come through nearby Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre a year ago. The Boston Globe’s Don Aucoin reported that Kimberly Akimbo is “funny and heart-piercing by turns, managing to both entertain and move us, and generally achieve an emotional richness that, crucially, stops short of mawkishness.”  

In an earlier Motif preview, it was noted that musicals centering around outsiders seemed to be all the rage in this season’s touring productions at the Providence Performing Arts Center. They include The Outsiders (about three orphaned brothers who are members of street gang consisting of have-nots in a neighborhood ruled by a gang of haves), Wicked (about an ostracized women with green skin), and Suffs (featuring women as second-class citizens with no right to vote).

Coming soon to PPAC, Kimberly Akimbo is the poster child for outsider-centric musicals, particularly since a grown woman is playing a child. 

Kimberly Akimbo runs from May 5 – 10 at the Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St, PVD. Contact ppacri.org or 401-421-2787 for tickets, $54 – $96, including fees.Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who also writes for The Boston Globe. Connect with him on Facebook.

Trinity Repertory Company’s production of Primary Trust, Eboni Booth’s 2023 Pulitzer Prize–winning play, is a comedy regarding the courage to begin again. The most widely run production today, this heartwarming story about one man’s leap of faith and the friends he makes along the way is an exquisite portrait of loneliness, connection, and revamping a life. Under the sensitive direction of Tatyana-Marie Carlo, this poignantly offbeat comedy turns the ordinary rhythms of small-town existence into something radiant and heartfelt. 

Kenneth, a gentle, socially withdrawn bookstore clerk whose days consistently involve routine and isolation, has lived his entire life in the sleepy town of Cranberry, New York. Each day, he works his shift at a bookstore, then indulges in happy hour Mai Tais at Wally’s Tiki Bar with a close friend. When a sudden layoff catapults Kenneth out of his comfort zone, he’s forced to find the courage to face what we all dread: change! 

In this play, the stakes are internal. Booth finds emotional breadth in simplicity, capturing the journey with tender empathy. By the final scene, when Kenneth takes his first steps into an uncertain future, the audience feels the quiet triumph of watching someone relearn trust in others as well as in himself. Carlo’s skillful direction helps keep the production’s delicate tone unscathed. The patient pacing permits Booth’s dialogue to penetrate, allowing moments of silence to be given as much weight as the discourse. 

Taavon Gamble’s flawless interpretation of Kenneth is thoughtfully detailed and unflinchingly honest as someone capable of deep feeling and tremendous caution. Every move toward human connection can feel either perilous or miraculous. Minuscule gestures, such as the start of a nervous smile, or the way he clutches his drinks at Wally’s where much of the play unfolds, speak to his longing to be seen while unseen.

With this dynamic cast of four, a lot of ground is covered, yet it never feels hurried. Minor roles never feel minute. A few supporting characters, including figments of Kenneth’s world, are presented with humanity and virtuosity. Daniel Shtivelberg’s portrayals of both an idiosyncratic bank manager and an ailing business owner are affecting, transparently alternating between authority and vulnerability. 

Marina Tejada portrays Corrina, plus another server or two, or 12. She is spirit personified with a capital S! Each character she touches, however briefly, contributes to the energy and community of Cranberry, where warm familiarity meets silent haunting. Kenneth’s sensible best friend, Bert, is amicably portrayed by Rudy Cabrera. All deliver their lines with well-timed vim, or the benevolence called for in the moment.

Patrick Lynch’s scenic design gives us a rolling set that transforms the room from tiki bar to bank office, reflecting the play’s sense of cyclical routine, and the slow-turning wheels of Kenneth’s mind. Pieces flow freely and are even incorporated into the laughs. With sound by Michael Costagliola, time jumps in brief moments after each bong of a bell. Amanda Downing Carney’s costumes and Lovanni Gomez’s lighting design help add to the realism.

