Announcing Our 45th Season!
Pilgrims, romance, murder, and cake: our 45th season has all that and more! We are proud to continue to bring both beloved classics and innovative new works to our stage.
News
Lyric Stage Wins 3 IRNE Awards!
At last night’s 2019 Independent Reviewers of New England Awards, three members of the Lyric Stage family brought home awards!
Congratulations to
- Eddy Cavazos, Best Actor in a Musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman
- Yewande Odetoyinbo, Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, Breath & Imagination
- Johnathan Carr, Best Projection Design, Kiss of the Spider Woman
About Eddy Cavazos
Eddy Cavazos made his Lyric Stage debut as Molina in Kiss of the Spider Woman. He most recently appeared in his solo cabaret, #Masc4Mascara, at Don’t Tell Mama in NYC. Other credits include Manuel vs. The Statue of Liberty (The Gallery Players), White Christmas(Arts Center of Coastal Carolina), Junie B. Jones (Theatre Aspen), Peter and the Starcatcher (Theatre Aspen), Hairspray (
About Yewande Odetoyinbo
Yewande Odetoyinbo* (Angel Mo’) is a native of Detroit, MI and a proud graduate of Howard University, where she earned a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre and became a member of Sigma Alpha Iota. She also holds a shiny new M.F.A. in Musical Theatre Performance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. She returns to the Lyric Stage having appeared in The Wiz last spring. Some of her favorite performances include roles in Fannie Lou at Carnegie Hall, the national tour of Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds (Adventure Theatre), Trav’lin: The 1930s Harlem Musical (Seven Angels Theatre, Waterbury, CT), Show Boat (Reagle Music Theatre and Fiddlehead Theatre), and In the Heights, and Seussical at Wheelock Family Theatre. She has been seen in various staged readings with The Front Porch Arts Collective and Goodspeed Opera House. It is her lifelong dream not only to perform and teach theatre to inner-city youth but also to open up a performing arts school in Nigeria. She thanks the Lord for His many blessings and her family and friends for their love and support. She would also like to thank Maurice Emmanuel Parent, the Front Porch Arts Collective, and the Lyric Stage family! Ase!
About Johnathan Carr
Johnathan Carr returned to the Lyric Stage for Production Design for Kiss of the Spider Woman after designing
Twelfth Night production photos
All photos by Mark S. Howard
Fun Facts About Twelfth Night Director Paula Plum!
Paula Plum is no stranger to the Lyric Stage! You may recognize her from the multiple productions she’s worked on, but here are some fun facts you may not have known about the director of Twelfth Night:
- Paula has been working as an actor and director with the Lyric Stage since 1975.
- She is a founding member of Actor’s Shakespeare Project, which is co-producing Twelfth Night.
- The first show Paula acted in at the Lyric Stage was Dial M for Murder in 1975!
- In 2004, Paula received the Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence. She has also been awarded 2 other Elliot Norton Awards, 5 IRNE awards, and numerous other honors.
- The first play Paula directed at the Lyric Stage was Baltimore Waltz in 1999.
- Paula has acted in over a dozen shows at the Lyric, including Miss Witherspoon, The Heiress, and Death of a Salesman.
- Paula recently played Sharon in the Lyric Stage’s production of The Roommate. She contributed many personal items to the show’s set!
- Paula is married to Richard Snee, who plays Malvolio in Twelfth Night.
Learn More About Paula Plum
Paula Plum (Director) is a founding member of Actors’ Shakespeare Project and has worked as an actor and director with the Lyric Stage since 1975. She has been Artistic Director of WGBH’s A Christmas Celtic Sojourn since its inception in 2003, touring concerts throughout New England during the holiday season. She has directed in Paris, New York, and Boston and is the 2009 recipient of the Fox Actor Fellowship. In the last year she has directed the Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration for the Boston Pops and Reclaiming Lucretia for Boston Lyric Opera. Paula is the recipient of the Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence, five IRNE Awards, three Elliot Norton Awards for Outstanding Actress, and was the 2003 Distinguished Alumna of Boston University’s College of Fine Arts. paulaplum.com
A Brief Synopsis of Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night is a tale of unrequited love, simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking. Twins are separated during a shipwreck and are forced to fend for themselves in a strange land. The first twin, Viola, falls in love with Orsino, who dotes on Olivia, who falls for Viola but is idolized by Malvolio. Enter Sebastian, who is the spitting image of his twin sister… is it possible for this to all end well? Well, it IS a comedy!
Why³ with Paula Plum
We asked all of our directors this season the question “why?” Here are the answers from the director of our upcoming show, Twelfth Night. Photo of Paula Plum by Gary Ng.
Why this play?
Because we love love stories when they’re both comic and sad. These characters are all looking for love in the wrong places. And for me, it’s send in the clowns: the ASP company members in this play are all the clowns.
Why a co-production with Lyric Stage?
Spiro has said that the future of theatre in this city is collaboration not competition. We all benefit by sharing resources. And plus, I’ve been working at the Lyric Stage since I was 20 and I’m a founding member of ASP. It’s a perfect fit.
Why now?
I can’t read or think about this play without thinking that Viola is a refugee who has to disguise herself because she can’t be who she is. It’s such a contemporary theme: the immigrant/refugee who has to change their identity in order to survive.
