Strong cast boosts Stoneham's 'Double Indemnity'

STONEHAM -- Some theaters do a certain kind of show very well. Obviously, if you’re the North Shore Music Theatre, for instance, you’re hoping it’s musicals.

Aimee Doherty in a scene from the Stoneham Theatre's production of
"Double Indemnity" through Nov. 4. Photo: David Costa

The Stoneham Theatre has shown its skill in the past in the area of mysteries, thrillers, Gothic horror productions and plays that started life as film noir.
In past seasons, that has included shows such as Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” and “The Mousetrap,” “Gaslight,” “Strangers on a Train,” “The Turn of the Screw,” “Dracula,“ and even “Lizzie Borden: The Musical.”
Stoneham has gone into the breech again with the stage adaptation of the James M. Cain classic “Double Indemnity,” which was made into a 1944 film directed by Billy Wilder and has since been adapted for the stage by David Pichette and R. Hamilton Wright. The movie, which starred Raymond Chandler, Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray, is widely credited with inventing the film noir genre.
Stoneham’s excellent cast milks every last ounce of suspense from the piece and director Weylin Symes skillfully navigates the twists and turns of the plot.
Here, Cain’s characters are anti-heroes. No one is on the level; everyone, with one exception, has an angle and is playing each other. Each character is more flawed than the next, beginning with Lewis Wheeler’s slimy insurance agent, Walter Huff, who breaks down the fourth wall right off the bat as our narrator who guides through the events of the evening.
Huff makes a routine stop at the home of a client to renew a policy , and gets a lot more than he bargains for. He makes an instant connection with Phyllis Nirlinger (a smoldering, sexy Aimee Doherty), the wife of his client. From the very beginning, she’s buying what Wheeler is selling, and it’s not insurance.

Lewis Wheeler and Aimee Doherty in a scene from the Stoneham Theatre's
production of "Double Indemnity."  Photo: David Costa

From the first steamy kiss, you know that whatever they have in mind together, it’s probably not going to be good for the welfare of husband Herbert Nirlinger (Sean McGuirk).
As an insurance agent, Huff knows the ins and outs of accidental death policies that pay beneficiaries double under certain circumstances -- aka double indemnity. That also is not good for Herbert Nirlinger.
Of course, Huff soon forgets that someone who would betray her own husband might in turn betray him.
McGuirk returns in the second act for a sharp turn as Keyes, a dogged insurance investigator who smells a rat in Herbert Nirlinger’s death and is determined to piece together the puzzle.
Michael Underhill and Melis Aker provide strong support in a variety of roles, Aker most notably as Herbert Nirlinger’s daughter Lola, who has had suspicions all along about her stepmother and who also finds refuge in Huff’s arms.
This type of show is tricky business. It can come off as campy or cheesy unless you create the proper atmosphere, and that falls on those providing the production values.
Christopher Ostrom’s lighting, scenic design and projections show the way. The set features movable panels that allow the action to move swiftly and surely from place to place, and Wheeler to step forward out of a scene and address the audience when the situation calls for it
Ostrom’s lighting accents the shadows and dark corners that are a big part of the play, and the sepia projections used as scenic backdrops are also effective in setting the tone.
Add to that the excellent sound design by Nathan Leigh (“Hound of the Baskervilles,” “Strangers on a Train,”), including spot-on sound effects and a throbbing, suspenseful score, the period costumes by Rachel Padula Shufelt, and suddenly you are right back in the 1940’s and up to your ears in murder and intrigue.
The Stoneham Theatre production of James M. Cain‘s “Double Indemnity,” adapted for the stage by David Pichette and R. Hamilton Wright. Directed by Weylin Symes. At the Stoneham Theatre through Nov. 4. For tickets, call 781 279-2200 or go to www.stonehamtheatre.org.

A video's collateral damage in 'Now or Later'

BOSTON -- It is Election Day, 2008, and an Ivy League college student named John (Grant McDermott) is in a hotel room in an unnamed Southern state, watching with a friend while the returns come in as his father, a Democratic candidate for president also named John, is on the verge of being elected president.


Tom Nelis and Grant McDermott in the Huntington Theatre Company's
American Premiere of  "Now or Later." Photo: Paul Marotta

