My first indication that Lissie is a down-to-earth kind of chick is that, when I call her to check in before her stops in New York and Boston on a tour in preview of her new album (dropping sometime in September) she’s waiting in line at a gas station bathroom. She asks me, with a throaty laugh, if it would be cool if I called her back when she’s done. Never mind that most touring artists travel on pimped out tour buses with bathrooms nicer than those in some Allston apartments I’ve frequented. When I call back — having waited what I hope is sufficient time to allow Lissie to do her business — she confirms this assessment, having just shot a music video in her hometown of Rock Island, Illinois for the second song on her upcoming album, “Further Away ‘Romance Police.’”

What’s the video about?

I feel like where you’re from has such a big part to do with who you are. I don’t want to ruin the surprises, but we just walked around to lots of different sites that were memorable and special to me. A friend of mine is a police officer and once it got dark he turned on his police lights which made some really cool lighting.

What’s your process for writing this album been like?

I’ve had quite a bit of downtime. I needed a break because I was just getting kind of worn out, but was also anxious to make a new record and hadn’t really done a ton of writing when I was on the road. So he last nearly two years I’ve been writing and kind of spending time at home and cultivating some of my other interests.

What kind of other interests?

I just got a road bike and I’m not like a super awesome pro yet but I really got into riding my bike. About 20 miles is the most I’ve written but I’ve kind of become addicted to it. It’s not something I can really do when I’m on the road. And I live in a really beautiful place — I have a dog, I take him out and we go for long walks. I really just like being outdoors, and that was one thing from the first album cycle — it’s like you’re always on a plane, or in a car, or inside a venue, so when I’m home I’m never inside. But I’ve really gotten addicted to so many TV shows. I’ve gotten really into wine (laughs) I drink a lot of wine. I like red because it’s just kind of calm, this warm rush over you…

Melty.

Yes, melty, exactly.

So what TV shows are you into right now?

Oh, it’s like what shows am I NOT into? I love “Game of Thrones,” I’m really excited about “Arrested Development” coming back. I also like Nashville a lot, it’s very good. I made my first record in Nashville and I think they do a good job of showing the city. I watch everything. “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Modern Family.” I just watched “House of Cards” on Netflix, that’s amazing. So yeah, basically I spend a lot of time drinking wine and watching TV. (laughs) Oh! I also can swim a mile now. And I’ve been spending time with my family back in the Midwest.

Speaking of the Midwest — and Midwestern values — do you feel like you’ve changed since gaining some fame and moving to California?

I wouldn’t say I feel like the same person but I don’t think that that’s because anything has changed. I think as you get older you kind of come into your personality and learn from life experiences. I guess in a way I put out the single “Shameless” because it’s me proclaiming that I don’t want to have to be anything other than myself or be underhanded or desperate or shady to find success. Even if I wanted to be all Hollywood I wouldn’t know how to do it. I don’t think I’m socially awkward but I don’t really know how to be mysterious, or manipulative, I don’t really know how to manipulate people’s energy. And I’m glad that I don’t know how to do that.

Have you ever been asked to compromise yourself like that?

Not that it was asked of me, but I’ve seen that other people have done it. Say, you and some other girl really liked a guy and she was just going to be throwing herself at him all night. And you feel like, well, I’m not going to do that. And maybe she gets to go home with him. But I don’t want to stoop to that level. I just want to be myself and if he doesn’t come home with me then he’s not the right one for me.

That’s a cool metaphor for fame.

Thanks! I’m glad it made sense. I think in the song, too, I even acknowledge it. Like, why does it bother me, “why do I react so angrily, it’s just my insecurities acting up.” Because there’s also something where, if you are in a situation, and two people are going for the same thing, my inclination is to sort of retreat a little bit, where I’m like (puts on a bratty voice) “well, I don’t even care, I didn’t want to be part of this stupid club.” (laughs)

What do you prefer playing, big fests or club shows?

I think when I was starting out doing festivals I really liked them because it was new to me and it was really exciting. There were so many bands, and you got the cool backstage area where you got to go see music, and you got to talk to people, and it’s very social. I think that used to be very fun for me. Whereas now, it’s still fun but it’s also really exhausting because you have to preserve your strength a little and it’s too tempting at a festival to just be like ‘oh, I’m just going to have a blast’ and then feel like ‘oh, I can’t sing now because I talked too much.’ But I really like club shows because people are there to see you, and I’m still in a place where we get to play kind of intimate shows, and you get the feeling of who your crowd is and connecting with them.

How would you self-describe your genre?

When I started out I was a singer-songwriter, with an acoustic guitar, and kind of had some folk tendencies — but I kind of wrote pop songs. This next record is not as much showing off my folk sensibilities, I mean they’re still there, but I’ve been playing with my band so much over the past few years and we really kind of rock out. So I think this record is a little more consistently rock/pop. You’ll detect some faint traces of folky, kind of country, gospel-ish vocals, potentially, but the music is pretty much rock music.

I think this is an interesting time for folk music, like how the Lumineers were up for a Grammy — I thought that was sort of unusual.

I did too! I mean I like that song, and I like them — so I don’t mean this in a bad way — but I almost feel like that trend has sort of ended. I think the Avett Brothers and Old Crow Medicine Show started it, and were doing it, and it wasn’t mainstream. And then Mumford & Sons really brought that into the mainstream consciousness. Which is really great, because it opened the doors for a lot of bands to be successful, but I’m not sure that that’s where it will stay.

Right. Well, what do you think is going to be the next wave?

My prediction is that the guitar solo is kind of coming back. And I want to be part of that.

Really?

I’ve been listening to a lot of the Hall & Oates Pandora station, and that music has kind of been resonating with me again. It’s kind of dramatic music, and it’s kind of a little cheesy, and it’s got the epic guitar solos. But I think it’s so emotionally evocative, it makes you really feel like ‘YEAHya!’ So I really feel like there’s going to be a Hall & Oates-esque revival, but who knows?

I was actually about to ask you what I’d find if I looked at your Recently Played playlist on your iPod…

My obnoxious answer is that I really don’t listen to music because it, like, stresses me out. I know that sounds terrible. But I had this shift happen where I used to listen to a lot of music and I used to write a lot just for fun and I of course still love music and still love performing, but it’s taken on a different kind of role in my life now that I have to think about it differently. But one album that I was listening to a lot was Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska”. And I love Lana Del Rey’s album. I think she is someone who I wasn’t really feeling her vibe, because I was just being a bitchy girl. I think I was like, ‘oh she’s glamorous, I don’t like her.’ (laughs) I didn’t want to like her. But then I got her album and I love it, I love the entire thing. It’s like she’s creating a whole world, it’s not just music. I feel like it’s very evocative of another era or something. It haunts you. She’s a good storyteller, I don’t know how much of it is like a character, but I feel like she could write a novel and I’d want to read it.

Did you watch her SNL debacle?

After I saw that, and saw how mean people were being, it made me like her more. Because, you know what, not everyone that is good in the studio is necessarily good live. I think my problem for a long time was that I’m kind of better live than I am in the studio.

That’s not a terrible problem to have.

But that doesn’t make me a better artist or more of an artist. I also like how Kristen Wiig went on as her and defended her, I thought that was really cute. I love Kristen Wiig. Oh, I like the new Tegan and Sara album. That’s kind of my feeling about pop music even, like they’re onto something, they might be a little bit ahead of the trend. I feel like their kind of pop music is going to be considered credible again because it makes you feel good…it’s fun to listen to. I’ve gotten into exercising again, taking care of myself, and I couldn’t really get myself motivated to run — and then I put on the Tegan and Sara record and I was like ‘ok, I can run.’

Yeah, they’re great. And they’ve been great for awhile. It’s funny how one hit song can suddenly propel an artist into the public consciousness — I hope it lasts for them.

It’s a tricky thing. When I look at what I’d like my career to be like, I’d just like to be respected and financially stable, it’s pretty much all I can ask for. And anything else is kind of a pleasant bonus. Even at the level I’m at now — I mean, I got a cold, I keep getting sick because I think I’m not used to being busy, and I have interviews, and have to do a show… and I think to have an overnight hit and be on that trajectory would be so stressful. Maybe I’m afraid of success or something, but I’m kind of really happy where I’m at right now.

I love your cover of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness.” Who would you want to cover one of your songs, if you could pick anyone?

I think it would be cool if Asap Rocky covered me. I guess he did cover me, he sampled me, but somebody in a totally different genre. Like Metallica, but that would never happen. (laughs) I love Metallica.

Haha ok. What else?

Just that if people aren’t sure, just come to our show! I can probably give you, like, a 90 percent guarantee that they’ll enjoy themselves. (laughs)

GO SEE HER:

New York
June 3 @ 8 p.m.
Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancey St., New York
$18
ticketmaster.com

Boston
June 5 @ 9 p.m.
Brighton Music Hall
158 Brighton Ave., Allston
$18
ticketmaster.com

The post Q&A: Lissie on red wine, wishing Lana Del Rey would write a novel, Metallica, and not being able to be “all Hollywood” appeared first on Metro.us.

Following a spectacular penultimate production of “Chroma,” Boston Ballet closes a superb 2012-13 season with the classic George Balanchine piece “Coppélia.” The ballet, which only made its Boston debut in 2010, is performed by Mikko Nissinen’s dancers with admirable ease and familiarity.

“Coppélia” tells the story of a playful prank gone awry, leaving a man in heartache. Lovable and gullible Franz (Joseph Gatti) becomes infatuated with Coppélia, a life-sized doll created by town inventor Dr. Coppélius. The cast-aside object of his desire, the crafty Swanhilde (Kathleen Breen Combes,) then puts on Coppélia’s clothing and tricks the lovestruck young doctor into believing that a magic spell has brought his beloved doll to life. Meanwhile, Franz is too addled by both love and drink to realize what is happening.

It is a delight to watch Breen Combes dance. She possesses a natural proclivity for storytelling through dance, as is evident in the spunky, playful way she brings Swanhilde/Coppélia to life. This talent was first brought to the stage in her breakout role as one of the stepsisters in “Cinderella” (2008). Her energy is contagious. Every dancer brings 100 percent to the stage — from the rickety walk of Dr. Coppélius (Robert Kretz) to the mechanical movements of the other dolls in his attic. Not one performer misses a beat — and this includes the Boston Ballet students who feature in Act II — despite the considerable theatrics and tricky footwork this production demands.

