Theater Matters with Jarice Hanson: Two world premiers explore family, place and identity
By Jarice Hanson For the Valley Advocate World premieres are challenging pieces of theater in every sense. For many theaters and theater companies, it’s safer to produce an “old chestnut”— a show that has a proven track record with audiences, or a show that is...
Stage Struck with Chris Rohmann: Curtains Going Up, Rains Coming Down
Once upon a time, I was a songwriter. This summer, one of those songs has been jingling in my head.The first line, stolen from “King Lear,” is “Blow winds, and crack your cheeks!” and the chorus begins, “Rain tomorrow, rain today…”That’s what this theater season has...
Stagestruck: Curtains Going Up, Rains Coming Down – Theaters reopen as summer dries off
With most of the area theaters that reopened this summer performing outdoors because of Covid restrictions, fully half the performances I was scheduled to attend were interrupted or cancelled outright by the weather.
Stagestruck: Postcards from the Cape, #3
The Harbor Stage ensemble is like a superlative string quartet – four virtuoso soloists in tune with each other’s rhythms and dynamics while anticipating their cues. The current show, “Dindin,” is a masterly showcase of this foursome in full flight.
Stagestruck: Postcards from the Cape, #2
Tennessee Williams wrote “The Glass Menagerie” in 1943, when he was part of the creative ferment that has long defined Provincetown, Mass. The current revival at the Provincetown Theater recalls that genesis, with mixed results.
Stagestruck: Postcards from the Cape, #1
Every summer I spend a week on Cape Cod, enjoying the beach and, of course, the theater. This year I saw four shows at three Outer Cape theaters, two of which I haven’t visited in a while. Here’s the first of three snapshots from those seaside shows, “Nat Turner in Jerusalem” at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater.
Stagestruck: A Valley Half-Dozen
It’s August, and the summer theater season is winding down. No, wait. It’s not. In the Valley, no fewer than six live-in-person productions will be vying for our attention this weekend alone.
Stagestruck: Burnett-ing Down the House
Archie Burnett is a living repository of the house dance that coalesced in after-hours dance clubs, and “Life Encounters” is his personal odyssey of discovery and initiation, narrated in onstage vignettes with his intergenerational, international, multiracial troupe.
Stagestruck: The ‘Art’ of Friendship
I’ve seen Art several times over the years, and what always strikes me is that it’s a play about men acting like women. And therein lies the crux of the play – and the problem with this production.
Stagestruck: Two Great Ladies on Noah’s Ark
My partner, a literature professor, has noted a principle in both scholarship and fiction that she calls the Noah’s Ark Approach: If you want to get attention for your female subject, pair her with a famous man. Two new plays in Berkshire theaters illustrate that rule.
Stagestruck: The Weather, the Union, and Othello
I had a theater-going “double feature” planned for last Saturday – two outdoor shows in a row from adventurous Berkshire-based companies. But those plans were disturbed by two irresistible forces: Nature and Actors’ Equity Association.
Sessions
Check out our most recent performances in the playlist below, or click here to dig into interviews and related material!No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Introducing the Valley Advocate Sessions Podcast – Home Body
An electro fever-pop, new wave and experimental pop duo.
The V-Spot: Staying Sexy in Our 60s
“I am a 66-year-old man who is in love, and in a new relationship, with a very sexually active 60-year-old woman. I have come to the conclusion that I could use some help in fulfilling her sexual needs.”
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Stagestruck: The Flamingo Kid cruises into Hartford
The Flamingo Kid, a world-premiere musical at Hartford Stage, revolves around Jeffrey, a Brooklyn teenager, played with nerdy charm by newcomer Jimmy Brewer, who gets a summer job at a posh beach club and has his working-class head turned by the swank surroundings and the beautiful Karla, with whom he falls head-over-Keds in love at first sight.
