This week, Jared Bowen takes us to the world premiere of “Schoenberg in Hollywood” and reviews two plays that are new to Boston: “WET: A DACAmented Journey” and “The Play That Goes Wrong.”
“Schoenberg in Hollywood,” presented by Boston Lyric Opera through Nov. 18
A world premiere at Boston Lyric Opera examines the life and legacy of world-renowned German composer Arnold Schoenberg. Written and composed by Tod Machover, “Schoenberg in Hollywood” examines the titular artist's career as he fled Hitler’s Europe for the glitz and glamour of 1930s Hollywood. The opera examines Schoenberg’s struggle to carry his heritage forward and maintain his artistic vision among the stars and celebrities of his new home.
“He was a great composer, very uncompromising, very radical,” say Machover, “and some people have the gift of salesmanship and of being charming and convincing people of their ideas no matter what they do. Schoenberg had kind of the opposite talent of making everybody mad at him no matter what he did.”
“WET: A DACAmented Journey,” presented by ArtsEmerson through Nov. 25
Discover what it means to be an undocumented American through firsthand accounts in “WET: A DACAmented Journey.” Written and performed by award-winning actor Alex Alpharaoh, this one-man play presents an autobiographical account of the artist’s life as a DACA “dreamer.” In the intimate setting of ArtsEmerson’s Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre, Alpharaoh literally risks his own freedom to share a life story that is both humorous and heartbreaking.
“This is theater at its most evocative,” says Jared of the performance. “Alpharoah is the embodiment of the immigration debate. His trials and fear are delivered right into our space.”
“The Play That Goes Wrong,” presented by Broadway in Boston at the Emerson Colonial Theatre through Nov. 18
How hard can staging a murder-mystery be? A college theater troupe finds out the hard way in “The Play That Goes Wrong” at the Emerson Colonial Theatre. Presented by Broadway in Boston, this show presents a hilarious and disastrous staging of a fictitious play-within-the-play titled “The Murder at Haversham Manor” by the eager and accident-prone thespians at the Cornley University Drama Society. Co-written by Mischief Theatre company’s Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, this Tony and Olivier-Award winning comedy crashes its way through every maligned theater troupe imaginable.
“If you like slapstick,” says Jared, “this will be sublime.”
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