Arts Alive offers an amazing array of talented performers, from aspiring students of all ages to accomplished professional performers. You’ll find music of all genres: jazz, rock’n’roll, blues, bluegrass, Americana, folk, country, Celtic, classical, old-time fiddle, New Age, alternative rock, light opera, choral, a cappella, singer/songwriter, and more. There will be classical and contemporary ballet, … Continue reading
The Woods Hole Plays are two one-act plays written by playwright friends Bronwen Prosser of Woods Hole and Danny Mitarotondo of New York. Both plays were written to be performed in Cotuit Center for the Arts’ Black Box Theater, both are directed by Kathryn Walsh of Chicago, and both make use of the same three … Continue reading
“Dear Liar” is the delightful story of the charming and volatile 40-year relationship between playwright George Bernard Shaw and the woman for hom he wrote the role of Eliza Doolittle in “Pygmalian,” an actress who went by the name of Mrs. Patrick (Stella) Campbell, one of the most popular actresses of her day. Campbell was … Continue reading
At an elegant, ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee, mansion, five women escape the festivities for a moment of calm in the bride’s sister’s bedroom. As the evening progresses, the women get to know each other and find they have more in common than a dislike for the bride—who seems to have everything but … Continue reading
First of all, “Ava Gardner and the Pizza Boy,” written and directed by Larry Marsland, is only peripherally about Ava Gardner. Those who saw Marsland’s one-man show, “Night Falls on the Emerald City,” in which he channeled Judy Garland might be thinking this show is a similar examination of Ava Gardner’s life. It isn’t. “Ava … Continue reading
“Frog: A Modern Fairy Tale” is a delightful summer entertainment for the whole family, sure to please both children and adults. Written and directed by Christopher Compton and Holly Erin McCarthy of Theater Under the Stairs, the show’s message is simple: don’t ever lose your childhood sense of imagination, but the delivery is wonderfully complex … Continue reading
“Doubt: A Parable” won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award in 2005 for its author, John Patrick Shanley, and it is easy to understand why, after seeing the Cotuit Center for the Arts’ current production of the play. The writing is superb, authentic, and often quite funny. The plot, deceivingly simple, invites each individual … Continue reading
December 7, 2011 “A Winter’s Solstice Celebration” One of the most festive holiday celebrations around, “A Winter’s Solstice Celebration,” is sure to put anyone in a festive, holiday mood. Filled with stirring music, good humor, and a bit of medieval history, the show is a collection of songs, poetry, skits, and short plays selected by … Continue reading
October 12, 2011 “Quills” is thoughtful, wickedly funny, beautifully written, and professionally presented by the Cotuit Center for the Arts. Directed by Mary Arnault, the acting, the sets, the costumes, the lighting and the sensitivity of this production are exemplary. Doug Wright, the author of “Quills,” wrote that art is “innately subversive,” that art, including … Continue reading
July 31, 2010 Mike Daisey Tonight is the last night to catch Mike Daisy’s monologue, “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” at the Cape Cod Theatre Project. The nonfiction play has already been performed Thursday and last night at Falmouth Academy, as part of CCTP’s play development process. (I saw it last night.) … Continue reading
Notes on The Arts 