Musicals, Shepard & Snoopy: 9 shows to watch on Cape Cod stages
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The choices on Cape Cod stages this week are pretty heavy on music, for those looking for lighter fare as the summer gears up, but there are also two thought-provoking plays about white privilege — both men’s and women’s — and Sam Shepard’s look at family.
We’ve got reviews online for continuing shows: the 1950s-high-school musical “Grease” at Cape Playhouse in Dennis; “Straight White Men” at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater; and “Silver Threads: A Musical Tribute to Linda Ronstadt” at Cotuit Center for the Arts. Check out what our critics have to say at https://www.capecodtimes.com/entertainment/.
Reviews: 'You're the one that I want': What critics love about 'Grease' and 4 other shows on Cape Cod stages
Harbor Stage Company’s June 16-July 9 opener in Wellfleet is Shepard’s “Buried Child,” described as “an uncompromising dive into the secrets of a fractured family … (that) uses dark humor to dissect the myth of a twisted American dream.” Reservations and information: http://www.harborstage.org/
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For other shows opening this week, here’s what to look forward to:
Academy stages ‘Guys and Dolls’
With the goal of putting “a fresh coat of paint on a classic,” the Academy of Performing Arts will bring back the “oddball musical comedy” of “Guys and Dolls,” about big-city gamblers in Depression-era Times Square and the women who love them. The beloved score includes well-known tunes like “Luck Be a Lady Tonight” and “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.”
Shows are at 7 p.m. June 17-18, 24-25 and July 30-July 2 and 2 p.m. June 19 and 16 at the Academy Playhouse, 120 Main St., Orleans; tickets and information: https://www.academyplayhouse.org/.
College Light Opera Company begins its musicals
College Light Opera Company’s 54th season of all musicals at Highfield Theatre in Falmouth will open June 22-25 with “The Gondoliers,” part of its traditional Gilbert and Sullivan fare — a day later than planned because of COVID-19 cases among the college-student cast. The rest of the season ranges from fairy tales to Elvis Presley to a dark Stephen Sondheim show.
The nine-show season is scheduled to continue with June 28-July 2, “Kiss Me Kate”; July 5-9, “No, No Nanette”; July 12-16, “All Shook Up”; July 19-23, “Die Fledermaus”; July 26-30, “Cinderella”; Aug.2-6, “Assassins”; Aug. 9-13, “The Scarlet Pimpernel”; and Aug. 16-20, “She Loves Me.”
Reservations and information: http://www.collegelightoperacompany.com/.
Say hello to Charlie Brown and Snoopy
Cotuit Center for the Arts will christen its new outdoor performance space with the beloved Charles Schulz comic-strip characters in the musical “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” It’s just an average day for the hapless boy as he navigates lunchtime, Valentine’s Day and baseball season in what’s described as “wild optimism and utter despair.” Dog Snoopy, sister Sally and friends Linus, Schroeder and Lucy are along for the ride.
Shows are at 6 p.m. June 21-24, 27, 29-30 and July 1, 5-8 at the center, 4404 Falmouth Road (Route 28), Cotuit; $30, with discounts available; https://artsonthecape.org/.
Songs from a tough Hollywood
As part of the June 21-26 Provincetown CabaretFest, which this year has a theme of "Hooray for Hollywood," local actress Jo Brisbane melds song and comedy for her one-woman show “Mod Hollywood: Tunes from a Town Without Pity.” Her show is at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 23 at Gabriel’s, 102 Bradford St. in Provincetown
The piece is described as “a mid-century modern musical romp” with songs from 1950s and 1960s movies, ranging “from the bittersweet to the boozy to the bland, to the noir nights seen through a door marked nevermore.” Reservations and information: https://www.provincetowncabaretfest.com/thursday.
Play explores wealthy white female privilege
Jim Dalglish’s one-woman play “The Playground” has been chosen as a finalist for Eventide Theatre Company’s 2022 Kaplan Playwright Competition, and will be given a free public reading at 2 p.m. Saturday. Anna Botsford will star in the show at the Jacob Sears Library, 23 Center St., East Dennis.
The show is about the mother of a rambunctious 4-year-old who leaves her tenure-track position on the West Coast to follow her husband to New York, and stumbles into a surreal world of wealthy female white privilege when she takes her son to a playground. There will be a talkback after the show.
Information: https://www.facebook.com/events
This story has been updated to reflect the change of dates for College Light Opera Company because of COVID-19 cases.Contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @KathiSDCCT.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod theater: Musical, Shepard, Snoopy, white privilege, Hollywood
