Insider a Spotlight on Change in the Local Theater Scene
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G2 The Boston Globe FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019 Insider hanges are rippling 32 new works, he says the Next Voices across the Boston area’s program, which selected a small group small and midsize the- “I want to think more of local playwrights to develop new ater scene in the form of broadly about how we work, will remain on hold this season. new leadership, a new educate and get “I’m trying to see as much theater Cvenue, and more active conversations audiences excited around town and meet as many people around diversity, equity, and theater’s about coming to the in the community as I can,” he says. “I role in the cultural conversation. theater,” says built my career on merging art and “No art form should become stuck,” Michael J. Bobbitt, commerce, and I want to make sure says Harold Steward, who, with Evelyn New Repertory I’m drawing on the imagination and Francis, shares producing co-executive Theatre’s artistic creativity of an inclusive group of col- director responsibilities at The The- director. leagues, so I don’t act in a vacuum.” ater Offensive. “We are a social justice Boruta, at Umbrella Stage in Con- organization committed to creating cord, says the company has a three- and presenting theater that moves year plan with Equity (the union of ac- people to action. We need to be agile as tors, directors, and designers) to make we think about what that aesthetic sure they take the time to get to know looks like.” both the professional theater commu- In Watertown, Michael J. Bobbitt, nity and a broader audience base. New Repertory Theatre’s new artistic “We are opening the new space director, says he’s continuing the com- with ‘42nd Street,’ ” says Boruta, “be- pany’s mission of presenting plays that cause that show is such a pure celebra- “speak powerfully to the vital ideas of tion of theater and the people who our time,” but he wants to make sure make it happen. It will allow everyone those productions both entertain and who has been supporting the $20M provoke conversations. building campaign over the past seven “I want to think more broadly years to see what they donated to.” about how we educate and get audi- The rest of Umbrella Stage’s mix in- ences excited about coming to the the- cludes “Fences,” “Tuck Everlasting” ater,” Bobbitt says. “Are we a civic cen- (“our first family-friendly production,” ter for theater? How can we encourage Boruta says), the regional premiere of opportunities for audiences to ‘talk a new folk-punk musical “Hundred about’ rather than just ‘talk back’?” Days,” and the dueling divas musical In Concord, Umbrella Stage Com- “War Paint,” starring Boston favorites pany producing artistic director Brian Leigh Barrett and Shana Dirik. Boruta says the former community This time of transition promises to NIC ANTAYA FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE theater’s step up to professional-the- usher in an exciting new wave of theat- ater status with a new 344-seat prosce- rical experiences in the Boston area. nium-style main stage and a flexible | TERRY BYRNE 80- to 100-seat black box will not STAGES Kudos to local high school change the theater’s commitment to songwriter plays and musicals that are a little bit Tessa Barcelo, a rising high school outside the box. sophomore at Andover High School, is “Our audience demographic has A spotlight on change one of six regional winners in the Na- leaned more toward young profession- tional Endowment for the Arts’ annual als and young parents who want a Musical Theater Songwriting Chal- night out, so we don’t usually mount lenge. In Barcelo’s song “Queen,” the productions of the classics,” says Boru- in the local theater scene queen of the mermaids reminds a ta. “With the opening of the new spac- young mermaid to embrace who she is es in September, we want to balance a and do what she must. “Queen” was bit of spectacle with more intimate community work.” rently support youth ages 14-22, while grammed by outgoing artistic director chosen from nearly 170 applications shows, and for the first time, reach out The Theater Offensive will continue other programs go up to age 29, but Jim Petosa and Bobbitt; it includes the submitted nationwide. Produced in to families.” to work closely with communities on new programs might reach children two-hander “Nixon’s Nixon,” the musi- partnership with the American The- While many local theater artists are its award-winning True Colors pro- ages 10-12. I’m so impressed that the cals “Oliver” and “Hair,” August Wil- ater Wing (producer of the Tony impatient for change, all four of the gram and will produce “Water in the teens are eager to train each other and son’s “Fences,” “Lady Day at Emerson’s Awards), the