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Chita Rivera and "The Visit" open on Broadway to mixed, but mostly positive reviews

Chita Rivera and “The Visit” open on Broadway to mixed, but mostly positive reviews

Last summer Williamstown Theatre Festival hosted a glorious revival of Kander and Ebb’s dark musical The Visit and tickets were the object of veneration as New Yorkers joined locals in trying to get a peek at what director John Doyle, playwright Terrence McNally and Broadway superstar Chita Rivera had wrought. A superb cast including the return of former WTF leader Roger Rees clinched the deal…

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A spellbinding tale of two actors: Ed Dixon and "Georgie" Rose at the Sharon Playhouse

A spellbinding tale of two actors: Ed Dixon and “Georgie” Rose at the Sharon Playhouse

Ed Dixon quietly invokes the spirit of George Rose as the performance ends. Georgie: The Life and Death of George Rose Theatre Review by Larry Murray An actor’s memoirs are always fascinating since they often reveal the real person under the theatrical persona. Ed Dixon’s play about George Rose goes incredibly deep into the life of George Rose, but in so doing, we find that we are also learning…

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Review: "Butler" at Barrington Stage opens season with laughs, history, great acting

Review: “Butler” at Barrington Stage opens season with laughs, history, great acting

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Review: Ideas and personalities clash in "The How and The Why" at Shakespeare & Co

Review: Ideas and personalities clash in “The How and The Why” at Shakespeare & Co

Tod Randolph (l) as Zelda and Bridget Saracino (r) as Rachel. Photo by John Dolan. The How and The Why at Shakespeare & Co Theatre review by Gail M. Burns and Larry Murray Gail M. Burns: The How and The Why is a play about the biological fact of being female. It is not about sexual preference or gender roles, it is about being biologically, physiologically female. The two characters in the play –…

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Review: Jeff McCarthy illuminates a darker, more visceral "Man of La Mancha"

Review: Jeff McCarthy illuminates a darker, more visceral “Man of La Mancha”

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"Shining City" Reviewed - 90 minutes of self loathing, then a ghastly conclusion

“Shining City” Reviewed – 90 minutes of self loathing, then a ghastly conclusion

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Chester Theatre Company opens season with "Discord" - a comedy of ideas

Chester Theatre Company opens season with “Discord” – a comedy of ideas

(l to r) Michael Sean McGuinness as Tolstoy, Rik Walter as Dickens, Ezra Barnes as Jefferson The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord Theatre Review by Gail M. Burns In 1987 playwright Scott Carter had a near fatal asthma attack. During a week-long stay in the hospital he confronted his own mortality, faith life, and ideas of what, if anything,…

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Jessica Hecht and Justin Long dazzle in premiere of "Legacy" at Williamstown Theatre Festival

Jessica Hecht and Justin Long dazzle in premiere of “Legacy” at Williamstown Theatre Festival

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"A Murder is Announced" at the Theater Barn is 'classic Christie' says Gail Burns

“A Murder is Announced” at the Theater Barn is ‘classic Christie’ says Gail Burns

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No heat, just words inform a passionless "Kinship" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival

No heat, just words inform a passionless “Kinship” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival

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Burns and Cane on "Bells are Ringing," a musical from the Berkshire Theatre Group at Colonial Theatre

Burns and Cane on “Bells are Ringing,” a musical from the Berkshire Theatre Group at Colonial Theatre

James Ludwig (center) in Bells Are Ringing at Berkshire Theatre Group. Photo by Reid Thompson. Bells are Ringing at the Berkshire Theatre Group Theatre Review by Gail M. Burns and Roseann Cane Roseann Cane: Bells are Ringing opened on Broadway in 1956 – the same year that Candide, The Most Happy Fella, and My Fair Lady premiered (Oh, to have a time machine!) – and ran for 924 performances With a…

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Magnificent cast, spectacular production of "Peter and the Starcatcher" at Weston Playhouse

Magnificent cast, spectacular production of “Peter and the Starcatcher” at Weston Playhouse

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A fresh look at Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers" at Barrington Stage Company

A fresh look at Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers” at Barrington Stage Company

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Nick Blaemire's "A Little More Alive" bursts onto the stage of the Musical Theatre Lab at Barrington Stage

Nick Blaemire’s “A Little More Alive” bursts onto the stage of the Musical Theatre Lab at Barrington Stage

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Review: A gritty "Paradise Blue" from Williamstown Theatre Festival

Review: A gritty “Paradise Blue” from Williamstown Theatre Festival

(l) Blair Underwood and (r) De’Adre Aziza in Paradise Blue. Photograph T .Charles Erickson De’Adre Aziza and Kristolyn Lloyd shine in Paradise Blue at Williamstown Theatre Festival Theatre Review by Larry Murray In Dominique Morisseau’s “Detroit Cycle” of three plays, it is the women who come most vividly to life, and in Paradise Blue, that is doubly true as Kristolyn Lloyd brings a sad sweetness…

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Young Shakespeare & Co actors bring "Hamlet" to vivid life outdoors at The Mount

Young Shakespeare & Co actors bring “Hamlet” to vivid life outdoors at The Mount

Luke Reed’s Hamlet takes his story directly to the audience for an intense live theatre experience. Only a young cast like this could bring out the essence of Hamlet so brilliantly Theatre Review by Gail M. Burns This production shows why I hate doing those crystal-ball style predictions at the start of the season, a task we critics are too often called upon to perform. Out in the daylight, pared…

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Review: "The Unexpected Man" arrives at Shakespeare & Company

Review: “The Unexpected Man” arrives at Shakespeare & Company

Corinna May as The Woman . Photo by Enrico Spada. From Frankfurt to Paris with “The Unexpected Man” by Yasmina Reza Theatre Review by Gail M. Burns A man and a woman share their thoughts with us in extended monologues as they share a compartment aboard a train traveling from Paris to Frankfurt. Only occasionally do they connect with each other. She knows exactly who he is – Paul Parsky, the…