 It should be a time for unrestrained joy for the family, but a campaign aide named Marc (Ryan Wilson) is banging on the door, wanting to talk to John Jr. about a few blurry photos that have shown up on the Internet.
The controversial photos ignite a firestorm that threatens to tear apart a family in the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of Christopher Shinn’s timely political drama “Now or Later,” purposely presented during the presidential campaign and now having its American premiere at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.
John Jr., played with easy grace by McDermott, has been able to determine for himself what role he will play in his father’s campaign, and he has decided to stay out of the limelight. As a gay man, he has also decided to stay in the closet publicly, but has been out to family and friends for years, and is still mourning the break-up of his relationship.
In the weeks leading up to the election, he has become involved in a controversy over free speech on campus involving Islamic students. He decides to make fun of the situation by going to a campus party dressed as the Prophet Mohammad, and his friend Matt (Michael Goldsmith) goes as a prominent evangelical preacher, and pictures and a video taken by someone at the party show both being involved in incidents in extremely poor taste.
The photos and video quickly goes viral and all hell breaks loose overseas. But when the campaign goes into Defcon 3 and becomes involved in the controversy, John Jr. finds their pleas for him to issue an apology to be an affront to free speech, his own principles and the agreement he has made with his parents, forged during his troubled teen years.
“I don’t see the need for an apology,” says John Jr., prompting the standoff.
Alexandra Neil is fine as sympathetic mother Jessica (Alexandra Neil), balancing her concern for her son and the promise she made him with the needs of her husband.
It takes a while for Shinn to set the stage for the later fireworks, and early on things are a little mopey until the entrance of free-wheeling Tracy, played by Adriane Lenox, who injects instant life into the production as a firebrand campaign worker friendly to John Jr. who is sent into the fray to get more information.
The production’s best moments are between John Jr. and his father, John Sr., played with cool precision by Tom Nelis. They find common ground at first, but sparks fly as the son confronts the father over positions he has taken that are at odds with his real beliefs, and the political accommodations the father has made over the years, including being seen with an evangelical pastor Jack Jr. deems homophobic.
The parents face a dilemma: Keep the deal and the carefully-reforged relationship with their son and probably assure his well-being, at a possible great cost to a political career, or force an apology and possibly see him go “off the rails” again.
“Now or Later” is briskly directed by Michael Wilson, who showed a deft touch with the genre in the recent Broadway revival of “The Best Man,"  and it addresses several timely topics -- including religion, political correctness and free speech -- in an effective way, offers an interesting backstage look at  political campaigns and shows the collateral damage a mere photo or video can inflict on all involved in our digital age.
The Huntington Theatre Company’s production of Christopher Shinn’s “Now or Later,” until Nov. 10 at the Calderwood Pavilion of the Boston Center for the Arts. Directed by Michael Wilson. For tickets, go to huntingtontheatre.org, call 617 266 0800 or the box offices at the BU Theatre or the Calderwood Pavilion.

New Rep's 'Race' careens to a fiery finish

WATERTOWN -- Intensity, thy name is David Mamet.
So what else would you expect when the famed playwright takes on the explosive issue of race relations in the New Repertory Theatre’s production of “Race,” now at the Mosesian Theatre at the Arsenal Center for the Arts.


From the left, Ken Cheeseman, Miranda Craigwell, Cliff Odle and Patrick
Shea in New Rep's "Race." Andrew Brilliant/Brilliant Pictures

 An excellent cast breathes fiery life into Mamet’s tale of a wealthy white man accused of raping a black woman, and the toll that the case takes on the members of the law firm that becomes involved in it.
During its 90 minutes, “Race,” covers the full length and breath of race-related issues, wealth and privilege, race and class bias, and the inborn prejudices held by many whites and blacks.
Charles Strickland (Patrick Shea) is a wealthy white man who is being accused of rape by a young black woman with whom he has had an ongoing relationship.
He has just left the office of a prominent attorney who has decided not to take his case when he enters the office of a small law firm owned by a white lawyer, Jack Lawson, and his black partner, Henry Brown (Cliff Odle), who also have on staff a young black female lawyer named Susan (Miranda Craigwell).
Strickland loudly proclaims his innocence and demands that Jack and Henry take his case, but they ask Strickland to leave the room while they discuss the situation.
If they lose what will be a very prominent case, it would cast doubt on the competence of the firm.
If they win, they could -- as a racially-diverse law firm -- be seen aiding a wealthy white man in abusing a young black woman.
Just when they have decided that the case if not for them, the issue becomes moot. Susan has made several seemingly inexplicable legal errors that resulted in the firm becoming attorneys of record on the case.
Still, Jack seems to have found a hole in the prosecution’s case that will allow Strickland to eventually go free until…
Shea is fine as Strickland, who harbors other dirty little secrets that will complicate the situation.
Cheeseman is superb as the cynical lawyer Jack, who appears worldly-wise about dealing with race and at least outwardly upstanding in his dealings with both his partner and his young associate.
Odle as Henry is proud of what he has built with Jack, but suspicious of Jack’s motives in hiring Susan, something he wasn’t in favor of.
Susan early on informs her bosses she believes Strickland to be guilty. Will her beliefs color her actions, and how can she be part of an effort to set free a man she believes to be guilty of a brutal crime against a fellow black woman?
Director Robert Walsh keeps ratcheting up the tension as, one by one, the characters’ masks are ripped off and all sense of decorum and decency are lost as they confront their prejudices.
“Race” finds Mamet at perhaps his most intense and harrowing since his Pulitzer Prize-winning “Glengarry Glen Ross.”
Mamet’s characters would never be allowed to tiptoe through the tulips and here are allowed to say what many people think, but don’t say. Mamet lays it all out there for us to consider in a blunt, brutal, raw, often profane, provocative and powerful way, with crackling dialogue.
“Race” may titularly be a comedy, but is definitely not for the squeamish and those easily offended. Mamet drives the car right into the wall, and leaves it to the theater-goer to pick up the pieces afterwards.
The New Repertory Theatre’s production of David Mamet’s “Race,” through Nov. 4 at the Mosesian Theatre at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown. Directed by Robert Walsh. For tickets, call 617 923-8487 or go to www.newrep.org.