This great ballet for children and adults alike — the storyline is easy to follow and the ballet is marked by a fair bit of humor — is sure to make it a Boston Ballet repertory favorite for years to come.

The post In Boston Ballet’s ‘Coppélia,’ dancers make tricky footwork look easy appeared first on Metro.us.

Can women really have it all? Is it truly possible to strike the perfect balance between career and family in the modern world? “Rapture, Blister, Burn” suggests a surprising — and perhaps unpopular — answer to those enduring questions: maybe not.

This Huntington Theatre presented play is all about the women. Catherine is a successful academic with a lonely personal life. Catherine’s college friend Gwen, on the opposite end of the spectrum, spent her post-grad time getting married and popping out a couple of kids. Both 40-something women are experiencing the female version of a mid-life crisis and regretting their life choices.

“This play is about how our expectations — things that seem good on paper — turn out differently in real life,” says Kate Shindle, who plays Catherine. “A lot of people say this is a play about feminism, but it’s not really. That just happens to be the context for telling this story.”

The four lead female characters — Catherine, Gwen, Catherine’s mother and Gwen’s 21-year-old babysitter — represent three generations and three varying perspectives on gender roles. Shindle empathizes with her own character most.

“She’s very similar to me, in many ways,” she says. “She thinks things through before feeling them. She could give you a long talk about how relationships between men and women play out and why, but she doesn’t know as much as she thinks she does.”

Despite all the discussion on feminist theory, Shindle says this show is a comedy, not an education.

“It sounds heavy, but it’s pretty funny,” she explains. Both Catherine and Gwen go to ludicrous lengths to try to undo their life decisions. “It all leads to some pretty ridiculous comedic situations.

Still, the play doesn’t completely shy away from the topic — or from getting a little spicy. “This show is a little bit raunchy,” says Shindle. “There’s a lot of talk about pornography and whether it’s anti-feminism or empowering.”

If you go

“Rapture, Blister, Burn”

May 24 through June 22

Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA

527 Tremont St., Boston

$15-$80, 617-266-0800

huntingtontheatre.org

The post ‘Rapture, Blister, Burn’ is all about the women appeared first on Metro.us.

No matter how much applause you get at curtain call, it’s never been easy to “make it rain” as a performer. Adam Huttler, the founder and executive director of the arts nonprofit Fractured Atlas, says it can be challenge for performers and artists to see the business for what it is: a business.

“That is what they are — even if they don’t always think of themselves in those terms,” he says. At talks and events, the company helps guide arts organizations toward the financial and nuts-and-bolts incentives that can keep them afloat. This evening, Huttler will lead a panel for Internet Week New York, titled “Revenge of the Art Geeks: How Tech Can Help you Build Audiences and Raise Funds.”

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  VIDEO: “Made Here,” Reggie Watts, Cherry Jones and others share their stories

From the other side of the curtain, actress Cherry Jones is clear about the struggles of getting paid and making art. “It’s intoxicating working downtown — then you have to pay your bills.” she says of the artsy lifestyle in the online documentary series “Made Here.” The relationship between making money and making art in the scrappy downtown performance scene is just one of many topics covered in the series’ three seasons, including health and wellness, raising a family and more.

For Jones, who is most known for her recurring role on the television show “24,” she says television made it possible for her to continue doing the work in the theater that sustains her artistically. “I don’t know anyone left who’s done just theater for the last 30 years. But I have overwhelming respect for them if they have,” she says, with a laugh.” ”I did those two seasons and I made more money than I ever thought I would in my life, and now I can work in the theater any time I want to,” Jones says of her time in TV.

The issues raised in “Made Here” dovetail with the things Huttler encourages arts organizations to address. He says artists need to learn how to “speak business.” “The word ‘customer’ tends to leave a bad taste in people’s mouths,” he says. “People think ‘McDonald’s has customers, we don’t have customers,’ but they do.” Huttler believes that arts organizations that get real about the bottom line have the biggest shot at seeing their art — and their business — succeed.

Huttler has good news for the scrappy artists in “Made Here” and beyond, though:  “For the little guy, I think things are looking brighter than they ever have,” he says. “They have more opportunities to engage with their audiences directly and they can use technology and powerful new ways.”

The post Making art and making a living: Artists on the business appeared first on Metro.us.

The American Repertory Theater transforms into a riotous indoor beach party for The Hipocrites’ outrageously enjoyable interpretation of “The Pirates of Penzance.”

When you go (and you must) arrive early to partake in the party before the show. Beach balls fly through the air, the “sun” shines, a beachside bar serves summer cocktails, and an ensemble of musicians in frighteningly short shorts play songs you know and love, inviting you to sing along. It’s so much fun, you might find yourself wishing the show would never start.

But when it does start, you’ll be glad it did. The brilliant 80-minute revamping of the Gilbert & Sullivan classic is so good, you’ll leave with with sore cheeks from grinning throughout the entire show. The not-so-swashbuckling pirates lack both swords and swagger, but manage to make up for these shortcomings — and then some. They’re extraordinarily talented musicians who meander about while playing guitars, banjos, a squeezebox, spoons and a saw.

It’s a totally immersive theatrical experience and, at times, you might find yourself so caught up in the hijinks that you lose your place in the story. A quick read through the synopsis will solve that, if need be. And don’t be fooled by the loose, seemingly haphazard feel of the production. This is a slick, brilliantly conceived, flawlessly executed piece of theater.

Christine Stulik delivers stunning vocals in her dual roles of Ruth and Mabel. Zeke Sulkes is enthralling as young Frederic, and Robert McLean and Matt Kahler delight as Pirate King and Major General, respectively. The pirates and maidens who comprise the remaining ensemble are just as impressive and a true joy to watch.

If you’re feeling especially adventurous (and agile), take advantage of the promenade seating. It’s much more fun and you might just end up in the show. Trust us, that’s a place you’ll be glad to be.

If you go

‘Pirates of Penzance’
Through June 2
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle St. Cambridge
$25-$35
www.americanrepertorytheater.org

The post A.R.T.’s ‘Pirates of Penzance’ is a swashbuckling good time appeared first on Metro.us.

There’s both “Method and Madness” aplenty in José Mateo Ballet Theatre’s final program of the season. From the moment the stage lights up to the final steps, the dancers leave it all on the floor in a production that serves as a guided journey through the evolution of Mateo’s career.

The program includes one of Mateo’s earliest works, “The Sirens,” a haunting ballet he premiered in 1989 shortly after forming the company. Set to Vivaldi’s baroque “Concerto in A Minor,” it is artfully simplistic and focused on the choreography.

Presented in chronological order, the ballets illustrate the Cuban-born choreographer’s creative trajectory, the audience watches the work mature and transform. One of the darkest narratives is found in “The Escape” (2004). Costumed in shades of green, back-dropped by sky-blue scenery, the female dancers are trapped in repressive environment they must dance free of. Angie DeWolf embraces her lead role in a ballet that begins slowly, the music building along with the drama of the piece.

The closing performance, “Over and Over” (2009), features some of his most dynamic choreography to date — particularly in the second half, a trio sequence cannon led by Emma Ward and Magdalena Gyftopoulos. Ellen Scherer’s solo performance serves as the quiet eye of the storm before a finale that leaves the audience wowed.

If you go

José Mateo Ballet Theatre presents “Method and Madness”

Through April 21

The Sanctuary Theatre

400 Harvard St., Cambridge

$40, 617-354-7467

ballettheatre.org

The post There is a method to the beautiful madness in the final program of the José Mateo Ballet Theatre season appeared first on Metro.us.

“Fierce!” “Too marvelous!” These sentiments (Maurice Hines’ own) are exclaimed aloud during the ArtsEmerson presented “Tappin Thru Life,” but they only begin to describe the good ol’ fashion entertainment that the life-long performer brings to the stage at the Cutler Majestic Theatre this week.

Backed by the Berklee College of Music Select Big Band, Hines pours his heart and soul into the show, which grants the audience an intimate peek into his life in showbiz.

At almost 70-years-old, Hines’ stage presence is still both mesmerizing and inviting. One feels as if the theater is his living room and the audience old friends. His friends are treated to “My Fair Lady’s” “Get me to the Church on Time” simply because, he says, it’s “fun to sing.” He regales rapt listeners with stories about his parents. The 90-minute show is packed full — it features 20 songs honoring those whom Hines had personal connections with including Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Lena Horne. As a touching tribute to his younger brother Gregory, Hines performs a soft-shoe number, illuminated in a spotlight.

In a nod to the next generation of performers, Hines introduces the future of tap — The Manzari Brothers. He stands like a proud father, watching the two brothers dance, even as they appear to be pushing the “old man” offstage.

In a conclusion juxtaposing Hines’ experience with fledgling talent, Hines presents 11-year-old Grace Emma Cannady. He recently discovered Cannady with the help of Roxbury Tap Company founder Sean Fielder. The young Westfield native is a force to be reckoned with, taking on both Manzari Brothers. This little girl is a star in the making. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll fall in love all over again with Maurice Hines in this nostalgic production that invokes all of the things that you forgot made you smile. You just needed Hines to remind you.

If you go

Through Sunday
The Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont St., Boston
$25-$89, 617-824-8400
artsemerson.org

The post In his new show, Maurice Hines taps into the joy of simple pleasures appeared first on Metro.us.

Celebrity Series of Boston presents the 43rd Boston appearance of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre for an exciting spring program this weekend, opening Thursday and running through Sunday.

Artistic Director Robert Brattle, now in his sophomore year, brings 11 ballets to town for the four-day engagement, including a Boston premiere.

American choreographer Kyle Abraham’s “Another Night” made its world premiere with Ailey’s company this season. The 2012 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award winner’s piece is urban ballet set to Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers’ cover of “A Night in Tunisia.” And if you just can’t get enough Abraham, you can see more of his work when his company Abraham.in.Motion returns to the Berkshires for the Jacob’s Pillow Festival this summer.

