Emily Brenner

OUR TOWN, AND YOURS Thorton Wilder’s 1938 Pulitzer Prize winning play Our Town is a masterpiece, drawing on inspiration from the likes of Bertholt Brecht and traditional Chinese theatre. With touches of feminism ahead of his time, and a celebration of the connections between the everyday and the cosmic dimensions of human experience, Wilder constructed…

THE SHOW BEHIND THE SHOW A well-done backstage farce is always a good time, especially for theatre lovers. But a well-done backstage farce with something to say, with layers and depth—that is harder to come by, and even more of a good time—thespian or no. Hats off to Hub Theatre Company of Boston‘s The Understudy…

A HELLO, DOLLY! FOR OUR TIMES If you’d like to know how it’s possible to take a decidedly dated musical written in 1964 (set in 1890) and make it come freshly and fully alive today, go see the Lyric Stage Company of Boston’s vibrant production of Hello, Dolly!, playing until June 22. Director Maurice Emmanuel…

“You can almost hear what everyone’s feeling”—an aside delivered to the audience midway through the show—neatly sums up what is most striking about The Light in the Piazza, playing at the Huntington Theatre. The idea that emotions can transcend language is at the heart of this beautiful, heartbreaking, and heartwarming musical. As characters alternate between…

SIT BACK AND LET THIS CAST TAKE YOU TO CHURCH Aptly described as a powerful mix of gospel music and “hattitude,” Moonbox Production’s Crowns—which opened last night at Arrow Street Arts—indeed hits on many levels. Regina Taylor’s adaptation of the eponymous coffee table book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry flows easily between music and…

GOING WRONG NEVER FELT SO RIGHT Like any great farce, the success of The Play That Goes Wrong depends on the utmost precision and skill of the actors, crew, and design team to make everything go right while simultaneously making it all appear to the audience to be going woefully wrong. It’s all in the…

A MAN OF GRAVE IMPORTANCE Each of us is both a man of no importance and of grave importance, which is why A Man of No Importance—crafted by musical theatre’s top-tier triumvirate of Terrence McNally (book), Lynn Ahrens (lyrics), and Stephen Flaherty (music)—feels so universally appealing, touching, topical and urgent. This intimate musical becomes even…

IF SOMETHING’S ROTTEN, IT SURE ISN’T THIS DELIGHTFUL PRODUCTION If you’re ready for a break from the woes of daily life and tragic news cycles but can’t swing a European getaway, head on over to Arrow St Arts in a quaint corner of Harvard Square where Moonbox Productions is mounting a delightful Dirty Rotten Scoundrels….

IT MAY BE DATED, BUT IT’S A POIFECT MUSICAL WITH WHICH YOUSE CAN TAKE A DATE Guys and Dolls has long been considered by many to be the perfect musical. Since its premiere in 1950, some have claimed it’s sexist, dated, simplistic, and stereotypical in its depiction of women as property (then again, virtually everything…

BLACK IN THE GAME Toni Stone is as much about storytelling as it is about the story it is telling. Thanks to the inspiring source material by Martha Ackmann and this resulting play poignantly written and directed by Lydia R. Diamond, this important piece of history is vividly brought to life in its regional premiere…