Says Carlo, “I hope that what audiences see from Kenneth is someone rising to the challenge, someone who has experienced deep trauma, and is figuring out how to live life by himself with nobody: no support system, no family; and then slowly building a support system from the ground up with the people around him, intentionally or unintentionally. I hope that provides hope! I think that we all need people, and it’s never too late to find our people.”

Warm, humane, and impeccably acted, Trinity Rep’s Primary Trust is a roller coaster ride with wit, thrills, and enormous heart. It’s as weighted as it is uplifting. Judging from the audience’s reaction on opening night, every intended laugh lands with precision. Come see what all the belly laughs are about!

Trinity presents Primary Trust through May 10. Show runs about 95 minutes with no intermission. For more info, visit trinityrep.com/show/primary-trust

At The Arctic Playhouse, where the proximity of actors to audience is personal, Noël Coward’s cheeky wit and havoc seemingly places you right into the conspiracy. Private Lives has been called one of the most sophisticated, entertaining plays ever written. Divorced couple Elyot and Amanda, now honeymooning with their new spouses, have a chance meeting on adjacent hotel balconies. What are the chances? When sparks reignite, they impulsively elope, only to find their relationship just as volatile as before, the passion alternating between love and anger. Truths fly when their aggrieved spouses appear, creating further chaos. Richard Griffin directs this sharply tuned, uniquely humorous play that delivers quick-fire dialogue, strained levity, and Coward’s timeless insight into what goes on beneath the surface of our “private lives.”

Arctic’s production refuses to burnish the cruelty embedded in Coward’s comedy. During the famous balcony scene, there’s more of a sharp edge than standard charming banter. Laughter is tinged with the uneasy awareness that these indecent humans derive as much pleasure from wounding each other as from reconciliation. This gets reinforced by physicality, while moments of stillness speak as loudly as the brisk banter.

From the moment Elyot and Amanda collide, both verbally and emotionally, the actors’ chemistry is unmistakable. Elyot is portrayed by Ryan Vigneau with an almost feline self-assurance, his intonation veiling the volatility flickering beneath the surface. Vigneau’s handsome baby face deceives during his more abusive moments. Conversely, Lydia Kapp’s Amanda demonstrates capricious shifts that are amusing one moment, cutting the next, then can suddenly become disarmingly genuine. Their pairing is effective beyond obvious attraction since they share a rhythm, requiring no dialogue to retain their bond as seasoned adversaries.

The supporting cast provides essential counterweight. Sibyl, deftly portrayed by Stephanie Rose Witz, waltzes onstage as a beautiful, proper force. She is soon reduced to a shrill annoyance, delivering a bit of emotional clarity as her earned indignation and carefully maintained composure give way to dramatic sobbing. Victor, brilliantly portrayed by Jay Burns, refuses to be taken in by bravado. He stands steadfast despite being slightly outpaced by the emotional prowess of those around him, his authority continually outstripped by his own bewilderment.

Leslie Racine Martin adds comedic relief as Louise, a French maid who clearly disdains the upper-class shenanigans. She brings a different energy, contrasting the intensity of the violence and dramatic arguments of the various couplings. Also adding to the brilliance of this play is set design by Lloyd Felix, offering attractive staging that literally folds into itself, transforming the hotel balconies into Amanda’s Parisian apartment. As the action moves indoors, tensions escalate, and the choking atmosphere becomes claustrophobic, as though the walls are closing in on meticulously constructed facades. 

Hey, it was 1930, and resilient escapism was necessary. Coward’s ingenious writing expresses the pursuit of joy, community, and glamor seen during the Great Depression. Flowing fashions on the women, and dapper suits on the men by costume designer Nancy Spirito reflect this spirit.

“I would like to take the time to thank all the people who went into making this show so special,” says Griffin. “From my endlessly hard-working and brilliant stage manager Vicki, to our tremendous costumer Nancy, our gifted set designers/construction folks, all our dedicated volunteers, the beautiful and talented cast for inspiring me to give my all every day at rehearsals. The great Noël Coward for writing this incandescently funny, yet insightful play almost 100 years ago. And much gratitude to Jim, Lloyd, and Bryan for taking a chance on me. Also, much love to Ron and Leslie Martin, and Terry Shea for planting the seed of this production in me a few years ago. To Jamey Patten, Sara Nagle, John Harley, and Warren J. Usey for showing me its potential.”