What else can you expect to see? For starters, the cornerstone of the company, Ailey’s iconic “Revelations” (Friday, Saturday matinee, Sunday only); or one of Brattle’s own pieces (“In/Side,” “Strange Humors”); and “Petit Mort” (set to Mozart) from one of the hottest choreographers trending in the Hub in recent years: Czech-Netherlands contemporary master Jiří Kylián, to name a few.

Dance every night this week!

As the season winds down, there’s a chance to see some amazing dance through the weekend, even if you can’t make it to any of the Ailey performances. Fill your social calendar ASAP:

Tuesday-Sunday: Tappin’ through Life: An Evening with Maurice Hines
The Broadway star sings and taps honoring his older brother Gregory Hines all the singers and performers who have shaped his career and the history of tap. Music features the Berklee College of Music Select Big Band. (Cutler Majestic Theatre, artsemerson.org)

Thursday-May 26: Boston Ballet: Coppélia
Mikko Nissinen’s dancers take on George Balanchine’s full-length story ballet about a man who falls in love with a life-size doll. (The Opera House, bostonballet.org)

Friday: Tap Day Celebration!
Looking for a lunch break? ArtsEmerson invites you (regardless of skill level) onstage for a tap dance circle. (Cutler Majestic Theatre, artsemerson.org)

Friday-Saturday: Prometheus Dance: Heart of the Matter
In celebration of its 25th anniversary, the modern dance company performs a world premiere. (The Boston Conservatory Theater, worldmusic.org)

Friday-Sunday: José Mateo Ballet Theatre: Method & Madness
JMBT concludes its season with three ballets: “The Sirens,” “Escape” and “Over and Over.” (The Sanctuary Theatre, ballettheatre.org)

If you go
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
Through Sunday
Wang Theatre
270 Tremont St., Boston
$30-$75, 617-482-9393
celebrityseries.org

The post Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in town for Celebrity Series appeared first on Metro.us.

The Boston Theater Critics Association celebrated excellence in theater at the 31st Annual Elliot Norton Awards Monday night at the Paramount Theater. Named for eminent theater critic Elliot Norton, the “Norties” honor actors, directors, producers and designers for outstanding work throughout the 2012-13 season.

There were no runaway winners this year as the American Repertory Theater, SpeakEasy Stage Company and Company One each took home four awards. Top honors for productions went to A.R.T.’s “Pippin,” SpeakEasy’s “Motherf**ker with the Hat,” Company One’s “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity,” and the Huntington Theatre Company’s “Our Town.”

Among the acting awards, Broadway veteran Andrea Martin took home the prize for her high-flying turn in “Pippin.” Fellow actresses Evelyn Howe (“Motherf**ker”), Bianca Amato (“Private Lives”) Georgia Lyman (“Chesapeake”) and Kiki Samko (“Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead”) also garnered top honors in their respective categories.

Not leaving it all to the ladies, the leading actors who went home with awards include LeRoy McClain for his powerful turn in “A Raisin in the Sun,” Ricardo Engermann (“Chad Deity”), Will Lyman (“Long Days Journey Into Night” and “Operation Epsilon”) and Sahr Ngaujah (“Fela!”).

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino received a special Champion of the Performing Arts Award for his continued support of the arts and his vital role in the restoration of the downtown theater district. Accepting via videotape, the mayor humbly thanked the arts community “for all (they) do to continue Boston’s legacy as a cultural hub.”

Broadway legend Chita Rivera was also on hand to accept special honors for her long and distinguished career. Local actor Will Lyman received this year’s Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence.

For a complete list of the evening’s winners, please visit www.metro.us/Boston/Entertaiment.

The post The results for the 31st Annual Elliot Norton Awards are in! appeared first on Metro.us.

Boston Ballet Director Mikko Nissinen put together a perfect trio of ballets, making “Chroma” (which closed last night) the best program of the season. It’s modern, classic and mesmerizing — with works from two groundbreaking choreographers.

Serenade
All eyes on the ladies as they take to the stage in this George Balanchine masterpiece. Originally created as a technique lesson, “Serenade,” set to Tchaikovsky is comprised of four movements with the corps de ballet in pale blue leotards with long tulle skirts. Ashley Ellis has the breakout performance — literally letting her hair down as she graces the stage with pose and perfection.

Chroma
The headliner is cutting edge innovation — both in its choreography and music. Premiering in London in 2006, Royal Ballet resident choreographer Wayne McGregor stages five couples in flesh tone leotards in a giant white shadow box and expands the pit with percussionists housed in the Opera House balconies. It’s nonstop elastic energy is paired with music by Joby Talbot and Jack White (yes, that Jack White, of The White Stripes). “Chroma” is like a live version of a James Bond opening credit.

Symphony in C
The final piece, also by Balanchine, is purely exceptional, traditional ballet. Dressed in tutus and tiaras — the four movements are led by Misa Kuranaga, Lia Cirio, Kathleen Breen Combes (super great with partner Jerffrey Cirio!) and Whitney Jensen. By the end, 50+ dancers are in perfect sync and organized patterns leaving the audience wanting more from all three performances.

Here’s hoping that the company’s season-closing production, “Coppelia,” proves as enthralling. For more information visit bostonballet.org

The post Boston Ballet’s ‘Chroma’ proves the best of the season thus far appeared first on Metro.us.

And, thank the gods of comedy and Internet buzz, it looks like it’s still funny. (What is also funny is how few people gave a crap about this show while it was on the air and how many, many, many people became invested in it once it was gone. But such is the way of these things.)

The gang’s all here in this trailer that looks like it picks up right where it abruptly left off seven years ago — Gob, Buster, Lucille, George Michael and co. haven’t missed a beat in their knack for dysfunctional hilarity and talent for non sequiturs. Plus, the awesome Judy Greer is back as Kitty Sanchez. It’s safe to say we’re as pleased about this as the rest of the world.

Now if only the cast of ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ would make good on those long-standing prequel rumors…

The post VIDEO: Arrested Development trailer is live and, oh good, it still looks funny appeared first on Metro.us.

Even if you’re not gifting mom with hot sex from a young mustachioed stud today (your dad might not be so into it, you should check with him first) you should still call her up let her know she’s appreciated.

Because, no matter what maternal flaws she might have, she’s still probably a better mom than these ladies.

Because your mom probably let you use whatever hangers you wanted.

Because your mom probably didn’t try to kill you before the big dance.

Because your mom…well, actually, Kathleen Turner as “Serial Mom” is just awesome.

The post [VIDEO] Happy Mother’s Day from two mother lovers and three moms much worse than yours appeared first on Metro.us.

Spies, suspense, corrupt evildoers and a cunning leading man converge in a new play. But is the leading fellow a dashing secret agent or a Shakespearian prince?

Actually, in Vaquero Playground’s play “From Denmark With Love,” he’s both.

“We’ve taken the story and characters of ‘Hamlet’ but we’re retelling it through the lens and the style of James Bond,” says John King, the show’s playwright and producer.

As vastly different as the two may seem, both stories actually share a major theme: espionage. Once King realized the correlation, more similarities fell into place.

“You’ve got Ophelia and Gertrude who can be taken as Bond girl-types. You’ve got Claudius, a villain trying to take over the throne. You’ve got Hamlet trying to outwit Polonius and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,” he explains.

The parody is set in Shakespearean Elizabethan times — loosely.

“There are quite a few winkingly anachronistic jokes and some more contemporary Bond references in there as well,” says King.

Sticking to the film motif, the theater company will present the show like a movie. Before every performance they’ll feature “trailers” from local theater groups showing off their productions. There’s a soundtrack, too, featuring local bands of note, including Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library, Jaggery and more.

“You can’t do a Bond show without a brand new theme song, so we’ve made a CD of original James Bond theme songs written by 10 different Boston bands,” says King.

If you go

“From Denmark With Love”
May 10 through June 1
Boston Playwright’s Theatre
949 Comm. Ave., Boston
$10, 617-353-5443
vaqueroplayground.com

The post ‘From Denmark With Love’ is Shakespeare: shaken, not stirred appeared first on Metro.us.

To hear Youngblood Hawke’s Sam Martin talk, you might imagine him some kind of environmentalist, rather than the frontman of a swiftly rising indie-pop outfit. “I think it’s important to conserve nature and take care of our earth, because we’re blessed and fortunate to have it,” he says. “I feel like one day we’re going to look, and it’s going to disappear on us, and we’re going to wish that we had lived a little bit differently.”

He’s talking about the inspiration for the music video for the band’s single “We Come Running,” which was filmed entirely underwater and features the band members swimming alongside live sharks. “At the time there were a lot of shark attacks in California and we wanted to shed light on these animals because they were getting slaughtered by the millions,” he says. “We wanted to show people that they weren’t these man eating killers. They attack surfers occasionally because they think they’re fish … but once they know what you are, they’re not evil manhunters. We can’t keep slaughtering these animals at the rate we’re doing it because we’re going to completely wipe them out. And the ocean would die.”

Indeed, Martin says that if he weren’t making music he’d probably be working in the great outdoors, “maybe a tour guide in a national park or something.” Luckily for Martin (if not visitors to Yellowstone) he’s otherwise employed — making infectious, up-tempo electro-rock with one of his best college buds, producer Simon Katz.

Martin and Katz have been collaborating musically ever since the two decided to move from their college town of Boulder, Colo., to L.A. and start their first band, Iglu & Hartly. The band enjoyed moderate success, scoring a Top 5 hit in Europe, before dissolving suddenly — and painfully, says Martin — due to strained relationships with the other band members. “Simon and I felt like we didn’t really have a voice in the project … and it wasn’t a happy environment for us to be in anymore,” he says. “When you’re making music, but it’s not the music you want to make, there’s really no point. We felt like we could no longer express ourselves, and everything just fell apart.”

The two took the considerable angst of that loss and channeled it into the songs that would become Youngblood Hawke’s debut album, “Wake Up.” “We were really in a dark place and I think, looking back, we really wrote these songs to cheer ourselves up,” he reflects. “We were sitting in our living rooms, dead broke, trying to figure out what to do with our lives. We’d invested eight to 10 years of our lives [in Iglu & Hartly] and then one day it was completely gone. I think it was important to lift ourselves up, I think it was a cathartic experience. We were writing to make ourselves feel better. Definitely the songs have kind of an upbeat feel but I think that if you listen to the lyrics it gets really dark at points.”

