by Jenny Hansell Cross-dressing, mistaken identity, unrequited love, bawdy humor, and a few heart-stopping moments of darkness and deep emotion: Shakespeare & Company’s hugely talented and appealing company works hard to make every word of Twelfth Night breathe as if freshly written. Sticking with the play pretty much…
by Barbara Waldinger Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? Berkshire Theatre Group’s production of Rock and Roll Man: The Alan Freed Story is an enormous undertaking, featuring nineteen cast members, forty-five songs, a revolving stage and multiple projections. Trotting out dozens of 1950s classics and…
by Roseann Cane Show Boat, first produced by Florenz Ziegfeld in 1927, marked a turning point in theater history.. Appearing during a time when frothy entertainment like light-hearted operettas and revues packed the theater scene, this was likely the first musical driven by a serious plot, the first musical…
by Gail M. Burns It breaks my heart to have to inform you that The Theater Barn has mounted a ponderous and shabby production of Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution. Contrary to popular opinion, critics do not salivate at the prospect of writing negative reviews. We want every production…
by Macey Levin The audience at Chester Theatre Company is greeted by Julian and Josephine Glockner as they introduce a re-enactment at a tenement museum in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  Something does not ring quite true since Julian has an Eastern European accent and Josephine is very…
by Lisa Jarisch Since its arrival on Broadway in 1972, Grease has been the Word in more than 3300 Broadway performances, had 27 productions worldwide, made its way to the big screen as a feature film, been revived on Broadway twice, and has greased and graced the boards of high…
by Barbara Waldinger What is the purpose of producing a classic play that has already been revived many times onstage and on film? Some people say that it’s to give a new generation of theatregoers the opportunity to see an important work. Others insist that it’s to give a director…
by Macey Levin In 1906 a Congolese Pigmy native, Ota Benga, was brought to New York City, placed in a cage along with monkeys, orangutans and other primates for display in the Bronx Zoo. This incident is the basis for the new play A Human Being, of a Sort…
