Theatre
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Good People
Altarena's Masterful Look at Working Class South Boston
By: - Aug 25th, 2025Working-class Margie is fired from her job and desperately needs an income. She calls on Mike, now a successful doctor who she dated just before giving birth 30 ago and hasn't seen since. Unexpected clashes occur in this well-produced and riveting play.
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Mark Twain Tonight
At TheaterWorks
By: - Aug 24th, 2025Twain was known for his satire, humor, and often darker view of mankind and its plights. The performance I saw talked about slavery and threats to democracy.
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Circus & the Bard at Shakespeare & Company
Best Fun of the Season
By: - Aug 22nd, 2025Much of the spoken word flew over my head but the circus elements had the kids bounding up from their seats and the rafters shaking. It may have been, at least for me, the most entertaining fun I have enjoyed in a heck of a long time.
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London Theatre
Five Plays in Five Days
By: - Aug 20th, 2025I had wanted to see Giant, starring John Lithgow, since it won rave reviews during a limited run at the Royal Court. Now it is in the West End (Broadway), and I hope it will come to NYC. Lithgow gives a stunning performance as Roald Dahl, the author of children’s books such as James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and others.
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Re-Inventing Judy Rhines at Cape Ann Museum
Gloucester Artists Gabrielle Barzaghi and Peter Littlefield Collaborate
By: - Aug 20th, 2025Gabrielle saw Judy as a fighter. She's a witch and also a pissed off teenager. It was Gabrielle's idea that a beast should attack Judy, who strangles it. She skins it with her teeth and takes its power (figure 4). “After blood-stained clothing was found, it was reported that Judy was killed by a beast. But in a fit of rage, she strangled it, gutted and skinned it with her teeth. Then she cooked it. She was stuffed with meat and took a nap.”
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Ava – The Secret Conversations Written and Starring Elizabeth McGovern,
Stage 1, New York City Center,
By: - Aug 20th, 2025The most telling thing Ava says is that “they took away my voice” in reference to being dubbed in the film version of Show Boat. But in reality, her voice was taken from her throughout her career.
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Alabaster
A Dramedy About Making Connections and Resurrecting Damaged Women
By: - Aug 18th, 2025A tornado destroyed June's family and farm. In isolation, she communicates with a goat. But when Alice, who brings photographic dignity and beauty to damaged women, shows up to do a layout on June, each faces her shortcomings with the possibility of escaping the pain of the past.
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King James by Rajiv Joseph at Barrington Stage Company
Nothing But Net
By: - Aug 17th, 2025King James by Rajiv Joseph is a lively and entertaining two-hander about fans, black and white, of Lebron James "The KIng" and the Cleveland Cavaliers. A regional sports market the CAVs hadn't won an NBA title in 50 years. In desperate need of cash Matt is willing to sell 19 courtside home game tickets pairs to Lebron's rookie season. Through four quarters the play, backlit by the career of James, tracks the complex relationship of eventual best friends.
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Patricia White 1948-2025
A Guiding Light for Emerging Voices in Theater
By: - Aug 15th, 2025Patricia White, the long-time company manager of Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre (NFT) and a well-known figure in Black Theatre, died August 10 after a brief illness. "Pat," as she was widely called, was well-known throughout the theater community as a director, mentor, producer, backstage coordinator, grant writer, box office manager and administrator. Her comprehensive understanding of the theatrical process helped shape countless productions and careers.
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Wozzeck
A Fine Rendering by West Edge Opera of the Atonal Masterpiece
By: - Aug 10th, 2025Downtrodden Franz Wozzeck suffers abuse from those in higher social classes and is betrayed by his common-law wife who has an affair with a Drum Major. West Edge depicts the drama of the underclass in concert with the dissonance of Alban Berg's music.
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The Federal Theatre Project as Play
Hallie Flanagan and Subsidized Art
By: - Aug 10th, 2025This is exactly the moment to remember a time when the federal government saw theatre not as a luxury, but as a public good—bringing professional productions to cities large and small across America.
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Barrington"s Mr. Finn Cabaret
Andrea McArdle and Julie Benko
By: - Aug 08th, 2025Barrington Stage Company announces two dazzling evenings of Broadway talent at Mr. Finn’s Cabaret, headlined by two of the Great White Way’s brightest stars: Andrea McArdle and Julie Benko.
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Dream Up Theater Festival in NY
Theater for a New City Presents
By: - Aug 08th, 2025From August 24 to September 14, 2025, Theater for the New City (TNC), under the direction of Crystal Field, will present its thirteenth Dream Up Festival, adventurous drama in New York.