When asked to describe the band’s sound, Martin hesitates. “I feel like describing music is like trying to describe a color,” he says. “There’s rock, there’s dance, there’s definitely synth, and there’s some pop elements to it, definitely. But I think what separates us is that we have some weirder lyrics that we balance out with the pop choruses.”

Martin might find their genre difficult to define, but he clearly articulates the band’s unofficial mission statement. “We’re all kind of excited about life,” he says. “In a live show we just like to give people a great experience. I feel like, they come to a show and buy a ticket, they should walk away feeling like we gave all of our effort to entertain them. We walk offstage and we have nothing left. We like to leave it all on the stage for the audience.”

When asked if he ever fears the specter of the one-hit wonder, a fate that befalls many young bands who burst onto the scene with that one catchy hit single and just as quickly fade away, he’s quick to dismiss it. “I feel confident in our album and our songwriting abilities. I think we’re just fortunate to be in this position right now, we’re taking it one day at a time,” he says. “Some bands don’t even get a song. We’re going to continue to write and evolve and get better, so I don’t think that’s something that really freaks me out at all.”

Youngblood Hawke stops in Boston and New York on a club tour before hitting the festival circuit this summer.

NEW YORK
May 13, 8 p.m
Santos Party House
96 Lafayette St., New York
$13-$15
ticketweb.com

BOSTON
May 14, 9 p.m.
Brighton Music Hall
158 Brighton Ave., Allston
$12
ticketmaster.com

The post Youngblood Hawke soars high and swims in the deep appeared first on Metro.us.

Simon Stephens’ tale of teen angst glosses over the expected topics that challeneg 17-year-olds — sex, drugs and coming-of-age challenges — instead delving headfirst into a seething cauldron of adolescent rage that, sadly, begets violence.

We’ve seen these characters before. Think “The Breakfast Club,” but replace Molly Ringwald and company with a group of affluent British teens grappling with issues that run the gamut from bullying, humiliation and burning to get into Oxford. Then you have Zeitgeist Stage’s “Punk Rock.”

There’s Cissy (Alexandra Marie Harrington), the perfect blonde with the grades to back it all up; Bennett (James Fay), her insufferable, bullying boyfriend; Chadwick (Alex Levy), the genius loser who bears the brunt of Bennett’s ire; Nicholas (Diego Buscaglia), the token hot guy on campus; Lilly (Emily White), the fascinating new girl; Tanya (Alana Osborn-Lief), the sweet one; and William (Phil Gillen), the — seemingly — normal one.

Though it takes some time for the story to distinguish itself from typical adolescent melodramas, once it does you can expect to be transfixed by what unfolds. The very walls feel like they’re closing in while watching this riveting Zeitgeist Stage production.

Bennett’s relentless bullying is so disturbing it’s hard to resist the urge to jump onstage and pummel the obnoxious smartass on behalf of everyone who’s ever suffered at the hands of a teenaged tormentor. When Chadwick finally does respond, in one of the show’s most explosive moments, it’s equally challenging not to stand up and applaud mid-scene.

But, as in life, it’s the person you least suspect who ultimately wreaks the most havoc. Though you feel the pain of the star student when she gets a B, and you begin to understand the relief someone may get from cutting or burning, these allowances still do not fully prepare you for the gut-wrenching climaxes that await them.

Given its proximity to the bombings at the Boston Marathon, the violence and torment in “Punk Rock” is especially haunting, but nonetheless — and perhaps even more so — superb.

If you go

“Punk Rock” 
Through May 25
BCA Black Box Theatre
539 Tremont St., Boston
$25, 617-933-8600
zeitgeiststage.com

The post High School Hell: Zeitgeist Stage’s ‘Punk Rock’ has nothing to do with music appeared first on Metro.us.

We’re suckers for a good photobomb.  And we’re even bigger suckers when it’s awesomely irreverent Jennifer Lawrence doing the bombing. Add Sarah Jessica Parker in a ridiculous freaking hat (that’s not “punk,” by the way. We’re talking to you, Sarah Jessica Parker’s stylist) to this frothy potion of awesome photobombery at last night’s Met Gala in NYC and we. are. SO INTO IT.

One of our fave celebs who just DGAF, Lawrence did her best to blow the feathers off of SJP’s misguided headgear at the punk-themed gala — an event that, in our opinion, far too many celebs take far too seriously. Not this gal. (Check out how much Marion Cotillard over there, stage left, is digging this.)

And, incidentally, not Joshua Jackson a/k/a Pacey from ‘Dawson’s Creek’ a/k/a one teen actor who grew up into a major babe. He had a photobomb of his own:

WE ARE ALL FOR THIS. Sorry, sorry — we know Anne Hathaway is a totally legitimate actress and totally killed it in Les Miz and is most likely a totally pleasant and likable gal, a peach even — but she really just irks us. Ruffles our headfeathers, you might say. (See what we did there?)

Bravo, you two. Y’all should get together and make beautiful photobombing babies.

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What do you ask a woman who interviews others for a living? A woman who has forged a lengthy and venerable career out of posing often tough questions to strangers, who have included the likes of Lynne Cheney, Tracy Morgan, Bill O’Reilly and Jay Z, to name just a varied few. Well, to start, you ask her what it feels like to have the tables turned. Does she feel compelled to lead the interview or direct the conversation? “No, no,” says Terry Gross, producer and host of NPR’s “Fresh Air.” “I let the interviewer do the driving.” You’re relieved because, frankly, you were a little worried that you were going to end being the interviewee in this scenario. Tables thusly leveled, you proceed.

(Terry Gross stops in Boston on Friday as part of the Celebrity Series for “Terry Gross: All I Did Was Ask.”)

You’ve been the host of ‘Fresh Air’ for some 30+ years. Does it ever become routine, interviewing people?

Well, you know, although I’ve been doing interviews for a very long time, the people I’m interviewing always change. So it never gets tired, it never gets old for me, in the way that having friends or talking to new people — it’s just like how people never get tired. There are always new people to talk to and the conversation is always changing, the subject matter is always changing. There are always new movies and TV shows and music and books that I’m exited about. There’s always important — and often terrifying — things happening in the news to talk about. It doesn’t get old.

How do you choose your subjects?

Well, we have several producers who work on the show and they spend their days just poring through things, looking for good ideas. They often call people up and talk to them just to see what they would be like as interviewees. We have these super long meetings on Fridays in which we go over all the potential guests we’ve been thinking of and narrow down the list.

Do you do a lot of the research yourself?

I don’t gather the research; the research materials are given to me. So I’m not, like, on the Internet looking for things that I should read, but I’m the one who does the reading. I watch the movies, I listen to the music. I think that if I don’t have a firsthand knowledge of the material myself that I can’t do it. I have to feel some commitment to the subject matter and to the person, and I have to know as much as I can about it.

Can you think of anyone you talked to recently that you were particularly excited about?

Okay, several! I interviewed Matthew Weiner, the creator of “Mad Men.” I love the series so it was a lot of fun to talk with him and talk about why things were happening to Don that are happening to Don. (laughs) I interviewed Matthew McConaughey and he is just really smart and interesting and funny, so that was a lot of fun.

He is? I always had the impression that he was sort of … a surface-level type of guy.

No, no, he’s really very interesting. And very funny. Oh, and I interviewed David Sedaris recently, that was a lot of fun. We had had a drink together a long time ago and then we went out to dinner afterwards. … Actually this is a long story, it’s too long to tell.

How about a bad interview, do you ever have one that’s failing horribly?

Yeah, we kill interviews sometimes. By that I mean we record them and then decide not to run them. Our interviews are prerecorded and edited, but if something is especially confusing, or boring, or we don’t trust the facts in it, we won’t run it. And then sometimes guests walk out on me. I mean Lou Reed, who I’m a big fan of, many years ago just walked out on the interview. I don’t think he really likes being interviewed in the first place, and then I was talking about some early recordings and he said he really hated talking about old music of his. And I think he was in a cranky mood.

Have you ever found yourself at odds with an interviewee or had the whole thing devolve into a fight?

I try not to argue with my guests. I try to let them have their say and ask them challenging questions when I think that’s appropriate. My interview with Gene Simmons is probably a good example of him saying kind of crude things to me and me accusing him of being obnoxious, and then it devolving from there.

How do you handle a bad interview like that?

I don’t take it personally. If someone is being crude, or obnoxious, or insulting to me, I don’t take it personally. Because usually when that happens it’s somebody who doesn’t know who I am, and they don’t know the show, and they’re just working with some stereotype in their heads, some stereotype of what NPR is or who I am. So I just hope that it’s going to sound like good radio. (laughs) Because sometimes when things are going really bad, it’s actually good theater.

Have you ever had to interview somebody whose philosophy or morals were just totally oppositional to your own? I ask because we recently ran an interview with a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, during which our reporter remained very calm and objective, and I’m not sure I, personally, could do that.

Well, you know, I’ve interviewed somebody from the Klan and I can’t remember whether I pointed out to them that I was Jewish or not, but they didn’t say anything anti-Semitic to me, to my face. I’ve interviewed people who I totally disagree with, and I’ll ask them totally challenging questions, but again I won’t take it personally. Even if they’re insulting me, I won’t take it personally.

I imagine you’ve had to develop a thick skin over the years. Did it take a long time?

Yes, yes. I think it took, I don’t know … Well, say Lou Reed had walked out on me early in my career? I think I would have just been heartbroken. And so upset.

What about the best interview you’ve ever had?

I kind of prevent myself from thinking that way because if I had a best interview I’d ever done, then I’d listen to it and I’d go, ‘Really? That’s the best interview you’ve ever done?’ So I don’t. Wait, I’m looking up Matthew McConaughey

I’m on IMDB now too. It’s not ‘Tropic Thunder’ is it?

No, no.

‘Killer Joe’?
‘Killer Joe,’ yes! That’s it. It’s a weird movie, kind of not to everybody’s tastes, kind of a perverted movie. (laughs) He plays a very perverted character, let’s put it that way, but he plays it quite well. It’s a side of him I had no idea was there.

Have you ever been really scared or anxious about interviewing somebody?

