SO obviously in the Theatre District, we have a lot of access to shows in the area. Performances of things like Richard III, Three Sisters, American Idiot, An Octoroon, The Convert, The Wong Kids, and The Queen’s Dilemma have recently closed in Boston, but we have a LOT of upcoming shows to look forward to at different schools and performance venues. Here we go!
A Beckett Trilogy — March 16–20 — Paramount Theater
In this critically acclaimed staging of three one-woman plays by Samuel Beckett, directed by the playwright’s longtime friend Walter Asmus, the obsessive rhythms of existence are laid bare. In Not I, a woman—reduced to a mere mouth, suspended in total darkness—seeks solace in a relentless stream of her own broken speech. In Footfalls, a tattered soul, drained of life, paces outside her dying mother’s bedroom. And in Rockaby, a woman slowly withdraws from the world, rocked to eternal sleep in her mother’s chair. Lisa Dwan, who drew ecstatic reviews for her performances at BAM, the Royal Court Theatre and in the West End, stars in all three of these shorts, performing with mastery and grace. — artsemerson.org
New Works Festival (NewFest) — March 17–April 3 — Greene Theater, TUFTE Performance Center
The NewFest New Works Festival is a three week celebration of creativity, featuring plays, songs, and other dramatic work created by our students. This year’s festival will feature the NewFest Play, written by the winner of the Rod Parker Playwriting Award, as well as a selection of free directed readings and, for the first time, a New Play Workshop! — aestages.org
Dancing in the Streets: Motown Revue — March 29–30 — Capitol Center for the Arts
From the Marvin Gaye to The Supremes, Motown produced some of the greatest songs of the 20th Century, as well as helping to break down the social and racial barriers of the 1960s. Dancing In The Streets recreates this earth-shattering music note for note, in a jubilant musical revue that has played to packed audiences across the US and London’s West End. Among the tracks featured in this revue show are “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” “Baby Love,” “My Girl,” “Dancing in the Streets,” “I’ll Be There,” “Signed Sealed Delivered I’m Yours,” “Where Did Our Love Go,” “What’s Going On,” “Please Mr Postman,” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” “Stop In the Name of Love,” “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Tears of a Clown” and many, many more. Don’t miss Dancing In The Streets when it plays Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, NH, showing from 29 Mar 2016 to 30 Mar 2016. — boston-theater.com
The Sound of Music — March 29–April 10 — Boston Opera House
The hills are alive…you know the rest. Everyone’s favourite tale of nannies, nuns and Nazis is heading out on a new North American tour in 2015/16. The last show written by legendary duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, this iconic musical boasts a score which reads like a Greatest Hits of musical theatre, with songs including My Favourite Things, Edelweiss and Do-Re-Mi. It’s inspired an Oscar-winning movie, a tv talent show and, as the 18 million viewers who tuned in to see NBC’s live special prove, remains an incredibly popular piece of American pop culture. While everyone knows the story off by heart, that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing new to be said about The Sound of Music. Helming this tour is Jack O’Brien (Hairspray), one of Broadway’s most accomplished directors, who’s seeking to strip away some of the more kitschy elements which have become attached to the musical over the years. The three time Tony Award winner told the New York Times that he’s not “trotting out your mother’s version.” — boston-theater.com
Alice in Wonderland — March 31 — Berklee Performance Center
Come see Alice in Wonderland, a new musical adaptation for young audiences written by Rene Pfister, an assistant professor in Berklee’s Voice Department. This delightful show features Berklee students in the Musical Theater for Young Audiences Ensemble, with vocals, bass, percussion, and a five-piece band. It’s a perfect performance for family audiences and school groups from third grade and up. Join us as we take a new look into Wonderland with songs like “200 Rules for a Tea Party,” “I’ll Have Your Head!” and “There’s a Foot Sticking out of My House!” — berklee.edu
The Wizard of Oz — April 12–24 — Wang Theater
Click together those ruby slippers because it’s time to journey back to Oz! Journey down the Yellow Brick Road with Dorothy as she learns about love, bravery and the true meaning of home, and meets some very special friends along the way. This enchanting tale is one of the most beloved musicals of all time, of course made famous by the 1939 Judy Garland movie. This new production boasts all the classic songs from the movie, such as “Over the Rainbow” and “We’re Off To See The Wizard,” alongside specially written new numbers from the legendary duo of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. This stage musical is an unshakeable piece of American pop culture, and never fails to life the spirits every time! — boston-theater.com
Guys & Dolls — April 14–17 — Cutler Majestic Theater
A high-rolling gambler falls for a puritanical missionary; a showgirl dreams of the straight-and-narrow while tied to a craps game manager who is anything but; it’s post-war New York, with love and luck blooming in the most unlikely of places. Filled with familiar and toe-tapping tunes including “Luck be a Lady,” and “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat,” Guys and Dolls is considered by many to be the perfect musical comedy. — aestages.org
Historia de Amor — April 21–24 — Cutler Majestic Theater
With the grit and imagery of a graphic novel comes an overwhelming story that destroys the boundaries between domination and submission. Rising out of the aftermath of a generation’s ferocious domination by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and set against a dark and troubling story by the controversial French novelist Regis Jauffret, Historia de Amor is an unflinching journey inside the mind of man determined to possess a young woman he happens to meet on a subway. Chile’s renowned Teatrocinema combines live action with startling 2D and 3D animation to deliver a wallop on the subject of sexual predation and societal fragmentation. In Historia de Amor, one man’s twisted love story is one woman’s worst nightmare. — artsemerson.org
City of Angels — April 27-28 — Berklee Performance Center
Featuring the Musical Theater Orchestra and Ensemble and set in the Hollywood of the 1940s, City of Angels takes us back to black-and-white films, detectives, and femme fatales. Young novelist Stine attempts to write a screenplay about his alter-ego, Detective Stone. With a jazz-influenced score and tight vocal harmonies, this five-time Tony Award–winning show is a song-and-dance spectacular. — berklee.edu
Daughter of a Cuban Revolutionary — April 27–May 1 — Jackie Liebergott Black Box
Daughter of a Cuban Revolutionary presents the astonishing tale of three towering figures in the life of versatile performer Marissa Chibas. As she recalls her father, Raúl Chibás (who co-wrote the manifesto for the Cuban revolution with Fidel Castro), her uncle, Eddy Chibas (who was the frontrunner for the Cuban presidency in 1951), and her mother, Dalia Chibas (Miss Cuba runner-up in 1959), Daughter unfolds into an impassioned, live-wire performance propelled by Chibas’ magnetic presence and storytelling. This solo tour de force illuminates the intersection of the personal and historical through her own stories and key episodes in the history of her illustrious family. — artsemerson.org
I’m quite sure that this is FAR from everything coming up, but if you hear of something around that I haven’t listed, contact me and let me know! See you again next week!
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