When it comes to musicals about French revolutions, Les Mis has the market cornered. But there is another oft-forgotten musical about the same topic. The Scarlet Pimpernel came about a decade later, and like Les Mis, it was adapted from a novel. In addition to the glaring similarity in subject matter, there are some similar […]
Mike Birbiglia is a New York comedian, actor and filmmaker who was born in Shrewsbury, Mass. His feature-length directorial debut, Sleepwalk With Me, based on his one-man show, won awards at the Sundance and Nantucket film festivals. He also wrote, directed and starred in the critically acclaimed comedy-drama Don’t Think Twice. He will be performing his […]
When Gilbert and Sullivan first put pen to paper on Pirates of Penzance over 100 years ago, they probably were not picturing a troupe of actors in Hawaiian shirts and colorful stockings, hitting beach balls around and jamming out to Taylor Swift, or an audience perched upon set pieces wearing leis and waving pirate flags. But […]
Writer/director Nick Albanese’s latest show, The Last Days of Rockin Rob’s, opens June 15 at Artist’s Exchange. In his hit autobiographical one man show, The Last Sicilian, Albanese explored his Italian upbringing in Providence. Now he is exploring how the changing musical landscape is affecting small businesses in The Last Days of Rockin Rob’s. […]
There’s a mystery afoot at The Players at Barker Playhouse and what’s keeping people buzzing around their latest musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, isn’t necessarily “Who Dun’ It?”, but “How Do I Get In?” According to general manager Bill Applegate, since they formally announced the Tony-Award winning musical as the closing show in their […]
Going to the theater is always a communal experience. Even in a movie theater — who’s never experienced a time when fellow audience members applauded at the end, or cheered for a good line? And how much more communal is the experience when you and the people you’re packed into the seats with are sharing the […]
In the wake of the last year’s live action remake of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, the stage version, unsurprisingly, has become a popular choice for schools and community theater groups this spring. Movie aside, it’s a solid choice as one of the most well-received Disney musicals, with a classic Alan Menken score made up […]
Writer/Director Lenny Schwartz and composer Duncan Pflaster have teamed up for the musical, The Inside of His Severed Head, debuting May 10 at the RISE Playhouse in Woonsocket. Based on the classic Arthur Miller play Death of a Salesman, the story follows the adventures of aging vampire hunter Willy Loman (played by Michael Thurber) […]
The Play The quality of poetry is not strained. We first meet 16-year-old Isabella (Victoria Ezikovich) scribbling in a notebook, living homeless in an alley. Her mother Karen (Jenn Shammas) sleeps nearby, a junkie whose criminal boyfriend Eddie (Rudy Rudacious) soon arrives. In due course, the poems in Isabella’s notebooks become her lifeline to her […]
[Because of the length of this review, this is the second of two parts: the first part, Eyeless in Gaza, provides an overview of the Wilbury Group production and the second part, Brainless in Gaza, provides some additional detailed historical analysis of the script.] Another objection is that the central action of the play, Hannah’s […]