Yeah. An example I often use is Stephen Sondheim because I admire him so much and he’s very critical of the interviewers, I think. So it’s not a breezy, relaxed conversation. But I just love his work so much. But I always get a little edgy before interviewing him.

So did it end up being as scary as you thought it would be, the first time you interviewed him?

Well, I’ve interviewed him several times and sometimes I’ve thought it went very well and sometimes I’ve thought he’s been very unhappy with it. Or he’s moderately unhappy with it. There have been times he’s been more forthcoming than others.

I think the way interviews go just depends on people’s moods too.

Yeah, yeah. I think it does. And some people are more often in that mood than others.

Who are some people who you really admire, who do what you do?

I really love Jon Stewart’s interviews. I think he does terrific political interviews. And he manages to be kind of gracious and charming and funny and hold people’s feet to the fire at the same time. And he manages to have pretty big disagreements with guests but still do it in a very friendly, respectful way. I think he’s amazing. I think Ira Glass is a terrific interviewer. I mean he does more hosting, but I think when he does do an interview it’s fantastic. I think Scott Simon is a terrific interviewer.

What would you be doing right now, if you weren’t doing this? In a dream world.

If I could do anything else in the world? OK, I like what I’m doing, I feel so lucky to be doing what I’m doing. Because I wanted to fall in love with work. I wanted to find some form of work that I could love. And I was afraid that it wasn’t going to happen. You know how some people are afraid that they’ll never get married? I was afraid, like, I’m never going to find work I really care about, that’s meaningful to me. So when I found it, I developed a pretty monogamous relationship with it. But if I could make a fantasy come true? I’d be able to sing really well.

Do you ever find your work slipping into your social life, interviewing people at parties, that kind of thing?

Well, first of all, I don’t go to parties often. (laughs) Usually if I’m at a party, it’s like a benefit or a station event or something like that. I go to very few parties outside of official events. But when I’m at an event and I’m being introduced to people I’ve never met before, I feel really lucky that I know how to talk to people now, because I’ve talked to so many people and I know how to get a conversation going. Because I used to be really shy and would have been very uncomfortable doing that.

As a formerly shy person, what made you think that this was the career for you?

Well, actually, it’s a good position for a kind of shy or formerly shy person because the spotlight isn’t on you. It’s on somebody else. And, in fact, in radio, there isn’t even a spotlight. No one is seeing you and what you’re doing is asking questions. You’re not holding forth and you’re not the one who’s the storyteller. Mostly you’re listening and asking questions. So, eventually over time, people get to know who you are and people can read things into the questions you ask and intuit things about who you are, and what you may think, and so on. But when I started in radio I was still pretty shy, but it suited me just fine. And I was used to reading a lot and being curious about what I’d read and so on. And I was always interested in movies, books and television, so having a natural curiosity about that and then wanting to learn and read more, that came really easily. And now, I think, I think it would be wrong to describe myself as shy now — I’d say I was self-conscious describes me now. Because I’m used to making speeches and going to meet-and-greets and things like that, I’ve learned how to do all that and I’m comfortable doing all that. But it took me a while to learn. I’m still a very self-conscious person.

What’s one great interview question, if you were only ever allowed one?

There’s no generic one question to me. It would depend who the person is. I think one of the things about interviewing is that you don’t ask the same thing of everyone. The exceptions to that rule are things like the Proust questionnaire in Vanity Fair, which I really enjoy reading. It’s fun to see all the different answers that people you’re really interested in give to those same questions. But that’s different. It would really depend. Is that person a painter? Are they an avant-garde jazz musician? Are they a politician, a priest? Who are they? Do I want to know about life and death, do I want to know about the cure for cancer? Do I want to know about what they believe the afterlife is? It just really depends.

Who’s on your bucket list of dream interviews?

I kind of no longer have that list in my head because we’ve gotten a lot of the big “gets.” When we first became a national show we had our list of, you know, the 10 people we most wanted. And we’ve gotten them. And Lou Reed was one of those people. And he walked out on me. Robert DeNiro was one of those people. And he’s never been on the show, but I don’t think he’s a great interviewee from what I’ve seen. I think he’s hard to get because I don’t think that’s where he really shines. I think he’s a great actor — I don’t think he’s a great guest. So, at this point, a lot of what’s exciting is finding, you know, the actor that’s just emerging and becoming really wonderful. Or somebody who’s a character actor and you’re realizing how great they are. Or, like, Matthew McConaughey. During his romantic comedy period — I tend to not see a lot of those films — I wasn’t paying attention to him, but he’s gotten so interesting lately.

Well, what about if you could interview anybody, alive or dead, what would your dream interview look like then?

If I could bring back people from the dead, and do a series? Yes, the series I would do would be a series of songwriters, mostly people who did the American Popular Songbook. And they’d be at the piano while I interviewed them. So it would be like the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Harold Irwin, Duke Ellington would be there. You know, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein. I would be asking them about their lives and their songs and they’d be performing their songs as I talked to them. Don’t you think that would be fun?

My professor, on the very first day of journalism school, told us all that, well, you know you’re never going to make any money…

Was that the right thing to say? Well, it might be a way of discouraging people who aren’t really serious about it. You know, so many music teachers and acting teachers say that unless you really, really want this, don’t do it. It’s going to be too hard, it’s not going to pay well … unless you’re really super lucky and really super extraordinary.

And sometimes not even then.

Yeah, exactly. Talent is not always recognized.

Well, as you said, I guess you consider yourself lucky if you get to do something you enjoy every day.

Oh, I feel so lucky. So lucky.

If you go

Terry Gross: All I Did Was Ask
Friday, 8 p.m.
Sanders Theatre
45 Quincy St., Cambridge
$30-$40
celebrityseries.org

The post Turning the tables on NPR’s Terry Gross appeared first on Metro.us.

In between moves from the Midwest to Ireland and back again, Peter Mulvey came to rest briefly in Boston, where he found a home for his music.

“I moved to Boston in the autumn of 1992 and became a regular busker at the Davis Square and sometimes the Harvard Square T stops,” says Mulvey. “I quickly got things up and running. My touring life began right around then and I went on the road full time in 1994-1995 — and moved back to the Midwest — but ever since then I’ve always thought about that time.”

Despite his departure, Mulvey has always referred to Boston as his musical headquarters. His 2002 record, “Ten Thousand Mornings” was recorded entirely at the Davis Square T stop, and the members of his backing band, the Crumbling Beauties, all hold Massachusetts zip codes. “It’s become a second home,” says Mulvey. “I live in Milwaukee, but my career lives in Boston. Once you’re on the road, you can live anywhere.”

Though he’s touring across the country promoting his own work, Mulvey returns to town this week to play the Tom Waits’ masterpiece, “Rain Dogs” in its entirety in a special two-day stint at Club Oberon.

“We enjoy this record so much,” says Mulvey. “It’s like a Shakespearean play. No matter how many times you do it, you’re still going to discover something new. There’s a whole world in this record. Have you ever been to a museum and seen people painting a Picasso? That’s kind of what happens when you sit down and learn these tunes. Part of it is the mechanical fascination of this crazy chord progression. Then you get dazzled by all those couplets. In some ways it’s just a songwriter boasting and telling a tall tale, but then there’s a metaphor that goes into surrealism.”

Released in 1985, “Rain Dogs” is Tom Waits’ eighth record — and his biggest push away from traditional piano balladry to avant garde songwriting and obscure instrumentation. It would become the album that provided a new beginning and an artistic redefinition for Waits that would forever alter his work to come.

Mulvey and company have performed the record yearly, and somewhat secretly, at Atwoods Tavern since 2007, but this marks the first time the gang will be backed by the burlesque dancers of Babes in Boinkland — and their first time performing the endeavor at the high-profile Oberon. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to do anything different.

“We don’t rehearse,” admits Mulvey. “We’ve done one rehearsal in our lives. We don’t play the record identically to the way it was recorded. I don’t sound like Tom Waits. The instrumentation is all over the place and our ensemble is just six people. In a way, we approach it like an improvised story. We’re not just playing the songs; we’re trying to capture the spirit. We’re not out to be a tribute act, if that makes sense. It’s more like this is what we do.”

The post For he is a Rain Dog too: Peter Mulvey performs Tom Waits’ ‘Rain Dogs’ at Oberon appeared first on Metro.us.

In Pornocchio, Ryan Landry’s musical adaptation of Pinocchio, it’s not the little wooden boy’s nose that grows when he lies. Aside from that transgression, this adults-only laugh riot remains fairly true to its inspiration.

The Gold Dust Orphans always have irreverent, groan-inducing humor and gender-bending to spare in their theatrical arsenal. Toss in big musical numbers, sparkling (often skimpy) costumes, tap dancing and an ensemble so seemingly wholesome they’d rather play dead than bawdy and you’ve got quite a show.

Landry fully embraces a Broadway musical sensibility with a rousing opening number and subsequent parodies from blockbusters like Jesus Christ Superstar, Sweeney Todd and Chicago. Clad in attire ranging from “Italian chef” — red & white checks and big white hats — to nearly naked, six tremendously talented singer/dancers deliver sizzling performances with fantastic vocals and impeccable execution of Merry Death’s impressive choreography.

As the Blue Fairy, Olive Another dons a pretty white dress to prove yet again that nobody gives good booze-fueled, coke-snorting fairy like this Orphan mainstay. Her lounge singing debut, complete with a backup band, is among the show’s finer moments.

Liza Lott returns to her roots with a brash, surprisingly Bohemian-style performance as Mrs. Minnelli, the evil genius behind “Mrs. Minnelli’s Travelling Porno Show.” Brooks Braselman goes similarly over-the-top in a snippy, delightful turn as Jiminy Cricket.

Grace Carney strikes a fine balance with Pornocchio, maintaing an air of innocence even during the puppet’s sluttiest moments, while Joe Bissell trots out “Hedwig”-like chops as Limpwick.

In lesser hands, there might be some implicit discomfort in a tawdry send-up of the classic fairy tale. Fortunately, the Gold Dust Orphans make it feel like a slightly naughty, grown-up version of dressing up and putting on a show. It’s true, I cannot tell a lie.

