Every now and then, I like to see theatre that will amuse me. Pure and simple. Bad Habit Productions, a My Theatre Award winning Boston company, delivers solid production after production. Their latest show is an original adaptation of one of the Bard’s finest comedies. Their William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing . . . […]
I have mixed feelings about Sam Leith’s novel, The Coincidence Engine. The basic plot is that there’s this genius/madman mathematician named Nicolas Banacharski, who may or may not have started trying to find the mathematical proofs for an “engine” that would make the highly improbable/impossible, possible. Naturally, what exactly has happened to him is shrouded […]
*spoiler alert* I was sure, going into the Parks & Rec finale last night, that Leslie Knope would lose the election. All TV characters lose elections because no one likes to move a sitcom forward. But Parks & Rec couldn’t care less about rules like that (other rules they discard: Sam & Diane, cast […]
Song cycles are tough. With isolated songs and vignettes, the audience glimpses briefly into the lives of the people in Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World. These people are faced with that moment of decision-making, where they stand on the brink of choice and change. I find the concept really electric and intriguing. […]
With so many up-and-coming bands racing to sign with a label and moving faster than the speed of light, it is refreshing to see a local band thrive as well as they have while taking it easy and enjoying the journey. Toronto’s Octobre’s Ending is certainly a well-polished gem, having been in the biz for […]
This episode was almost entirely invented. It all works, obviously, within the confines of the book, but I found the fact that most of it was made up for the TV show distracting throughout. Which is absurd, since all of Game of Thrones was made up (that’s what fiction is, Nisenkier), but there you go. […]
Timing is everything. The Boston University College of Fine Arts showcased some astounding talent in their recent production of Assassins by musical genius Stephen Sondheim. Concluding their year-long “Keyword: Violence” festival, the CFA program explores America’s famous (and not so famous) assassins through their stories and motives, but, more importantly, the show offers a compelling […]
Michel Tremblay has mommy issues. The more of his work that I see, the more I recognize the loving but fraught tension that drives young writers to write about their mothers. In the beautiful, hopeful and inventive For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, Tremblay recreates his mother in exuberant, true, and positive detail. In […]