ARRESTING NEW DRAMA A GUIDE FOR THE HOMESICKBY DIRECTED BY KEN COLMAN OCT.6-NOV.4 URBAN DOMINGO SOUTH END CALDERWOOD PAVILION AT THE BCA Seasonal cocktails, handmade pasta, perfectly cooked steaks & fresh seafood, expertly prepared using the nest ingredients. At Davio’s, it’s all about the guest. CONTENTS OCTOBER–NOVEMBER2017 7 THE PROGRAM 10 FROM PLAYWRIGHT KEN URBAN 12 WRESTLING WITH THE PAST PLUS: 04 Backstage by Olivia J. Kiers 10 14 About the Company 34 Patron Services 35 Emergency Exits 38 Guide to Local Theatre 44 Boston Dining Guide 46 Dining Out: Davio’s 12 Nile Hawver theatrebill STAFF Publishing services are provided by Theatrebill, a pub- lication of New Venture Media Group LLC, publisher of President/Publisher: Tim Montgomery Panorama: The Official Guide to Boston, 560 Harrison Ave., Suite 412, Boston, MA 02118, 857-366-8131. Art Director: Scott Roberto Assistant Art Director: Laura Jarvis Editorial Assistant: Olivia J. Kiers WARNING: The photographing or sound recording of any performance or the possession of any device Vice President Publishing: Rita A. Fucillo for such photographing or sound recording inside Vice President Advertising: Jacolyn Ann Firestone this theatre, without the written permission of the Senior Account Executive: Annie Farrell management, is prohibited by law. Violators may be punished by ejection and violations may render the Chief Operating Officer: Tyler J. Montgomery offender liable for money damages. Business Manager: Melissa J. O’Reilly FIRE NOTICE: The exit indicated by a red light and sign nearest to the seat you occupy is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emer- gencies do not run—WALK TO THAT EXIT. To advertise in Theatrebill, call 857-366-8131 or e-mail [email protected]. HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 3 BACKSTAGE BEHIND THE SCENES IN LOCAL AND NATIONAL THEATRE BY OLIVIA J. KIERS Ryan Maxwell BARD YARD: Commonwealth Shakespeare Company recently announced that it will stage Richard III for its annual free Shakespeare on the Common performances next summer. A New Season of Shakespeare Summer Slate Set at Cape Playhouse Commonwealth Shakespeare Company It’s already time to get out your calendars for next (CSC) recently announced a 2017–18 sea- summer—The Cape Playhouse has announced son full of intrigue and political drama. A entertainment galore for its 2018 season on Cape staged reading of Bertolt Brecht’s Fear and Cod. Among the six productions scheduled Misery in the Third Reich and full-scale pro- for the historic playhouse’s 92nd year, the New ductions of Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the England premiere of Clue, a new stage adapta- Maiden and Wendy Wasserstein’s Old Money tion of the cult classic film and board game, is of join Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Richard special note, but there is plenty more. The season III, the latter of which will be performed as opens with love and loss in Robert Harling’s Steel part of CSC’s annual free Shakespeare on Magnolias, followed by Sylvia, a marital comedy the Common performances next summer. by two-time Pulitzer Prize-nominee A. R. Gurney. CSC founding artistic director Steven Maler Musicals include the classic, Tony Award- and explained that the choice of plays that span Pulitzer Prize-winning South Pacific alongside many different time periods all relate to the two Cape Playhouse premieres, the irreverent contemporary moment. “I wanted to look Altar Boyz, and Million Dollar Quartet. The latter at how great writers responded to mercu- is about the afternoon in 1956 that Elvis Presley, rial times, how they captured the fleeting Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins moments of civic and personal decisions recorded together at Sun Records, and includes when history was not yet inexorably fixed, ’50s rock ’n’ roll standards like “Hound Dog,” when a change of direction was still possible.” “Blue Suede Shoes,” and “Walk the Line.” Visit For details, visit commshakes.org. capeplayhouse.com for more information. 4 A GUIDE FOR THE HOMESICK BACKSTAGE (continued) Boston Playwrights’ Theatre New Shows Come to the Announces New Season Theatre District Celebrating its 36th season of producing excit- In Boston’s Downtown ing new plays, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre Theatre District, two has announced a promising lineup of new musicals have been works. The season opens on a musical note with added to the upcoming Cliff Odle’s Lost Tempo, a play about a gifted season that give fami- yet tormented jazz saxophonist in Paris. The lies great reasons to company also dips its toes into opera with the look forward to 2018. New England premiere of The Rosenbergs (An Escape New England’s Opera), which was recognized as Denmark’s Best winter weather with Opera of 2015. There will also be two perfor- a jaunt down the OVER THE RAINBOW: mances that should strike a chord with local Yellow Brick Road Dorothy and friends Broadway return to the Hub when audiences: Molly Smith Metzler’s Elemeno Pea when the Boston Opera sets sisterly drama on Martha’s Vineyard, while In Boston brings House hosts a new Walt McGough’s Brawler is a take on the ancient everyone’s favorite production of The