‘War Horse’: Humanity in the midst of horror

BOSTON -- In many ways, World War I was the cruelest war of all. The poison gas, the machine guns that mowed down soldiers accustomed to trench warfare, generated a level of misery that the world had never seen before.

Andrew Veenstra, Christopher Mai, Derek Stratton and Rob Laqui  in

"War Horse" at the Opera House (Photos © Brinkhoff/Mögenburg)

Into this theater of cruelty and against this backdrop of death and destruction rides “War Horse,” now at the Opera House in Boston.

Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, “War Horse” begins in the small English village of Devon just at the advent of World War I, when two brothers find themselves in a bidding war for a horse named Joey.

Ted Narracot (Todd Cerveris) is a feisty, hard-drinking farmer constantly at odds with his more refined brother Arthur (Brian Keane). Ted outbids his brother for the half-thoroughbred, half-draft horse that in reality is only meant to be ridden, and isn’t the ploughhorse he really needs.

Joey instantly bonds with Ted’s son Albert (Andrew Veenstra), who rebels against the thought of giving Joey up to his cocky cousin Billy (Michael Wyatt Cox) when Ted places a drunken bet with his brother that Joey can be taught to pull a plow.
Joey pulls it off, but Ted betrays the boy and the horse again when he cannot resist an offer to sell Joey to the army for 100 pounds, and Joey goes off to war as a member of a cavalry regiment.
The horse, of course, was a constant as a weapon of war from the time the first warrior climbed aboard one; the speed and strength of the animal combined with the vantage point that put the rider above the fray made it so.
When Albert, still only 16, learns that the officer who vowed to care for Joey forever is dead, he joins the army in an effort to find Joey. Joey, meanwhile, endures an amazing journey that finds him serving in the both the English and German armies and also finding refuge with a French family.

Despite some powerful performances, the pageantry and special effects at times threaten to overshadow both the story and the performers. That’s because of the remarkable achievements of the South African-based Handspring Puppet Company, winner of a 2011 special Tony for the puppeteer-manipulated creations that include both Joey and his fellow Army horse, Topthorn, other horses, birds, a comic goose and even a tank.

The amazingly lifelike, well-choreographed and synchronized movements of all the animals are truly remarkable; two early scenes between Albert and Joey as a foal and later a full-grown horse have us believing in Joey early on.

The battle scenes are harrowing, and the production owes much to the superb use of light, sound and music to create the desired effects.



Grayson DeJesus and Michael Wyatt Cox in a scene from "War Horse"

at the Opera House in Boston. (Photos © Brinkhoff/Mögenburg)



The stirring, haunting songs sung by John Milosich, accompanied by Nathan Koci, lend context and tinges of melancholy. Rae Smith’s costumes, set design and her drawings, projected above the action on a suspended screen, make it easier to both tell the story and be absorbed by it.

The lighting by Paule Constable is especially effective; the entire play takes place on a dimly-lit stage, suggesting the darkness of war, and then erupting in brilliant, deadly blasts.

Christopher Shutt’s sound recreates the chaos and confusion when the dogs of war are unleashed; Smith, Constable and Shutt all won Tonys for the Broadway production.

There is a telling moment near the end of the play, when Joey finds himself at his most helpless, pinned to the barbed wire that killed so many horses in that war, when the English and the Germans soldiers find their own humanity in their respect for the courage of the animal.

While “War Horse” dramatically and realistically presents the horrors of war, it also manages to find in its uplifting equine hero and his human caretaker the nobility and decency that can shine through, even in humanity’s darkest hours.

The National Theatre of Great Britain production of “War Horse.” Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo as adapted by Nick Stafford. In association with Handspring Puppet Company. Directed by Bijan Shebani. At the Boston Opera House, 539 Washington St., Boston through Oct. 21. For tickets, go to www.broadwayinboston.com.

