This Week, WGBH News’ Arts Editor Jared Bowen speaks with Keith Hamilton Cobb about his one-man play “American Moor” and reviews the touring Broadway production of “Les Misérables.”
“American Moor,” presented by ArtsEmerson at the Emerson Paramount Center through Apr. 21
Keith Hamilton Cobb returns to Boston with “American Moor,” the one-man play he created and stars in. Based on Cobb’s own experiences as a thespian and Shakespeare enthusiast, “American Moor” is the story of a black actor auditioning for the lead role in Shakespeare’s “Othello.” Throughout the performance, Cobb’s character must contend with both the show’s young, white director and a lifetime of insistence that he must play Othello — a character Cobb says he was not born to play. Jared describes “American Moor” as “a heartbreaking story achingly rendered, not even of a dream deferred, but of one deprived.”
“Les Misérables,” presented by Broadway in Boston at the Citizens Bank Opera House through Apr. 28
Get ready for a rousing production of one of the most popular musicals, “Les Misérables” — now in its 33rd year. Based on the Broadway production that ran for two-and-a-half years, “Les Misérables” takes audiences to 19th century France for an epic musical that spans decades of revolution, corruption, and death as it traces the life and redemption of the convict Jean Valjean. Jared says “Les Misérables” “remains a blockbuster epic musical” that pushes forward with a new direction and staging that has evolved in smart, sharp fashion.
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