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REVIEW: ‘Music from the Sole’ made an uplifting Boston debut with Celebrity Series of Boston

Posted on January 20, 2024 by The Sleepless Critic

With upbeat rhythms and sweeping and intricate grace, Music from the Sole: I Didn’t Come to Stay is such a lively and fervent celebration, one can only wish this group would extend their visit to Boston. Cheerful and exuberant lighting brighten the stage as the onstage band creates an eclectic blend of house, jazz, samba, Afro-Brazilian and funk in an inviting journey of smooth and invigorating rhythms capable of uplifting any mood.

Music from the Sole Photo credit to Robert Torres

With captivating choreography by Leonardo Sandoval combined with the dancers’ skillful improvisation, Celebrity Series of Boston presented Music From the Sole: I Didn’t Come to Stay from Thursday, January 11 through Saturday, January 13 live and in person at New England Conservatory’s Plimpton Shattuck Black Box Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. Music from the Sole is currently on tour. This semi-immersive dance celebration is approximately one hour with no intermission. Click here for more information, click here for Music from the Sole’s upcoming events, and here for what is next for Celebrity Series of Boston.

NEC’s Plimpton Shattuck Black Box Theatre has an attractive set up with a raised stage without a bad seat in the house. In an array of pulsating rhythms, Music from the Sole made a refreshing and breezy entrance from the wings of the intimate theatre and moving through the crowd, the group encouraged the audience to respond to what they saw in any way that moved them. Music from the Sole’s compelling performance made moving in some way to the beat irresistible. The show’s mesmerizing and skittering tap dancing resembled a rollicking train as their soles hit the floor and also featured the graceful pitter patter of bare feet that slid and glided in an array of intricate maneuvers. One notable performance featured Ana Tomioshi’s swift footwork enhanced by a radiant smile as her shadow lit up against what resembled a glowing orange sun before the other dancers joined in a drum-laden beat.

When the dancers composed of dance captain Ana Tomioshi, Naomi Funaki, Orlando Hernandez, Roxy King, Gerson Lanza, Leonardo Sandoval, Lucas Santana, and Gisele Silva collectively took the stage, it was an effervescent and energetic excursion. Their collective enthusiasm was contagious and a joy to watch. If only every job could be met with such zeal.

Kathy Kaufmann’s integral lighting set the excitement and warmth of each performance in a varying array of purples, pinks, greens, oranges, blues and reds while Dede Ayite’s bright and multicolored costume design lent to the festive nature and depicted the culture in lime green pants, pastels, bright island-inspired patterns, feathers, and stripes. The crackling and smooth sounds of the five piece band composed of Josh Davis, Magela Herrera, Noe Kains, Gregory Richardson, and Jennifer Vincent melded together seamlessly as the dancers moved in harp, guitar, and bass-infused rhythms creating their own unique expressions as they clapped, leapt and stomped to the beat. Some members of Music from the Sole are both instrumentalists and dancers and it was exciting to see what combination of dancers and musicians would take the stage next.

With captivating choreography by Leonardo Sandoval combined with the dancers’ skillful improvisation, Celebrity Series of Boston presented Music From the Sole: I Didn’t Come to Stay from Thursday, January 11 through Saturday, January 13 live and in person at New England Conservatory’s Plimpton Shattuck Black Box Theatre. Music from the Sole is currently on tour. This semi-immersive dance celebration is approximately an hour with no intermission. Click here for more information, click here for Music from the Sole’s upcoming events, and here for what is next for Celebrity Series of Boston.

REVIEW: Chocolate promises and shattered dreams as Arlekin Players turn over a bizarre ‘Stone’

Posted on September 28, 2019 by The Sleepless Critic

It is a show unlike anything the Sleepless Critic has ever seen before. Arlekin Players is currently celebrating their 10th anniversary season as they present Marius von Mayenburg’s avant-garde production, ‘The Stone‘ (remount in English) through Sunday, September 29 in Needham, Massachusetts. Click here for more information and tickets. Click here for an interview done last year with director Igor Golyak.

Directed by Igor Golyak, ‘The Stone’ explores the history of a German house before and beyond World War II and its various owners which includes a Jewish family and their ancestors. Quite a few revelations and family secrets are revealed through traumas and triumphs inside this haunting structure.

Arlekin Plays 'The Stone' with Viktoriya Kovalenko, Rimma Gluzman and Olga Sokolova

Viktoriya Kovalenko, Rimma Gluzman and Olga Sokolova in Arlekin Players ‘The Stone’ Photo courtesy of Irina Danilova/Arlekin Players

The Arlekin Players stage is an overwhelming experience told in the theatre round without a bad seat. With vintage lighting by Jeff Adelberg, ‘The Stone’ features very few props and unconventionally arranged set pieces which includes a partially buried piano, a vintage chandelier, and a chair hanging upside down from the ceiling. As characters emerge and exit almost supernaturally from the floor in head-to toe-white with black paint splotches staining their pants, it quickly became clear that this would not be an orthodox production.

Photo courtesy of Irina Danilova/Arlekin Players

With wild white hair, a pair of navigators called the conductors, portrayed with bizarre humor by Jenya Brodskaia and Misha Tyutyunik, are seemingly mad scientists that conduct and calculate time travel. They take the audience through the history of the house before and beyond World War II, one of the most tumultuous times in history. The time travel is a raging, jarring experience with special effects that may have been effective the first couple of times, but starts to distract from the tale as the show moves along.

The characters march strangely and unnaturally, sometimes under a plastic umbrella, an urgent tale with segments between the characters so brief, it is difficult to develop an attachment to them. The cast is stoic for the most part, especially from Mieze, portrayed with a guarded, calculating air by Rimma Gluzman. When Viktoriya Kovalenko as idealistic Heidrun discovers a small box in the house that she believes was her father’s, portrayed with complexity by David Gamarnik as Wolfgang, the moment Heidrun has with her mother Witha, portrayed by Darya Denisova, provides a touching moment in the production.

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I’m sure there is an audience for experimental theatre and the actual tale is powerful, but too unconventional and at times confusing for my taste. It chooses to be different and complex when the story can be told in a straightforward way. It is still art and it’s unforgettable.

Arlekin Players presents ‘The Stone’ through Sunday, September 29 at 368 Hillside Ave in Needham, Massachusetts. Click here for more information and tickets and here for more information on the Igor Golyak Acting Studio.