Fiddlehead’s ‘Ragtime’ revisited: Upon further review

Coalhouse Walker (Damien Norfleet celebrates the purchase of a Model-T
in a scene from the Fiddlehead Theatre's production of "Ragtime."

DORCHESTER -- Sometimes, a second look allows for a clearer, fuller picture.
The Fiddlehead Theatre’s opening-night performance of “Ragtime” at the Strand Theatre on Sept. 28 was marred by severe sound problems, something completely out of the control of the performers but something which obviously affected both the performers and the perceptions of their performances.
A week later, the solving of the sound problems, combined with a week of performances, had turned “Ragtime” into a smooth-running machine, say, like the Model T driven by Coalhouse Walker in the show.
Friday night’s performance (Oct. 5) was strong throughout, making it a shame the run was to end on Sunday, Oct. 7.
“Ragtime” is one of the best and most important musicals of the past quarter-century.
Composer Stephen Flaherty, lyricist Lynn Ahrens and book writer Terrence McNally put their entire hearts and souls into the project based on E.L. Doctorow‘s masterpiece book, and the result was a sweeping, powerful look at an era in the early 20^th Century that helped the United States define itself.
The lives of three distinct groups -- a privileged white family in New Rochelle, N.Y. , a recently-arrived group of immigrants struggling to survive in New York City, and a group of African-Americans in Harlem -- intersect in many ways against the backdrop of cultural icons such at Henry Ford, Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit and J.P Morgan.
The issues of that era -- economic inequality, immigration, tolerance -- remain significant to this day, and perhaps that’s why the American Civil Liberties Union -- heretofore never known as a theatrical producer -- decided to team up with the Fiddlehead Theatre for the current run of “Ragtime.”
The production has also had the support of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino; the city owns the Strand Theatre.
Any production of “Ragtime” is going nowhere without a strong actor and voice in the pivotal role of Coalhouse Walker, the black man who is radicalized by bigotry and the deaf ears after his calls for justice. Damien Norfleet has the requisite power, passion and vocal powers for the role, along with a magnetic stage presence.

Tateh (Adam Shapiro) and Mother (Shonna Cirone) in a scene from the
Fiddlehead Theatre's production of "Ragtime."

Tia DeShazor as the ill-fated Sarah was on her game from the start Friday, and she and Norfleet had one of the shining moments of the night in their first-act rendition of “Wheels of a Dream.”
Right alongside that duo is Adam Shapiro as Tateh, the penniless Jewish immigrant with a young daughter who comes to this country in search of the American dream. Shapiro, a bear of a man, brings great warmth and humor to his role and he melds beautifully with Julia Deluzio as his daughter.
Michael S. Dunavant, shines as the idealistic Younger Brother, full of righteous indignation at the indignities heaped on Coalhouse and Sarah, who abandons his privileged life to join Coalhouse‘s cause.
As Father and Mother, Shonna Cirone and Greg Balla seem a bit younger than most actors and actresses in the roles -- it shouldn’t matter, that’s why they call it acting -- but it is a bit off-putting.
Cirone does well in her second-act showstopper “Back to Before” while some of Balla’s best moments best come with interactions with Alec Shiman, who is excellent as the Young Boy, in the baseball number “What a Game.”
Ron Cook ably delivers his one-liners as the grumpy and politically incorrect -- even for the times -- Grandfather.
June Baboian does a nice job reprising the role of the fiery revolutionary Emma Goldman, a role she played in New Repertory Theatre’s 2006 production.
McCaela Donovan is a sexy, coquettish tease as Evelyn Nesbit, who is at the center of the “crime of the century,” the shooting of architect Stanford White by millionaire Harry Thaw.
Choreographer Anne McAlexander has the huge cast moving seamlessly and effectively around the stage in the production numbers, including the opening scene based on the title song, the “Getting’ Ready Rag” later in the first act and “Atlantic City” in the second act.
Scenic designer Janie Howland has used the Statue of Liberty -- which also happens to be part of the show’s logo -- as a glorious backdrop to her set, which also includes a series of panels dedicated to the cultural icons portrayed in the show, such as Nesbit and Houdini.
Fiddlehead Theatre Director Meg Fofonoff ably directed this production, and gets huge credit for undertaking the project, complete with a cast of 40 actors, allowing the play to be presented in its full power and glory.
This “Ragtime” -- featuring a 16-piece orchestra led by Matthew Stern that realizes the majesty and power of Flaherty’s music -- deserves to be seen and appreciated.
An aside: If you’re driving to the Strand, the Uphams Corner area is a busy urban neighborhood. There is municipal parking on Ramsey Street. Take a right onto Dudley Street from Columbia Road, then your first right onto Ramsey Street.
The Fiddlehead Theatre production of “Ragtime,” through Oct. 7 at the Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Road, Dorchester. Music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book by Terrence McNally. Based on the book by E.L. Doctorow. Directed by Meg Fofonoff. www.fiddleheadtheatre.com.

