Upcoming Plays February - March

Upcoming plays for February-March 2010:

At the Majestic Theater in West Springfield, Mass. the historical drama about the confrontation between Sir Thomas More and King Henry VIII in “A Man for All Seasons” by Robert Bolt runs February 25th through April 3rd.

At the Merrimack Repertory in Lowell, Mass. “Black Pearl Sings!” by Frank Higgins is currently making its regional premiere and runs through March 7th. “A search for lost African-American folk music leads Susannah, an ambitious “song collector” for the Library of Congress, to Pearl, a woman with a soulful voice, a steely spirit and an incredible history. Featuring many beloved American folk songs and spirituals, the legacy of the past clashes with their hopes for the future, as they journey to find their way out of the shadows and into the spotlight.”

The Portland Stage of Portland, Maine presents “Master Harold ... and the Boys” by Athol Fugard March 2nd through March 21st. “A sometimes comic, frequently searing, and ultimately hopeful coming of age story set during a rain-soaked afternoon in South Africa. Fugard's masterpiece is a powerful examination of the impact of apartheid on the close friendship between young Hally, a teenager from a fractured family trying to find his place, and two black servants.”

The Shubert Theater of New Haven, Connecticut presents the family favorite musical “Annie” March 5th through March 7th.

The American Repertory Theater of Boston presents “Paradise Lost”, by Clifford Odets, directed by Daniel Fish. A multimedia presentation.

The Bushnell of Hartford, Connecticut presents a musical review “Century of Broadway” featuring Jeff Tyzik with Christiane Noll (see my review of Christiane Noll in Broadway Year-By-Year last summer at the Berkshire Theatre Festival) and Doug LaBrecque. “From Gilbert & Sullivan and Irving Berlin, to Rodgers & Hammerstein and Andrew Lloyd Weber – we invite you to tour the world of Broadway over the course of a century with three of today’s most accomplished artists. Jeff Tyzik is principal pops conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic, Vancouver and Oregon Symphony Orchestras. Christiane Noll made her Broadway debut as Emma in Jekyll & Hyde, received an Ovation Award for her role in the national tour of Urinetown, and wowed audiences in the American premieres of The Mambo Kings and The Witches Of Eastwick. Doug LaBrecque has starred as both The Phantom and Raoul in the Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera, played Ravenal in the Harold Prince revival of Showboat, and toured nationally with Les Misérables.”

At The Huntington in Boston, "Stick Fly" by Lydia R. Diamond, directed by Kenny Leon runs February 19th through March 21st.

“Sparks fly and long-hidden secrets tumble into the open when the LeVay brothers bring their new girlfriends home to Martha's Vineyard's world of privilege. This smart, moving, and funny portrait of a complex African-American family from acclaimed Huntington Playwriting Fellow Lydia R. Diamond (Voyeurs de Venus) is an of-the-moment look at sibling rivalry and the weight of parental expectations.”

The Westport Country Playhouse presents Agatha Christie's classic murder mystery “And Then There Were None” as its first installment of the Script in Hand playreading series, Monday, February 22nd.

Featuring Playhouse alumni and audience favorites Geneva Carr (How The Other Half Loves), Keir Dullea ((Butterflies Are Free), Beth Fowler (David Copperfield), Charlotte Moore (The Fatal Weakness), Ciarán O'Reilly (The Streets of New York), Joe Paulik (Old Wicked Songs), Jay O. Sanders, Mark Shanahan (Around the World in 80 Days), Doug Stender (A Marriage Minuet), and Paxton Whitehead (How The Other Half Loves).

Nelson Theatre - Springfield, Mass.

The Nelson Theatre of Springfield, built in 1909, the heyday of vaudeville, was a thriving house in a city with a thriving entertainment industry. We can see by this vintage postcard the Nelson was a feature of Main Street activity in the days when trolleys and horseless carriages competed with horse-drawn wagons and carriages in a chaos of mixed, but slower, traffic.

It became the Fox Theater after World War I, and vaudeville gave way, as so many theatrical houses did, to the movies. By the middle 1930s, it was the Art, and by 1961, it was gone.

