Tag Archives: Theater

There are some really interesting shows from local Boston theater companies that will be opening, and I hope you’ll consider purchasing tickets to at least one of these productions.

Local theater companies have a mix of musicals and plays with several shows centered on strong women like Central Square Theater’s world premiere, The Women Who Mapped The Stars and the 1980s play Top Girls at The Huntington. Several plays have strong gay themes including The Gold Dust Orphans eagerly anticipated Brokelahomo! and Company One’s WIG OUT.  And The SpeakEasy Stage combines history and drama when they share the true story about George Takei and his family in, ALLEGIANCE.

Anna Christie, April 6 – May 6 at Lyric Stage Company is a Pulitzer Prize winning classic play by Eugene O’Neill that remains remarkably current and filled with with fierce physicality, humor, and drama.

The Women Who Mapped The Stars, April 19 – May 20 at the Central Square Theater is a world premiere play by Joyce Van Dyke about five women in the late 1800s who were working at Harvard College Observatory and made discoveries that changed the way astronomers saw the universe.

Top Girls, April 20 – May 20 at The Huntington Theater may have been written in the early 1980s but its focus on the role of women in society and what being a successful woman means (and the sacrifices one makes) remains as relevant today as it did when it was first produced 35 years ago.

Brokelahomo!, April 26 – May 27 from The Gold Dust Orphans at The Ramrod Performing Arts Center Ryan Landry and his Gold Dust Orphans treat all of Boston with their raucous musical Western which is guaranteed to leave you laughing your a$$ off. Be sure to check it out before the show closes and heads to Provincetown for the summer.

WIG OUT, April 27 – May 13 from Company One at The Oberon From Oscar-winning writer of Moonlight, Tarell Alvin McCraney’s WIG OUT! is the catwalk showdown of the year.  Fueled by a R&B playlist, WIG OUT! is a divine exploration of drag ball culture, chosen family, and the desire to be desired.

Two Jews Walk Into A War, April 28 – May 20 This Vaudeville-inspired play is about the last two Jews in Afghanistan who are on a mission to save Judaism in Kabul by rebuilding their synagogue and keeping the faith alive, but only if they don’t kill each other first.

ALLEGIANCE, May 4 – June 2 at SpeakEasy Stage is inspired by the true childhood experience of George Takei (Mr. Sulu on “Star Trek). It tells the story of the Kimura family, whose lives are upended when they and 120,000 other Japanese-Americans were forced to leave their homes following the events at Pearl Harbor. ALLEGIANCE  follows the family as they fight between duty and defiance, custom and change, family bonds and forbidden loves.

Last weekend I was able to see, Steve, a play from Boston’s Zeitgeist Stage. The show’s simple staging and cast of six makes the small theater seem even more intimate. When I arrived I didn’t know quite what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised by the witty writing, which is chalk-full of Broadway musical zingers and references.

The play centers on Steven, a former Broadway chorus boy and waiter turned stay-at-home dad, who finds his relationship on the rocks. While fingers are pointed and accusations are made, friends close to the couple become entwined in the drama. The show has several funny moments and a surprisingly touching ending that left my friend who came to the show with me a tad misty eyed.

Actors Alex Jacobs, Jenny Reagan, and Mike Nilsson in Zeitgeist Stage Company’s production of STEVE by Mark Gerrard || Photo credit: David J. Miller

The play runs for 100 minutes and does not have an intermission. This is a great show to see with friends and fortunately tickets remain. All shows take place here in the South End at the Plaza Black Box Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts. Performances run through March 24th Wednesday thru Sunday and are a very affordable, so go check it out and let me know what you think.

Get Your Tickets To See Steve

Local theater companies have some excellent plays and musicals opening over the next few weeks, starting with Lyric Stage Company’s latest production, VIRGINIA WOOLF’S ORLANDO, which opens this Friday.