'How and Why' explores sacrifice of female scientists

CAMBRIDGE -- Playwrights usually approach scientific themes with extreme caution. Unless the writing is strong, the material can come across as dry and colorless, much like the stereotype about the scientist who never comes of his lab to see the light of day.
The challenge is to explain subject matter in such a way that makes it accessible to the average theater-goer while also humanizing the subjects -- usually scientists, many of whom are not known for their wild and crazy lifestyles.


Debra Wise and Samantha Richert in a scene from the Nora Theatre's "The
How and the Why." Photo: A.R. Sinclair photography

Since its opening five years ago, the Central Square Theatre has embraced plays with scientific themes, and many have emerged as critical successes, including the engrossing 2011 production of “Breaking the Code,” or the production of “Photograph 51” earlier this year. The theater’s two resident companies, the Nora Theatre and the Underground Railway Theatre (URT), are members of the Catalyst Collaborative@MIT, a science-theater collaborative between MIT and the two companies that provides crucial support for the two companies and a nurturing neighbor with a ready-made audience for scientific works.Debra Wise, artistic director of the URT, is co-director of the collaborative and has contributed her talents to several of the productions; Wise earned a 2011 IRNE nomination for her performance as Sara Turing in “Breaking the Code.”
Wise is back in a white lab coat again, so to speak, this time to co-star in Nora Theatre’s production of Sarah Treem’s “The How and the Why,” now at Central Square through Nov. 4.
Treem, an award-winning writer for the HBO series “In Treatment,” has centered her work around two works she read about in a book about female physiology: “The Grandmother Hypothesis,” which looks at the existence of menopause and the years women live after their child-bearing years are over; and “The Toxicity of Sperm,” a theory that has to do with menstruation.
On the night before an important national conference Zelda Khan (Wise), a 56-year-old evolutionary biologist, is visited by an ambitious graduate student from NYU named Rachel Hardeman (Samantha Richert).
Rachel is also finding her way in the world of evolutionary biology -- “What are the odds,” asks Zelda -- hinting at a relationship to be revealed later.
Khan has long since made her mark in the male-dominated field with the aforementioned “Grandmother Hypothesis” -- and has ridden her theory’s coattails to tenure and a permanent place among the elite in her field.
Rachel has come to her with a theory of her own that concerns the toxicity of male sperm and the resulting effect on the process of menstruation.
Zelda appears to be intrigued; she sees in Rachel a lot of herself at that age. Although Rachel’s abstract has been passed over for inclusion in the conference, a late slot has opened up and Zelda urges a hesitant Rachel to present her theory at the conference.
The first act does get a big bogged down when the discussion of the nuts and bolts of the various theories -- this classics major’s eye tended to glaze over at times -- but Treem seems to know when enough is enough and returns to the relationship between the two women.
The second act opens in a dumpy Boston bar. Rachel has presented her theory at the conference, and it was a self-admitted disaster.
One by one, Treem answers the questions we had about the two women’s relationship; in peeling back the layers of the onion, secrets are revealed and the women exchange some uncomfortable truths.
The outwardly steely exterior of Zelda gradually gives way to vulnerability; her self-assurance and self-worth is slowly chipped away.
“The How and the Why” explores the innate difficulties that women face while trying to break through in a male-dominated world, the extra scrutiny given to their theories, and the sacrifices women often have to make to achieve their dreams.
The competition among scientists when it comes to theories and breakthroughs is bloodsport, and one scientist’s breakthrough may well be another’s Waterloo. When theories collide and compete, there will be a winner and a loser.
Richert, a recent graduate of Brandeis’ MFA program, holds her own with Wise throughout, no easy task, and those who wade through some of the scientific muck in the first half are richly rewarded in the second act.
An aside: The Nora Theatre dramaturgs do an exceptional job explaining the concepts behind the biological theories that are at the center of the play, the obstacles that have faced female scientists through the years, and they also celebrate those who have overcome those obstacles. Get to the theater early and give yourself enough time to enjoy their work.
The Nora Theatre Company’s production of Sarah Treem’s “The How and the Why,” through Nov. 4 at the Central Square Theatre, 450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Directed by Daniel Gidron. For tickets, go to centralsquaretheater.org.