The post Got wood? Gold Dust Orphans’ ‘Pornocchio’ is the classic fairy tale for adults appeared first on Metro.us.

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When we witness the infectious student-led performances of Marvin Gaye’s music during Berklee’s original musical “Trouble Man,” it will be almost impossible not to relate the songs to the times during which Gaye made his most memorable music. The history is there in the smooth innocence of 1964’s “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You),” in the sophisticated intellect of 1968’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” and in the higher social consciousness of 1971’s “What’s Going On.” However, what the production really hopes to illuminate is not necessarily the turbulent society that brought us this great artist, but rather the inward struggle of a man who was always seeking the connection of family.

Written and produced in collaboration with students (as part of their continuing effort to increase the presence of musical theater at Berklee), “Trouble Man” is the next in line of a series of productions guided by Berklee Liberal Arts professor (and playwright) Amy Merrill; whose works have also included productions based around Billie Holiday, Michael Jackson, BB King and Joni Mitchell. Merrill sites Gaye’s search for connection in his own personal family, in his relationships with women, with Motown head and father-figure Berry Gordy, with fellow musicians at Motown and even in his relationship with his fellow man as the driving forces in the sensitive artist’s life.

“The challenge of this year is to try and figure out how to celebrate the music, to not run away from the violent end,” says Merrill, alluding to the tragic 1984 murder of Gaye at the hand of his father, Marvin Gaye Sr., which casts an unfairly dark shadow on a life that should be celebrated. Gaye’s music is used to help tell the story of a man who Merrill says “saw himself not an entertainer, but as a prophet.”

Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing
Twenty-one year old Berklee senior Tevin Brown will be doing his best to impress a very special guest who will be in attendance for the two performances of “Trouble Man” when he performs the role of Marvin Gaye. Valerie Simpson, who co-wrote many of Gaye’s biggest hits, will perform a few of her signature songs at the beginning of act two; including “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” a song Brown performs regularly in his weekend wedding gigs.

“I just knew that we were going to do that song,” says Brown, who explains how this timeless classic became new to him again by learning how to master it in Gaye’s signature style. “That way he would slide to his falsetto and switch between registers. He was very ahead of his time.”

‘Trouble Man’
Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Berklee Performance Center
136 Mass. Ave., Boston
$12, 617-266-7455
www.berklee.edu/BPC

The post With Marvin Gaye musical, Berklee says ‘Let’s Get It On’ appeared first on Metro.us.

A broken air conditioner and dead critters are hardly draws of artistic inspiration for many people, but four local artists have managed to create an exhibition that draws from just that — and much more.

The Institute of Contemporary Art opens a new showcase today for the James and Audrey Foster prize featuring finalists Sarah Bapst, Katarina Burin, Mark Cooper and Luther Price.

From artist to artist, each presentation stands alone, but together there are clashes and similarities that make the show, in its entirety, something that demands to be seen. Chief curator Helen Molesworth chose all of the artists for the exhibition. “I really wanted the artists to be in some kind of dialogue with each other,” she says.

One similarity viewers can expect to see in this particular dialogue is precision. Each artist uses their talent to create interesting pieces that are strong in detail. Price’s manipulation of slides and Burin’s architectural designs are individually unique in theme, but each detail is purposefully created for the piece. According to Molesworth, “Art is about making decisions” — the decisions on display from Bapst, Burin, Cooper and Price are physical examples of just why they were chosen as finalists for the prize. The artists are in competition for a $25,0000 prize, which is not too shabby.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: SARAH BAPST

Sarah Bapst draws inspiration from found objects

Sarah Bapst draws inspiration from an air conditioner she found. She attempts to recreate the object using plywood and cardboard as materials. Every detail of the air conditioner is observed in each of her structures and photographs. Molesworth describes her work as “meticulous.”

“You can often see the pencil marks where she outlined her cuts,” she says.

The James and Audrey Foster prize exhibition runs today until July 14th at the Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Ave., Boston. [There is a chance for the public to hear from the artists and see the work for free on Thursday, June 20th!]

The post Artistic Dialogue: A preview of the ICA’s 2013 James and Audrey Foster Prize exhibit appeared first on Metro.us.

There are things that everyone knows about Mike Tyson. The weird stuff. The frightening stuff. The flat-out insane stuff. The stuff of legends. Holyfield’s ear. Years of domestic strife. Bouts of volatility and violence (an occupational hazard, perhaps). That face tattoo.

But there’s also other stuff. Like an inexplicable fondness for pigeons, arguably the most common bird in the aviary hierarchy. You’d have guessed maybe peacocks. Or bald freaking eagles. But no, Iron Mike loves pigeons. He also loves theater. All kinds of theater. He digs Porgy and Bess and cites the little known (among non-theater heads, at least) Cuba and His Teddy Bear – the Reinaldo Povod-written play starring Robert DeNiro that enjoyed a 53-show Broadway run in ‘86 — as one of his favorites. The dude is a little bit enigmatic. He’s also a known hot-head, though not these days, as both recent behavior and self-testimony indicate that Tyson is a changed man, maybe even a bit of a Zen man.

Still, when you’re tasked with calling Mike Tyson up on the phone to interview the champion heavyweight boxer-turned-actor about his one-man play Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth (directed by similarly legendary Spike Lee) — for which he’s currently wrapping up a 19-date tour with a stop at the Kimmel Center in Philly and a penultimate stop at the Wang Theatre in Boston — you’re a little nervous.

This writer was tasked with just that. The following are excerpts from a conversation held over a very bad connection on an iPhone, from the cafe car of a southbound Amtrak. Excerpts because the other thing Iron Mike is known for is that signature lisp. If you’ve ever tried to talk to anybody on a cell phone with a bad connection on an Amtrak cafe car, you’re likely aware that it is….difficult. (A seventh listen to the recorded transcript of this interview revealed that Mike Tyson did not, in fact, tell this writer that he once watched Ben and Jerry perform A Bronx Tale. Though that would have been amazing.)

Mike Tyson on deciding to do a one-man play.
Me and my wife was watching [not Ben and Jerry] do a Bronx Tale onstage and it was just so amazing, you can’t even imagine. Inspiration is an understatement. We was hanging on every word they said and I said ‘Baby, I think I can do this.’ Because, I mean, when I’m in Europe, and in Asia, I’m onstage talking about myself. People ask me questions from the crowd. But when I do it in America, I feel like it’s coming from an artistic point of view. And so we did it for two weeks at the MGM Grand and sold out every night….mostly foreigners. Every night, foreigners! And then Spike Lee called me when I was in Poland and asked me to take it to Broadway. And now we’re on a nationwide tour.

On pre-stage ritual.
I make sure I’m in the best physical and spiritual shape I can possibly be in. I just think of myself as being, like, one of the great stage performers. Like, you know, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Julie Garland, and all those guys. Frank Sinatra. I’m talking about real entertainers, I’m talking about really explosive entertainers. The dancers! That kind of stuff.

On a bomb threat that got called in to his New York show.
Yes, there was a bomb threat. But they caught the guy, they caught the guy. But that’s okay. And they’re going to do that to me? Can you imagine me dying on a Broadway stage?! Holy Moley! Well they got the guy…I think it was fake. He wanted to do another, um, Colorado movie theater shooting….online….and that helped the FBI catch him.

On his favorite story to tell onstage.
When I had my street altercation with Mitch Green. I had a street fight with Mitch Green — a boxer – and I’m explaining to the crowd what happened. Oh, amazing. It’s not meant to be, but it gets a lot of laughs.

On the suggestion that that’s good, because isn’t his show meant to be half-comedic and half-serious?
No! I don’t want to be anything comedic. Nothing comedic! But sometimes people laugh.

On his favorite city on the tour.
I’ve been to….man. I’ve been to St. Louis, I’ve been to San Francisco, San Diego, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Where else? San Diego. Where else? San Jose, Atlanta, North Carolina, Mississippi, Miami, Tampa, all over the place.

On his favorite city on the tour to hang out in, though.
Hey, I don’t do no hanging out. But I did like Durham, North Carolina, that was a nice town.

On whether he had to read Fifty Shades of Grey to “research” for a scene in Scary Movie 5.
My wife reads that stuff, I don’t read that stuff. They just told me what to do. I don’t listen to my wife about no Fifty Shades of Grey. Yeah, I don’t want to read that stuff.

On stage versus screen acting.
I love stage acting, I don’t love anything more than stage acting — that’s instant gratification right there. You have people breathing, you have instant gratification.

On his favorite sports movies of all time.
Gentlemen Jim and Raging Bull.

On the best Rocky movie.
Big time Rocky fan. The one with Mr. T in it was the best.

On the one question he never wants to be asked again.
I don’t know…I’m so accustomed to answering any question anybody asks me. I’m not afraid to answer any questions.

On Zach Galifianakis.
He’s a really good guy. I think he’s a good guy. He’s a very normal person. He’s more normal than I am! He’s real normal, a good guy.

On the funniest actor in The Hangover.
Zach was the funniest. Zach. Zach. Zach. Zach. Number one, Zach. Zach was funnier than everybody.

On pets.
I just love animals, you know. They need people to take care of them. It’s a cold world out there. They live longer under the care of human beings than they do in the wild, in the care of the nature. Nature is harder on them.

On pigeons.
That’s just what I do. That’s my culture, that’s where I come from. You do that.

On his favorite pet pigeon.
No favorites, I have a lot of pigeons I like.

Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth        

PHILADELPHIA
May 2 @ 8 pm
Kimmel Center, 300 S Broad St.
$20-$500
tickets.kimmelcenter.org

BOSTON
May 4 @ 8 pm
Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont St.
$33.25-$503.75
citicenter.org

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  VIDEO: Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard on the Arsenio Hall Show

The post Mike Tyson’s Truth: Iron Mike talks pigeons, ‘Rocky,’ Zach Galifianakis, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey,’ and other stuff appeared first on Metro.us.

Thorgerson — known for designing classic album covers for Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Muse and countless others — is the subject of Bogowa’s documentary, “Taken by Storm: The Art of Storm Thorgerson and Hipgnosis,” screening Friday as part of the Boston Independent Film Festival. Bogowa had spent seven years working on the film and growing close with his subject, who initially seemed weary of a documentary.