For those looking for a modern day gay-themed show, be sure to check out the  Zeitgeist Stage Company’s new show, STEVE, which is about two longtime partners raising their son with a surrogate.

Boston’s local theater scene continues to enjoy a Renaissance of sorts so take advantage of the talent (and much more affordable prices at these local theater companies). Make a date night with that significant other or encourage a group of friends to start the night by catching a show before heading out for drinks.

Running February 23 – March 25th: Lyric Stage Company’s latest production, VIRGINIA WOOLF’S ORLANDO, is a joyful romance of gender roles. Orlando the man wakes up, after a particularly wild night in 17^th-century Constantinople, to find himself a woman! She abandons herself to three centuries of navigating love, desire, and the world from an entirely different perspective.
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.

Running March 1 – April 1st: The Central Square Theater next production, GUARDS AT THE TAJ is set in India in 1648. For two Imperial guards who are protecting the palace, close friends since childhood, dawn’s first light will set in motion a ghoulishly unthinkable task that will challenge their faith, friendship, and duty. The dark comedy examines two average men who get swept up in the beauty, carnage, and zealotry surrounding one of the wonders of the world.
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.

Running March 2 – 24th: Zeitgeist Stage Company’s new show, STEVE, is about two longtime partners raising their son with a surrogate. The couple are doing their best not to feel confined by their newfound domesticity, but a casual case of sexting sets off a series of questions and recriminations. The play holds up a clear but compassionate mirror to anyone who’s been part of a post-passion long-term relationship and started to question what now?
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.

Running March 2 – 31st: SpeakEasy Stage Company’s latest production, EVERY BRILLIANT THING, is a one-woman show, that starts with a young girl’s focus on things that make life worth living to try and ease her mother’s depression. As she ages the list grows and she learns the deep significance the list has on her own life, as she goes to college, falls in love, and builds a home.
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.

Running March 17 – April 8th: NewRep Theatre in Watertown latest production THE BAKELITE MASTERPIECE opens a the end of WWII with artist Han van Meegeren sitting in a prison cell accused of selling a long-lost Vermeer to the Nazis. A crime tantamount to treason, van Meegeren contends that the painting was a forgery, which he skillfully produced and aged with a special treatment of the plastic known as Bakelite. Now he must create another masterpiece in front of his jailer, art historian Geert Piller, to save his life. The Bakelite Masterpiece is a dynamic and compelling Boston-area premiere from playwright Kate Cayley.
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.

NewRep Theatre: Photo by Andrew Brilliant / Brilliant Pictures

The NewRep Theater located in Watertown currently has a show getting a lot of attention called, Lonely Planet, which tells the story of two friends during the height of the AIDS epidemic in America. The play has been revived as part of the NewRep’s 2017-2018 season, which is focused on the theme of resilience.

While AIDS is no longer a death sentence the stigma remains and the virus continues to impact gay men and communities of color disproportionately. Lonely Planet asks the audience to look beyond the virus, that has killed more than 35 million people, and focus on community and compassion. The two-hour play  centered on the friendship between Carl and Jody provides an interesting and sometimes humorous contrast between the two as they struggle to make sense of a virus that is ravaging their community.

The play opened on February 3rd and runs through March 4th. Tickets remain for most shows.

For tickets and more information click here

A world-premiere musical stage adaptation of the film “Moulin Rouge”, opens in  Boston this summer before heading to Broadway. Tickets went on sale to the general public this past weekend is certain to sell out if it hasn’t already so if you’re interested in seeing the show, don’t dally and order your tickets today.

The long dormant Colonial Theater, which closed in October 2015 will reopen after undergoing a spectacular renovation, bringig the 100+ year theater back to its former glory thanks to a significant investment from Emerson College. Shown above is a rendering from London-based Ambassador Theatre Group & Boston-based Elkus Manfredi Architects of what the remodeled 1,700 seat theater will look like when it opens to the public this June. With the reopening of The Colonial Boston’s historic theater district will once again have nine theaters hosting performances.