Huntington Theatre to open its house Monday

Courtesy Huntington Theatre CompanyBOSTON – The Huntington Theatre Company invites theatre-lovers of all ages to its fun-filled, hands-on, behind-the-scenes Open House on Monday, October 8 at its main stage on the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue) and neighboring facilities.
The Open House will be open to the public from 12pm until 3pm; Huntington Subscribers, FlexPass holders, and Community Members are welcome at 11am. Learn more and RSVP at huntingtontheatre.org/openhouse.
Visitors will have the opportunity to hear about the 2012-2013 season from Managing Director Michael Maso; learn from costume, props, and paint artisans in hands-on demonstrations; try on Huntington costumes; take on a role from Our Town and read a scene with other attendees; explore the production shops on a backstage tour; perform a reading of a 10-minute play by a Huntington Playwriting Fellow; enjoy 30^th Birthday cake; and more.
The Open House is part of Opening Our Doors, a day of free arts and cultural events sponsored by the Fenway Alliance. Learn more at  fenwayculture.org.Exclusively at the Open House, tickets to the Huntington’s upcoming production of David Cromer’s landmark Our Town – currently available only to Huntington Subscribers – will be available. The one-day pre-sale tickets will be available in person only at the Box Office (Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre – 264 Huntington Ave.).
Called “wonderfully intimate and highly rewarding” by The New York Times, Cromer’s acclaimed, groundbreaking new staging of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winner will play December 7, 2012 – January 13, 2013 at the Huntington’s second home in the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. In 1901 Grover's Corners, George and Emily fall in love, marry, and live out their lives as one New England town becomes a microcosm of everyday life. Cromer’s Off Broadway mounting was a smash hit, playing for more than 600 performances. This wonderfully intimate staging marks the Huntington's first production in the Roberts Studio Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.
OPEN HOUSE SCHEDULE (subject to change)
11am: Doors open to Subscribers, FlexPass holders, and Community Members
Ongoing: Self-guided backstage tours
Costume Corner
Scavenger Hunt
11:45am: Cutting of the 30^th Birthday cake
12pm: Doors open to the general public 2012-2013 Season Talk with Managing Director Michael Maso
12:45pm: Shop Talk: Props
1pm: Audience-participatory reading of a Huntington Playwriting Fellow’s 10-minute play
1:45pm: Shop Talk: Costumes
2pm: Audience-participatory reading of a scene from Our Town
2:15pm: Shop Talk: Paints
2:30pm: Audience-participatory reading of a Huntington Playwriting Fellow’s 10-minute play
2:45pm: Raffle drawing
3pm: Open House ends Patrons are invited to sign up to participate in play readings and hands-on shop talks when they arrive.

Sound woes slow otherwise strong 'Ragtime'

DORCHESTER -- Quite simply, “Ragtime” is one of the best and important musicals of the past quarter-century.

Adam Shapiro as Tateh and Shona Cirone as Mother in the Fiddlehead
Theatre's production of "Ragtime" at the Strand Theatre.

Composer Stephen Flaherty, lyricist Lynn Ahrens and book writer Terrence McNally put their entire hearts and souls into the project based on E.L. Doctorow‘s masterpiece book, and the result was a sweeping, powerful look at an era in the early 20^th Century that helped the United States define itself.
The lives of three distinct groups -- a privileged white family in New Rochelle, N.Y. , a recently-arrived immigrant family struggling to survive, and a group of African-Americans in Harlem -- intersect in many ways against the backdrop of cultural icons such at Henry Ford, Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit and J.P Morgan.
The issues of that era -- economic inequality, immigration, tolerance -- remain significant to this day, and perhaps that’s why the American Civil Liberties Union -- heretofore never known as a theatrical producer -- decided to team up with the Fiddlehead Theatre for the current run of “Ragtime” at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester through Oct. 7.
The production also has the support of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino; the city owns the Strand Theatre.
Unfortunately, Friday night’s opening performance was marred by near-catastrophic sound problems for about the first half of the first act, and intermittently through the rest of the show, due to a blown speaker. The sound was apparently corrected for Saturday night's performance.
Any production of “Ragtime” is going nowhere without a strong actor and voice in the pivotal role of Coalhouse Walker III, who is radicalized by bigotry and the deaf ears after his calls for justice. Damian Norfleet has the requisite power, passion and vocal powers for the role, along with a magnetic stage presence.
Right alongside him is Adam Shapiro as Tateh, the penniless Jewish immigrant with a young daughter who comes to this country in search of the American dream. Shapiro, a bear of a man, brings great warmth and humor to his role.
Michael S. Dunavant, shines as the idealistic Younger Brother, full of righteous indignation at the indignities heaped on Coalhouse and Sarah, who abandons his privileged life.
If you have seen previous productions of “Ragtime,” say with Audra McDonald in her Tony Award-winning performance as Sarah, or Stephanie Umoh , who went from the 2006 production at New Repertory Theatre in Watertown to the 2009 Broadway revival, it sets the bar pretty high for those who come afterwards.



Coalhouse Walker III (Damian Norfleet) celebrates his purchase of a Model
T in a scene from the Fiddlehead Theatre's produtcion of "Ragtime."