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Joan at Barrington Stage
The Queen of Comedy Has the Last Laugh
By: - Aug 07th, 2025Joan written by Daniel Goldstein is a compelling and well crafted play about one of the dominant comic geniuses of her generation. The complex story of Rivers is portrayed by four actors assuming multiple roles. As such it is an absorbing evening of drama. Where it falls short, ironically, is as comedy.
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David and Jonathan
Baroque Opera with a Modern Twist at West Edge
By: - Aug 04th, 2025Charpentier's 1688 opera celebrates the close but star-crossed friendship of Biblical hero David with Jonathan, the son of Saul, Israel's first king. Saul's resistance to God's call to step down in favor of David results in a clash between Saul and David as well as Jonathan's conflict between love and duty. Without bending the text, the West Edge twist is that David and Jonathan's relationship is carnal.
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Dolores
World Premiere at West Edge Opera Honors Distinguished Labor Leader
By: - Aug 03rd, 2025Dolores Huerta made her mark as Cesar Chavez's most trusted associate in the California grape pickers strike and boycott starting in 1965 that would result in major protections for agricultural workers. Independently, she led strikes and boycotts elsewhere, and she negotiated the contract that would end the unrest.
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Le Comte Ory
Rossini's Comedy Done Right at Merola
By: - Aug 02nd, 2025The hedonistic and opportunistic Comte Ory takes advantage of men being away at the Crusades to pursue women. Knowing that the Comtesse Adele seeks spiritual guidance, his first gambit is to disguise as a hermit, but his own page gets in the way.
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Faure's Penelope at Munich Opera
Karkacheva and Jovanovich Star
By: - Aug 01st, 2025As part of its 150th anniversary celebration, the Munich Opera Festival presented Pénélope by Gabriel Fauré—a bold and welcome choice. To champion this rarely performed work, the company brought in Andrea Breth, one of Germany’s most accomplished theater directors. The cast clearly responded to her direction with commitment and nuance.
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Mundruczó's Lohengrin in Munich
Munich Opera Festival Mounts Wagner's Most Frequentlyly Performed Work
By: - Jul 31st, 2025No opera company today rivals the Munich Opera when it comes to innovative yet deeply respectful productions of the classic repertoire. While it’s tempting—and often rewarding—to look beyond the traditional opera circuit for new creative voices, few choices are as effective as Hungarian filmmaker and theater director Kornél Mundruczó.
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Annie the Musical
At Sharon Playhouse
By: - Jul 30th, 2025Annie has a strong connection to Connecticut. It started life at Goodspeed in 1976, before heading to Broadway, where it not only won multiple Tony Awards but played until 1983. While the inspiration was the comic strip, Little Orphan Annie, the musical’s plot by Thomas Meehan, is completely original. Charles Strouse wrote the music with lyrics by Martin Charnin.
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Das Rheingold in Munich
Prelude to a Stunning New Ring Cycle by Tobias Kratzger
By: - Jul 29th, 2025The Munich Opera celebrates summer with an annual festival. This year, the prelude to the Ring Cycle by Richard Wagner, Das Rheingold, provided novel and thrilling music and drama.
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Die Walküre
A Tale of Conflicts and Betrayals
By: - Jul 28th, 2025Brünhilde's empathy for illicit lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde induces her to betray the orders of her father Wotan, the king of gods. His punishment is to reduce her to becoming a mortal. Santa Fe Opera's production excels.
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Rigoletto
Verdi's Tragic Masterpiece at Santa Fe Opera
By: - Jul 27th, 2025The jester Rigoletto vows to protect his daughter from lascivious men. Not only does he fail, but he suffers tragic consequences as a result of his attempted revenge after her abduction and abuse.
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Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap
World’s Longest Running Play at the Colonial
By: - Jul 27th, 2025Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap opened to mixed reviews in 1952, and other than a hiatus for Covid, is still running. It’s a London tourist trap and as much a site to see as Big Ben and the museums. Berkshire Theatre Group's sizzling production at the Colonial Theatre is a home run. This show is the most fun of the Berkshire season.
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Singin’ in the Rain
Playhouse on Park in West Hartford
By: - Jul 26th, 2025The Playhouse on Park version has a new premise. We don’t just dive into the plot. The production begins with an audience assembling for a screening of the classic movie. However, just moments in, a malfunction stops the screening.
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