Feedback

Feedback - not the kind that howls in your ear when the board op raises the level on the mic too much. More like the kind where people tell you what they think... and we like that kind.

We've been reaching out to people who saw Wishful Drinking and Boleros for the Disenchanted - asking them to tell us what they thought about the play - and people are starting to respond. Click to read and add your comments.

Wishful Drinking Reviews

Just in case you thought my last post about the stormtroopers was a gag...
(scroll down for the reviews)

Marketing Associate Vawnya Nichols gets busted for attempting to rush the box office

Artistic Associate Bevin O'Gara and Production Associate Adam Krueger teach these scary guys a thing or two about life in OUR world.

and finally - Artistic Director Peter DuBois and Managing Director Michael Maso give Darth Vadar some advice. If I told you more I would have to kill you.

ANYWAY - I saw the show on Saturday evening with some friends. I have to admit that I wasn't sure that listening to Carrie Fisher talk about hairmuffs, Hollywood inbreeding, drugs, addiction, and depression for two hours was really going to be all that much fun. My doubts were totally unfounded. It is great fun - a blast even. If you don't believe me - click below and see what these folks had to say:

"Laughter is indeed the best medicine" - Boston Globe

"Wishful Drinking is loaded..." - Boston Herald

"Still Crazy after all these years" - The Phoenix

"I don't know Carrie Fisher personally, but I feel like I do" - Cape Cod Times


What did you think? Please comment or add your own review. What was your favorite part of the show?

Wishful Drinking - written and performed by Carrie Fisher. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Boston University Theatre - 264 Huntington Ave - Boston, MA 02115 617 266-7900

Storm Troopers Raid BU Theatre

This is just a cut and paste from an all staff email today - no further explanation necessary:

Hello all,

The battle for supremacy of the galaxy comes to a head tonight at the first preview of WISHFUL DRINKING at the BU Theatre, when members of the 501st New England Garrison descend on Huntington Avenue.

About a dozen troupers will be strutting their stuff outside the theatre from approximately 7:00-7:45pm and then be attending the show.

Click for more info on these guys. Stop by tonight and get your picture taken with Boba Fett!

May the force be with you,

Adam Roberts Skywalker


Wishful Drinking - written and performed by Carrie Fisher. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Boston University Theatre - 264 Huntington Ave - Boston, MA 02115 617 266-7900

NECN - Carrie Fisher

Wishful Drinking - written and performed by Carrie Fisher. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Boston University Theatre - 264 Huntington Ave - Boston, MA 02115 617 266-7900

In Box - and other bits

It's a busy week...

Today is first tech for Boleros for the Disenchanted by Jose Rivera. So I'm sitting at my tech table in the Wimberly keeping an eye on the proceedings while following up on some email ignored earlier in the week, proofing a few documents, and catching up on my online reading.

A couple of my department heads have dashed over to the BU Theatre where How Shakespeare Won the West just closed. Lights, Sound and Props will clear everything off the deck tonight so scenery can come in and strike the rest of the set tomorrow. I've still got to post some embarrasing and self depricating photos from opening night... just you wait.

We'll start getting ready for Wishful Drinking on Wednesday. The production arrives on Thursday, with a short tech on Friday afternoon. Both Boleros and Wishful will have their Boston premieres on Friday evening.

The Boston Globe sent Megan Tench to Hartford CT last month to talk with Carrie Fisher in Wishful Drinking. Little did Megan know that Carrie would give the interview from bed... read it all here. The Herald also has an interview.

There's been a little news re: Nicky Martin. The Globe ran an update, and local blogs the The Hub Review and The Mirror up to Nature sent their best wishes. One reader - read the last comment on the the Mirror post - also took the opportunity to chide me for not posting often enough. He's right - but hey - the blog had it's 2 year anniversary this week - and we have an average of 2.7 posts per week over that period. I don't feel too guilty. He also expressed his disappointment in the Boston press for their lack of coverage.

ANYWAY...

I've heard that they had to move Nicky to a larger room to accommodate the abundance of floral arrangements, and I've had several first hand confirmations that Nick is in good spirits and is receiving many visitors.

In other news - Campbell Scott is remounting The Atheist in NYC. Playbill has a nice interview here.

Photo Credits

Boleros: (l-r) Jaime Tirelli, Socorro Santiago, Monica Raymund, and Elliot Villar portray two generations of the same married couple in the Huntington Theatre Company's production of Boleros for the Disenchanted playing October 10 through November 15 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. Photo: Eric Antoniou
How Shakespeare Won the West: The company rests on their journey to California in the Huntington Theatre Company's production of How Shakespeare Won the West, playing September 5 through October 5 at the Huntington's mainstage, the B.U. Theatre. Photo: T. Charles Erickson.
Wishful Drinking: Image of Carrie Fisher in the the Berkeley Rep production of Wishful Drinking. Photo: Kevin Berne.

Inbox

The fall previews are starting to hit the papers - here are a few links:

Curtain Rises on a New Director - on Peter DuBois in the Boston Globe

Boston Theatre brings in Young Blood - on Peter DuBois in the Patriot Ledger

BU Today - on Peter and our BU Community Night


Theater's Journeyman - on Richard Nelson in the Boston Globe




Tom Stoppard's Rock n Roll at ACT - on Tom Stoppard in the San Francisco Gate

Easy Does It - on greater Boston's fall theater scene in Theatre Mania



Prop Drops - on Adam Pascal in Playbill news



Mother and Daughter Keep the Show Going On - on Wishful Drinking at Hartford Stage

In box

In lieu of actually writing something I'll give you a few links:

Peter DuBois in BayWindows

"Peter DuBois has a novel way of ending an interview. "Do you want to meet my dog?" he suddenly asks as our conversation winds down."



Adam Pascal is coming to the Huntington's Calderwood Pavilion for four performances only - click here.

"A friend at his former high school, who at the time was dating fellow Syosset graduate Idina Menzel, mentioned Rent to him. On a whim, he auditioned for the role of Roger in Rent and was cast. His performance in Rent earned him a Tony nomination, a Theater World award, and an Obie Award. He left the show on November 2nd, 1997, but went on to play Roger when Rent went to London"

Carrie Fisher will appear at the B.U. Theatre in October - more info here

"This ironic look at her life gives no more than a nod to her friend’s recent death, but includes a survey of her often bizarre childhood as the daughter of Ms. Reynolds and the singer Eddie Fisher, details about her brief marriage to Paul Simon and her travels through addiction and struggle with mental illness. There’s some juicy stuff about making out with the actor Harrison Ford and her relationship with a man who later declared himself gay (Billie’s father, the agent Bryan Lourd).

In the show she sums all this up in the painfully deadpan observation: “If my life weren’t funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable.” read the rest of this article in the New York Times

And last - but not least - our Managing Director Michael Maso tells us the "truth" about Huntington's subscribers.



There will be more video coming this season - I just wrapped filming on a backstage tour of our stage, shops, and treasure troves (storage).

I suspect another "truth" is that there is good reason that some of us work BEHIND the scenes.