Arts
The best of South End theater in 2009
by Jules Becker
MySouthEnd.com Contributor
Monday Jan 4, 2010
With a look ahead in 2010
What would Boston’s Theater District be without Theater District South?
For those who have not seen the latter name before, that quite simply is the designation I have given to Hub theater venues stretching from the Factory Theatre (better known to some locals as the Piano Factory) to the Boston Center for the Arts and up to the Lyric Stage of Boston and generously including the Huntington Theatre Company and the next door Studio 210. Sure, the Theater District itself showcases tours of Broadway and Off-Broadway plays and musicals-and Boston theatergoers can look forward to the visit of the lyrical Tony-winning musical "In the Heights" (January 12-24 at the Opera House) and the powerful Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award family drama "August," here with a cast headed by Estelle Parsons as a tenacious matriarch.
Still, the Opera House, the CITI Center for the Performing Arts, the Shubert and Emerson Majestic Theatres and even the Colonial Theatre are dark far too often (and the Wilbur Theatre, of course, was converted into an alternately comedy club and concert venue quite a while ago). By contrast, the ’old BCA’-now the Plaza Theatre and the Black Box Theatre-and the Calderwood Pavilion-housing the Wimberly and Roberts Theatres as well as Rehearsal Hall A-are busy offering new fare, revivals and area premieres of other Off-Broadway and Broadway fare thanks to BCA resident companies. Consequently, the full Boston theater scene fairly includes both of these areas and their options.
In an effort to embrace the diversity of Boston fare, here is a personal 2009 list of prize worthy efforts and best of the Hub productions.
New play or musical - (large stage) "The Miracle at Naples" by David Grimm (Huntington); (small stage) "Little Black Dress" by Ronan Noone (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre)
Scenic and costume design - (large) "Two Men of Florence" - Francis O’Connor (Huntington); (small-scenic) "Grey Gardens" - Cristina Todesco (Lyric Stage), (small-costume) "Grey Gardens" - Charles Schoonmaker (Lyric Stage)
Lighting design - (large) "A Civil War Christmas" - T.J.Gerckens (Huntington); (small) "Reckless" - Karen Perlow (SpeakEasy Stage Company, BCA)
Sound Design - (large) "A Civil War Christmas" - Ben Emerson; (small) "Lady" - Walter Eduardo (Zeitgeist Stage Company, BCA)
Choreography - (large) Bill T. Jones - "Spring Awakening: A New Musical" (Colonial Theatre); (small) Ilyse Robbins - "Kiss Me Kate" (Lyric Stage)
Solo performance - (large) Chazz Palminteri - "A Bronx Tale" (Colonial Theatre); (small) Tim Ruddy - "Swansong" (Tir Na Theatre, BCA)
Ensemble - (large) "A Civil War Christmas"; (small)"Spring Awakening The Play" (Zeitgeist)
Child actor - (large) Hyacinth Tauriac - "A Civil War Christmas" and "Fences" (Huntington); (small) Carlos Rojas - "Spring Awakening The Play" (Zeitgeist)
Supporting actress, play - (large) Uzo Aduba - "A Civil War Christmas" (Huntington); (small) Aimee Doherty - "The Pain and the Itch" (Company One, BCA)
Supporting actor, play - (large) Larry Coen - "The Comedy of Errors" (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); (small) Nigel Gore - "Humble Boy" (Publick Theatre, BCA)
Actress, play - (large) Crystal Fox - "Fences"; (small) Emilie Battle - "The Children’s Hour" (Our Place Theatre Project, BCA)
Actor, play - (large) Stacy Keach - "Frost/Nixon" (Colonial Theatre); (small) Tim Spears - "A Question of Mercy" (Boston Center for American Performance at Studio 210)
Supporting actress, musical - (large) Angela Robinson - "The Color Purple" (CITI Performing Arts Center); (small) Sarah DeLima - "Grey Gardens" (Lyric Stage)
Supporting actor, musical - (large) Blake Bashoff - "Spring Awakening A New Musical (Colonial); (small) Timothy John Smith - "Kiss Me Kate"(Lyric Stage) and "Jerry Springer the opera" (SpeakEasy Stage)
Actress, musical - (large) Kenita R. Miller - "Color Me Purple"; (small) Leigh Barrett - "Grey Gardens"
Actor, musical - (large) Topol - "Fiddler on the Roof" (The Opera House); (small) Peter Davenport - "Kiss Me Kate"
Director, musical - (large) Gordon Greenberg - "Pirates!" (Huntington); (small) Spiro Veloudos - "Grey Gardens"
Director, play - (large) Kenny Leon - "Fences"; (small) David J. Miller - "Spring Awakening The Play."