The Nelson Theatre had the typical favorable setup of downtown theaters in those days; it was nestled in an area of hotels and restaurants, and only a block or two down from the train station (fortunate both for grand arrivals and quick exits). Despite the collage of conveyances in this postcard scene, it was a walker’s paradise.

Tremont Theatre - Boston

We recently received a question from Herb about the Tremont Theatre in Boston. Above is a photo Herb sent which he reckoned at being from about 1925.

There were a few theaters in Boston named Tremont Theatre at various times, at least three that I can think of, and perhaps more.

I believe the one in the photo is the Tremont Theatre at 176 Tremont Street across from Boston Common. I think it was built in the late 1880s, and in the mid-1930s started converting from a "legitimate" theater to a movie theater. It was re-named the Astor Theatre in 1947. The Astor Theater went out of business, I believe, in the 1970s or '80s. I'm not sure the building is still there.

However, the Cinema Treasures website has a description of this theater, with many interesting comments from readers sharing their knowledge about its history. If any of you have anything further to add, I’d love to hear from you.

Also visible in the photo above is the Hazel Boone School of Dancing just above the theater marquee. Herb’s family was involved in the operation of the Hazel Boone School of Dancing, and would like anyone with any information or memories to share about it to contact him at this website.

Ada Dyas, Comedienne

Ada Dyas, comedienne, must have taken the train from Norwalk, Connecticut to reach her stage work in New York. This ad in the Byrnes’ Dramatic Times from the 1880s is ambiguous for its very simplicity. Was she looking for work? Was she merely announcing she had arrived? Maybe both.

Ada Dyas, born in 1843, was an Irish actress who played in “Henry IV” in London in 1861, and would later become famous for her featured or starring roles in comedies. One of these most famous plays was Dion Boucicault’s “The Shaugraun.” We mentioned in this previous post that playwright/actor Mr. Boucicault played at Boston’s Hollis Theater in the late 1880s.

Here is link to a photo of Ada Dyas in “The Shaugraun.” We have another portrait of her as described by novelist Edith Wharton in “The Age of Innocence” (D. Appleton & Co., NY, 1920). In the book, the character Newland Archer is captivated by the scene in the play where Dyas and the hero part in romantic silence.

“The actress, who was standing near the mantlepiece and looking down into the fire, wore a gray cashmere dress, without fashionable loopings or trimmings, moulded to her tall figure and flowing in long lines down her back….” Wharton goes on to describe the famous scene where the actor in silent parting kisses one of the ribbons.

Edith Wharton, less romantically, remarks, “Miss Dyas was a tall red-haired woman of monumental build,” with a “pale and pleasantly ugly face…”

Her ungainly appearance, even more than her talent for it, would have consigned Miss Dyas to the comedienne’s roles. But, in her obituary in the New York Times, March 13, 1908, Ada Dyas is recalled in more dignified terms.

“She belonged to a school of actresses taught to pronounce the English language with marked accuracy.” Truly, a product of a bygone era was Miss Dyas of London, New York, and Norwalk, Connecticut.

Thomas Mitchell Tours in "Death of a Salesman"

“Death of Salesman” by Arthur Miller was a Broadway hit of 1949. Two years later in November 1950 its Broadway run ended. A few months later in January of 1951, Thomas Mitchell starred as Willy Loman at the Court Square Theater in Springfield, Mass. as the road show toured New England.

Mr. Mitchell, one Hollywood’s greatest character actors who had performed in some of Hollywood’s greatest films, was making the transition in 1951 from films to television roles. The better part of the 1950s he played on TV, but before this transition he had made an earlier one from stage to movies.

Thomas Mitchell had first appeared on Broadway in 1916, and through the 20s had been a stage actor until Hollywood gave him a new career. He was actually the first actor ever to win the three awards: the Tony, the Emmy, and the Oscar.

But from January 8th through the 10th, 1951, he was Willy Loman in Springfield.

One-year blog anniversary.

This blog was started a year ago tomorrow. Thank you for the pleasure of your company.