Tia DeShazor as Sarah struggled mightily early in Friday night’s show. She seemed distracted by the sound problems -- who wouldn’t be -- and she was more screaming than singing early on. When the sound improved, she finally relaxed and started singing like she was capable of all along. As Father and Mother, Shonna Cirone and Greg Balla seem a bit younger than most actors and actresses -- it shouldn’t matter, that’s why they call it acting -- but both seemed to lack the gravitas for their roles.
Cirone does well in her second-act showstopper “Back to Before” while some of Balla’s best moments best come with interactions with Alec Shiman, who is excellent as the Young Boy, in the baseball number “What a Game.”. He may be young, but Shiman -- who was an excellent Dill in Boston Children’s Theatre’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” -- may have a future in this business if he wants it.
June Baboian does a nice job reprising the role of the fiery revolutionary Emma Goldman, a role she played in New Rep’s 2006 production.
McCaela Donovan can usually be counted on to deliver a strong performance but as Evelyn Nesbit, severe problems with her sound levels in her vocals seemed to throw her off Friday night.
Fiddlehead Theatre Director Meg Fofonoff directed this production, and gets huge credit for undertaking the project, complete with a cast of 42 actors, allowing the play to be presented in its full power and glory.
With the bugs ironed out, this “Ragtime” -- featuring a 16-piece orchestra that realizes the majesty and power of Flaherty’s music -- deserves to be seen and appreciated.
An aside: If you’re driving to the Strand, the Uphams Corner area is a busy urban neighborhood. There is municipal parking on Ramsey Street. Take a right onto Dudley Street from Columbia Road, then your first right onto Ramsey Street.
The Fiddlehead Theatre production of “Ragtime,” through Oct. 7 at the Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Road, Dorchester. Music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book by Terrence McNally. Based on the book by E.L. Doctorow. Directed by Meg Fofonoff. www.fiddleheadtheatre.com.

Strong cast, choreography boost NSMT's '9 to 5'

BEVERLY -- North Shore Music Theatre‘s “9 to 5: The Musical” is based on the very successful 1980 movie “9 to 5” that grossed $103 million and starred Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.
The musical, with music and lyrics by Parton and book by Patricia Resnick, was less successful; it had a modest run on Broadway in 2009, garnering four Tony nominations and 15 Drama Desk nominations, followed by a national tour.


         George Dvorsky and Shayla Orborn in a scene from   
"9 to 5:  The Musical" Photo: Paul Lyden

Parton’s fingerprints and even her narrative voice are all over the show. Musical Theater 101 says that when you’re putting together a show, go with what works, and Parton, with a fortune estimated at $450 million, has a lot of experience in knowing what works. Her score in “9 to 5” is surprisingly spunky, featuring bouncy country and pop tunes, liberal doses of the title tune and even a few nicely-crafted ballads.
Here NSMT has shown the musical in its most favorable light, thanks to a strong emsemble cast led by Dee Hoty, who starred in the first national tour of the show as Violet Newstead, and has stepped in for the injured Lucie Arnaz to reprise the role on short notice.
It is 1980, and Violet is a widow with a teenage son who has been continually passed over for promotions at Consolidated Industries. She is justifiably angry, but she needs the job.
Judy Bernly (Holly Davis) is going through a rough divorce after her husband left her for a 19-year-old, and has found it rough re-entering the working world.
Shayla Orborn is Doralee Rhodes, playing the Parton role as a Southern belle and secretary to Hart whose Barbie doll exterior has everyone thinking she’s sleeping with the boss. Her “Backwoods Barbie” is an obvious autobiographical tune by Parton, whose bustiness and big hair invited the kind of leering directed at Rhodes.
NMST had the good sense to employ as the director the nonpareil choreographer Richard Stafford, who has shown his chops on adapting choreography from the proscenium stage to the in-the-round configuration in past NSMT productions such as “Swing,” “The King and I” and “Singin’ in the Rain.” His high-octane production numbers such as “Shine like the Sun” keep the energy level high throughout.
Longtime NSMT favorite George Dvorsky, who showed he was a really good sport by going all the way in “The Full Monty,” is over-the-top as the villainous Franklin Hart Jr, the misogynist, adulterous, lying, cheating boss at Consolidated. He’s so nasty, he could be his own country song.
Who doesn’t dream of getting rid of a bad boss? Here he takes turns being humiliated by Hoty and Co. in three fantasy sequences in which the women indulge their own murderous fantasies in how they’d off Hart if they had a chance; at one point he’s even branded on the backside in the “Cowgirl’s Revenge” number.
The show at times skirts the edges of good taste, but with a wink and a nod; I didn’t see any children in the audience at Wednesday night’s show.


