11/21/2009

Fusionworks as ambitious and clever as ever
Don’t miss the finale with the dancing sharks

Cast of RIC students give ‘Rabbit Hole’ play a solid effort
Cast of RIC students give ‘Rabbit Hole’ production a solid effort

11/20/2009

Theater review: ‘Rent’ is polished, top-notch
Outstanding cast makes the tunes sizzle

11/19/2009

A classic through a child’s eyes
Director Birgitta Victorson is looking at this year’s “Christmas Carol” at Trinity Rep through the wonder-filled eyes of her 1-year-old, a son named Magnus. She’s been spending a lot of time on the floor, she said, playing with toys and remembering what Christmas was like for her growing up in snowbound upstate New York, remembering the lights, the presents and putting a beer out for Santa.

Fusionworks Dance Company tries new act for its fall show
Fusionworks Dance Company is doing something a little different for this year’s fall concert, which is this weekend at Rhode Island College. It’s reserving one of its show’s two acts for just one dance: “Finning.”

11/15/2009

Anthony Rapp excited about rejoining ‘Rent’
When a press agent hands you over to actor Anthony Rapp, you know you’re talking to the man who knows “Rent” inside out. This is the guy who has been with the show from the beginning, from the workshops to Broadway, who has been in the film and written a New York Times best-selling memoir about his years with the production.

11/12/2009

Elemental Theatre in Providence hits all the right notes (but not too many) with ‘Amadeus’
Deftly written play has much to say about human behavior

Festival Ballet Providence sets the mood through movement
PROVIDENCE — You won’t find many messages. But you will find mood from movement, in many forms, from classical to modern.

When accepting a role, Greer knows what he wants
Bradford Greer was offered the part of the black housekeeper in 2nd Story Theatre’s “Another Part of the Forest” last season. But he turned it down, because the prejudice in the play was just “set dressing,” he said.

11/08/2009

ON BROADWAY
NEW YORK — Neil Simon was the crossover comedy king of Broadway and Hollywood for three decades, beginning when “Barefoot in the Park” and three other major shows overlapped in New York in the 1960s.

Cirque-like shows coming to PPAC, Foxwoods
From the time he was 10 years old, Chris Lashua spent every waking moment on a bicycle. Now he is building bicycle-like contraptions that are at the heart of a cirque-type show that is coming to PPAC next Saturday. “Cirque Mechanics” is a blend of acrobatics, aerial acts and contortion routines linked to the operations of simple machines that takes place in a factory setting.

11/01/2009

“Widow’s Broom” flies in Festival Ballet’s improved version
PROVIDENCE — “The Widow’s Broom” may not sweep-you off your feet. But it may give you a lift.

Arts Bulletin Board: Nov. 1
AUDITIONS

Soundheim sounds off on the state of the theater
Now, the legendary composer is on stage himself, dishing with former critic Frank Rich

10/30/2009

‘Shooting Star’ shines at Trinity
“Shooting Star,” a romantic comedy written by Steven Dietz, is now playing at Trinity Rep, 201 Washington St., Providence. It’s the story of a couple who accidentally reconnect 25 years after breaking up. Our review called it charming and endearing, with crisp writing and good acting. It runs through Nov. 22. For tickets, $20 to $65, call (401) 351-4242 or visit trinityrep.com.

10/29/2009

Humor gets its due at Gamm’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’
Gamm’s “Romeo and Juliet” tells Shakespeare’s tale of young love in both its aspects

Wiggles in Kingston on Friday
Calibrate your nap schedules. Here come the Wiggles.

‘The Widow’s Broom’ lands at Veterans Memorial Auditorium
Get swept up in Halloween. “The Widow’s Broom” is this weekend at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

Fallon, Wright team up at URI’s Ryan Center
What’s so funny? Well, this weekend at the University of Rhode Island it will be two special visitors: Jimmy Fallon and Steven Wright.

Elemental Theatre’s pared-down ‘Amadeus’ will have live orchestration
It’s the most ambitious project to date for the Elemental Theatre Collective

10/25/2009

Star-studded hits obscure Broadway’s challenges
NEW YORK — While Broadway is having one of its strongest fall seasons in overall ticket sales in recent years, that unusual financial success is being driven by the star-studded productions of three plays, obscuring challenges facing several other shows.

10/24/2009

Reminiscing and reconnecting in Trinity’s ‘Shooting Star’
PROVIDENCE— Shooting Star is bit rare, a romantic comedy that is funny, but also charming and endearing, and not removed from reality.

10/23/2009

Theater review: It’s a sunny, and raunchy, day on Avenue Q
PROVIDENCE — Puppets have their place in adult theater. It’s called Avenue Q.

10/22/2009

Horse hoofs it at RISD
See a Horse show with no equestrians. Horse, an all-male dance troupe from Taiwan, performs Saturday at 8 p.m. in the RISD Auditorium, 17 Canal Walk, Providence. The troupe blends experimental theater, mime, drama and dance. This particular show, Velocity, pertains to the various pressures that pull at people in modern society.

Prancing with the stars
A horse ballet will soon begin. The Lipizzaner Stallions return to Rhode Island this weekend.

Gamm Theatre’s Shakespeare productions a study in parallels
Tony Estrella, artistic head of Pawtucket’s Gamm Theatre, was figuring he would be exploring a couple of opposites when he decided to open the season with Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo and Juliet. These two Shakespeares provide a look at the Bard in his most hilarious moments and his most tragic.

Theater Review: Fine performances can’t rescue ridiculous ‘Anna Bella Eema’
PROVIDENCE — There are good parts of Anna Bella Eema. Unfortunately, one of them is when it ends.

Avenue Q, a sort of R-rated version of Sesame Street, now at PPAC
The Tony Award-winning Avenue Q, the long-running Broadway musical whose story is told using Sesame Street-style puppets, is on stage through Sunday at the Providence Performing Arts Center. And the show is as funny as it is clever.

10/18/2009

A chat with Trinity Rep’s Curt Columbus
The artistic director talks about how a season is put together and Providence’s ranking among the nation’s best theater cities.

10/17/2009

Mansion befits Dracula’s grandeur
NEWPORT — Dracula delivers drama. It marries music and movement, plot and place.

10/18/2009

Jeff Marx went from the law to ‘Avenue Q’
As a budding lawyer, Jeff Marx joined a songwriting workshop looking for clients. He’d developed a knack for writing songs when in law school, but now he was trying to make contacts.

10/15/2009

Belcourt Castle is the set for vampire story
NEWPORT — Women, watch your necks. Everyone else, just watch the show, and the setting. It should be something: Dracula.

Shooting Star marks acting couple’s return to Trinity after 15 years
It has been 15 years since actors and real-life couple Nance Williamson and Kurt Rhoads have been on stage at Trinity Rep. And things have changed a lot. Rhoads can recall watching a couple of “hustlers” duke it out in front of the porno shop that used to be across from Trinity and is now the upscale restaurant Bravo.