Theatre Time
Living in the Theater District means that Emerson students are in the best location to catch a show on a boring Sunday or after a long day of Monday classes. Here’s roundup of current and upcoming theatre in the area. Boston Ballet: The Nutcracker Opens: 27 Nov - 31 Dec 2015 Location: Boston Opera House Info: This tale follows the journey of Clara, a teenage girl who is given a glorious nutcracker as a Christmas gift. In the dead silence after the party she has just attended is finished, the Nutcracker comes to life and takes Clara on a fantastic journey where she meets an array of characters, including toy soldiers, princesses and the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Elf Opens: Nov 17 - Dec 6 2015 Location: Wang Theatre Creative: Lyrics by Chad Beguelin; Music by Matthew Sklar; Book by Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan; Directed by San Scalamoni Info: As Santa is out delivering his presents to the world's children, an orphaned baby boy crawls into Santa’s present sack, and Santa unknowingly transports him back to North Pole. Years later, the boy, now a fully grown man named Buddy, realizes that he is not an elf and is in fact a human. Buddy travels to New York to seek out his real birth family and is in shock when he sees that New Yorkers are seriously lacking in Christmas spirit, especially his father Walter - a surly book publisher.
Beauty and the Beast Opens: Jan 6 - Jan 10 2016 Location: Boston Opera House Cast & Creative: Sam Hartley as The Beast; Brooke Quintana as Belle; Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek as Gaston; Composer - Alan Menken; Lyrics - Howard Ashman & Tim Rice; Book - Linda Woolverton; Director - Rob Roth Info: Beauty and the Beast follows the well known tale of Belle, a smart, beautiful young woman living in a quiet village in France. As an avid book reader, she longs for adventures that she reads about instead of the typical and predictable life that she is living. One day her father goes missing in the woods, and Belle sets out to find him. She ends up stumbling upon an old castle in the heart of the forest. Inside lives the Beast, a wild and savage creature, who was once a young man, but was cursed for his vanity. His spell can only be reversed by learning to love and be loved for what lies within, rather than exterior beauty.
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Opens: Dec 1 - Dec 6 2015 Location: Shubert Theatre Info: Based on the animated special Rudolph this magical musical stage adaptation will hit the stage in Boston this December. The story of Rudolph chronicles the experiences of a reindeer buck who has an unusual luminous red nose and is mocked and excluded by his peers.
A Confederacy of Dunces Opens: Nov 11 - Dec 13 2015 Location: Boston University Theatre Mainstage Cast & Creative: Nick Offerman as Ignatius J. Reilly; Anita Gillette as Irene Reilly; Phillip James Brannon as Burma Jones; Arnie Burton as Dorian Greene and Mr. Gonzales; Based on the novel by John Kennedy Toole; Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher; Directed by David Esbjornson Info: Nick Offerman stars in this world premiere stage production of John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Offerman plays Ignatius J. Reilly, as he navigates life in 1960's New Orleans, as he seeks to find gainful employment.
Love Letters Opens: Feb 2 - Feb 7 2016 Location: Shubert Theatre Cast & Creative: Ryan O'Neal as Andrew Makepeace Ladd III; Ali MacGraw as Melissa Gardner; Directed by Gregory Mosher; Written by A. R. Gurney Info: Melissa and Andrew have been in love since second grade, yet because of certain circumstance their romance was never anything more than friendship. The two friends keep up a constant correspondence through letters, cards, notes and invitations, and write about which their victories, defeats and dreams as they are pulled ever further apart.
Choice Opens: Oct 20 - Nov 15 Location: Huntington Theatre Company Cast & Creative: Ken Cheeseman (Emerson professor) as Mark/The Other Mark; Johanna Day as Zipporah Zunder; Raviv Ullman as Hunter; Munson Hicks as Clark; Connie Ray as Erica Info: Successful journalist Zipporah Zunder takes on an assignment to investigate a new and polarizing social phenomenon. She soon realizes how unprepared she is for how deeply this story will come to impact her life, and even transform her understanding of herself, her past, and her future.