Superb American Buffalo at Acme Theater

07Mar13

As much as I like community theater, I have to say that for this North Shore resident, Maynard’s Acme Theatre is a little outside my jurisdiction. But the opportunity to see Nancy Curran Willis direct David Mamet‘s American Buffalo last Saturday during the show’s opening weekend was one I just couldn’t pass up. The show […]

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Tags: Acme Theatre, American Buffalo, Bill Stambaugh, David Mamet, James Barton, Jordan DiGloria, Maynard, Maynard MA, Maynard Massachusetts, Nancy Curran Willis, stage, theater, theatre

‘Crimes of the Heart’ at Gloucester Stage Company

04Sep12

After the burning intensity of their last two shows – 9 Circles and Master Harold… and the Boys – for its summer season finale, Gloucester Stage Company sends us off into the cool autumn with a comedy. Set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart is a slice of Southern life, and its […]

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Tags: comedy, theater, Mark Sardella, Gloucester Stage Company, stage, theatre, Rachel Padula-Shufelt, drama, Crimes of the Heart, Beth Henley, Carmel O'Reilly, McCaela Donovan, Liz Hayes, Will Keary, Lenni Kmiec, Melody Madarasz, Liam McNeill, Gary Ng, Jenna McFarland-Lord, Russ Swift, Brendan Marr

“9 Circles” at Gloucester Stage Company

22Aug12

War is hell, and in Bill Cain’s “9 Circles,” Iraq War veteran Private Daniel Reeves must descend through his own inferno in order to arrive at his only shot at redemption. But are all of the demons he encounters in this hell of his own making? That’s the question that he – and the audience […]

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Tags: 9 Circles, Amanda Collins, atrocities, atrocity, Bill Cain, drama, Eric C. Engel, Gloucester Stage Company, Iraq War, Jimi Stanton, Mark Sardella, play, review, soldier, theater, theatre, war, Will McGarrahan

“Master Harold”…and the Boys, at Gloucester Stage Company

01Aug12

Through August 12, 2012 On those occasions when great writing, stunning performances and superb direction collide on stage, the result can be a theatrical experience from which it can take a while to come down – for the audience as well as the actors. The current Gloucester Stage Company production of Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold”… […]

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Tags: "Master Harold"...and the Boys, Anthony Wills Jr, apartheid, Athol Fugard, Benny Sato Ambush, drama, Gloucester Stage Company, Johnny Lee Davenport, Mark Sardella, Peter Mark Kendall, play, South Africa, stage, theater, theatre

Steel Magnolias at Next Door Theater

23Jul12

Performances July 26, 27 and 28 You might assume that a play set in a beauty salon and featuring all female characters would appeal mainly to women – the theatrical equivalent of a “chick flick.” But after seeing the Next Door Theatre’s production of “Steel Magnolias,” what sticks with you are the play’s universal themes, […]

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Tags: actor, actors, actress, actresses, Amelia Broome, Beth Gotha, diabetes, drama, Jackie Coco, Margaret McCarty, Mark Sardella, Melissa Marie Walker, Nancy Curran Willis, Next Door Theater, play, Robert Harling, Sarajane Mullins, stage, Steel Magnolias

Quannapowitt Players Present a Moving Diary of Anne Frank

24May12

With a cast of 15, the Quannapowitt Players‘ “The Diary of Anne Frank” captures the terror, tension and tenderness experienced by two Jewish families being hidden from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II, as told by Anne Frank in her diary of her family’s two years in hiding. The production is directed by […]

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Tags: Anne Frank, Becky Klein, community theater, Daily Item, Diary of Anne Frank, drama, Nancy Curran Willis, play, QP, Quannapowitt Players, Quannapowitt Playhouse, Reading, Reading MA, Reading Massachusetts, stage, theater, theatre, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts

Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks Swing Through Harvard Square

04Dec11

Several hundred aging hipsters, baby boomers and a few relative youngsters packed the First Parish Church in Harvard Square on Friday, December 2, 2011 to see San Francisco Bay area legends, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks. The Cambridge concert was the Boston area stop on the band’s “Holidaze in Hicksville” tour. A few minutes […]

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Tags: 2011, Benito Cortez, Cambridge, Cambridge MA, Cambridge Massachusetts, concert, Dan Hicks, Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks, December 2 2011, First parish Church, Harvard Square, Heptunes, Lickettes, music, Paul Smith, review, sing, songs

Even Sans Pols, Parade Packs Punch

21Jul11

It takes the Wakefield Independence Day Committee many months to put together the annual July Fourth Parade, and Monday’s parade was no exception. But even for mere spectators, attending the parade involves a good deal of advance planning in order to stake out a prime viewing spot. As early as Sunday afternoon there were so […]

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A Wakefield Kid After All

10Mar11

On March 11, 2011, Scott Brown, the United States Senator who grew up in Wakefield, Massachusetts will be inducted into the Wakefield High School Alumni Hall of Fame. Even Sen. Brown, whose time growing up here was often far from idyllic, would probably concede that Wakefield wasn’t a bad place to grow up. Just after […]

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Tags: Daily Item, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Scott Brown, Sen. Scott Brown, senate United States Senate, Senator Scott Brown, US Senate, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield High School Alumni Hall of Fame, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts

TRAD is an Irish Feast of Words

09Sep10

At Gloucester Stage Company through September 12 In the opening scene of TRAD, 100 year-old Thomas shuffles over to wake his improbably ancient father who is sleeping on a wooden cot. That absurd premise sets the tone for Mark Doherty’s hilarious fable set in the Irish countryside. TRAD is also a grand way for Gloucester […]

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Tags: acting, actor, actors, Billy Meleady, Carmel O’Reilly, cast, Colin Hamell, drama, Gloucester MA, Gloucester Mass, Gloucester Massachusetts, Gloucester Stage Company, Ireland, Irish, J Michael Griggs, Jayscott Crosley, John Malinowski, Mark Doherty, Nancy E. Carroll, play, playwright, playwrights, priest, Rachel Padula-Shufelt, stage, theater, theatre, theatres, TRAD, tradition