Ajax The Wizard of Oz Wizard of Oz, based on Greek play as filtered through the mod- to the classic film version ern world of hockey. As it has for the past two the Opera House in from 1939. decades, the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre rounds January. In May, the out its season with the anticipated Boston hills are alive with The Theater Marathon at the Calderwood Pavilion Sound of Music, a new production of Rodgers at the BCA, a 10-hour extravaganza of no fewer and Hammerstein’s truly beloved classic at the than 50 short plays by New England play- Boch Center’s Wang Theatre. For tickets, go to wrights. For more information, visit bu.edu/bpt. boston.broadway.com and bochcenter.org. WHAT’S ON STAGE in October Our picks for the hottest plays and musicals on local stages this month KISS SOUVENIR ARTSEMERSON LYRIC STAGE COMPANY October 26– October 20–November 19 November 19 Anyone who missed the recent A play-within-a-play film on the life of Florence Foster about cultural misun- Jenkins—or Lyric Stage’s previous derstanding, this is the acclaimed production—deserves to first production written experience this heartwarming story in English by Chile’s about the woman whose “majesti- acclaimed contemporary cally awful” concerts were sell-out playwright, Guillermo affairs in the 1930s and ’40s. Refer to listing, page 41. Calderón (pictured). Refer to listing, page 38. American Theatre TOMES OF TERROR: LENORE POST-MERIDIAN RADIO PLAYERS DEATH OF A SALESMAN October 20–28 TRINITY REPERTORY COMPANY Three spooky radio dramas based on Gothic horror tales Through November 26 are performed live just in time for Halloween: Edith Nesbit’s Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning elegy to the American Hurst of Hurstcote and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Premature Dream is as relevant today as it was in 1949. Refer to Burial and Hop Frog, along with a reading of the title poem. listing, page 40. Refer to listing, page 42. HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY 5 S RT TON TRE E A G TH TIN F THEAANYUE O N HUN VE MP A SOUTH END CO & NILE HAWVER Everett City Council Member Michael McLaughlin, Ed Owens, Sr., Ed Owens, Jr., Everett City Council Member Fred Capone, Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois, Huntington Board Chairman David R. Epstein, Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Everett Kevin O’Donnell, Huntington Managing Director Michael Maso, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Everett Catherine Rollins, Everett Representative Joe McGonagle officially open the new Huntington Theatre Company Production Center. HUNTINGTON’S ARTISANS LAUNCH A NEW HOME IN EVERETT The Huntington Theatre Company Production dedication of this Production Center in Center began operations in Everett, Everett,” said Managing Director Michael Maso Massachusetts in July and officially opened as he welcomed the crowd. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in August. The Huntington’s former production facility, The new production center includes 25,000 located at 252-258 Huntington Avenue next square feet of production space; 18,000 door to the Huntington Avenue Theatre and square feet of storage space; and 4,000 previously owned by Boston University, will square feet of office space, housing the become the site of a new building developed company’s prop, paint, and scenery shops. by QMG Huntington LLC who purchased the It features open and flexible work areas and lot in May 2016. onsite prop, costume, and scenery storage, and will allow our staff to produce more “This is the first step of the journey to complex design work in a more efficient transform the Huntington Theatre Company,” workspace, as well as serve other arts said Board Chairman David R. Epstein to organizations and companies. Huntington supporters and stakeholders at the August ribbon-cutting ceremony. “We’ve “We are open for business,” declared Artistic been a successful organization in Boston Director Peter DuBois at the ribbon-cutting. for 35 years, and we have ambitious plans “The Huntington Production Center is going to about how to create the kind of facility that enable us to expand our community mission, will entertain not just our children but our and the Huntington will be able to serve grandchildren.” “This is the extraordinary first more theatre companies in the Boston area. step in the re-invention, the re-capitalization, We will also be able to serve the burgeoning, and the re-imagination of the Huntington expanding, growing television and film Theatre Company, starting here with the community and our special events community.” For the latest news and information about the Huntington Production Center and the Huntington Avenue Theatre, please visit huntingtontheatre.org/FAQ 6 A GUIDE FOR THE HOMESICK HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY AVENUE OF THE ARTS & SOUTH END A GUIDE FOR THE HOMESICK Scenic Design William Boles PETER DUBOIS NORMA JEAN CALDERWOOD ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Directed by Colman Domingo Alaine Alldaffer MICHAEL MASO Casting Costume Design by MANAGING DIRECTOR Kara Harmon Ken Urban Production Stage Lighting Design Adele Nadine Traub Russell H.