Tag Archive | Boston
I <3 NY — Wait, Do I?
I have a complicated relationship with New York. My dad took me when I was a youngster and I was ecstatic to see my first Broadway show. I was less ecstatic about the stench, the grime, the frustration, and the anger on its streets. This past semester I revisited after nine years and stayed with […]
Street Performance and the Continued Legacy of Minstrelsy
This past weekend my family visited me for my thesis. My Dad, sister, and I went to Faneuil Hall on a particularly beautiful day to walk around and see the sights. It had been quite a while – over a year, at least – since I’d been to Faneuil, but I hadn’t forgotten about the droves […]
What makes theatre in Boston, ‘Boston theatre’? If anything…
As I find myself at the precipice of preparing for my move to Los Angeles, I am forced to acknowledge the fact that I am also about to leave behind a theatre community that has raised me, and like many familial relationships, I have complicated feelings towards. The individuals that make up Boston’s theatre community are some […]
Developing the Negatives in Company One’s Really
Recently I had the opportunity to catch Company One’s production of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s play Really. And it was really damn good. The play has kept me thinking about the nature of death and memory, about how my baby brother has more picture and video footage of him than any of my grandparents, about how […]
Why Emmeline?
I am in the midst of staging rehearsals for BU Opera Institute’s production of Tobias Picker’s Emmeline, which premiered in 1996 at the Santa Fe Opera and is based on Judith Rossner’s 1980 novel. I have been considering the all-important question of why we are producing this opera here and now and through the process so far I […]
Sunday in the Park with Adam Chanler-Berat
A disclaimer: Sunday in the Park with George (Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine) is my favorite musical. Ever. To be clear, I don’t think it’s even close to perfect: the book certainly has it’s inconsistencies, and the time gap between Act I and Act II is difficult to reconcile in terms of emotional investment in the leading […]
Towards A “Basic” Theater
As an undergrad studying theatre, I find it my responsibility to see as many shows as possible to supplement my education. But let’s face it, $25 is still $25, even when a company such as Speakeasy Stage Company, whose tickets are over $50 per ticket on average, provides this as a student discount. By that […]
i can do whatever i want, punk.
“A guy walks up to me and asks ‘What’s Punk?’ So I kick over a garbage can and say ‘That’s punk!’ So he kicks over a garbage can and says ‘That’s punk?’ and I say ‘No, that’s trendy!’”-Billie Joe Armstrong When I moved to Boston almost 3 years ago, I found the streets of Allston […]
A Critique on Hamilton
I haven’t heard a single bad word about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit Hamilton. That is until I stumbled upon James McCallister’s Howlround critique on Hamilton. In this critique, McCallister points out the lack of female representation, retelling of the unhelpful bootstrap immigration narrative, and questionable decision to tell Alexander Hamilton’s story in the first place. The […]
Interrogating Whiteness Part II
On February 9th, a panel comprised of Ralph Peña (Artistic Director of Ma-Yi Theatre), Summer L. Williams (Co-founder of Company One), Melinda Lopez (Playwright in Residence with Huntington Theatre Company), and Polly Carl (Co-Artistic Director of ArtsEmerson) with moderator Sylvia Spears, discussed the shifting climate towards equity of representation in the theatre on HowlRoundTV in […]
Choose: Joy
I haven’t stopped recommending this play since I saw it on Sunday. I completely loved George C. Wolfe’s The Colored Museum at the Huntington Theatre Company. The production was beautiful, the cast immensely, immensely talented, and the script is just so – SMART. The Huntington in particular has a reputation for producing work by African-American playwrights. Not only are […]
Spoiler Alert: All of the Children Die
This Sunday I had the pleasure of seeing Company One’s production of SHOCKHEADED PETER, presented in part with Suffolk University at the Modern Theatre. SHOCKHEADED PETER originated in 1998 through collaboration between Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch of London’s Improbable Theatre, and a British “Brechtian Punk Cabaret” band called The Tiger Lillies. They sought to […]
The PLAY After Tomorrow (It’s Wicked Cold)
It’s a tough time to be doing theatre in Boston right now. Let’s face it, it’s a tough time to be doing anything in Boston right now. WCVB news calculates that it’s snowed 96.3 inches this season (in an article posted two days ago, and it snowed again yesterday, and today, so I’m simply dying to know where we’re at now…). […]
Coined “Czar” and it’s negative implications in our battle for The Arts
I understand that the term “Czar” for positions specific to tackle certain issues in all levels of government has become a coined term in the U.S….but can we just take a moment to notice that we are actually calling people czars? I guess once you’ve said it enough you forget what it feels like to […]
Sanctuary for the Little Guy
An article from the Boston Globe opinion section drew my attention this week. In it Peter DuBois, Artistic Director of the Huntington Theatre Company, addressed one of the saddest news to impact the Boston Theatre Scene, the close of the Factory Theatre. I am proud to be a theatre artist. I enjoy the work that […]
“Creative License” – Crossing the Line in Cloud 9
I want to talk about the line between exercising “creative license” and respecting a copyrighted, published work. Do you know that line? Have you ever encountered it? Have you ever crossed it? I ask these questions not to condemn or chastise, but to generate awareness and to strike up what I believe is an important conversation. I […]
Diving into Boston Theatre with THE WHALE
I like being a Boston Theatre Artist. There, I said it. There are several theatre companies in Boston that I think are doing exciting, and engaging work: Zeitgeist, Underground Railway Theater, Company One, and SpeakEasy Stage Company are just a handful of companies that instantly spring to mind (Imaginary Beasts also deserves a shout out). […]
Becoming Cuba Response
Let me start by saying, I really wanted to like this play. I know Melinda Lopez, I like her writing, and I like her as an artist and a human being. Melinda even gave my wife a children’s book when my daughter was born, and it is one of her favorites. I also find fictionalized […]
‘Becoming a Fan’
There are many things to be said about my experience sitting and watching Becoming Cuba… but to start I want to say how amazing it was to go and see a world premiere show. As I got into my seat in the first row of the mezzanine, I glanced to the left to see the […]
Start talking, so we can start doing
This semester has been quite a journey for me, in terms of expanding my thinking about diversity and inclusion in theatre. Working towards greater diversity in the performers we see on stage–and in Boston in particular–has long been a drive for me. My wife and I frequently talk about this very topic. As an artist […]
Drama Lit Blog 2.0: BU School of Theatre 