About Director Paula Plum
Paula Plum (Director) is a founding member of Actors’ Shakespeare Project and has worked as an actor and director with the Lyric Stage since 1975. She has been Artistic Director of WGBH’s A Christmas Celtic Sojourn since its inception in 2003, touring concerts throughout New England during the holiday season. She has directed in Paris, New York, and Boston and is the 2009 recipient of the Fox Actor Fellowship. In the last year she has directed the Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration for the Boston Pops and Reclaiming Lucretia for Boston Lyric Opera. Paula is the recipient of the Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence, five IRNE Awards, three Elliot Norton Awards for Outstanding Actress, and was the 2003 Distinguished Alumna of Boston University’s College of Fine Arts. paulaplum.com
About Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night is a tale of unrequited love – hilarious and heartbreaking. Twins are separated during a shipwreck and are forced to fend for themselves in a strange land. The first twin, Viola, falls in love with Orsino, who dotes on Olivia, who falls for Viola but is idolized by Malvolio. Enter Sebastian, who is the spitting image of his twin sister… is it possible for this to all end well? Well, it IS a comedy!
A co-production with Actors’ Shakespeare Project.
“If music be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it.” – William Shakespeare
“She’s a Bit Like a Tennessee Williams’ Character Plopped into the Wrong Play” | Amelia Broome on “Birdie” in The Little Foxes
Amelia Broome, Craig Mathers, and Anne Gottlieb in The Little Foxes. Photos by Mark S. Howard.
If Regina Giddens is the complex and compelling anti-hero at the heart of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes, her sister-in-law, Birdie is her charming dramatic foil.
We sat down with
About Amelia Broome
Ameila Broome* (Birdie) has appeared at the Lyric Stage in Sweeny Todd, Rich Girl, and Kiss Me, Kate. Recent credits: Fiddler on the Roof, Master Class (New Rep), Spring Awakening, My Old Lady (Gloucester Stage), Steel Magnolias (Next Door Theatre), Next Fall, Adding Machine: a Musical, The Light in the Piazza [IRNE Award, Best Actress], Jerry Springer-The Opera, (SpeakEasy Stage), Two Wives in India(Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), and Tea at Five (Worcester Foothills Theater). She holds an M.F.A. from Boston University and is currently on the acting faculty at Emerson College. Originally from Georgia, Ms. Broome resides in Wilmington with her husband, John Silberman.
The Little Foxes Must Close Sunday, March 17th!
Theatre Talk with Michael John Ciszewski and Rosa Procaccino of The Little Foxes
The Little Foxes stars Michael John Ciszewski and Rosa Procaccino sat down for an installment of Theatre Talk and
About Michael John Ciszewski – Leo
Michael John Ciszewski (Leo) is making his Lyric Stage debut. Recent credits: Peter and the Starcatcher (Hub Theatre Company of Boston), Midsummer Night’s Dream, Three Sisters (Apollinaire Theatre Company), Antigone (Flat Earth Theatre), Citizens of the Empire (Boston Public Works), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Holiday Memories (New Rep). Michael trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and is a proud graduate of Boston University’s B.F.A Theatre Arts program. michaeljohnciszewski.com@micjcis
About Rosa Procaccino
Rosa Procaccino (Alexandra) is making her Lyric Stage debut. Rosa’s New York credits include Appointment with Death (The Gallery Players), Jerry Finnegan’s Sister (Emerging Artists Festival), Express, and A Fine Line (Manhattan Repertory Theatre). A recent graduate of Northeastern University her other credits include The Glass Menagerie, After Miss Julie, After the End, Mr. Burns, and Romeo and Juliet.
DigBoston Review of The Little Foxes: The Fangs That Bind
This post is excerpted from the full DigBoston review section.
★★★★★
Lillian Hellman’s thrilling 1939 play about the greed that tears apart a Southern family has been given a first-rate revival at the Lyric Stage Company in a profoundly impressive production directed by Scott Edmiston.
Anne Gottlieb is a forest fire as Regina, a woman willing to do anything—and step over anyone’s dead body—for a chunk of change. It’s a role that was originated by Tallulah Bankhead and immortalized by Bette Davis, and Gottlieb ably makes the role her own, albeit with an impressive pair of fangs.
One of the best-acted productions in recent memory, this ensemble of actors is the finest assembled in several seasons. Amelia Broome is luminous as Regina’s damaged alcoholic sister, and Cheryl D. Singleton finds unimaginable beauty in the smallest moments as Regina’s maid, Addie. Also impressive are Michael John Ciszewski and Rosa Procaccino, who play two cousins at opposite ends of the morality spectrum. While Procaccino is new to me, Ciszewski is not, and he once again shows why he’s one of the most promising young actors on the Boston theater scene.
Janie E. Howland has designed the best set I’ve seen on the Lyric’s stage, and with Karen Perlow’s lighting and Dewey Dellay’s original music, this production is gloriously cinematic.
The Little Foxes is that rare classic that shows virtually no signs of age. And with this Edmiston home run, this is as close to a must-see as it gets.
THE LITTLE FOXES. THROUGH 3.17 AT THE LYRIC STAGE, 140 CLARENDON ST., BOSTON. LYRICSTAGE.COM
The Little Foxes production photos
All photos by Mark S. Howard
Winthrop Transcript Review
“Run. Take the T. Drive. Call a transportation service. However you get there, don’t miss Lyric Stage Company of Greater Boston’s superb production of Lillian Hellman’s classic play, “The Little Foxes”. theater at its best.”