The opening scenes may seem unnecessarily verbose, but it’s a small matter considering this production’s intelligent interpretation and cohesion. The brilliance of Coward’s stinging dialogue steadily heats up, creating more laughs as the play progresses. Come see this sophisticated comedy about love, marriage, and the riveting messiness of relationships. You’ll admire the aplomb of this fun and feisty play!

Artic Playhouse presents Private Lives through May 3. For more information, visit thearcticplayhouse.com/.

Disney’s The Lion King, which is coming to the Providence Performing Arts Center stage for the fourth time since 2011, is more than a mega-hit musical deemed “breathtaking” by Entertainment Weekly, “gasp-inducing” by Time, and “a marvel” by Variety. It is at the top of the food chain of an impressive franchise. 

It all began with the 1994 animated musical film The Lion King, which has since become the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all time. Not bad considering that its production company, Walt Disney Animation Studios, has been making movies since 1937, starting with the Oscar-winning Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 

Surely you know this coming-of-age, Hamlet-in-the-East-African-savanna story. It revolves around the lion cub Simba, whose uncle Scar has claimed the throne of Pride Rock by killing his own brother, Mufasa, the King.  Although Scar has cast out his young heir-apparent nephew, Simba returns as an adult to take back his homeland with the help of the meerkat Timon – not unlike Hamlet’s Horatio – and his sidekick, the gassy warthog Pumbaa… Yeah, I got no Shakespeare equivalent. 

The Lion King film inspired the 1997 musical stage adaptation, which has since become Broadway’s third longest-running show in history, behind The Phantom of the Opera and Chicago. And the national tour, which launched in 2002, has played over 9,000 performances across 93 cities, entertaining more than 21 million people. It is consistently a top-grossing, record-breaking touring production.  

The success of all this led to two photo-realistically computer-animated films – a 2019 remake of the original and a massive box office success, grossing over $1.6 billion worldwide, and a 2024 prequel sequel titled Mufasa: The Lion King.  

While the latest state-of-the-art film and its $260 million production budget leave audiences awe-struck, the touring live-action stage production tends to inspire prolonged, heartfelt, and well-earned “Awws.” 

This is largely due to its wildly imaginative staging and anthropomorphic animal character costuming by director Julie Taymor, gorgeous choreography by Garth Fagan, and hummable, award-winning tunes by Elton John and Tim Rice, including “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” The current touring company also turns in seasoned and endearing performances, featuring the work of Gilbert Domally as Simba, David D’Lancy Wilson as Mufasa, Sarita Amani Nash as Nala, Nick Cordileone as Timon, and Danny Grumich as Pumbaa. The South African actor Zama Magudulela plays the mystical, Zulu-spouting baboon, Rafiki. Although a newcomer to the current North American tour, she is a veteran of seven previous international productions. 

The $45 million invested in the creation and mounting of this touring stage production also results in renowned large-scale pageantry and multicultural storytelling. This  includes Japanese bunraku rod puppetry, ancient Indonesian wayang kulit shadow puppetry, and stand-alone puppets with fully exposed puppeteers beside or inside them. Choral arrangements are by African legend Lebo M, and a 12-piece touring orchestra performs primal, percussive rhythms and plays over 80 different musical instruments from all over the world. 

All this comes with the rigorous – some would say anal retentive – Disney seal of approval, which means that this production is handled with expert craftsmanship and diligent quality control. 

It could certainly be argued that what was once innovative stagecraft may now seem a bit tame, time-worn, and a tad analog in light of other touring, kid-friendly productions coming through PPAC. This season’s high-tech Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the poster child for what Motif reviewer Susan McDonald called “did-you-see-that?” special effects moments.  