Musical - (large) "Pirates!"; (small) "Grey Gardens"
Play - (large) "Fences"; (small) "Spring Awakening The Play"
What follows is my best of Boston theater 2009 :
"A Civil War Christmas" (Huntington Theatre Company, Boston). Paula Vogel’s panoramic play with music may try to tackle a few too many of the conflicts of America’s most divisive war, but her remarkable achievement nonetheless could become as much of a satisfying annual as Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol." DeLance Minefee finds all of Jewish soldier Moses Levy’s majesty.
"Fences" (Huntington). The late masterful playwright August Wilson spoke with great eloquence about dreams deferred and evolving in this 1957 Pittsburgh-set family drama. Director Kenny Leon’s inspired revival befits one of the best works in his 10-play African-American 20th century cycle. Crystal Fox towers as brave matriarch Rose.
"Fiddler on the Roof" (The Boston Opera House). Is this really Topol’s "farewell tour?" The seventy-something Israeli talent proves as vital and moving as ever as the iconic shtetl milkman in this sharply danced revival.
"In On It" (Whistler in the Dark Theatre, Factory Theatre). Joe Lanza and Scott Sweatt nail the nuances and diverse characters in young Whistler in the Dark Theatre’s impressive area premiere of Daniel MacIvor’s clever play.
"Grey Gardens" (Lyric Stage). Sprio Veloudos and a crack ensemble capture the mystery of Edith and "Little" Edie Beale and the rich atmosphere of the eclectic Scott Frankel-Michael Korie score.
"The Overwhelming" (Company One, BCA). Artistic director Shaun Lacount takes theatergoers on a timely odyssey of personal and family fact-finding that proves as powerfully disturbing as the world’s general inaction on the Rwandan genocide.
"Pirates!" (Huntington). Purists may quibble, but this sharply sung and well performed conception with good additional book and lyrics by Neil Benjamin should add younger theatergoers to the large legion of Gilbert and Sullivan aficionados.
"A Question of Mercy" (Boston Center for American Performance at Studio 210). A suffering patient-here heart-wrenching Tim Spears-may be a doctor’s greatest challenge in this prescient drama. BCAP is a young company that demands as much attention as this David Rabe Boston premiere.
"Spring Awakening A New Musical," (The Colonial Theatre), and "Spring Awakening The Play," (Zeitgeist Stage, BCA). Hub theatergoers had the unique opportunity to see musically lyrical Broadway version as well as dramatist Frank Wedekind’s pioneering play about puberty and parental tough love.
"The Wrestling Patient" (SpeakEasy Stage,Boston Playwrights Theatre and Forty Magnolia Productions, BCA). Actress Anne Gottlieb, a co-author of this earnest tribute to Etty Hillesum, catches both the Holocaust diarist and activist’s fragility and courage.
A variety of area premieres get 2010 off to a big and exciting start. The national tour of the Tony Award-winning Latin music powerhouse "In the Heights" visits the Opera House January 12-24. A tour of the funky musical "Dreamgirls" arrives at the Colonial Theatre February 2-14.
Huntington Theatre Company begins the year with "All My Sons" from January 6 to February 7, a drama in which Arthur Miller opposes the aligning of patriotism and profit. SpeakEasy Stage introduces the small scale but thoughtfully big Off-Broadway and Broadway hit musical "Title of Show" from January 15 to February 13. It will also stage the 2008 Off-Broadway best musical "The Adding Machine," an adaptation-with score by Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt-of the Elmer Rice play in which an ironically named Mr. Zero is replaced by the title apparatus. Look to Company One for the provocative play "The Good Negro" January 15 to February 6. Also, Lyric Stage Company of Boston is running the area premiere of "Groundswell," an Off-Broadway hit set in South Africa, through January 30.
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