“I guess he’d been approached two or three times by people claiming to want to do a film on him, but really wanting to get to Pink Floyd,” says Bogowa. “I told him I didn’t want to have any of the bands in the movie. I said, ‘My idea is to just do this portrait of you and about memory.”

Bogowa had been fascinated with Thorgerson since he was a record-buying teenager, but in that era, there wasn’t much information on Hipgnosis, the design team that Thorgerson ran.

“I always wondered who they were and back then,” he says of his time studying the covers while listening to the music within. “Since there wasn’t any internet or anything like that, you couldn’t really find out about them, and I don’t think there was much press on them in the States as a design company.”

Eventually the pair bonded, and Thorgerson gave Bogowa access to famous friends and clients like Peter Gabriel and Robert Plant, and access to his studio. “Taken by Storm” thrives off of the b-roll and alternate takes of the iconic images that Hipgnosis created.

“He was kind of a demanding character, but he and I somehow clicked, to the point where his studio assistants were like, ‘Wow, it seems like you’ve known each other your whole life,’” says Bogowa. “We became close pretty fast and then we built up this trust.”

Eventually the pair bonded: “We became close pretty fast and then we built up this trust.”

This trust led to Thorgerson giving Bogowa access to famous friends and clients like Peter Gabriel and Robert Plant, and access to his studio. “Taken by Storm” thrives off of the b-roll and alternate takes of the iconic larger-than-life images that Hipgnosis created.

With Thorgerson’s recent passing, one has to wonder if it is the final nail in the coffin for the music industry as one that sells tangible products. Bogowa says no. During his lifetime, Thorgerson did not seem to feel threatened by the way that album art shrank to smaller formats like the CD, and eventually the iPod screen. Right up until his end, he continued to build full-scale set pieces that any modern designer might just use Photoshop to create.

“He was always like, ‘well, I can’t control it, so I don’t really worry about it,’” laughs Bogowa. “And he was always of the mind that all of his designs, even when they’re vinyl were too big of ideas for even that.

“Taken by Storm” screens Friday at the Boston Independent Film Festival. For more info, visit www.iffboston.org. Before you go there though, here are a few other films we’re looking forward to at the BIFF.

‘The Act of Killing’
Hanging out with the surly, unrepentant men who helped kill half a million after a failed, mid-1960s coup in Indonesia, Joshua Oppenheimer’s unconventional documentary asks them to recreate their deeds in sometimes outlandish ways, as well as getting them comfortable enough to say some of the least humane sentences ever uttered on film. Going from nightmare to dark comedy and back again, it’s a testament to how when the baddies win, evil simply becomes the norm.

‘Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia’
Filmed shortly before his death last summer, this profile of Gore Vidal tries its best to bottle up a man difficult to pin down: a populist intellectual, rejected by academia and sometimes only tolerated by the mainstream. His clashes with William F. Buckley (“the Marie Antoinette of the right wing,” as per Gore) could get a documentary of their own, but the man’s wit and complexity, and sometime bitterness, shine through.

‘Prince Avalanche’
Returning to his indie roots after a stint making stoner comedies (“Pineapple Express,” “Your Highness”), David Gordon Green (“All the Real Girls”) still stays partly dude. Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch play lonely construction workers who bicker before bro’ing down. Both actors (Hirsch especially) do fine work, playing characters who envision themselves as something they’re not, someone more confident and in control.

The post Storm Thorgerson documentary puts viewers in a state of Hipgnosis appeared first on Metro.us.

ASK THE EXPERT  

We tapped Boston nightlife vet DJ Chris Ewen (of “Heroes” and “XMortis”) — who’s been emcee-ing dance nights around town for a lot longer than most of their attendees have been of legal drinking age — to let us know what’s good around town this weekend:

“Our fair city always offers up an abundance of nightlife goodness, and this weekend is especially loaded. Here are my picks: Feel like dancing the night away? This Friday serves up the monthly “goth with a wink” event Superstition: Patterns, at An Tua Nua in Boston, with DJs Punketta, AlexXxan & resident Anomaly. As for Saturday, I must mention my weekly dance party “HEROES“, at TT the Bear’s Place. Expect lots of 80s New Wave, Electro, Punk & other underground musical treats for your pleasure.”

MUSIC

Generationals
Tonight, 9 p.m.
Great Scott
1222 Comm. Ave., Allston
$10, 18+, 800-745-3000
ticketmaster.com

This New Orleans-based duo’s mix of electronic twee and indie pop is a perfect example of the modern music trend of favoring atmosphere over hooks. Their songs just sort of chill on a groove, never getting dull, but never really climaxing either—you get the sense you’re not supposed to listen to them so much as hang out in them.

IAMX
Saturday, 8 p.m.
Brighton Music Hall
158 Brighton Ave., Allston
$18, 18+, 800-745-3000
ticketmaster.com

IAMX, the gloomy, melodramatic project of Berlin-based British musician Chris Corner, has been surfing the borderline between rock and electronica since 2004. Corner’s theatrical stage persona and outlandish gothic style make him as artist who needs to be seen as much as heard. His all-out rock star charisma, seemingly devoid of irony, seems to belong to another era.

Fernando Brandao Sextet
Friday, 10 p.m.
The Beehive
541 Tremont Street, Boston
Free, 617-623-0069
beehiveboston.com

This band is a new project for Fernando Brandao, featuring vocals, flute, guitar, percussion, bass, and drums. The new repertoire mixes original songs, instrumental compositions, and arrangements of classics by Caetano Veloso, Dorival Caymmi, Gilberto Gil, João Donato, Edu Lobo and Tom Jobim.

Alessio Bax
Tuesday, 8 p.m.
Seully Hall, Boston Conservatory
8 The Fenway, Boston
$15, 617-912-9266
bostonconservatory.edu

This Italian pianist is known for his lyrical, dramatic style, which will be perfectly appropriate for the composers he’ll be playing tonight: Rachmaninoff and Mussorgsky. His natural force and passion are at home in emotional extremes—he can make the piano whisper as tenderly as he makes it scream and shout, pulling you right into the piece’s humanity.

Slang
Friday, 8 p.m.
Distler Performance Hall, Tufts University
20 Talbot Ave., Somerville
Free, 617-627-3679
tufts.edu

File this concert by the Tufts New Music Ensemble, featuring New York counterparts Loadbang, under “something completely different.” Just like slang terms pioneer new kinds of linguistic meaning, the composers whose works these ensembles perform are trying to push music into new territory. So if it seems like lunacy coming out of their instruments, that’s just the sound of freshness.

COMEDY

Walsh Brothers Benefit for the Richard Family
Friday, 7 p.m.
Great Scott
1222 Comm Ave, Allston
$20, 617-566-9014
greatscottboston.com

We’re of the mind that, sometimes, things are so bad that all you can do is laugh. And when that laughter benefits a cause as good as this, all the better. The Walsh Brothers, who took their hilarious Boston-bent comedy to the left coast a few years ago are still dedicated to their hometown. This event — in conjunction with Anderson Comedy — will raise money for the family of Martin Richard, the little boy killed in the attack on the Boston Marathon. All proceeds benefit the Richard family.

Craig Gass and Aziz Ansari
Wilbur Theatre
246 Tremont St., Boston
Gass $22, Anzari $47 617-248-9700
ticketmaster.com

The Wilbur is hosting a double-booking of a comedy for a good cause this weekend. On Friday comedian Craig Gass (he of the spot-on Pacino impression) will be donating his percentage of his stand-up show’s proceeds to Boston Marathon victims. Saturday, Aziz Ansari is hosting a just-announced stand-up show of which 100 percent of ticket proceeds (plus an additional $9,500 donation from the Wilbur) will be donated to The One Fund Boston & The Officer Richard Donohue Fund. Laugh on!

THEATER

‘Pericles’
Through May 12
Modern Theatre, Suffolk University
525 Washington St., Boston
$33-$50, 866-811-4111
ovationtix.com

Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s presents a piece of the Shakespeare canon that’s gotten a bit of a bum rap historically, partly because it’s believed that Shakespeare only wrote at most half of the play. The Bard’s contemporary Ben Jonson called it a “mouldy tale,” but it’s also had its fans, such as T.S. Eliot, who praised its larger-than-life humanity as “ultra-dramatic.”

‘Drawin’ on the Walls’
Friday through May 4
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
$21-$26, 866-811-4111
ovationtix.com

Local theatre company FUDGE presents this original musical by Chris Guin, which tells of a young artist who’s retreated into his own private fantasy world. To him, the dragons he draws aren’t just pictures—they come to life. Everything’s fine until a girl from a downer joint called Reality comes to, in her mind, rescue him from a lonely, delusional existence.

ART

Art in Bloom
Saturday through Monday
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
465 Huntington Ave., Boston
$23-$25, 800-440-6975
mfa.org

Every spring, the Museum of Fine Arts brings in several garden clubs and floral designers to create flower arrangements that complement the art in their galleries—this year they’ve got more than 50, accompanied by a lecture by the floral arranger for the 2011 Royal Wedding, a floral demonstration, classes on floral arrangement and an “elegant tea.”

Beijing Journal
Through July 12
Multicultural Arts Center
41 Second St., Cambridge
Free, 617-577-1400
multiculturalartscenter.org

This 48-picture photoessay by Joseph Levendusky peeks into the shifting world of China’s capital city, focusing on the oldest, most traditional streets and neighborhoods, known as hutongs, which are still holding out after years of relentless, sometimes violent social change—but who can say for how much longer? It’s a narrative whose echoes can be heard not just in China, but everywhere.

FESTIVALS

Harvard Arts First Festival
Thursday through Sunday
Harvard Square
Cambridge
Free, 617-496-2222
ofa.fas.harvard.edu/arts

This festival features performances and work from hundreds of students at both Harvard and its satellite institutions, in every art form, and we mean everything. Seriously—the program is so extensive it has its own iPhone app! Cambridge homeboy Matt Damon will be honored at a special ceremony, and they’ll be holding outdoor screenings of his movies in the evening.