Kathy St. George as Roz Keith in NSMT's '9 to 5.' Photo: Paul Lyden

Kathy St. George is Roz Keith, who doubles as Hart’s assistant and a spy on her co-workers. You are dead and buried if you’re not howling with laughter as St. George exhibits her unrequited love for Hart in the torch song number “Heart to Hart.” Dee Hoty is a fine actress, but she had to keep asking herself “Who is this little pixie of an actress who keeps stealing the scenes?”
Medford’s Kevin B. McGlynn has some nice moments as a member of the ensemble and as Mr. Tinsworthy, the chairman of the board of Consolidated Industries.
The musical follows the plotline of the movie fairly closely, so if you know the movie, you know what’s coming in the second act.
The production values are up to NSMT’s usual high standards, with special mention to Musical Director Mart Hartman and his orchestra and set designer Philip Witcomb, with his pop-up desks and beds making good use of every advantage the in-the-round configuration allows.
At its best, “9 to 5” is very entertaining. A strong cast and Stafford’s sure hand at the helm for the production numbers lift it well above the shortcomings of Resnick’s book.
North Shore Music Theatre‘s production of “9 to 5: The Musical.” Music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, book by Patricia Resnick, based on the movie “9 to 5.” Directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford. Through Oct. 7. For tickets, Call (978) 232-7200 or go to nsmt.org

They’re lumberjacks, and they’re OK

STONEHAM -- Sometimes, just being entertained is enough.
James Kaplan and Fred Alley aren’t trying to cure cancer or reinvent the wheel with the lighter-than-air musical “Lumberjacks in Love,” now at the Stoneham Theatre through Sept. 30.

Kaplan and Alley teamed up on the ice-fishing musical -- yes, that’s right, ice-fishing musical -- “Guys on Ice,” which was also produced by Stoneham, so both the theater and the subscribers probably knew what they were getting here: pleasant ditties with some clever lyrics, and some outrageous characters.


From the left: Harry McEnerney, William Gardiner. Steven Barkimer and
Mark Linehan in Stoneham Thatre's "Lumberjacks in Love."

 When watching I couldn’t help thinking of the “Lumberback Song” and the cross-dressing lumberjack, made famous by Monty Python’s Flying Circus -- you can still find it on You Tube -- which, it turns out, is referenced in this show by Kaplan and Alley.
There is a story in here somewhere, but mostly it’s a series of sketches which allow the cast to sing and play up a storm, tongues firmly planted in cheeks all the while.
The action takes place in the Haywire Lumber Camp in Wisconsin in the 1870s. The boys are getting a little lonely -- it’s 200 miles to the nearest woman -- so much so that the one drawing the short straw has to be the woman when they dance.
“Lumberjacks” benefits greatly from the presence of Steven Barkhimer, one of the Boston area’s most talented and versatile actors, who here plays a logger named Muskrat and also doubles as music director.
Barkimer was part of an all-star ensemble cast in the final part of Alan Ayckbourn’s “The Norman Conquests” trilogy at Gloucester Stage this summer and his comic timing is impeccable.
Here he is Muskrat, who is celebrating his 40^th birthday, and despite the best efforts of his comrades, he’s very much alone and despondent -- very, very despondent,
Dirty Bob (William Gardiner) hasn’t had a bath in many a year -- it has to do with an issue concerning soap years ago -- and Gardiner, who was very good in last year’s “Nutcracker,” is a hoot throughout.
Minnesota Slim (Mark Linehan) is awaiting the arrival of his mail-order bride, a he was tricked into doing. Linehan is another up-and-coming talent in the area with a strong stage presence and a sterling voice.
Moonlight (Harry McEnerny) has struck up a close friendship with The Kid (Darcie Champagne), who may not actually be a kid at all.
And then there’s Rose, the mail-order bride (Vanessa J. Schukis) whose entrance sends the camp topsy-turvy.
Actors accompany themselves -- everyone plays at least two instruments -- and Barkimer leads the way, playing cello, ukelele, guitar, and piano and playing them all well.
The rest of the cast chips in with recorder, guitar, spoons, washboard, etc.
The best musical numbers are the title song, “Stupid, Stupid Love” and “It Would be Enough for Me.”
Director Caitlan Lowans and the cast get the absolute most of the material and choreographer Kelli Edwards has the energetic cast moving briskly about the stage.
Designer Erik Diaz’s handy-dandy lodge can be swiftly reversed to set the action inside or outside and Meredith Magoun’s costumes set the proper tone.
Even with the padding of an intermission, “Lumberjacks” comes in at about 100 minutes. Great art it ain’t, but on a recent Saturday night the cast seemed to be having a good time, and it seems the audience was, too. Sometimes a little silliness and entertainment is all you’re looking for.
“Lumberjacks in Love,” Music by James Kaplan, Book and Lyrics by Fred Alley, Story by Kaplan and Alley. Directed by Caitin Lowans. Choreography by Kelli Edwards. At the Stoneham Theatre through Sept. 30.