REVIEW: “Violet” at the Theater Barn

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, August 2007 “To emphasize only the beautiful seems to me to be like a mathematical system that only concerns itself with positive numbers.”– Paul Klee Among local theatre critics the debate has been raging: Is Tina Packer too old, too heavy, or too Celtic to…

REVIEW: “Johnny Guitar” at the Theater Barn

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, July 2007 The wild, wild west – where men are men and women are men and outlaws dance (badly). Where the Town Tramp wears white while the “good girl” wears black (well, okay, her brother was just killed. Them’s just widder’s weeds.) Where plaintive guitar…

REVIEW: “The Burnt Part Boys” at Barrington Stage

Reviewed by Gail M. Burns, June 2006 The first thing this show needs is a new title. The Burnt Part Boys suggests a tragic tale of burn victims or innocent civilians wounded as “collateral damage” in some war. In fact this is a fairly gentle musical coming-of-age tale about two brothers, Jake…