Upcoming plays for January 2010

Upcoming plays in New England for January 2010:

At Boston’s Colonial Theatre:
“Strega Nona” is the musical tale of a friendly magical witch- with a funny name- who strives to cure the ills of her tiny Italian town of Calabria. The baker has bunions ("As big as an onion"), his daughter wishes for witchery, and the local single ladies are always unlucky in love. The town faces real problems when a local lug named Big Anthony sneaks a peek at Strega Nona's magic book and uses Strega Nona’s magical ways for selfish means. When Anthony fools with the magic pasta pot, and can't figure out how to turn it off, pasta threatens to engulf the whole town -- unless Strega Nona can save the day. With an energetic and tuneful score by composer Aron Accurso, this fantastical tale teaches that witches can be good, and that and you can’t judge a pot by its pasta!

At the Hartford Stage:
“Gee's Bend” By Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder runs from January 14th through February 11th.
Directed by Hana Sharif, “Meet the women of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, who sing hauntingly beautiful gospel melodies as they create magnificent handmade quilts. The story of the women of Gee’s Bend, who quilted their way to economic freedom, already has touched millions of people who witnessed their stunning quilt work through a national exhibition tour, and features in Newsweek, House and Garden and Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine.”

At the Majestic Theater of West Springfield, Massachusetts: “Almost Maine” by John Cariani runs January 7th to February 14th. “The story takes place under the Northern Lights on a cold and clear night in the mythical town of Almost. It got its name because it’s, “not an actual town” as one of the locals explains, “since we only almost got around to gettin’ organized.” But the residents there do fall in and out of love in unexpected and hilarious ways. Knees get bruised. Hearts get broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend in this magical play. “ALMOST, MAINE” aims for the heart by way of the
funny bone – and hits ‘em both!”

At the Merrimack Repertory Theater in Lowell, Mass
“Fabuloso” by John Kolvenbach runs January 7th through the 31st.

“Do you have a friend who is the life of the party? But what if that friend never left and the party never stopped? Teddy and Kate are living a quiet existence in their one-bedroom apartment, until Teddy’s long lost friend, Arthur, appears out of the blue, with his fiancée in tow. A screwball comedy of living life to the fullest. (Contains Adult Situations and Adult Language).”

At Maine’s The Portland Stage:
“The Mystery of Irma Vep” by Charles Ludlam runs January 26th through February 21st.
“A hilariously exaggerated spoof of Gothic horror and Victorian melodrama in which an unsuspecting woman marries a mysterious Lord, only to discover that the presence of his first wife still haunts the manor house. Complete with vengeful vampires and damsels in distress, Irma Vep is filled with witty literary allusions, subversive political jabs and one of the funniest “penny dreadful” plots ever to take the stage!"

At the American Repertory Theatre, Boston, from January 7th through February 7th:

“Gatz”
“One morning in the low-rent office of a mysterious small business, an employee finds a copy of The Great Gatsby in the clutter of his desk. He starts to read it out loud, and doesn’t stop. At first his coworkers hardly notice. But after a series of strange coincidences, it’s no longer clear whether he’s reading the book or the book is doing something to him.”

“An audacious theatrical tour de force, Gatz is not a stage adaptation of Fitzgerald’s novel, but a reading of the entire book – brilliantly brought to life by one of New York’s most exciting and acclaimed theater companies, Elevator Repair Service.

A fully staged theatrical production in which every word of the novel is spoken, verbatim, by the cast of 13 actors, who speak the dialogue of the characters. The actor who plays Nick Carraway speaks all of the narration.”

At The Bushnell, Hartford, Connecticut:

“In The Heights” runs from January 5th through the 10th.
“In The Heights, winner of four 2008 Tony Awards® including BEST MUSICAL, is a sensational new show about chasing your dreams and finding your true home.
In The Heights is an exhilarating journey into a vibrant Manhattan community – a place where the coffee is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music.”

And at Boston’s The Huntington:

The American classic “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller runs January 8th through February 27th. Directed by David Esbjornson at the B.U. Theatre – Mainstage.