Still, even if you’ve seen The Lion King films or previously attended the touring production, the spectacle will likely win you over once again. The remarkable artistry will surely transport you. And the high-energy and high-caliber performances will remind you of why live theater is like no other form of entertainment.

Disney’s The Lion King runs from May 20 – June 7 at the Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St., Providence. Contact ppacri.org or 401-421-2787 for tickets, $57-$165, includes fee.

Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who also writes for The Boston Globe. Connect with him on Facebook.

From the boundary-pushing, Tony Award-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins comes this electrifying comedy meditation on impermanence, nostalgia, and isolation. Directed by Don Mays, The Comeuppance starts innocently enough as five former classmates from a Catholic academy gather on the eve of their 20-year high school reunion. Fueled by cocktails and weed, they reminisce at a suburban porch pre-party that hangs on a pervious border with the other side. Wilbury Theatre Group’s production is witty and unsettling, emotionally charged in ways that creep up slowly and steadily so that the tonal duality of humor and dread might coexist.

The familiar premise is a melting pot in May’s skilled hands. Something sinister simmers underneath the laughter and familiar rituals. This so-called “Multi-Ethnic Reject Group — MERGE,” once a tight-knit gang of misfits, now faces the disquieting mirror of who they’ve become. As the porch gathering unfolds, Jacob-Jenkins’s dialogue veers from friendly roasting to confessionals and moral reckoning. Amid the quiet hum of political and personal disillusionment, the production captures how history, both national and interpersonal, presses and shapes us. In the gap between who they were and who they’ve become, they explore themes of aging, mortality, nostalgia, and the impact of national tragedies.

“Comeuppance is set on the eve of a high school reunion with a group of long-time friends who grew up, as I and so many of these cast members did, at the dawn of social media and in the long shadow of Columbine, September 11th, George W. Bush and Iraq, I graduated a year after these characters,” says Wilbury Theatre’s Artistic Director Josh Short. “Watching these actors gather on that porch and try to make sense of the last 20 years, I kept recognizing something I hadn’t quite named before: We got very good at moving through hard things. We’re less sure what to do when we stop.”

The audience sits in ambiguity as the production resists oversharing the surreal moral elements, such as what Death is bringing to the table. He is understood to be a divine agent tasked with collecting souls upon death. It’s not about an evil force but rather marks the transition to the afterlife, minus the chaos. OK, some chaos ensues, but it’s all for the greater dramatic good. Temporal dislocation explores the misalignment between the timing of human decisions and their long-term consequences.

Rodney Witherspoon gives a powerful performance as Emilio, and also speaks as Death. Emilio is arrogant, outspoken, negative, and judgy — but he isn’t wrong! Christine Treglia as Ursula counterbalances Emilio nicely with her comic antics, keen sense of awareness, and positively kind heart. The natural, unforced interplay makes their performances engagingly believable as the backbone of this group. Francesca Hansen-DiBello as Kristina, Marcel A. Mascaro as Paco, and Jenna Lea Scott as Caitlin complete the circle of friends as they reminisce and realize what they’ve lost over the years.

Set Design by Scott Osborne gives us a homey feel with an attractive, tiled façade of Ursula’s house in a quiet woodsy area. Lighting Design by Andy Russ occasionally freezes time, allowing for personal reflections. As lighting suddenly becomes bright and bold in color, the characters are paralyzed, save for the one telling his/her story. A couple of these monologues feel a bit too lengthy, but the cast does their best to keep the material engaging.

The literal figure of Death looms, inhabiting the friends to reveal deep truths. Realistic conversation becomes existential reflection, highlighted by these colorful overtones as the friends confront their past and present selves, and come to terms with the events that shaped their generation. Ultimately, The Comeuppance at Wilbury will have you reflecting on identity, the versions of yourself you’ve left behind, time immemorial, and the time you have left. It is a haunting that’s well worth your time. Wilbury presents The Comeuppance through April 12. For more information, visit thewilburygroup.org/the-comeuppance.html.