Category Archives: Arts

TBTS’ “Waitress” is a Summer Hit

TBTS’ “Waitress” is a Summer Hit

By Kimberly Rau The second production in Theatre by the Sea’s summertime lineup is “Waitress,” singer/songwriter Sarah Bareilles’s musical adaptation of the Adrienne Shelly movie, and it’s one of the best things they’ve done in years. Meet Jenna, a waitress with a heart of gold and some great friends, who almost make up for the…MORE

Wilbury’s “American Idiot” is Unapologetic, Unrestrained and Very Important

Wilbury Theater Group kicked off summer with Green Day’s “American Idiot” rock opera, a musical that takes place in the cultural crucible that was America just after 9/11, and there couldn’t be a better theater to take an already powerful piece of art and make it something even more compelling.  I graduated high school in…MORE

Trinity Rep Closes Season on High Note with “Blues for an Alabama Sky

By Kimberly Rau Trinity Repertory is ending its 2024–25 season with Pearl Cleage’s beautiful lyrical drama “Blues for an Alabama Sky,” and, as if you’d expect anything else from the company at this point, it’s incredible. Set in 1930s Harlem, “Blues” features five characters brought together through a series of unlikely circumstances. Angel Allen is…MORE

“Always…Patsy Cline” at TBTS Features Strong Talent, So-So Story

By Kimberly Rau Theatre by the Sea kicks off its 2025 summer season with the jukebox musical “Always…Patsy Cline,” a 27-song, two-woman show that offers a glimpse into an unlikely friendship between the country music star and one Texas superfan. Louise, a housewife, is home taking care of her kids when she first hears a…MORE

Gamm’s “Angels in America” Offers Poignant Look at Love and Loss in the AIDS Crisis

Gamm’s “Angels in America” Offers Poignant Look at Love and Loss in the AIDS Crisis

By Kimberly Rau The Gamm Theater concluded its 2024-2025 season with a special production of Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches,” a stunning, raw perspective of the AIDS epidemic that swept through America in the 1980s and early 90s. Kushner wrote “Angels in America” in two parts, “Millennium Approaches,” playing now,  and “Perestroika,” which…MORE

“Girls & Boys” at Gamm Rings in 2025 on a Powerful Note

By Kimberly Rau Gamm kicks off 2025 with Dennis Kelly’s arresting “Girls & Boys” a one-woman show about a deceptively simple life that turns on a dime, and it’s something you shouldn’t miss during its limited engagement. The plot is storytelling, and memory, and how we utilize both in order to live. In just under…MORE

“Hamilton” at PPAC Exceptional, As Always

“Hamilton” at PPAC Exceptional, As Always

“Hamilton” runs through Dec. 22, 2024, at the Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St., Providence. Tickets may be obtained at the box office, online at ppacri.org or by calling 401.421.2787MORE

“Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson” Delightful Twist on Classic Whodunit at Trinity

“Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson” Delightful Twist on Classic Whodunit at Trinity

By Kimberly Rau Trinity Rep’s second show of the season is Kate Hamill’s “Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B,” a “cheerful desecration” of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved characters, performed as only Trinity Rep can. Directed by Laura Kepley, “Holmes and Watson” takes us to present-day London, where a unmoored Dr. Joan Watson…MORE