Looking for a date night suggestion for a friend who loves musicals? Perhaps you’d like to check out The Lyric Stage Company’s latest production, Road Show.  The Sondheim musical made its New England debut when it opened at the Lyric Stage Co. earlier this month and it runs through February 11th.

Road Show was inspired by a New Yorker article Stephen Sondheim read about the real-life Mizner brothers, Addison and Wilson, who were born in California in the late 1800s. Beginning at the deathbed of their father who encourages them to go out and mold the new nation, the musical spans the globe from the Klondike gold rush to India, Hawaii, Guatemala, New York, and eventually the real-estate boom of Boca Raton, Florida. Over 40 years, the brothers seek out the amorphous and elusive American Dream through the booms and busts of the early 20th century, with bouts of brotherly love and hate. The musical travelogue takes a close look at the optimism and opportunism of the time through the lens of two ambitious, eccentric, and charming individuals.

Click Here For More Information & Tickets

Later this week The Lyric Stage Co. returns with their first production of 2018, Road Show. The show is inspired by a New Yorker article Stephen Sondheim read about the Mizner brothers, Addison and Wilson, who were born in California in the late 1800s. The show opens at the deathbed of their father who encourages the brothers to go out and mold the new nation. The musical spans the globe as the brothers seek out the amorphous and elusive American Dream through the booms and busts of the early 20th century.

Road Show
January 12 – February 11, 2018
Ticket Information Here

Looking for something different? Later this week a new show opens at Club Cafe’s Moonshine Room called, The Menopausal Mermaid: A drag parody reimagined! The show is described as a kaleidoscope of fantastic drag, sexy sailors and outrageous costumes.

The show opens with a slightly wiser (and peeved) version of Ariel than the Disney production presents. Feeling betrayed by Eric and cursed by Ursula, Ariel is ready to kick ass in this 90-minute musical parody that picks up where the Disney fairy tale left off.  Tired of playing by the rules, Ariel reinvents herself, and along the way she takes on love, fame and Walt Disney.

The Menopausal Mermaid: A drag parody reimagined!
Thursday thru Sunday || January 11 – March 25, 2018
Ticket Information Here

Tell your friends and get tickets while they last. Tickets to this show (including service fees are just $32 and change.

Looking for a holiday present to pick up for a friend or someone special? SpeakEasy Stage is hosting a flash sale on Thursday, December 14th from Noon to Midnight online and from Noon to 7PM at their ticket booth in the South End for their upcoming show, Shakespeare in Love.

Tickets will be slashed for performances from January 6 – 25th to $35 for orchestra seats and $25 for mezzanine seats. For that amount of money you can throw in a few drinks or grab a dinner together and have a fantastic evening.

Purchase your tickets online here: bostontheatrescene.com.
But remember the sale only runs on Thursday from Noon to Midnight!

You may also purchase tickets by calling 617-933-8600 or visiting their ticket booth at 527 Tremont Street in the South End from Noon to 7PM.

Get Your Tickets Here

Friday, December 1st is opening night for The Lyric Stage Company’s latest production, Hold These Truths, a 90-minute play based on the true story of Gordon Hirabayashi, an American Sociologist and son of Japanese immigrants, who is best known for resisting internment during World War II.

Actor Michael Hisamoto plays Hirabayashi, a college student and a Quaker, whose hope and patriotism will leave you cheering.  Hirabayashi’s story is told through flashbacks, taking the audience through his early life, challenging the curfew and exclusion orders in 1942. His storytelling is assisted by a trio of kurogo — traditional Japanese stage hands.

While Hirabayashi may have lost his case when he was alive, but Hirabayashi, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012 by President Barack Obama. Paving the way to Hirabayashi’s ultimate victory. Full of theatricality and humanity, Hold These Truths celebrates resistance and offers startling parallels for contemporary politics.