BOOKS

Evgeny Morozov
Friday, 7 p.m.
Harvard Book Store
1256 Mass. Ave., Cambridge
Free, 617-661-1515
harvard.com

This author, a writer for the New Republic, will discuss his new book “To Save Everything, Click Here,” which criticizes the idea that technology can and will equalize society, democratize the world, force political accountability, etc. Morozov believes this attitude severely underestimates the complexity of political, moral, and social problems, and, if unchecked, is likely to create more trouble than it solves.

The post My Metro: Your rundown of what to do and where to go in Boston this weekend appeared first on Metro.us.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble has been rattling the rafters of some of this town’s most venerable clubs for 34 years, longer than a lot of the people who’ll be packing into T.T. the Bear’s Friday night have been alive. After six grueling (raging) nights of competition, the Rumble judges have narrowed the competition down from 24 bands to the three that remain (plus, the Dogmatics are headlining as special guests — those dudes were Rumble competitors way back in ’85). Rather than even attempt to crystal ball the winner, we thought it might instead be fun to up the competition by making them all talk about each other. It comes down to three very different bands, bringing some very different noise: Eddie Japan (60s-vibing retro pop sextet,) Glenn Yoder and the Western States (guitar driven folk-rock balladry,) and Rumble wild card Twin Berlin (no-frills, old school rock n’ roll).

If you had to lose to one of the other Rumble contenders, who would you prefer?

Twin Berlin: “Really, everyone deserves to win for one reason or another, but we’ve already been bested by Eddie Japan in the Semifinals. So, let’s give it to Glenn Yoder and the Western States.”

Eddie Japan: “We’d rather lose to Glenn Yoder and the Western States. He’s a great songwriter, and when you watch him play, he makes you feel like he’s been doing it for 20 years. But he’s just a wee young lad. And his band is quite incredible, too.”

Glenn Yoder: “Let’s hope for a three-way tie. Everyone wins…and everyone loses. No, in all honesty, it’s a tough question because I only know Eddie Japan. We lost to them in the prelims, so it’s funny to be paired up with them again. They’re good guys and musicians with an insane pedigree. They would be worthy victors. As for Twin Berlin, I’ve never seen or met them. I went to their semi-final night and saw Eddie Japan’s set, but my ride pulled me away before I could catch any of Twin Berlin. I know, I’m a loser. But I do recall hearing that Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker produced their latest album. That dude works with P. Diddy! So that, too, is a pretty impressive pedigree. Really, though, it’s the Rumble. There are 24 good and deserving bands. There’s no wrong choice.”

Glenn Yoder and the Western States

OK. But what if you had to be stuck on a desert island with the competition, then who would you choose?

Twin Berlin: “Eddie Japan. They’ve got the biggest group, so that would give us the most people to eat if we had to resort to cannibalism to stay alive.”

Eddie Japan: “Again, Glenn Yoder and the Western States. They’re all pretty easy on the eyes. But if we’re talking about all 2013 Rumble contenders…well, let’s just say all of greater Boston will soon want to be stranded with Ruby Rose Fox. She’s just warming up. That voice and those lyrics — a thoroughly modern old soul.”

Glenn Yoder: “Eddie Japan has about 50 members, so with that kind of manpower, I imagine we could build some sort of a makeshift city on the island and create our own society. That’s just plain smart.”

Eddie Japan

Fair enough. If you could see any battle of the bands at T.T.’s — between musicians past or present, alive or dead — who would you pick to rumble?

Twin Berlin: “Misfits, Nirvana, Queen, and The Doors.”

Eddie Japan: “Ziggy-era Bowie vs. The Stooges vs mid-’60s Tom Jones. One wouldn’t make it out alive.”

Glenn Yoder: “If we could play in a battle of the bands at TTs against any band living or dead, there’s two parts to this. One, the non-competitive aspect of who would you want to play with, living or dead, because you can safely assume we would lose to whoever this legendary band is — Beatles, Stones, Neil Young, etc. — but not care because we’re so psyched to be playing with our idols. Two, the competitive aspect. Because if you simply want to win, then wouldn’t you want to play a really bad band? In this case, I would nominate my first band from fourth grade. So all that being said, while I think it’d be really trippy and strange to play against/with my fourth grade self and the other wee members of Electrified — yes, that was our name — I think I’d rather lose badly and quite gladly to an idol. Bring on Neil.”

How about who’d you just like to see battle it out?

Glenn Yoder: “I’d like to get pretty weird with it. Obviously, energy is everything for a great live show. So, with that in mind, I’d like to see Jerry Lee Lewis (in his prime), Bruce Springsteen (doesn’t have to be his prime, the dude is as energetic at 63 as he was at 23), and — you guessed it — Andrew WK. These three would be a hell of an energetic show and extremely confusing to see onstage together. I like everything about this idea.”

Let’s get ready to Rumble:
T.T. the Bear’s Place
10 Brookline St., Cambridge
8:30 pm | 18 + | $12
ttthebears.com

Can’t make it? Media Boss TV will be live-streaming the whole evening, so you don’t have to miss it.

The post Real talk with 2013′s Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble finalists appeared first on Metro.us.

If your eyes roll at the thought of a 60-year-old, two-time Olympic gymnast playing Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up, in a mammoth, Broadway-style musical you wouldn’t be alone. But don’t let your cynicism (or mine) keep you from enjoying this magical theatrical experience.

The minute Cathy Rigby’s Peter Pan flies into the open windows of the Darling family home, it’s clear this is no run-of-the-mill adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic tale. Rigby, the first American woman to win a medal in World Gymnastics competition, still flips, floats and tumbles like a teen. She also sings like a Tony-nominated musical theater vet while maintaining the tough, yet vulnerable demeanor of a young boy.

Serious adults may initially get distracted by the logistics of letting the family dog babysit even after a strange boy was seen peering in the windows, but children — and those grownups who are a bit less jaded — will be instantly captivated by the spectacle. Big, beautiful, oft-changing set pieces provide the perfect backdrop for Wendy and the boys to play out the ultimate childhood fantasy.

There are swashbuckling pirates, an evil Captain Hook (impressively played by Brent Barrett,) and a slithery Crocodile (Clark Roberts, who also doubles as family dog Nana). The beautiful Tiger Lily (Jenna Wright) charms boys of all ages and the drumming and dancing in her duet with Pan, “Ugg-a-Wugg,” provides an amazing musical theater moment for everyone.

In one of the show’s most climactic moments, Tinker Bell’s fate lies in the hands of the audience. A desperate plea by Peter — along with a great Boston shout-out by Rigby in this production — fills the theater with thunderous applause to revive Tink… and paves the way to a soaring finish that ensures that everyone leaves the show feeling young again.

“Cathy Rigby is Peter Pan” runs through April 28
Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont St., Boston
$39-$100, 866-348-9738
www.cathyrigbyispeterpan.com

The post The magic in ‘Cathy Rigby is Peter Pan’ is ageless appeared first on Metro.us.

Had it opened before the bombing at the Boston Marathon, “Beowulf – A Thousand Years of Baggage” might be a different experience.

Unfortunately for everyone, it did not. It opened shortly after the attack, causing the image of a giant, dismembered and bloodied arm — and the subsequent dialogue about a mother holding her wounded (adult) child to her bosom — to hit just a little too close to home for this reviewer.

At this performance all the jokes fell flat, despite the artists’ best efforts and the crowd’s apparent willingness to play along. It just felt like the wrong show for that particular day.

One hopes that perhaps this problem can be fixed with the help of a little time. Because, at its heart, “Beowulf” is a smart, funny and irreverent show that could only benefit from the full attention of a playful audience with a few glasses of mead under its collective belt. The actors and musicians are both playful and eager to engage the crowd, if only the crowd were in a state of mind to be engaged. Moreover, the production’s concept is a delightfully light reinterpretation of the weighty, epic poem that dates back somewhere between the eighth and 11thcenturies.

In the time-worn text, Beowulf is “the ultimate masculine male,” but here, Jason Craig imbues him with the essence of a bumbling professional wrestler with rock star gravitas. His nemesis Grendel (Rick Burkhardt) could easily do double duty as a demented, cartoonish villain in a “Batman” film.

Jessica Jelliffe captures the pain of Grendel’s mother as she’s watching her child die, but her vocals were somewhat blown away by the band during what seemed meant to be her big number. Lisa Clair’s transition from “hot librarian” Academic 3 into the fearsome Dragon adds some much-needed heat and sultry fun to the show.

Though the performance is supposed to transport us into a German mead hall, Club Oberon just feels like Club Oberon, complete with the Donkey Show’s disco ball. They have, however, added mead to the menu.

Ultimately, despite the most valiant efforts of all, this tale of “ultra-male violence” with dark, easy-to-reinterpret lines like “it is better to retaliate than to mourn” ends up feeling misplaced. It was just the wrong place and the wrong time.

Only time will tell: give the play a shot!

If you go

“Beowulf – A Thousand Years of Baggage”
Through May 5
Club Oberon
2 Arrow St., Cambridge
$25-$55
617-547-8300
www.americanrepertorytheater.org

The post Oberon’s Beowulf finds itself in the wrong place, at the wrong time appeared first on Metro.us.

If you haven’t yet read Amanda Palmer’s ‘A Poem For Dzhokhar‘ – and if you live in Boston, are on Facebook or Twitter, and don’t currently reside under a large, social-media eclipsing rock then you most likely have – then go ahead and do that now. Not because it’s great poetry. That’s not for us to say, we’re not poetry professors. And not because she’s saying anything you want to hear. That’s also not for us to say, we’re not you. You should read it because Amanda F—ing Palmer wrote a poem. Nay, an ode. To the remaining living suspect in the Boston Marathon attacks. And the internet is all sorts of worked up about it.

Whether you love it, hate it, or think it’s completely insane (fiercely divided sentiments often applied to the Dresden Dolls singer herself) there’s no denying that this particular piece of prose is a…Thing. Lines like “you don’t know how precious your iphone battery time was until you’re hiding in the bottom of the boat” juxtaposed with those like “you don’t know how to dance but you give it a shot anyway” are jarring and have sparked equal amounts of internet rage,  adoration, and a fair amount of uhh WTF-type perplexity. We’re reserving our own opinions for our personal LiveJournals. Read it and decide for yourself.

The post Read this: Amanda Palmer wrote a controversial poem for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appeared first on Metro.us.