Songwriting Challenge leaders interviewed said listening will Basement,” a play about racism and support each other with creative ex- Bar and Grill,” and the regional pre- will pair Barcelo and the other finalists be as important as acting this year. political violence (Oct. 17-20). Al- pression.” miere of “Trayf,” a play exploring faith with a professional theater songwriter Steward says The Theater Offensive though the company has moved away At New Rep, Bobbitt says he is and friendship in the Hasidic commu- and music director for a mentorship has been in the midst of changes for from its high-profile Out on the Edge starting with an inside-out approach nity. that will result in a Broadway-stage- the past two years, as founding artistic Festival, Francis says that work has to being more inclusive, starting with Bobbitt says he’s also committed to ready original composition, as well as director Abe Rybeck prepared to step just become more embedded in com- the theater company’s job descrip- finding creative ways to involve the publication in a songbook from pro- down after 30 years. munities rather than traditional the- tions. community earlier in the creative pro- gram partner Samuel French. Record- “We have to be intentional about ater spaces. That shift has highlighted “I love the universality of theater, cess, so that “by the time we get to the ings of the songs will also be produced who we want to be,” says Steward. “For new needs. and its ability to chronicle the human performance, audiences are deeply featuring Broadway performers and 25 years we’ve been serving the LG- “Many of the individuals who par- experience,” he says, “but I’m also ob- connected to what they see on stage.” musicians. BTQ community. It’s critical at this ticipate in our True Colors work are ea- sessed with embracing more artists Although in the 12 years he spent moment that we serve as a cultural ger to invite younger people to partici- and audiences who look like me.” leading Adventure Theatre-MTC in Terry Byrne can be reached at contributor and organizer attached to pate,” says Francis. “Our programs cur- New Rep’s season was jointly pro- Washington, D.C., Bobbitt produced [email protected]. ALBUM REVIEW On ‘Immunity,’ Clairo takes pop in a fresh direction By Chris Triunfo GLOBE CORRESPONDENT espite her rising stardom, Claire Cottrill has struggled to separate herself from the do-it-yourself bedroom pop label critics gave her in the summer of 2017. That D year found Cottrill, now known as Clairo, stuck at home in Carlisle, making a video of herself sitting in bed singing and dancing along to her song “Pretty Girl.” The video became an instant hit and has since amassed more than 37 million views. Minimal, twinkly synths push the track for- Photographs by ward, but it’s Cottrill’s lyrics that make the song so appealing. An el- Photography Franco Fontana oquent exploration of teenage emotions, it conveys conflicting (clockwise from thoughts on love, heartbreak, and self-worth. top left): “Los For the past two years, the singer has been shaking bedroom pop shaped from Angeles”; off her back. Now with her debut album, “Immunity,” Clairo has “Venice, Los found her sound, one more elab- color and Angeles”; orate and fitting for the lyrical “Puglia”; and prowess that made “Pretty Girl” abstraction “Basilicata.” such a hit. The album hits a gorgeous By Cate McQuaid peak with the fifth song, “Bags.” GLOBE CORRESPONDENT It features an acoustic guitar, an “Color is the place where our brain upbeat percussion line, and and the universe meet,” wrote painter strikingly sad lyrics. “Can you Paul Klee. And photography is the PROVENANCE: STUDIO OF FRANCO FONTANA see me using everything to hold place where imagina- back?/ I guess this could be GALLERIES tion meets reality. FRANCO FONTANA: TRUE COLOR Sure, you might say, it’s easy to find worse/ Walking out the door Franco Fontana, the At Robert Klein Gallery, 38 Newbury geometric abstraction in a city — but with your bags,” Clairo sings. 85-year-old master of color photogra- St., through Aug. 16. 617-267-7997, the countryside? Fontana’s rural The production follows her nar- phy, makes work at those two junc- www.roberkleingallery.com scenes look like distillations. In “Pug- rative, rising and falling with an tures. His “True Color” exhibition is at lia,” yellow incandesces beneath a energy that is perfectly in sync Robert Klein Gallery. black horizon line swelling with a low with her hushed singing. Fontana finds and frames shapes hill. Two white clouds are stacked per- This is the work of producer Rostam Batmanglij, who is primari- in the landscape so spare and orderly geometry of a Kazimir Malevich paint- fectly above that rise in the sapphire ly known for his work with Vampire Weekend (on “Impossible,” lis- his photographs lean into abstraction.